Doom: The Dark Ages Review: Rip and Tear Medieval Style
FPS was kind of dying; supine under the weight of a thousand imitators of cover shooters, waddled away by regenerating health. Then id Software came crashing back deep into fist-to-face with Doom in 2016. This wasn’t a reboot; it was an exorcism. Gone were the tired tropes, replaced by a symphony of demon screams and shotgun blasts. Forget hiding behind walls; Doom demanded aggression, rewarding players who dared to dance with death in a bloody ballet of bullets and gibs. It was a mad, jubilant reminder of the sheer fun that FPS ever brought.
Ten years later, that is to say, in the resurrection, Doom is back once more now with three bloodied acts. 2016’s Doom was truly a ballet of bullets, brutal and inspiring recollections of what defines the series at its very core. The Doom Eternal turned everything up to eleven, with layers of climbing carnage and grinding strategy. Now, buckle as this Dark Ages might finally unleash some medieval mayhem on May 15 at all digital stores. Forget those future gears for this Doom; it is a much rawer, bone-crunching steel symphony of immortal demon annihilation. It being “grounded” does not mean “slow”; expect the same gut-wrenching, fast-paced gunplay, with a more primal aesthetic set to the fore.
Gone is the platforming.Doom: The Dark Agesdrapes the Slayer into a deadly ballet from which he tries to escape-a ballet of bone-crushing melee and metal-shaking loudness. Yes, your array of demon-dismantling delights returns, but they are presently supporting characters staged in the symphony of destruction led by theShield Saw. It is not just a weapon-forged in blood-so much as being an extension of the Slayer himself, almost literally grafted onto his left arm and coursing with crimson energy. Defense, offense, movement-the Shield SawisDoom. It is amazing how a single piece of iron-shouting anguish-alters the entire game. While it does falter in few places, they’re mere flesh wounds.Doom: The Dark Agesis still a wonderful gore-soaked roller-coaster ride through Hell.
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No intricate plot of sorts here, becauseThe Dark Agestrades narrative for pure gut-wrenching thrills. While context might detract from exceedingly brutal action in its unrelenting course, however, the game would have welcomed some worthy story beats to solidify the fearsome weight of its unchecked violence. As a prequel toDoomandDoom Eternal, the game immerses players into the middle of Argent D’Nur, the foreboding homeworld of the Night Sentinels. A hellish war erupts in full fury with the heart of Argent, an artifact promising utmost power, as their ultimate comfortable squeeze.
Hell’s legions, under the merciless leadership of Azhrak, Prince of Hell, now threatened to engulf the Night Sentinels. In response, the ancient Maykrs set the stage for the release of the ultimate weapon: the Doom Slayer! This creature was one of a fearsome kind, mind-chained, and hurled into the inferno to keep the Heart of Argent safe. The battlefields became the canvases of carnage, with the Slayer cutting through the demonic horde. But the tides of war are ever-changing. There had begun to be the faintest few whispers of rebellion within the Slayer himself, the Maykr’s will begins to loosen, alliances fracture, and the dark secret that lay buried deep within the Heart of Argent begins to awaken.
In Doom: The Dark Ages, you take on the army of Hell Photo Credit: Bethesda/ id Software
For the Doom veterans,The Dark Ageslevel adds more to the lore, weaving an exciting tapestry of history involving Slayer, Maykr, and Night Sentinel as a prelude to coming confrontations. Newcomers might find the story a tad underwhelming. But do not worry;The Dark Agestells a compelling story in its wondrous world. Imagine sprawling medieval cities perched upon huge cybernetic dragons. Think of ambiance and storming through the gates of Hell itself; that is one level of visual storytelling.
Each level is a vibrant brushstroke that paints the canvas for your war against Hell, grounding the narrative in breathtaking locales. Argent D’Nur turns you loose in a labyrinth of barracks and command stations: a dense, vertical maze waiting to be unraveled. Afterward, the walls crack and collapse, giving way to roaring forest gardens and dying villages that whisper the tales of old. Cutscenes interrupt the gameplay occasionally: dramatic interludes that throw the curtain back to reveal the next act of your infernal drama.
Doom: The Dark Ages takes place on the ancient world of Argent D’Nur Photo Credit: Bethesda/ Screeenshot – Manas Mitul
Forget space marines. Forget plasma rifles. Here we see id Software unwilling to be dragged kicking and screaming out of the bloody medieval nightmare. The Doom Slayer is reborn. Still an unrelenting force against the demons we all love, just now imagine the hybrid term for cybernetic Terminator meets Viking berserker. A fur-clad warrior, shield held high, his flail whirlpools through legions of hellspawn.Thatis the Slayer, a primal engine of destruction let loose. The coreDoomexperience fast, frenzied, and gory carnage is there, but it’s been fine-tuned, toxified, and reborn by going through the fires of a lost age. Enter medieval mayhem.
