I have to give props to id Software – this is the third DOOM game in this new series, and so far each one has felt distinctly different. Still DOOM, sure, but with major gameplay differences. It’s a ballsy choice because there’s already a divide among the fanbase, some preferring the simpler DOOM 2016 while others view DOOM Eternal’s difficult but rewarding resource-management and shooting as peak FPS.

DOOM: The Dark Ages does not buck this trend of changing things up. It ditches the constant weapon-swapping of DOOM Eternal, eases off the accelerator just a touch, and is without a doubt the easiest of the trilogy. Perhaps it’s something of an overreaction on id Software’s part to Eternal because of players getting filtered by systems and difficulty, even while others adored it. Simply said, I think if you liked DOOM 2016 but bounced off of DOOM: Eternal then I think you’ll enjoy The Dark Ages.

Available On: Xbox, PC, PlayStationReviewed On: PCDeveloped By: id SoftwarePublished By: Xbox Games Studios

Review code provided by keymailer and Bethesda

The Dark Ages is set somewhere between the events of DOOM 64 and the 2016 DOOM soft reboot, or in other words, it takes place between the Doom Guy opting to stay hell and the sarcophagus we find him in at the start of DOOM 2016. Going in, I actually assumed it would be an origin story, showing (rather than telling) how the relatively powerful Doom Guy became the God-like Doom Slayer. It does address this a little, but for the most part this is the Slayer with all his insane power, albeit technically canonically weaker than we have seen him in DOOM: Eternal. Not that you can tell.

This also feels like the most story-heavy of the new DOOM games, adding quite a lot to the lore and introducing a bunch of characters. And yet I struggle to find much to say about it because the way it is written and delivered is forgettable. At about the halfway point, the plot hits a new level of crazy and my brain shut-off, refusing to take in any more information, even while the game launched into a lengthy cutscene by the series’ standards. I respect id for trying to inject more plot into DOOM and I’m sure the lore-lovers out there will be happy, but I’m here to deliver shotgun blasts to skulls, not to ponder a fleshed-out DOOM universe where I have to remember people’s names.

During the build-up toward release, id Software were sure to describe this as a slower game featuring a Slayer more akin to a tank than the fighter jet he was in DOOM: Eternal. “Stand and fight” they cried, emphasizing the extra focus on smashing shit in the face rather than just shooting shit in the face. And yes, it is probably a slower game overall compared to Eternal, but that’s kind of like saying a street-legal Lamborghini is slow compared to an F1 car – absolutely true, but both of them are still fast as fuck. The Dark Ages is not a slow game, and is actually more consistent in its speed thanks to the sprint button. Now, I can go fast whenever I damn well please, and can still parry, shoot and hurl my shield while doing so. The generous range on the shield bash also makes it laughably easy to get up close and personal to a demon’s face. And then it’s skull. And then brains. And then the open air on the other side. Point is, while I did sometimes stand and fight, a lot of the time I was blitzing around the levels like I had commitment issues and the ground was a frustrated girlfriend.

The Slayer has picked up some new tricks for this game, rocking a chainsaw shield like he watched the MCU and decided to cosplay as Captain America, except without the aversion to decapitating enemies with a flying death frisbee. Hurling the shield is as easy as tapping a button, and it’ll decimate fodder enemies without even slowing down. For bigger enemies, the shield will chew into their flesh for a few seconds, leaving them stunned. It can even be used to blast apart armour when it starts to glow in a satisfying show of sparks and armour shards.

But the shield’s real party trick is its ability to parry green attacks, sending them hurtling back toward the enemy. This can activate special runes and abilities, like triggering a bolt of lightening or causing a small auto-sentry to pop up on the Slayer’s shoulder. At first, it felt odd to be parrying incoming attacks – like someone had injected Dark Souls into my DOOM – but it quickly became second-nature to bounce attacks back. It also’s probably the biggest example of how easy this DOOM feels compared to DOOM Eternal. Even with the difficulty ramped up, death doesn’t come often, and the parry window is beyond generous without heading to the difficulty sliders and making it harder. Even then, though, parrying attacks is a breeze. Eternal wanted you to work hard to feel awesome, but The Dark Ages just wants you to feel awesome regardless.

Fitting in with the fantasy aesthetic, the cape-wearing Slayer has gained an extra appreciation for hitting things. Armed with a couple of selectable melee weapons unlocked through the game, the Slayer hits like a truck. Weirdly, though, melee is treated like a gun in that it has “charges” you need to refill by picking up ammo. The flail, for example, has three charges before you run out and can’t hit stuff anymore. Because of that, I actually found myself using the melee system far less than I was expecting.

