Doom: The Dark Ages is a bigger change for the series than I realised. This isn’t just a ‘Doom in the olden days’ reskin – Doom with a shield and a flail and a furry black Jon Snow cape – but a proper revision of how the series works. Ironically, given the setting, it’s also the most modern-feeling of the Doom games, with a much more pronounced story than we’ve had before, a greatly expanded character-upgrade system that borders on skill-tree territory, and open-zoned sandbox levels you can return to and explore at your own pace. This feels like an experience built from a thicker pitch document than we’ve ever had before. And while I both admire the desire for change, and acknowledge the need for it – Doom Eternal didn’t leave many places to go – I’m not entirely convinced about The Dark Ages yet. There’s undeniable Doom magic here but there are question marks too.
Doom: The Dark AgesDeveloper: id SoftwarePublisher: BethesdaPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Releases 13th May on Game Pass, PC (Windows, Steam), Xbox Series S/X, PS5
At the heart of the new game is the shield, your spinning-bladed new toy, which you receive from the beginning and which serves as a conduit through which all of the game’s new ideas run. The Dark Age’s mantra is “stand and fight” and it’s the shield that enables you to do that. You block with it, parry with it, reflect projectiles with it, throw it, smash walls and solve environmental puzzles with it, and you use it to propel yourself forward like a thundering missile. It is a tool you always have at hand and around which everything is built.
The shield brings a different rhythm to play. Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal were based around movement, around outrunning and outmanoeuvring enemies while you selected the best guns for dealing with them. But Doom: The Dark Ages feels more like Resident Evil 4, as you study the battlefield with your shield up and feet planted, prioritising which targets to take out first. Where are the weak points?
Where are the glowing green enemy attacks you can rebound with your shield with a loud metalling “bong!” if you time it right? Where are the big enemies whose leaping melee attacks you need to parry? Where are the superheated metal shields and armour you can destroy by flinging your shield at them? Are there any large enemies you want to stun by lodging your spinning shield inside them? Do you need to close a gap by shield-charging anyone, or obliterate a group of weaker enemies in the same way? The shield is at the center of it all.