The expectations surrounding Doom: The Dark Ages were quite high prior to the game's release, with id Software having done a fantastic job with the releases of 2016's Doom and Doom Eternal in terms of offering a soft reboot to the iconic shooter series. The recently released project takes the franchise's story long before the events of 2016's Doom, largely showcasing the cataclysmic war between the warriors of Argent D'Nur and the nefarious powers of Hell.
At its core, Doom: The Dark Ages still centers itself around densely packed combat arenas and high-octane gameplay, with the Doom Slayer having an updated arsenal of weapons at his disposal to take on Hell's mightiest. Despite its unique setting, some aspects of Doom: The Dark Ages, such as its over-reliance on the parrying system, have drawn some criticism, yet there is one area of the title that really stands out as a positive. Through things like weapon choice, greater exploration, and a wide range of upgrade pathways, The Dark Ages sets a great bar for player freedom.
Doom: The Dark Ages Leaning Into One Element Makes Perfect Sense
Doom: The Dark Ages contains the expected demon-slaughtering action, but it also takes a turn into some new territory that fits well in the series.
Doom: The Dark Ages Leans More Into Player Freedom in Quite a Few Ways
It was made clear early on in Doom: The Dark Ages' development that exploration was going to be much more open for the project, and many of the title's levels reiterate this development ethos. To match the higher frequency of Doom: The Dark Ages' enemies, many of its levels and individual combat areas are much more open than what players have seen before, allowing fans to dictate their own exploration while leaning into more accessible backtracking to uncover the many secrets that most levels possess.
Doom: The Dark Ages' level secrets can unlock things like extra lives, weapon skins, toys, codex pages, and valuable resources.
This increased freedom for exploration is echoed in Doom: The Dark Ages combat, with weapon choice and upgrade pathways being one particular area of expansion compared to previous games. Each of The Dark Ages' ranged weapons comes with a suite of potential upgrades that can be purchased at Sentinel Shrines, with players choosing from conflicting upgrade pathways to lean into whichever playstyle suits them best on a weapon-by-weapon basis.
Similar upgrade pathways are present for Doom: The Dark Ages' Shield Saw, which has six sequential upgrades alongside 16 rune slots that can be used to modify the Shield's parry mechanic. All of these upgrades for every weapon can be purchased through collectible resources such as gold, rubies, or wraithstones, putting even greater freedom into the player's hands in terms of which specific weapon and upgrade pathways they want to upgrade first and foremost.
Melee Choice and Complete Difficulty Control Exemplifies Doom: The Dark Ages' Freedom
The melee system of The Dark Ages is also quite varied in terms of how the player can take control of it, with several distinct melee weapons being on offer to choose from. Alongside the familiar Power Gauntlet, players can additionally choose between Doom: The Dark Ages' Flail and Dreadmace, further specializing a given playstyle and making the most of the game's consistent medieval imagery.
Away from in-game upgrades, even things like the difficulty options have been revamped for The Dark Ages. Now, players are able to fine-tune difficulty far beyond the usual clear-cut difficulty choices. Alongside a choice of difficulty level, players can alter things like the parry window and enhanced targeting, while having full control of a range of modifiers such as enemy aggression, game speed, resource values, and damage dealt. From the pacing and exploration of the game down to the unique ways that weapons can be tweaked, Doom: The Dark Ages puts player freedom first and foremost, making for a highly specialized, personal, and accessible experience.
DOOM: The Dark Ages
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 86 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
- Released
- May 15, 2025
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
- Developer(s)
- id Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
WHERE TO PLAY
BECOME THE SLAYER IN A MEDIEVAL WAR AGAINST HELL
DOOM: The Dark Ages is the prequel to the critically acclaimed DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal that tells an epic cinematic story worthy of the DOOM Slayer’s legend. In this third installment of the modern DOOM series, players will step into the blood-stained boots of the DOOM Slayer, in this never-before-seen dark and sinister medieval war against Hell.
DOOM: The Dark Ages is a dark fantasy/sci-fi single-player experience that delivers the searing combat and over-the-top visuals of the incomparable DOOM franchise, powered by the latest idTech engine.
REIGN IN HELL
As the super weapon of gods and kings, shred enemies with devastating favorites like the Super Shotgun while also wielding a variety of new bone-chewing weapons, including the versatile Shield Saw. Players will stand and fight on the demon-infested battlefields in the vicious, grounded combat the original DOOM is famous for.
STAND AND FIGHT
Experience an epic story of the DOOM Slayer’s rage in this cinematic and action-packed story. Bound to serve as the super weapon of gods and kings, the DOOM Slayer fends off demon hordes as their leader seeks to destroy the Slayer and become the only one that is feared. Witness the creation of a legend as the Slayer takes on all of Hell and turns the tide of the war.
DISCOVER UNKNOWN REALMS
In his quest to crush the legions of Hell, the Slayer must take the fight to never-before-seen realms. Mystery, challenges, and rewards lurk in every shadow of ruined castles, epic battlefields, dark forests, ancient hellscapes, and worlds beyond. Armed with the viciously powerful Shield Saw, cut through a dark world of menace and secrets in id's largest and most expansive levels to date.
- Engine
- id Tech
- Franchise
- DOOM
- Genre(s)
- FPS, Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PlayStation 5
