There’s few games that get the blood pumping quite like DOOM and The Dark Ages is no exception.

The intriguing part this time is that DOOM is going more medievil than futuristic. Well, let’s call it retro-futurism as there’s absolutely walking mechs, control panels, as well as maces, dragons and shields.

It’s a lovely mesh of styles that feels a little more in-line with classic Quake and really more of that vintage 90s DOOM, but with a bigger budget, a more bad ass soundtrack and blood. Lots and lots and lots of blood.

But The Dark Ages takes a slightly different apporach to the 2016 remake and its successor, Eternal. It’s still very much a case of kill as many monsters as you can. Imps. Hellknights. Behemoths. But the way the game is broken up into levels with different objective types, the more open world spaces, its combat, and then there’s the dragon and mech missions.

The Dark Ages serves as a prequel to both remakes, so is a great jumping on point for players, but equally for the way it onboards and gives you such a healthy variety from the get-go. From level one, you’re just tearing through everything with reckless abandon as before, but the big initial difference you’ll find comes in the Slayer’s Shield.

This beautifully styled defender offers a near-inpenetrable force to deflect against bullets and protect yourself from attacks. This immediately changes the entire combat dynamic of DOOM and almost turns it – dare I say it – into a Souls-like. The idea of blocking and parrying now completely changes the way you play, rather than just running around the small arenas you’ve been used to, now you can stand your ground, block incoming strikes and even deflect projectiles back at your enemies.

Simply look out for the green projectiles and block with the shield at the right time to send them hurtling back. The shield can even be thrown and spun like Captain America and then can be used to help the Slayer leap large distances and even hold doors open, so there’s a puzzle solving element to its inclusion as well. Which allows you to really deep dive each level’s secret areas.

This is also paired with the Slayer’s Gauntlet to begin with, which lets you punch and obliterate hellspawn with combos, jolts and finishers. Eventually you’ll also be able to swap this out for a flail and dreadmace to really improve your efficacy in battle. And all can be levelled up and upgraded with upgrades to conditioning and engulfing strikes and the like.

But it’s not just melee combat, of course. It wouldn’t be Doom without guns. Shotguns. Plasma guns. Automatics. And everything else in between. DOOM’s weaponry is second to none and of course this gives you muliple layers and ways to play as you take on endless amounts of enemies of size and scale. And interestingly Dark Ages tries some new approaches with battle, such as creating leaders that thrive on inspiration. Diminish numbers of underlings and it weakens the leader’s shield enough that they can be fought.

Some demons even hold permanent upgrades for ammo, health and shields, and as such will be tougher to bring down, but well worth the hassle. Some are on the main path, some are off to the side, meaning they are missable but beating them might give you an easier time out there. Which is definitely needed with how tough the game gets and how overwhelming the numbers become.

The Dark Ages isn’t just a continuous combat slog, though. Several missions really mix things up. As mentioned, there’s a mech mission early on that lets the Slayer pilot a big, oversized robot and smash oversized demons in the face with deadly combos, as well as walk through bridges and smash through buildings with ease.

There’s also several missions in which you pilot a dragon. You probably noticed these in the trailer, but these offer one of the big changes to gameplay as you take to the skies, fly through health rings, chase ships, and find hidden landing zones in order to find new secrets. Of which DOOM: The Dark Ages has a lot of. Everything from the cute toys you’ve seen in previous games, to codex and indices, weapon skins and more. The secrets alone will get you diving back into the game to replay missions.

But using the dragon also offers some really fun ways to play as you duck, weave, sail and float around wider open maps – and maybe even hints at a future spin-off for the series or where Bethesda are going to take the next Elder Scrolls. And yet, the biggest departure yet might be the semi open-world, sandbox esque environments of some of the levels.

Like that moment in last years’ Call of Duty where midway through, the game ventures into a semi-open world setting. DOOM: The Dark Ages follows a similar path as you’re suddenly pursuing multiple objectives spread across the map and can choose which order you approach them while skirting around and taking your path your way. Very cool, very original. Very unlike OG DOOM.

And that was a thought that kept creeping up on me as I played the Dark Ages, this is so far removed from the original ID game at this point that the games don’t share much DNA anymore, even though they also do. You still have the classic creatures in there, the familiar super shotgun, BFG and the Slayer himself, of course. But this DOOM is layered in a much deeper story than most, setting up the events of the latest releases, while showing us new environments, characters and creatures unknown to us. It’s all about nuance and context now, while also still being sort of mindless and action-packed.

I love that about DOOM: The Dark Ages. Every action feels impactful. Everything you do screams powerful and pogniant. From dropping to the ground from a high height, slamming the ground and taking out surrounding enemies with a shockwave, to throwing a shield and taking out a cluster of enemies in one sweep. Even the blocking and deflecting is done so, so well. It’s what DOOM is best at and it’s what ID have stuck to in order to make sure this release is as satisfying as possible.

Movement feels as smooth as ever, action is crisp and elegant, and the accompanying score is brash and brilliant, really getting you into a tempo and rhythm with your button presses and evasions. To call DOOM: The Dark Ages good junk food feels like a disservice, as you could perhaps have described the previous games in a similar way, but what’s been done this time has taken the formula that’s worked and actually iterated upon it. There’s variation and variety now, each level tries to throw something different at you to keep the action compelling and interesting, and the new dragon levels are so satisfying to play.

There’s an argument to be made that some missions to do a run a bit bloated and the content feels like it’s been filled out a bit towards the mid secton, losing a little bit of steam once the game has shown you most of its new tricks and it’s trying to stick the landing with its story.

But DOOM: The Dark Ages is a fucking blast! It’s enjoyable action – mostly – from start to finish, there’s some smart creativity with the fatalities and killings and everything just feels brilliantly big budget. From watching massive monsters and mechs fighting in the backgrounds, to thousands of bullets sailing towards you at a moments notice. Ground shaking, huge portals, explosions, blood, loads of secrets to uncover, and a difficulty scale to suit all players. And a combat that just works and adds a suitably fresh injection to a format that was starting to stagnate.

Unlike its name suggests, this is a franchise that’s not gone to the dark ages, it’s got a reinvigoration it has so desperately needed!

Verdict

DOOM: The Dark Ages is a thrilling new addition to this blockbuster franchise, that wonderfully dovetails the classic original with the new-age formula, all while adding in a fresh, exciting new approach to combat and exploration. Some content gets a bit bloated midway and this won’t necessarily convince those who didn’t enjoy the previous games, but the inclusion of a shield for blocking and parrying, the dragon and mech missions freshening up the action, as well as a more sandbox, open-ended nature to the missions, gives players old and new plenty to sink their teeth into. All while bopping their head to banging beats and getting their eyes melted by some of the most impressive visuals this generation! 

Pros

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DOOM: The Dark Ages is out now on PC, PS and Xbox.

Played on Xbox Series X

Code Kindly Provided by Bethesda for review purposes