The Doom Slayer is back and he’s heavier and angrier. DOOM: The Dark Ages reimagines the franchise’s blistering pace with a medieval twist and a new “stand your ground” mentality. It trades double-jumping and grappling hooks for a powerful shield, an upgradable flail, and dragon rides through the skies. The result is a variation of DOOM that mostly refreshes the formula without losing its soul.

A gritty origin story

Set in a dark fantasy world long before the events of DOOM (2016), DOOM: The Dark Ages explores the Slayer’s origin as a mythic warrior controlled to battle the forces of Hell. Bound by the Maykers to serve the Night Sentinels against the almighty invasion of Prince Ahzrak’s forces from Hell, the Slayer becomes a divine weapon. We quickly see the rage build within him, becoming more uncontrollable until eventually all Hell literally breaks loose. The game sets its tone immediately, trading Mars labs and sci-fi brutalism for ancient rites and cosmic warfare.

Where previous games embraced story through optional codex entries and cryptic world-building, The Dark Ages steps forward with a narrative-first approach. This is no longer just about rage and retribution but a cinematic origin story framing the Slayer not merely as a destroyer, but as an instrument.

Fully voiced cutscenes with Hollywood budget quality give the game a weight that previous titles only brushed against. The stakes feel high, the relationships (between gods, rulers, and monsters) more tangled, and the plot beats more present. This story and writing aren’t groundbreaking, but it is exactly what they need to be for a DOOM game. Without saying too much, it certainly goes places longtime DOOM veterans may love or hate.

While this shift may challenge players wanting less talk and more rip and tear, The Dark Ages justifies its grander ambitions through tight integration. The tone never slips into melodrama, and the narrative never obstructs the gameplay. It complements it. The fusion of grim, medieval fantasy with DOOM’s violent gameplay feels fresh yet fitting, pulling from the genre’s roots in death metal album covers, Lovecraftian horror, and dark myth.

Crawling through Hell

Gameplay-wise, DOOM: The Dark Ages is a major risk for the series, but it still works. Forget the double-jumping, air-dashing Slayer from DOOM Eternal. This time, you’re a walking tank. You smash through objects just by walking into them, crash down from cliffs with a quake that disintegrates demons, and tread across the battlefield like an angry beast.

The game moves slower than Eternal, but not in a bad way. It’s heavier, chunkier, and way more grounded. Oddly enough, it feels the most like classic DOOM out of this new era. Remember those old-school fights where you circle-strafed around fireballs and blasted demons in the face? That’s back. Combat stays mostly on a flat plane, and it’s all about fast movement, tight dodges, and staying in the fight.

Weapons of righteous destruction

At the heart of DOOM: The Dark Ages’ combat is the new parry system. When an enemy winds up with a green-glowing attack, you can time a block with your shield to deflect it, knock off armour, or stun tougher enemies. Early on, it’s a breeze, but by the time you’re deep into the campaign, it becomes a real test of reflexes and nerve. One boss fight had me completely cornered. No jump pads or chainsaw glory kill to bail me out. Just a brutal duel where balancing defence and offence was the only way to survive.

The Slayer’s shield can be upgraded through runes collected by progressing the campaign. One mod sends blades flying out to slice nearby enemies, while another rips open the ground with an earthquake fissure. The shield is the centre of attention, and it fits right into the world of DOOM.

From the skull-splitting Pulverizer to the bone-and-metal roar of the Super Shotgun, every weapon fits the medieval-meets-meatgrinder vibe perfectly. They’re brutal, stylish, and satisfying. The new Flail and Mace are especially worth shouting about. Swapping them in for your fists gives melee combat a twist, and they both have their own strengths. They expand how you play, offering new ways to approach fights and chain together kills.

Wings of wax

Level design in The Dark Ages is hit and miss. The chapters themselves fall into a few key types. The more linear gauntlet levels bring back the classic corridor carnage, usually to drive the story plot specifically. They are tight, brutal, and non-stop.

At its best, the game captures the magic of classic DOOM by dropping you into large, open areas and daring you to survive. You’ll hunt for coloured keys, sniff out secrets, and puzzle through your environment to find the best route forward. It’s old-school level design, sharpened by modern ideas and gameplay. These chapters give you room to breathe, space to experiment, and plenty of reasons to double back.

Enemy design supports this loop beautifully. Regular demons come in varied flavours, from weak fodder to more complex mid-tier threats. Tougher variants called Champions are a new addition with upgrade rewards based on their boosted stats. Morale fights spike the difficulty by throwing waves of enemies at you before the boss demon can be damaged, forcing you to adapt fast or get steamrolled. These encounters lean into the game’s methodical pace, testing everything you’ve learned, making the most of all the weapons and mechanics.

The Holy Rig

DOOM: The Dark Ages is carefully crafted and distinct. The sheer variety of visual environments is impressive, whether you’re trudging through the outskirts of the Sentinel city, navigating an ancient forge, or exploring the depths of Hell itself. The enemy design is somehow more grim than previous entries. Returning demons like the Hell Knight and Mancubus have been redesigned with heavier detailing and gruelling looks. They look like they’ve crawled out of medieval nightmares. It’s clear the art team put effort into making every creature feel part of this older era of DOOM.

Visually, this game is a monster. It looks incredible. Sentinel labs glow with neon light as you clear out their corrupted halls, demons explode in gruesome detail, and the lighting constantly stuns. But to get the most out of it, you’ll need some serious hardware. On my mid-high-tier rig, I was already pushing the limits at 4K. VRAM quickly became the choke point. I had to switch to DLSS Quality, which softened the image with noticeable texture blur, and even then, performance wasn’t always smooth. Disabling depth of field and motion blur helped, but it’s clear the game is built for top-shelf machines. When I tested it on a high-end NVIDIA setup for our hands-on preview, it was flawless. But for the average player, especially with today’s cost-of-living squeeze, it could be a rough ride. Not a demerit, but a fair warning for PC players.

While Mick Gordon’s legendary DOOM scores leave big shoes to fill, The Dark Ages doesn’t try to copy. Instead, it carves out its own identity. The soundtrack, courtesy of Finishing Move (of Borderlands 3 and Halo Wars 2 fame), ditches most of the synth vibes for something rawer and guttural. It’s all clanking chains, heavenly strings, heavy riffs, and deep notes. It fits the iron-clad aesthetic well. That said, some of the looping tracks become samey after a while. I’m curious whether it’s the implementation of these tracks within the gameplay or if it’s just that hard to match DOOM 2016’s music. I must admit, I love the subtle touches of classic DOOM motifs, and you can tell these musicians are passionate. I’m interested to hear the full soundtrack standalone when it releases soon.

Sound design overall is sharp. Shotguns are thunderous, and the flail lands with a metallic crunch. Each weapon has a distinct audio profile, selling their power.  Enemy audio cues are equally strong. You’ll hear different tiers of threats before you see them, with stronger enemies letting out deep growls and faster demons shrieking to signal their presence. This builds spatial awareness and combat readiness, especially in hectic fights with a million things coming at you at once. Parry timing is reinforced with a crisp clash sound that’s easy to read. It’s all mixed fairly well, with a good balance between anarchy and clarity.