Review: Doom: The Dark Ages (First-Time Doom Player Perspective)

I'm a first time Doom player with Doom: The Dark Ages and here’s my review

Playtime - 18 hours, Platform - Xbox Series X

Gameplay: A Bloody Thrill

Coming in blind, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Doom: The Dark Ages hooked me with its fast-paced combat.
I Played the game in Hurt Me Plenty difficulty and the game lets you customize all kinds of game settings right the very beginning. You can adjust how much damage you take, how much damage you deal, you parry window timing and much more.

The biggest gripe for me in the gameplay was the sense of repetition, while I understand that it's need in video games, there was no need to make objectives where you need to hunt for 3 tentacles to get out of a Monster's stomach, if they could have just made it to hunt for only 1 tentacle, the gameplay would have felt a lot better.

Weapons - Made for Hell

Armed with a Shield Saw that doubles as a defensive tool and a blade of death, letting you block attacks, parry for stuns, or chuck it like a lethal frisbee - doesn't it sound fun? I can tell you it was absolutely fun.

Slayer's arsenal had Super Shotgun, flail, bone-firing Skull Crusher, Shredder, Grenade Launcher to name a few and they all have a supreme version of them that you can switch to on the fly. It is gloriously over-the-top, and tearing through demons with gory kill is oddly satisfying. Slayer is also equipped with a melee weapon that you can use to do a massive damage but they were limited by refills so you couldn't use them whenever you wanted.

Every tool in Slayer's box could be upgraded for a maximum impact and in order to upgrade them you need to explore as much as possible to find the resources needed for upgrading the tools (Gold & Gems).

Oh and you could also pilot a giant Mech!

Combat

Combat in the game is just awesome. A Shield Saw to defend and slice enemies and range of guns to choose from combined with the melee weapons is a hell for Slayer's enemies.
I upgraded the weapon and runes of my choice to it's max capabilities and had fun running around with them!

Piloting a mechanical dragon or a mech was jaw-dropping and every time I came across those levels I made the most of it to elevate my fun in the game.

My only gripe is that the combat, while awesome, can feel repetitive by the 12-14 hour mark, and I wasn’t always sure which weapon was best for which enemy so i just upgraded a couple of weapons and used them everywhere.

Level Design and Pacing of the Game

The 22 chapters/levels have tight arenas with open “sandbox” areas, keeping battles varied. I loved exploring for secrets like gold (for upgrades) or extra lives, though some levels felt long, with backtracking for keys that dragged the pace.

You could also find Toys and Codex but I didn't find much meaning in them so I didn't really hunt them down.

Story and Atmosphere

Without any prior Doom context, the story was easy to digest. You play as the Doom Slayer, a mythic figure crafted by celestial beings to fight Hell’s forces. The way the cut-scenes are written and delivered made me feel like I'm playing God of War games.
The heavy metal music in the background all the time set the tone for the game, in way it always nudged you to keep you pace up and get through as many enemies as possible.

Some characters felt flat and I don't think they were aiming for building characters, their main focus was to make Slayer as cool as possible. The story as a whole was not substantial but was enough to keep it all together.

Overall Impression of the game

In my play through of the game, I always kept thinking 'What a cool game'! It's a game that probably makes a newbie fall in love with the video games. The game was bug free for me.

Doom: The Dark Ages is a thrilling entry point to the franchise, with heart-pounding combat, a killer aesthetic, and a story that hooked me despite some flat characters.

It held really well and kept me excited almost all the time except for parts of the game where one task was done one too many times and made it feel repetitive.

About the Author

Spawn loves video games and writing about it. He aims to deliver latest info, news, clips and conversations through his various social accounts

Spawn