Doom: The Dark Ages Reviews
DOOM: The Dark Ages doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it sure does kick a punch. A familiar installment in many ways, which manages to bring freshness with new mechanics and gloomy scenarios in which you will love to get lost exploring.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Doom: The Dark Ages marks a new chapter for the series, excelling in its combat system and more open map design, though it falls short in other areas.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Doom: The Dark Ages boldly redefines the series while staying true to its roots. With a slower pace, revamped combat, and stronger narrative focus, it delivers a visceral experience—flawed, but memorable. A brutal, modern throwback that stands out in today’s industry.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Doom: The Dark Ages brings freshness and innovation, without forgetting its bloody roots.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Despite adding many new and not so refined features and featuring a frankly weaker sound design than its predecessors, Doom: The Dark Ages is a brilliant game that promises hours of pure mayhem and a bright future for the saga. It's heavy, it's brutal, and it's a new era of Doom, although many things could have been better.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Not every change lands but it’s heartening to see a franchise willing to evolve, even if it means ditching many systems that previously brought them success.
Depending on your preferences, The Dark Ages will be either better or worse than its predecessor, but one thing is crystal clear—killing demons still delivers bloody and cathartic fun.
Review in Unknown | Read full review
The simple addition of a "shield" has drastically changed the game. Combat has become formulaic, forcing players to constantly think on their feet and react specifically to green-marked enemy attacks. The game is certainly fun, but the instinct-driven, fully immersive combat that once defined the essence of DOOM has noticeably faded.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Will it split the fanbase again? Absolutely. The Dark Ages makes big swings — slower pace, less difficulty, more story, fewer glory kills — and not everyone’s going to be into that. But for my money, it’s a worthy continuation of id’s mission to keep DOOM evolving. It might not be peak Slayer, but it’s still a brutally fun time that earns its place in the series. Just don’t expect to be challenged the same way Eternal did — this one’s more about feeling powerful than becoming powerful.
The bloody medieval prequel adventure of the DOOM Slayer brings to us a completely new gameplay style that dramatically diverges from earlier installments in the series while offering players a fantastic FPS experience. Unfortunately, the half-baked narrative focus, mini-levels that strip weapons from our hands, and unconvincing music prevent this title from surpassing the phenomenal successes of the previous two DOOM games.
Review in Unknown | Read full review
The time I spent play DOOM: The Dark Ages will always be an amazing stress reliever. A game that just lets me release all my built up rage from the day to something that deserves it feels like holy work. Although, we all know that we can’t trust the Maykr because they’re just as bad as demons. But that’s mostly for others to learn the hard way by playing the other DOOM games. Here’s to Rip and Tear. And here’s to getting another DOOM game with working lore in another 5 years. I give DOOM: The Dark Ages the Thumb Culture Platinum Award.
Expectations for Doom: The Dark Ages were huge, especially given the merit of its predecessors. In many ways, it even surpassed the last games, including story, performance, variety and scope of the challenges. In others, we had a competent experience, with combat that mixes FPS and action in an engaging adventure. Many secrets to discover, giant robots and other qualities complement the experience and its changes that, although not necessarily inferior, may or may not be popular with the public. It took me a while to get used to it, but then I fell in love with it like happened before. The biggest criticism is the lack of any extra mode, which could expand the game. In the end, it still is an incredible suggestion for your library.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Doom: The Dark Ages was a personally divisive title, and I can imagine some people will not stick with it long enough for it to experience the best of it. It feels completely different from the previous games in both good and bad ways. The game was already released under a dark cloud, but looking back after the credits hit, I had a lot of fun with the game. It just took far too long to show me how fun it could be. You’ll rip and tear until it’s done, you’ll plod along at some places, and go face-meltingly fast through some combat encounters, but at the end of the day you’ll still be playing one of the best modern boomer shooters to date. It seems every third Doom is born to be controversial but Doom: The Dark Ages just grabs the devil by the horns and kicks all kinds of ass…eventually.
Doom: The Dark Ages is a complete experience from top to bottom. Top notch combat that comes from a dev team that has been doing FPS for a long time. A story that moves the plot along in a meaningful way and keeps intrigue, at least enough to get to the next fighting sequence. Quality cutscenes give players the full depth of the story as it happens and adds to the overall production value of the game.
Overall, even though I would consider Dark Ages a step back from DOOM (2016), and especially Eternal, it's still an extremely fun ride, and it’s one that I would recommend to anyone who’s in any way a fan of the franchise.
DOOM has always been about fast, frantic, and intense gameplay, and this entry certainly delivers. The visuals are among the best I’ve seen on Xbox, and the sound design is top-notch. Controlling the Doom Slayer always feels incredibly powerful and god-like, I haven’t played too many games where I’ve felt this strong.
If you like Doom, this is your game. If you haven't played the series yet and are unsure, this is the game for you, but you don't know what it is yet. If, on the other hand, you've already taken your first steps in the series since Bethesda took over and haven't liked it, this one won't be for you either. Simple and straightforward.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
DOOM: The Dark Ages is a fantastic new beginning for the prolific franchise. While the sound mixing is lackluster and the soundtrack fails to reach the same heights as previous entries, the narrative and gameplay make up for it. The story is a thrilling blockbuster that will have you grinning and on the edge of your seat from beginning to end, and the gameplay, while more grounded than DOOM Eternal, is extremely fun due to the great gunplay, new weapons, unique mech and dragon segments, open levels, and melee focus. Id Software has delivered once again, and I can't wait to see where the franchise goes next.
DOOM: The Dark Ages offers a solid prequel of the Slayer saga, while being bold and experimental. However, this experimentation strays away from DOOM 2016's formula, which may alienate FPS-purists even more than Eternal did.
DOOM: The Dark Ages closes the trilogy with a prequel that shakes up the formula we thought was unbreakable. Despite some flaws, id Software delivers a solid experience. The heavier, slower combat pairs well with revamped parrying and melee mechanics, offering a fresh but still engaging feel. Less convincing are the airborne sections and the overall level design, which lacks past inspiration. While fun and long-lasting, it’s the weakest link in the new era of this FPS legend—but still a must-have for anyone with an insatiable urge to rip demons apart like there’s no tomorrow.
Review in Italian | Read full review