Hell hath arrived, not with a triumphant roar, but with an overwhelming whimper.
DOOM: The Dark Ages is one of the few sequels in a long-running series that does not have an identity crisis. The identity it does have may not be that great, but it’s hard not to recognize or respect the attempt to make something different. DOOM Eternal was very distinct from DOOM (2016). Those games were impressive, both in level and combat design. Dark Ages is distinct from both of those while still maintaining a spirit from the franchise itself. The actual greatest sin here is that despite any achievements or innovations, it still falls short of my expectations, especially after the previous two entries.
Dark Ages is a prequel, chronicling the Doom Slayer’s role in the war against Hell when he served alongside the Night Sentinels. The elevator pitch would be something akin to “DOOM Goes Medieval”. The actual description would be “Heavy Metal Magazine Gets a Parry Button”.
Now, on the surface, I don’t have a problem with that. Dark Ages looks badass. The Doom Slayer is still the coolest space marine ever. Whether or not the end product is a DOOM game is an entirely different conversation. Projectile dodging is a core component of any DOOM combat, but Dark Ages forgoes a lot of previously established movement options for the sake of a shield. That’s not to say there won’t be excessive projectiles on the screen, but Dark Ages wants you to plant your feet and confront the onslaught rather than artfully move your way through these crowds and obstacles.
Blocking, throwing, and parrying. You’ll be doing a lot of these as the shield becomes the most important tool in your arsenal. There’ll be a million projectiles coming at you at once, but you need only see that beautiful green fireball to know to tap that shield button and volley it right back to the sender. This becomes a dominant force within Dark Ages. It’s the make or break. This slower, defensive style maintains a frantic pace by forcing the shield until it becomes part of the natural combat rhythm. I love blocking and parrying as a mechanic generally, but it’s a delicate mechanic that can either add a graceful depth to a game or become a predominant force. Dark Ages chooses the latter, and it comes with mixed results.
As a DOOM fan, I know I was concerned about the speed of the game upon looking at the promotional material. Those fears have been calmed. Dark Ages actually has several difficulty sliders to enable faster or more frantic play, but the issue is it can’t change the core structure. It doesn’t matter how quick or how punishing combat is. The core remains the same, modifiers be damned.
There are two stifling problems with combat. First, it greatly limits your freedom. The weapons are fun on their own but end up feeling pretty similar. There are some key differences, like rate of fire or what element upgrades will adopt, but especially within each weapon’s group, not a lot is done to utilize the entire arsenal. There aren’t real incentives in place to experiment. The previous two DOOM games wanted you to use every weapon you had, and things like ammo drops were deliberate. Here, you’re more likely to have two or three guns you really enjoy, and you’ll ignore everything else. Ammo is a complete non-issue on any difficulty. Every part of that system means there is less synergy and interplay between the different components.
Second, limitations aren’t always bad. Reactive or defensive play isn’t always bad. DOOM may be a power fantasy but there is a deeper layer of survival and horror that still permeates within every entry. What kills Dark Ages’ combat is how overbearing parrying is. It’s always the optimal move as there are a lot of unlockable follow-ups from a successful parry. Parrying needs a delicate balance of risk and reward. Likewise, if we compare Dark Ages’ projectile hell to a “shmup,” there are plenty of other issues. Namely, it’s not focused. A shmup’s encounters are deliberately calculated, and combat does not overstay its welcome. I don’t think Ikaruga is a bad game, but Ikaruga also doesn’t have a million gimmicks and wide open levels. It doesn’t last hours upon hours and exhaust you in that sense. Shmups are often more dynamic in their tools too; a reactive game does not have to surrender agency.
Muscle memory, situational awareness, and relatively more static play are usually best accompanied by short and sweet engagements. DOOM: The Dark Ages has 22 chapters and a good number of them are looooong. There are battlefields with many secrets and tucked away armies with a million minute rewards. When the engagements all start to feel the same, with similar battlefields and similar enemy compositions, and a universal combat system incentivizing comfort, boredom follows. Ignoring the optional content becomes the best course of action.
The best thing I can say about combat is that occasionally the rhythm creates a nice flow, but this bullet hell often works against this rhythm, rather than serving it. The first-person shooter genre is limiting for this kind of rhythm. A more narrow field of view, a lot of visual noise, and the wide scope of design with a lacking variety in combat tools ultimately means Dark Ages shoots too wide for a style that benefits the straight and narrow. Especially when it’s contrasted by these giant levels.
The gimmicks don’t help either. There’s a greater focus on melee, but it often doesn’t pay off. Only one of the melee types really has great benefits, but it’s also where the most remnants of the Glory Kill system return. I like Glory Kills, but the added focus on melee combat in DOOM doesn’t help when there’s so much going against it. The gimmicks don’t stop there, though. The Runes only encourage and reinforce the parry system. There are also some alternative stages within the story. One is from within a giant mech suit called an Atlan. You’ll be boxing and shooting different enemies in cool little vignettes that make up the shortest levels generally speaking. It’s a neat diversion.
