DOOM: The Dark Ages is a bold step for a series that could have played it safe, but instead swings for the fences with gusto here's what we thought of it after playing for a few hoursTech15:00, 31 Mar 2025The Slayer somehow feels more lethal than everAt the start of DOOM : The Dark Ages, all seems lost in a city in Argent D'Nur, and in an act of desperation, military leaders prepare to "launch" The Slayer.Its a break glass in case of emergency scenario that sees everyones favourite hulking killing machine launched through the atmosphere like a meteor, crashing to the ground armed with a shotgun.Article continues belowAs far as tone-setting goes, its as good as it gets. DOOM: The Dark Ages knows its audience, and while it does experiment in some ways more successfully than others, almost every encounter captures the magic of that initial descent.Dark Ages has a little less red and orange than prior gamesThat initial cutscene introduces our demonic opponents as they swarm over the city and eviscerate those unlucky enough to be home.DOOM has always felt cartoonish in its violence, and while I was immediately struck by how graphic that initial open was, Im pleased to say the whole thing walks the tightrope between sadism and slapstick just as well as 2016s reboot and 2020s DOOM Eternal.The game leans into a technological medieval setting to great effectTheres a much greater emphasis on narrative here, and while our demo bounced me between four distinct chapters so theres still plenty to uncover, its still just as easy to enjoy The Dark Ages as you would any other DOOM with heavy metal and heavier weapons.That said, cutscenes are beautifully done (and more frequent), and the games nature as a prequel serves to highlight its blend of often gothic setting and advanced technology that occasionally give it, dare I say, a Quake-like feel.While the NPCs along the crumbling streets are little more than set dressing, it makes DOOM: The Dark Ages feel much bigger in scope than the two prior entries.This gun literally chews up skulls and launches shards of bone at enemiesRepelling that initial invasion serves as part place-setting, part tutorial, introducing so many mechanics that make DOOM 2016 (which I played on my Steam Deck the same day) feel relatively basic.That game pushed players ever forward with the holy trinity of ammo, health, and armour being afforded by a variety of grisly takedowns, and in many ways it would have been easy for developer ID Software to do the same here.Instead, the studio ratchets up just about everything with the new Shield Saw weapon. Capable of blocking attacks but much more useful for starting them. Its arrival allows the Slayer to close the gap on enemies with a satisfying lock on and thwack thats every bit as satisfying as the outgoing Glory Kill system.You can still trigger these finishers to earn some health back, but its much less of a detailed animation now. That might disappoint some (and you can still nail the more grisly ones from above), but the good news is that The Dark Ages is absolutely stuffed with mechanics that often feel better.Aside from throwing yourself (literally) into battle with the Shield Saw, its not long before youre using it to cut armour off of tougher foes or shielded ones. Doing so requires peppering them with ammo to heat the metal, then unleashing a Captain America-style frisbee throw that can wreck a small platoon in a single hit if you find the right angle. Tougher enemies can be stunlocked by the shield, too, meaning its just as valuable out of your hands as it is in them.The bigger they are...The shield can not only block attacks, but repel them, too provided you time the parry right with a green projectile. Doing so becomes something akin to bullet hell, as you slip between red attacks nimbly to bat back a green one to stagger an enemy, complete with a resonant chime that triggers a dopamine rush.It dovetails beautifully with being able to upgrade your weapons. One weapon, the Impaler, fires spikes that can embed in foes, but add the Pin Cushion upgrade and youll be able to trigger an explosion with your shield that then sends those barbs flying out to other foes. Add in the sound of them whizzing past the Slayers head, and its a combo I found myself using whenever the opportunity presented itself.You wont always have everything your own way, though. The Dark Ages keeps you on your toes through the ammo you have available at any given time, and the makeup of its enemy mobs. That means youll be regularly switching up your active weapon and tactics, but those upgrades allow just enough personalisation to make sure your Slayer doesnt feel exactly like mine.The man himself feels weightier than ever, too. His feet pound the floor, and jumping from a relative height and hitting the ground triggers a sort of minor earthquake that can stagger smaller foes and doesnt require a button press its just what he does, which makes it even more enjoyable.We only got to pilot the mech for around 10 minutes, but it's a tad slowTwo of the four sections I was able to play changed things up, both to varying degrees. First up, the Atlan is a pilotable mech that stands 30-stories tall.In all honesty, it feels like piloting a classic Power Rangers Megazord its big, its pretty slow, and it feels more than a little clumsy. Its finishing moves are a little anticlimactic, but once you add on weapons capable of removing chunks of flesh from similarly-sized baddies, or just start stomping on rank and file foes like theyre ants beneath your feet, theres fun to be had.On the other hand, I loved the level that sees the Slayer flying the new Dragon mount (introduced in truly badass fashion, I might add), but not because of the Dragon itself. Flying through tunnels and opening simple puzzle-locked doors was fine, but in combat it felt shorn of all the momentum of the main action sequences.Flying the dragon is fun, but combat while riding it is a little too staticThats because the Dragon can use turrets, but these get powered up by dodging projectiles. Without that power up, they feel less lethal than youd expect from DOOM, and that dodging requires a sort of axis-locking movement shift thats at odds with everything DOOM is good at.Thankfully, the mission design around it was much more enjoyable. The Slayer needs to take down four gunships, and after forcing them to crashland, the Slayer can get his hands dirty with melee combat. Each ships crash sees a different level layout develop, too, so it never felt like I was working through the same gauntlet each time.DOOM The Dark Ages is the first since 2020's Eternal(Image: Sony)Still, perhaps DOOM: The Dark Ages' greatest ace up its sleeve are the new DOOM sandbox areas. While I was concerned these might play against the series' strengths (I was one of the players that felt Eternals areas lost a little of the claustrophobia of DOOM 2016), Im pleased to say the Siege mission we got to play was a high point.Mixing a larger space with multiple sub-objectives, including a dash of platforming and puzzle solving, plenty of secrets, and some fiendish enemy mobs that need to be broken before you can battle their commander, it felt like the purest form of shooter.Needing to use every trick in DOOM: The Dark Ages hefty tome of combat options, I was popping my pincushions, deflecting attacks to destroy tanks, and even found myself wielding the new melee weapon, the Flail, to send enemies scattering and splattering.I also earned a new weapon for my troubles, which is essentially a bowling ball attached to a chain. I didnt get to spend a great deal of time with it in my playthrough, but its predictably silly and savage to send into an opponent.In fact, I found myself, even with so many new tools and mechanics thrown at me, feeling as though I was approaching a sort of flow state as I did in DOOM 2016 and Eternal.It would have been easy for the team at ID to just rehash what worked so well from 2016 onwards, but DOOM: The Dark Ages takes some wild swings. Some of its experimentation is a resounding success, and Im hopeful that in the context of what the studio calls its largest and most complete campaign that even those sections I didnt love as much will be a great pallette-cleanser.Article continues belowDOOM is back, and theres still nothing quite like it.Previewed on PC. DOOM: The Dark Ages launches on May 15, 2025.