Doom: The Dark Ages – an 'exhilarating' prequel

When you've created "Doom (2016)" and "Doom Eternal", two of the most highly regarded shooters of the last decade, what do you do next? Announce a prequel, said Phil Iwaniuk in Top Gear. The easy option for game developer id Software would have been to add a few extra levels while keeping the systems and mechanics "untouched". But, far from playing it safe, "Doom: The Dark Ages" "veers wildly into new territory".

So many new options have been introduced that "simply aiming a gun at something and pulling the trigger feels somehow unimaginative". From timed parries to melee attacks and a throwable razor shield, the game is bursting with combat mechanics.

While 2020's "Eternal" challenged players to pick off their enemies one at a time, "The Dark Ages" allows you to "obliterate dozens of demons simultaneously", said Rick Lane in The Guardian. "Ripping and tearing is out. Blunt force trauma is in."

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While the "slower pace", "less stringent toolset" and emphasis on "standing your ground" doesn't create the same "adrenaline rush", it's a "fascinating reformulation" of the game's core ideas – and figuring how to best use all of the new weapons is a lot of "fun". Instead of "resting on its laurels", id Software has pushed boundaries by releasing a "much more experimental" shooter.

"Rarely do I find myself skipping cutscenes," said Sean Migalla in Screen Rant, but "I couldn't wait to jump back into the action". The shield charge is a particularly "satisfying" addition to the weapons line-up: as well as closing the gap between you and your enemies, it keeps the action moving "quickly and smoothly".

The Plasma Rifle and Super Shotgun are still there "with some slight changes" but it's the Pulverizer that "had me the most excited", said Anthony Franklin II in Vice. "You can shoot skull chips at your enemies. Skull chips." And whoever decided to dress the new, beefier Doom Sayer in a fur cape "deserves an astronomical raise". The way he gears up for battle is "seared into my brain".

It's a "successful" transition, said Morgan Parker in PC Gamer but the new game is not without "sacrifice". Like its predecessors, "The Dark Ages" is "indulgent and deliciously violent". However it's "undeniably the easiest of the trilogy" and feels somewhat "dumbed down", with "uncharacteristically barren" maps and "obvious" puzzles.

There are "cool little moments" sprinkled throughout the 22 levels, like "dogfighting with hellships", but the "peaks are lower". It seems that id Software has listened to feedback that "Doom Eternal" was too "complicated" but I fear "The Dark Ages" is an "overcorrection".

Still, it's the "strongest 'Doom' story there's ever been", said Mitchell Saltzman in IGN. Players are transported to a series of "hellish landscapes" as the history of conflict between humans and demons is fleshed out. The prequel is certainly "heavier" than its predecessor but it's "energetic and exhilarating" nonetheless. And id Software "has once again proven that, like a Super Shotgun blast from point-blank range, they don't miss".