The Doom Slayer also gets a dragon, and that sounds way cooler than it ends up being. That’s mostly because you’re ultimately dog fighting in arenas and still operating within that parry system, only for the Atlan and dragon, you’re dodging those green projectiles. The Atlan stages are unremarkable in terms of design. It’s a gimmick through and through. The dragon stages have a bit more to them because the levels are designed for flying and dog fighting.
There are some really fun moments here and a good example of the kinds of genres that benefit from these more defensive systems. The fantastic visuals and moments are on full display when you’re riding a dragon shooting at demon war ships. It’s easy to love a level. It’s hard to love a level when they’re packaged with everything else. It’s hard to love a game when it’s hard to care about anything within it.
Speaking of, this is the DOOM game with the most story. John Carmack once famously said that for video games, story in a game is like story in a porn movie. It’s expected to be there, but it’s not important. There’s a lot to chew on with that thought, but it speaks to one of the series’ priorities. Action is where DOOM’s prestige comes from, and a story-centric title like DOOM 3 imitates contemporaries rather than being something great on its own. DOOM 3 seemed to imitate System Shock 2 and Half-Life. DOOM: The Dark Ages is a bit more abstract in its influences, but it’s almost impossible to consider the growing presence of parrying or the open world elements that have trickled in.
I do not need to know about the history of this location, and I especially don’t need two paragraphs to tell me about a Sentinel. DOOM Eternal‘s weakest part might’ve been its story, and this game takes those elements and fleshes them out. A menu description detailing the history of the world is best when it evokes imagination, not when it forces a world into an uninteresting box. Previous DOOM titles succeeded. Dark Ages dedicates a lot of run time to scenes featuring characters and settings that make it difficult to care. The ratio between watching action unfold, reading about action that has unfolded, and actually shooting a demon has dramatically changed and it’s to the game’s detriment.
Our protagonist, the same protagonist as a large majority of these DOOM titles, is not much of a character. Not in any game before this, and certainly not here. He’s a force these characters whisper about, but that’s ALL he is. He is not a character making meaningful choices personal to his wants and needs. His motivations are too simple for that. The Doom Slayer is merely the best soldier, and portions of the story have him under complete submission and control. It makes the story drag all the more when things happen around him. It doesn’t help when The Dark Ages’ art direction feels like a half-measure.
Take a game like the original Quake. On the surface, it’s pretty similar. It’s a dark, gory, medieval-while-futuristic cosmic horror. There are a few details that feel inspired by Quake, like the nail gun. Despite that, this is not any kind of Quake sequel. You’re reminded of Quake, but in a bad way. You’re reminded in the sense of “oh man, I miss Quake.” That’s a bad feeling when this is an attempt at something new.
There’s a lot of cool new stuff to praise! The monster designs are bold, and when it dips into cosmic horror, Dark Ages actually reveals the most pleasant surprises. For example, drab and monotone colors do alternate every few levels into radically different visuals even while maintaining the same tone. The music is also way less memorable than the iconic Mick Gordon tracks from the two previous games. It can still be good, but with the default mixing, it’s also abundantly clear the soundtrack has taken far less prominence in the sound design. The music doesn’t want to be memorable; it doesn’t want to punch you in the face and tear out your intestines. It just wants to serve a scene or a level. That’s not good enough for me to fall in love with it. Perhaps you can’t fall in love with a sour core. Maybe Dark Ages is all package. Yet, that “core” determines the whole package. This is a good game, but much like Heavy Metal magazine it’s often all flash and no substance.
DOOM: The Dark Ages wants to sell you on a look, a vibe that you don’t get often. The question I come back to time and time again, however, is “is it fun to play?”
“Yeah, I guess it was fine for the time I spent with it. I don’t think I’ll revisit it any time soon.” That is a drastically different answer than other games in this series. There’s a lot of respect I have for a new direction; in years Dark Ages may be seen as underappreciated or a niche classic. You might see YouTube thumbnails or other articles critically reappraising this game. Maybe you’ll even see them on Skybox.
I hope the audience that loves DOOM: The Dark Ages continues to love it, but DOOM has retreated back into a place where it’s not a leader. It’s a follower of some trends, boldly taking itself in a new direction that may not pay off.
Microsoft as a publisher is part of the Palestinian BDS boycott (more information can be found here: https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott).
While we are covering it here, we would ask you not to purchase or play it while Microsoft is profiting off of the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people. Maybe at another time, maybe at another price. But not here. Not now. It’s going to be okay; DOOM will surely survive this dark age.
Score: 6
This review is based upon a PlayStation 5 version purchased by the writer.