The Slayer is all muscle and steel now, every movement an expression of raw, brutal intent. Close-range strikes don’t hit or glancing blow; theyshatter. The Shield Saw is life, death, and destruction, barely distinguishable from the Slayer’s arm, a snarling statement of sheer brutality. There is no equipping or unequipping; itisthe Slayer. If you master the Shield Saw, you master the battlefield. The lethal green gleam to incoming fire, savage strikes? It’s not a warning; it’s an invitation. A perfectly timed parry, combined with that visceralthunkof metal clapping upon steel, will stagger foes, leaving them vulnerable and almost pleading for the final blow. Truly a defense is the deadliest offense.
The Doom Slayer comes with a shield and a cape Photo Credit: Bethesda/ id Software
Skip the dodging. Doom: The Dark Ages, however, slides the opposite type of gauntlet in the ring, literally a reinforced steel gauntlet. So much for the unfair parry window as Hell unleashes all its might. For the defense, turning the fury of hell in its face is actually the interesting thing. Imagine skillfully filtering through a storm of scarlet projectiles, only for the very last couple of near-misses to have a green blast meeting the shield head-on. For that brief moment, Doom goes a little crazy toward bullet-hell territory.
More than mere protection, the shield became the channel for runic power. Use your parries creatively to cause havoc while an entire horde disappears into a crimson mist. All hell breaks loose with the Shield Saw. No more subtlety here: preparing his shield as a buzzsaw frisbee to carve through fodder demons. Against titans of hell, Shield Saw becomes a nasty embedded weakness, a spinning billboard of vulnerability asking to be followed with bullets. In the last act of defiance, it returns to your grasp, bearing the proud stain of your brutalities, much like Mjolnir summoned to its master.
The Shield Saw accomplishes much more than simply cutting enemies down. Prepare to turn the arena into a medieval playground! Now equipped with his shield for traversal, Doom Slayer trades agility for raw power. With furious force, he becomes a human battering ram, destroying everything in his path as he rockets across the arena. Lock onto a demonic target, release the saw, and ride the frenzied death missile forth to slaughter weaker demons and stagger the bigger ones. Want to reach that hidden ledge? The Shield Saw works as a grappling hook, locking onto anchor points and pulling you through to secret areas.
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The shield is locked to your left hand, guns on the right Photo Credit: Bethesda/ Screeenshot – Manas Mitul
Humming on your left arm is an energy shield, protecting the bearer against sinisters from Hell. But your right hand? That’s where the real symphony of annihilation starts. And truly, this would be a Doom without weapons that redefine overkill. So forget peashooters; you hold tools for exquisite demon dismemberment. The combat shotgun is but due respect. You will soon be performing a violent sonata with the Pulverizer, a gun that kills demons and then pulverizes their bones to confetti. Feeling a little medieval? The Chainshot waits, an iron fist with spikes on a chain, just itching to administer concussive skull fractures. Or does precision inspire you? The Impaler fires metal stakes with pinpoint accuracy, converting demon heads into pincushions of pain. This is not merely a war on Hell; this is an art form.
The ballistic ballet efficiently begins right here. Vanilla carnage is passé: the brutal upgrade maze awaits you inDoom: The Dark Ages. Each of these weapons follows some severely twisted evolution, unlocking truly brutal synergies: Chainshot parries, shield throws set off explosive chain reactions, and melee attacks that are kind of a mercy to demons. Want to become the Chainshot god? Parry the attacks, get the instant-charge perk, and use your shield as a combo starter. On par with that, my personal favorite has to be the Shredder Ricochet: just imagine burying your Shield Saw into a demon, and then, with a deft finesse, deflect its own projectiles right back into the faces of other demons, turning a single kill into a glorious dance of gore-soaked chain reaction. Bigger guns are not the only attraction here-but transformation of this game into a stage for carnage and a symphony of destruction.
Weapon upgrades bring meaningful combat synergies Photo Credit: Bethesda/ id Software
Forget rushing to the finish line! To fully pour out a character’s strength, spotlighting your powers will completely turn into a treasure hunt. It is your shield and guns that beg for an upgrade, along with the perfect array of melee weapons: a gauntlet, a flail, and a mace. Waiting for such upgrades are hidden treasure chests filled with gold, glistening rubies, and faintly wraith stones, scattered on every level. One can even dub it as a puzzle inside a battleground. Forgeting the glorious beckoning of the objective marker, go forth and explore! Secrets guard their treasures with riddles from the environment and the demanding sequences of platforming. But they tell me, it’s very much worth your time. Upgrades to your weapon and shield aren’t mere buff stats; in fact, they are stage-setters for your whole way of playing. Umbilically, this makes exploration less of a chore and more of a tactical advantage. I went mad for it, dissected the automap with a fine-tooth comb, and was determined to find every collectible in the game, achieving the sweet 100% completion mark in each level, and that power surge is addicting.
