As a pioneer of the first-person shooter genre, Doom laid the foundation for its contemporaries but has also never rested on its laurels. Doom 3 steered the franchise toward survival horror. The 2016 reboot dared to revisit and refine the old-school formula in an era of Call of Duty-likes. Doom Eternal, for better or worse, implemented parkour-esque platforming. Doom: The Dark Ages offers perhaps the biggest and most impressive shake-up of the series’ tried and true formula. Incorporating visceral, parry-focused melee combat is a thrilling addition to the already stellar run-and-gun action, making this medieval entry an absolute blast from start to finish.
This prequel to the 2016 game sees the Doom Slayer tear through Hell’s forces amid a cool techno-medieval setting; imagine King Arthur as a Borg from Star Trek, and that’s basically the game’s look. While it’s a terrific aesthetic that perfectly complements the heavy metal soundtrack, the backdrop primarily serves as an excuse to add neat middle-age twists to the Slayer’s classic arsenal. The biggest and best change is the Shield Saw, a motorized serrated shield that lets players block and parry incoming attacks. While it’s initially strange to use a shield in a Doom game, it is a brilliantly implemented addition I can’t imagine playing without going forward.
Parrying glowing green attacks adds another fun test of reflexes. It’s easy to execute thanks to a generous parry window (on standard difficulty), rewarding an additional hit as you send projectiles back to their receivers. The exceptionally satisfying auditory feedback, which rivals the ear-pleasing “bong” when Captain America’s shield connects, is the cherry on top. Speaking of Cap, lobbing the Shield Saw like a discus at foes adds another ranged offensive option, great for slicing smaller demons in half (saving ammo in the process) or stunning larger threats by embedding and drilling into their flesh. I loved using the latter function to stop hulking demons in their tracks and riddle them with bullets.
Performing a charging shield bash lets you rush distant targets from afar, serving as a great way to close gaps while keeping you moving across the often expansive arenas. However, the shield can only absorb so many hits before it becomes temporarily unavailable, so the action retains the series’ frantic urgency to keep moving to outmaneuver and outfox enemies. Instead of trivializing the danger, the Shield Saw becomes a fun new strategy to juggle; block or parry what you can, dodge what you can’t, and never stop moving.
Revamped melee combat further emphasizes Doom: The Dark Ages’ more in-your-face action. Players now have three melee options – a brutal punch combo, a slow but mighty hammer attack, and, my favorite, an armor-shattering flail – to pummel the ammunition out of foes, rewarding close-quarter confrontations with full clips. Like guns, though, melee attacks are limited and must be replenished by grabbing pick-ups or blasting demons with guns, creating a nice system where close and ranged offense empower each other. Battling melee-centric adversaries became entertainingly rhythmic slugfests as I deflected incoming attacks while retaliating during brief moments between, capped off by executing the ever-bloody glory kill finishing moves. Doom is all about guns, but The Dark Ages has perhaps the best close-quarters action I’ve experienced in a shooter.
Inventive new weapons bolster the smooth-as-butter gunplay. My favorites include the Pulverizer, which grinds collected skulls to blast wide spreads of high-speed bone fragments to simultaneously wipe out scores of demons. Another cool weapon is the Chainshot, which shoots a retractable ball and chain, perfect for punching through shields and armor. Many of the six primary firearms have an alternate version you can switch between instantly (such as swapping between the faster-paced Shotgun and the slower but punchier Super Shotgun) and sport unlockable upgrades for each configuration, adding more bang to their punch. Whether it’s a perk that rains down lightning upon a successful parry or another that lets you ricochet bullets off the shield while it’s drilling into a target, these enhancements add more depth and reward to the already entertaining action. Best of all, you can eviscerate any enemy using any weapon, ditching Doom Eternal’s more restrictive combat design.
The Doom Slayer’s fresh bag of tricks allowed me to devise incredible new strategies to survive increasingly intense skirmishes where mobs can number in the dozens. Tossing the shield at a distant pest before instantly recalling it to parry an incoming attack at the last moment, then blowing its sender’s face off with a shotgun blast – all while weaving through waves of beams and fireballs – feels incredibly cool. That’s only one example of many fist-pumping moments that regularly occur in Doom: The Dark Ages. With both offense and defense to consider, the action feels more strategically dense than it ever has in a Doom title, and well-designed controls make everything a breeze to pull off once you’re acclimated. If that’s not enough, an impressive range of accessibility options, from adjusting the game speed, parry timing, and even the colors of in-game elements, allow you to customize the adventure so it’s as challenging or inviting as you’d like.
Between standard firefights, the Slayer can hop in the cockpit of a giant mech suit to battle gargantuan demons and atop a dragon-like beast to engage in aerial dogfighting. Both diversions are best described as broadly fine; mech combat primarily focuses on slower but impactful fist fights, while aerial bouts involve an ill-fitting exercise of dodging blasts to charge a beam to take out shielded targets. These segments aren’t very fleshed out and don’t last long enough to drag the experience down, but I was always eager to get my boots back on the ground for more traditional action.
Like the last game, stages hide secrets, such as collectible figures, lore entries, upgrade gems, and treasure stashes to buy additional enhancements. Environmental puzzle-solving is generally simple if you explore thoroughly and often utilize the Shield Saw, such as tossing it to activate distant mechanisms or shield-bashing blocks in positions to climb and reach higher platforms. I can take or leave these diversions, but the rewards are usually worth the effort. The story, which involves stopping a demonic prince from stealing a great power from a mighty princess, doesn’t take itself quite as seriously as Eternal’s tale. However, it’s still a largely stoic and straightforward affair that won’t suddenly establish Doom as a narrative powerhouse. I approached the story much like the Doom Slayer himself; just point me in the direction of what needs killing while everything else barely matters enough to earn my full interest.
Doom: The Dark Ages is modern Doom executed better than ever. It’s a bloody, challenging, and strategic thrill ride that tested my skills, forced me to catch my breath, and always had me asking for more. With the Shield Saw and other great additions, id Software gives me something I didn’t know I wanted, proving once again that this legendary series can still evolve in ways we haven’t even dreamed of.