Doom: The Dark Ages Reviews
DOOM: The Dark Ages is a fun and flashy shooter stuffed with engaging content - it's a thrill-ride from beginning to end. In the shadow of DOOM Eternal, though, the more varied set-pieces and methodical combat cause its flame to burn just a bit less bright than I was hoping for.
After Doom Eternal proved somewhat divisive among fans, Doom: The Dark Ages should be a Doom game everyone can appreciate. It’s fast and hard hitting, featuring robust combat systems that make learning their ins and outs fun and empowering. I daresay it’s even better than Doom 2016, and is a must-play title for everyone interested in Doom, first-person shooters, and action games as a whole.
Getting used to Doom: The Dark Age's combat loop takes some time, but once it clicks, it becomes a real joy.
This prequel takes a blunt force trauma approach to problem-solving and demon-killing, with a slower pace but more spectacular weaponry
Doom: The Dark Ages gets so much right, that its main flaws come when the game takes you away from its main, excellent combat loop. While not every new addition works, the game’s new open zones are a treat, and the Doomslayer’s arsenal is still incredibly fun to run around with.
DOOM: The Dark Ages wasn't what many fans expected. This is a step away from being a bit specific, but very powerful, offering a hurricane of meaty gameplay with an emphasis on spectacular melee combat.
Review in Russian | Read full review
DOOM continues to impress.
Doom: The Dark Ages is an exciting evolution of the franchise, capable of surprising with its more structured narrative approach and gameplay innovations, without losing the brutal and metallic identity that has always distinguished the saga.
Review in Italian | Read full review
I’ve mentioned some minor problems and disappointments, but I mean what I said at the top. This is the most impressive Doom game iD has developed. The ingenuity and evolution of its gameplay, while remaining true to itself, is outstanding, along with an epic campaign to complement it. The Doom Dance in The Dark Ages is addictive, and I’m stoked to continue playing.
In just under 10 years, id Software has created three very different Doom games, with 2016’s being the most pure, Eternal being the most expanded, and The Dark Ages easily being the most bone-crunchingly heavy metal.
The Dark Ages has some of the best combat in Doom history, but dull new features make it the weakest of the modern Doom games.
DOOM: The Dark Ages goes for something slightly different as it turns back time for a medieval assault on hell's legions. Not every change pays off, as the introduction of a mech and dragon adds very little to the overall experience. However, when The Dark Ages gets to the FPS action, there aren't many who do it better than id Software. Take some time to adjust to DOOM: The Dark Ages, and you'll discover another fantastically ferocious first-person shooter.
id Software once again found a way to reinvent the DOOM formula, adding new gameplay elements such as the thoroughly enjoyable shield saw. DOOM: The Dark Ages is nonstop, adrenaline-fuelled thrill ride from start to finish. This blockbuster demands your full attention as the best FPS this year so far.
We're unsure if the game's additions are enough to compensate for what's been lost from Doom Eternal, but the foundation of slaying hordes of demons in visceral and bloody battles remains as fun as ever.
Doom: The Dark Ages is a fantastic addition to this rebooted Doom franchise. It borrows from and builds on most of the aspects that made Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal so great. It stays true to the roots and offers exciting and fluid combat mechanics, while diving into a backstory that stands alone as a narrative but can also let the sickos geek out on some of the details. What it does best is just capture the hyper cool feel of being the "only one they fear" and delivering soundly on sprinting from one story beat to the next at a breakneck, metal pace.
Doom: The Dark Ages nails that feeling of "classic Doom in a new era," thanks to its relentless combat, interesting if not perfectly suitable levels, and hordes upon hordes of demons.
As it stands, what might have been a return to form is instead merely a competent shooter with occasional highs and frustrating lows.
DOOM is and will always be synonymous with the FPS. Each new installment shows us that the genre can go beyond what many are accustomed to, and with DOOM: The Dark Ages, id Software once again shows its mastery. The level design is more open, placing a strong emphasis on exploration and allowing each player to create the experience they enjoy most. Shields and melee weapons encourage aggression and constant movement, utilizing classic concepts from the series and rearranging them in a way that feels innovative.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It's not just a DOOM in iron armor: it's another beast.
Review in Spanish | Read full review