Every level is, in essence, an individual combat zone. Some battlefield is a mighty arena under the sun, underlaid with objectives tucked away in the furthest corners of the world; those who dared explore were often cruelly rewarded with some grim surprise. Thereafter, there is the other ballgame-a minimum-sized grid where corridors wind in several directions and collapse onto each other, becoming an endless paroxysm of demonic encounters. Even the arenas change shape: one moment, you are in the middle of an open field; the next, you are caged, pressured into applying your violent gifts to gain release. Always and forever, the Slayer is the apex predator in those arenas an ecclesiastical janitor who simply prefers to rip and tear nasty demons, cleaning infernal whites with evident priority.
Indoor areas are detailed and offer a stark contrast to outdoor regions Photo Credit: Bethesda/ Screeenshot – Manas Mitul
A demon unleashed to hold sway over the battleground! Craft an unstoppable warrior by perfecting your skills, forcibly using your arsenal, and defeating bosses with sheer brutality by way of the Shield Saw. Become a force of nature in the rampage of bosses unleashed over the display of might-the counter rare power fantasy in games.
This is not just a symphony for dramatizing gameplay: parrying attacks kicks off with the clang of a giant Turkish gong, while a charge through a sea of demons unleashes an enormous fury. Go airborne for a moment, mute all sound as you rocket down like a huge guided missile crash with the earth-shaking impact of a tank, and then shockwaves will ripple down the battlefields.
The soundtrack, this time around, works out to be a hard disappointment, so much so that one longs for the return of Mick Gordon’s stupendous pulse-pounding works-almost drowning away with the demon screams. It was music by formula, bereft of the visceral personality or signature style that put ears to previous installments. In fact, rather than crank up the chaos, the soundtrack faded behind, almost like a rumble somewhere far. Even the gore kills, once an elaborate ballet of blood and bones, now feel oddly diminished-a melancholy finish to an arduous triumph. The silence, therefore, says it all.
Doom: The Dark Ages changes up the pace with dragon and mech levels Photo Credit: Bethesda/ Screeenshot – Manas Mitul
The game misses being all adult without peculiar charm in two interventions put forth by the game itself: to be natural in the skies flying a cyberdragon with aerial combat and crude land-leveling brawling with a huge Atlan mech. These fleeting frills give a momentary thrill to the main riot. But down deep, they are shallow. These portions rank big show over deeply varied mechanics and thus highlight the big action. Thank God these dragon-riding and mech-piloting interludes are very short and rare to be able to be fizzled away from the glory of demon-slaying mayhem.
Doom: The Dark Ages doesn’t simply raise the bar; in fact, it may well destroy it in the visual department. Id Software has conjured a masterpiece with the ID Tech 8 engine. In short, we are dealing with a rip-your-guts-out gorgeous tapestry woven with exquisite detail. Demon designs stand as grotesque masterpieces; environments throb with varied hellish life; and then there’s just plain ol’ good gore–that utterly gratifyingly over-the-top symorgy of carnage worthy of the very lifeblood of the game’s medieval sci-fi core. The vistas, now that will glass your mind away. Every outdoor level unfolds into breathtaking skyboxes, bigger-than-life paintings capturing the eternal war against Hell. In the world of PS5, it is an uninterrupted balletic destruction at 60fps, without a single darn stutter to disrupt immersion.
Levels in Doom: The Dark Ages feature stunning vistas Photo Credit: Bethesda/ Screeenshot – Manas Mitul
Forget whatever you thought was true.Doom: The Dark Agesis not some sequel formed on conventional terms; it’s an execution-style re-interpretation. This is often looked upon as some third child in a fiery trilogy, and that is a grave mistake. The game simply isn’tDoomplaying safe. It’sDoomgoing full medieval savagery with sci-fi firepower in an orchestra of destruction the likes of which has never been heard. Buckle up for a glorious gore-fest evolution. This world is not just some gauntlet; it is a spiked fist at expectations.
The gates of Hell slam open, unleashing chapters of grand storytelling, going in the direction of somewhat dull-cutscenes yet. But let’s forget the mishandling of the story; by now, fighting has become blood-and-bullet ballet. Enter the Shield Saw: the deciding element ofDoomcombat. It is a shield for the chainsaw. Need we say more?
Bad blood has just been freshly spilled andThe Dark Agesis about to treat veteran players to the visceral thrills. But it is not something recycled. Open levels with an outright ludicrous difficulty setting open up a “mosh pit” for the fresh recruits. Hell to choose from: a cakewalk of demon slaying or a white-knuckle dance with death.
Doom: The Dark Agesis like a rarity in a world of endless grinds. It is pure fun, the good kind. Fluid, dynamic movement and combat with a heavy dose of demon dismemberment: isn’t that whatDoomstands for?
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