Doom: The Dark Ages Reviews
Doom The Dark Ages delivered an epic, legendary experience that is among the best in the world of shooter games, while maintaining the series' fast-paced and chaotic style, offering a wonderful variety of weapons and combat, and certainly proving its place in this year crowded with great games.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Every demon slain in Dark Ages feels like reclaiming a piece of your own soul — and that might just be the greatest thrill in gaming.
DOOM: The Dark Ages is a bold and thrilling addition to the franchise that I loved playing. It brings in mechanics I've seen from other games and implements them to a tee without losing what makes DOOM great. It looks amazing, sounds wonderful, and, most importantly, plays like a DOOM game is supposed to.
DOOM: The Dark Ages doesn’t just iterate, it transforms. It still bleeds the franchise’s DNA, but with a newfound focus on strategy, spectacle, and scale. The shield mechanics, large-scale encounters, and grim world-building push the series into bold new territory.
In the end, DOOM: Dark Ages is still a fast-paced, chaotic first-person shooter that stays loyal to DOOM’s core identity.
Overall, DOOM: The Dark Ages is the kind of sequel that doesn’t rest on its past – it expands its future. Here, id Software have taken everything that worked in DOOM Eternal and wrapped it in a new, darker skin that feels both brutal and beautiful. It’s a beautiful testament to id Software’s craft that nearly 30 years after the original DOOM redefined FPS gaming, the series is still finding new ways to innovate, while staying relevant.
Doom: The Dark Ages sees id Software pivoting away from their floaty bullet hell formula and into being the hell for bullets in a new "stand and fight" approach to combat, with tremendous results. The new hefty design makes the Slayer feel like the one man army he's always been portrayed as and delivers on being a Doom for the ages. Whilst there's some slight missteps in storytelling, music, and new gameplay elements that don't fit as well into its design, the moment-to-moment hook and metal aesthetic proves why the franchise is still the gold standard of modern FPS.
DOOM: The Dark Ages rises above expectations, firmly establishing itself among the finest entries in the franchise. The game is rich with potential and skillfully balances innovation with reverence for its legacy—though this reverence sometimes tempers the pace of change. The team at id Software has truly hit the mark, guiding Doom through a transformation reminiscent of the revolutionary leap Santa Monica achieved with God of War: a bold, forward-looking metamorphosis that remains deeply faithful to the series’ original spirit.
DOOM: The Dark Ages delivers everything you could want from a shooter and action game—and above all, everything a DOOM fan expects. It offers dynamic and refreshing gameplay, a vast arsenal of weapons, diverse mechanics, and powerful moves. The levels challenge players to bring their best, especially on higher difficulty settings, making it a strong contender in the ongoing debate over which is better: this or Eternal.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
DOOM: The Dark Ages is a bold reinvention that retains the soul of the franchise while pushing it in a new direction. It’s more narrative-driven, more methodical, and more melee-focused. It trades some of the speed and chaos of Eternal for raw brutality and deliberate pacing, and while not every experimental idea lands, the ones that do hit like a sledgehammer.
Doom Eternal's fast, agile combat style is gone, but it's replaced by a heavy, overwhelming combat experience completely different from previous installments. While the direction has changed, the thrill remains intense.
Review in Korean | Read full review
DOOM: The Dark Ages offers a perfect blend of classic spirit and bold modern design, creating a complete experience that cements its place as one of the greatest first-person shooters in gaming history. With a compelling cinematic story, addictive, relentless gameplay, and stunning graphics powered by the new id Tech 8 engine... id Software proves once again that they are one of the most innovative and pillars of the gaming industry!
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Doom: The Dark Ages is a perfect blend of familiar and fresh - a gory, gorgeous shooter with plenty of content to enjoy.
DOOM: The Dark Ages arrives with the obligation to keep a very important franchise afloat with a release that is very different from its two predecessors but delivers on its promises. It brings its own proposal and executes it masterfully, but at the same time it feels strange. It's not that it needs more time in the oven, but it lacks seasoning; a spicy touch. It feels restrained, afraid to give everything it has to offer. It's DOOM, but at half-mast.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
After 32 years, many find it very difficult to innovate. However, id Software has managed to introduce new mechanics and design improvements to its old formula, opting for a first-person action-adventure approach. The studio has opted to return to its roots, abandoning multiplayer mode.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
DOOM: The Dark Ages is the most well-executed entry in this long-respected franchise yet. Exceptional stage layouts, terrific implementations of player choice, and rewarding enemy design alongside the new shield and parry mechanics make this riveting FPS familiarly refreshing. Despite a few bumps in the road where spectacle overtakes ingenuity, DOOM: The Dark Ages is an undeniably must-play outing that can effortlessly appeal to prospective new and veteran returning DOOM fans.
It’s as metal as they come, endlessly playable, and with memorable moments scattered throughout – whether it’s the ones you create moment to moment or those id has laid out.
Doom: The Dark Ages shifts the series into a brutal medieval setting without losing what made it work. Combat remains intense and unforgiving but now it's heavier, with new mechanics like the shield saw and mounted fights adding variety.
DOOM: The Dark Ages delivers brutal action and a stunning medieval aesthetic, but stumbles due to an uneven story, repetitive gameplay, and unrefined new mechanics.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Doom: The Dark Ages is not Eternal 2. It’s something braver — a reimagining that honors its roots while forging a new path. It’s bloodier, slower, moodier — and undeniably Doom.