That’s fine, though, because this is a DOOM game and I’m here for the gunplay. There’s the usual selection of armaments to play around with like the iconic super-shotgun, which actually feels more dangerous than ever, along with awesome new additions like a rapid-firing machine gun that crushes skulls and fires the bone fragments. Since you don’t have to quickly swap between them like you did in Eternal to get ammo, there’s more room to grow attached to specific weapons and upgrade them. The downside to that, of course, is that you can find yourself sticking to just a couple of guns rather than exploring the full breadth of what’s on offer.

One odd change is the removal of awesome glory kills, replacing with them a weird kick that sometimes doesn’t connect properly or doesn’t even kill the enemy outright. According to id, the idea here was to improve the flow of the gameplay by not locking players into rigid, lengthy kill animations. I can see the logic behind this, but the glory kills never really felt like they were interrupting the action, and these weird kicks that have replaced them actually feel more awkward and far less satisfying.

The upgrade systems feels decent in this DOOM and it gives you a decent reason to check behind every nook and cranny for gold bars.

Overall, this DOOM feels like it sits in the middle between DOOM 2016’s pretty straightforward shooting, and DOOM Etenal’s puzzle-like action. I’ve seen some of the comparisons online and how The Dark Ages seems to be almost as divisive as Eternal was, but all I can tell you is that I had a blast for the entirety of the 10 hour campaign. Admittedly toward the end the action was starting to fade a little, purely because the combat doesn’t continue to evolve in the same way Eternal did. And I found the weapon switching to be a little slow. Those small gripes aside, though, I was having a blast, even if I would still rank Eternal has the strongest of the trilogy in terms of pure game design, even while probably having raw fun with The Dark Ages.

DOOM: The Dark Ages breaks up the frantic, gory action in a number of ways, including introducing a few semi-open spaces (don’t worry, they aren’t massive) where you can spend some extra time tackling optional stuff, finding secrets and even fighting bonus bosses for upgrades. But the big way it likes to break up the action is by tossing you into a mech or onto the back of a dragon. Yes, you read that right – the Doom Slayer gets to go all Pacific Rim and beat the shit out of demons using giant mech, and then ride around on fantasy dragon decked out in cybernetic augments. Somewhere, sometime, 14-year-old me is doing one hell of a happy dance.

The pure spectacle and scale of both the dragons and the mechs is absolutely fantastic. The first time you punch a building-sized demon or soar through the skies on a drag is epic. However, in terms of gameplay both types of section are a little weapon. The mechs are decent, having you just punch the shit out of demons and then dodge attacks before unleashing power moves. It’s fun in a mindless way, but toward the end of the game the novely has worn off.

As for the dragons, flying around feels good the moments where you are chasing down demon ships by hurtling through tight corridors is a lot of fun, especially because the sense of speed is so good. Combat is less fun because you lock-on and then awkwardly hover in place, dodging big glowing attacks and holding down the fire button until whatever it is dies. When I imagine dragon combat in my head, hovering in place and dodging to the side is not what I imagined. But I do like that the dragon levels often have you landing and going on foot as well.

One thing I do miss is the levity of the past two games. Neither DOOM 2016 or Eternal were comedic games, by any stretch of the imagination, but each of them had funny moments. The Dark Ages, though, takes itself 100% seriously at all times outside of the absurdity of the violence.

One aspect where the story does not fail, though, is its never-ending—nay, almost overly tryhard—quest to make the Slayer the most badass of badasses, a walking bastion of indomitable power draped in so much aura that even Chuck Norris would think twice about fucking with him. In fact, the game puts so much effort into ensuring that the Slayer is the baddest thing walking that it can border on being cringey, but that’s just part of the fun.

You hear those slamming drumbeats and those pounding guitar rhythms? yeah, DOOM: The Dark Ages still goes hard on the metal, giving us an adrenaline-pumping soundtrack designed to fuel gym sessions and ultra-violence. But between Eternal and this game, composed Mick Gordon left amidst a heap of controversy, and while still excellent, this new soundtrack is definitely missing something special. DOOM 2016 and Eternal both had a little extra flair that the Dark Ages is missing. That said, I do wonder if its the knowledge that Gordon is composing that’s making me like it a little less. If I hadn’t known that Gordon had left going into The Dark Ages, would I have even noticed?

In terms of performance, The Dark Ages generally ran pretty well. It’s another game that requires a ray-tracing capable card right out of the gate, something which seems set to become the norm, so that might be a sticking point for anyone running an older GPU. Provided you meet the requirements, though, it runs smoothly enough. I had one crash, but otherwise the game was stable and held a consistent framerate. In short, I don’t have any major complaints, although I did note some problems being reported on Steam, so as always do your homework.

Will it split the fanbase again? Absolutely. The Dark Ages makes big swings — slower pace, less difficulty, more story, fewer glory kills — and not everyone’s going to be into that. But for my money, it’s a worthy continuation of id’s mission to keep DOOM evolving. It might not be peak Slayer, but it’s still a brutally fun time that earns its place in the series. Just don’t expect to be challenged the same way Eternal did — this one’s more about feeling powerful than becoming powerful.