In the Shadow of Eternal
One of the most appealing things about the 2016 Doom revival was how refreshingly straightforward it was in terms of presentation and gameplay. Tutorials and story-based cinematics were largely ditched in favor of just getting players right into the thick of it while the combat strategy was simple: shoot, cut, and bludgeon demons until they went down. To paraphrase Predator, if it bleeds, you could kill it. And boy, oh boy, did things in that game bleed.
Doom Eternal kept the overarching sensibilities and aesthetics from its 2016 predecessor intact, but started to reintegrate things like narrative cinematics, tutorials, and more deliberately strategic combat. By the game’s DLC epilogue, The Ancient Gods, there were platforming sequences as key parts of level navigation and progression. Eternal was definitely well received overall, but not without purists grumbling about every change since the revival.
The Dark Ages doubles down on many of these elements, particularly the emphasis on storytelling and strategic combat. This isn’t just boots-on-the-ground, blasting-anything-that-moves action, but an incorporation of the new gameplay mechanics to survive and overcome enemy defenses. The Dark Ages is also the first entry in the franchise to include vehicle sections in the form of a giant mech and a flying dragon. While these sequences fit the tone and aesthetics of Doom, traditionalists may balk at the idea of the Doom Slayer resorting to vehicle-based combat.
Having said that, rest assured, those sequences are absolutely metal as hell and more casual or open-minded fans are going to have a thrill trying out these new toys.
Shield of the Slayer
The most prominent of these new toys is the Shield Saw, a bladed round shield that can protect the Slayer from incoming attacks as well as boasting its own variety of attacks and features. This includes, most notably, a parry mechanic that’s key to the combat gameplay, reflecting projectile attacks back at enemies and staggering physical attacks, leaving opponents vulnerable. The parry is probably the biggest sign of the times making their way into the Doom, echoing any number of Soulslike titles, recent fighting games, or even the 2023 Resident Evil 4 remake.
The rest of the weaponry is largely fantasy variations on familiar weapons from the franchise’s history, whether it’s the brass knuckles getting replaced by a spiked gauntlet or a machine gun that grinds skulls to provide itself with ammunition. Even if the usual environmental trappings are altered from past, more sci-fi oriented Doom games, The Dark Ages is still very much a Doom game.
