The Doom Slayer is back – and in case you haven’t been keeping up, Doom The Dark Ages (TDA) has moved on from the fast-paced, bouncing around the walls energy from Eternal. Instead, it encourages players to stand and fight. And let’s be honest; this is what we all wanted after Eternal’s insane movement right?
Doom TDA serves as a prequel to Doom 2016. While you still play the iconic demon slayer all demons fear, you’ll learn just how he became this force of nature that can mow through hordes of demons without batting an eyelid. If you’re not a huge fan of the Doom lore, this one won’t necessarily change your mind but it’s not invasive enough to detract from the overall experience.
Mechanically this game has been simplified from Eternal. Ammunition management isn’t a huge deal as you now find ammo a lot easier than in Eternal. And yes, there thankfully still are brutal finishing moves that endow you with ammunition. In fact, Doom TDA has a very intuitive accessibility system through which you can tweak many parameters of the game’s difficulty. You can tweak how aggressive AI is, how much damage demons inflict, how much ammo is dropped etc, making the experience friendlier to newcomers.
While you still wield an impressive arsenal of weapons, the standout in Doom TDA is off course your shield and melee weapons. This badass shield isn’t there to just look pretty. You can use it to block – and parry incoming attacks instead of trying to dodge enemies. And yeah we know; melee in a Doom game sounds weird, but using your medieval weapons along with your shield to finish off demons without wasting ammo is just peak gaming.
Enemies in TDA are still fairly aggressive and will attack you mercilessly. But thanks to both ranged and melee weapons, you can crush all their strategies and destroy them on all fronts. Doom TDA is structured like an old-school corridor shooter – and honestly I can’t have enough of those games. You move from Point A to Point B, kill everything in your way and move to the next level. Sure you can still explore levels for hidden puzzles and collectibles that can potentially unlock in-game cosmetics, but if you just want to blaze through the campaign, there’s nothing stopping you.
Conclusion
Doom The Dark Ages is a great return to form for the Doom franchise and is an extremely refreshing shooter that’s not bogged down by GAAS mechanics or micro-transactions. I’ll be honest with you; the last few years of gaming have made me somewhat of a cynical gamer, but Doom TDA showed me why I fell in love with this hobby nearly 20 years ago.
