By: Daniel Kendle

Hey everyone, welcome back to JOYSTiCK Reviews, the world’s finest video game series for anyone uninterested in actually learning about the topic efficiently. ‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ is the anticipated 3rd game in the modern ‘DOOM’ trilogy, which from a bystander’s perspective likely revolves around kittens collecting balls of colorful yarn. In actuality, you play as the Doom Slayer, an inhumanly-powerful juggernaut set on both conquering all of Hell and maybe even raising some too, who knows.

But how effectively doth the player raiseth Hell? Haveth the franchise runneth dry after all these years? And how many of these “th” suffixes can I inserteth into this review before my editor yells at me? Well, this is JOYSTiCK Reviews, I am Mr. Whatshisname, and I can confidently answer 2 of those questions in due time, with the third pending. So without further ado, let’s taketh a look.

‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ is the third entry in the recent ‘DOOM’ trilogy of games, seceding ‘DOOM’ and ‘DOOM: Eternal.’ The 3 games are interesting in that they all have fairly-distinct gameplay from one another, despite all being first-person shooters.

The minute-to-minute gameplay in ‘Dark Ages’ is what’ll be the main focus of this review, due to it also being the game’s main focus. Like past titles, the game is split into many different levels. They’re unlocked one-by-one, with a total of 19 to complete by the end of the campaign. The main difference between this new batch of levels from older ones is ‘Dark Ages’s’ focus on more open area design for its different chapters, delineating from older, more linear levels like in ‘Eternal.’

While the main moniker for the latter’s combat was “Rip and Tear,” the former instead relies on the mantra of ‘Stand and Fight.’ These more open areas, while maybe less tightly-packed with collectibles and enemies, propagate ‘Dark Ages’s’ new tagline for its combat. Demons are usually found in spread-out hordes, like troops in some medieval battle. Collectibles, like health and stamina packs, gold, and ammo pickups follow suit, though often remain solitary from each other. These choices promote the player to intricately-explore each level, probing it for loot instead of marching straight to the end flag.

With spaced-out enemies also comes new ways to bash their brains in, of course. The main addition is the Shield Saw, with which you can not only block incoming attacks, but also throw to cut through foes or activate grappling systems. This is a great addition to the flow of combat. If you think of shooting guns as your “A” method of attacking, the Shield works elegantly as a “B” option to close in on opponents. Since you’re able to both shoot and throw the Shield at the same time, you’re able to effectively multi-task killing demons, which always feels awesome. A truly great feature indeed.

The shield introduced another staple of the game: parrying. Upon attacking, most enemies will briefly display a bright green light, meaning they can be parried. Unrealistic, sure (my uncle’s never glowed green when pouncing me for not mowing the lawn) but it gives some depth to combat outside of gunning down foes. The caveat to this is that parrying eventually becomes a bit dull, the player usually being able to confidently-master punishing every enemy’s attack. It’s a mixed bag of a system for sure, but a fun one still.

Guns are still great to shoot; their damage combined with the game’s sound design makes them all feel wonderful to wield. My favorite is the Ravager, personally: you grind up human skulls to fire out in a concentrated spread, with its speed increasing the longer you hold down the trigger. In addition, weapons can also be given unique effects that alter gameplay, though from my experience, not that much. Usually they require gold to unlock, but some “stronger” effects cost unique currency like Rubies and Wraithstones. That being said, these stronger modifiers still never broke past being cute novelties for me, so the grind to pay for them never felt super rewarding.

Aside from straight-up first-person shooting, there are 2 other central modes of combat: Atlan and Dragon segments. These are easily the most controversial of this game’s new additions, with some liking them and some not. Then, of course, there’s those who land somewhere in the middle – like me.

The dragon segments are the better of the pair. They usually take up an entire level’s space, unlike the Atlan segments who take up to only around half. You’re basically just given control of a draconian steed: you can fly, ascend up and down, and even shoot projectiles. They also come with their own parrying system, where you dodge green attacks by flicking the stick a certain direction, which increases your projectile damage for a short time.

These sections are pretty fun, in my opinion. What makes these segments more fun than Atlan ones are how the game’s enemies and objectives alter around it. To account for your new freedom in the air, enemy ships will appear that you have to chase down and shoot. The aforementioned dodging mechanic is another change. Finally, missions (level-exclusive objectives to be completed for rewards) vary when you’re flying. All these and more make the Dragon levels more distinct from regular shooting, and therefore more worthwhile.

Atlan segments I have less to say about, since there’s less to really examine. You take control of a giant mech, and fill up a meter by using different attacks. Then, you can unleash these more powerful moves for…more damage. I’m not really sure what the idea here was; it comes across as half-baked as a result of its simplicity. They’re fine, but take up space that I think could’ve been used for a more complex new system, or even just more FPS levels.

Overall, the gameplay in ‘Dark Ages’ is worthwhile in experimentation with the genre. That’s not to say every new idea works (it’s fallacious, honestly), but what does soars. While faulty in areas, it’s definitely a game whose systems you ought to try out for yourself.

Gameplay is easily the most extensive area to cover, so let’s rapid-fire through these next departments!

The graphics have taken a solid jump in polish since ‘Eternal’ in 2020. The move to the next generation of consoles likely aided in this, and I’ve seen a fair amount of character design comparisons between games subsequently. That’s not to say that newer hardware automatically improves art direction, but hey – it’s always a factor. The only true problem I have with the graphics is the lack of variety in environments: the game seems to have the term “Dark Ages” locked-in, as most landscapes primarily-consist of grays and browns. They’re still pretty to look at, but besides some late-game levels they’re all pretty homogenous.

The sound direction is an immediate hit, however. I mentioned it briefly before, but the punch of gunshots, tearing of flesh and impacts of melee attacks all combine to have the game drip with satisfying audio. It may seem simple, but that’s just because ‘Dark Age’s’ sound effects are so smoothly-implemented. This – and the rest of the modern ‘DOOM’ trilogy, really – are masterclasses in sound design and mixing in games.

The music’s more of a mixed bag. The composer for ‘DOOM’ (2016) and ‘Eternal,’ Mick Gordon, left after the last entry due to mistreatment by Bethesda. Their replacement, Finishing Move Inc., did the best they could but simply can’t compare to Gordon’s work on the last games. What we do have is still good, but c’mon: you can’t beat synthesized chainsaws as instruments. You just can’t.

I think that’s enough for today. We’ve covered a decent bit of ground, though this game’s intricate shooting left me wanting to leave some for you to find out about. Oh, what’s that? You thought I forgot about the game’s bosses? My apologies, but you must be mistaken; ‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ took another creative liberty: replacing all but the final boss with planks of wood.

I do actually like the final boss quite a bit, despite being a bit underwhelming. The other bosses you fight throughout the campaign I found pretty dull, though, nothing worth discussing in depth. It’s here where parrying became its least compelling, truthfully.

Nonetheless, ‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ is still a great time. Perfect? No, and there’s certainly objective problems to critique, but what I can praise is how the game delineates from what came before. It truly feels separate from the others, carving out its own identity through new gameplay ideas. I’m therefore giving the game an 8/10.

That’s all for today’s review, however. ‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ is available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.