After Doom Eternal, the Dark Ages appears a new part of the series that wants to break a little with the fast playing style. Bethesda has invited Meinmmo editor Benedict Grothaus to look at Doom: The Dark Ages and play selected missions. The shooter is solid and bockth, only the unique selling point does not quite draw.
Doom is pretty much the game that falls out of my other preferences. I actually like story games, survival games with crafting and exploration, roguelites and exploration. Shooters that only offer action and nothing else, I find boring. Above all, the fast old school shooters such as Quake or Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun.
Nevertheless, Doom always manages to inspire me. Maybe because you don’t just get on with it, but also have to think and because mistakes are punished quickly. After all, I am constantly died in Doom Eternal in the first level.
The series manages to spice up in a monotonous gameplay so that it is really fun. Now the next part is pending. Doom: The Dark Ages will be released on May 15th for PC, Xbox and PS5.
Bethesda invited Meinmmo to look at the whole thing in the Jagdschloss Platte in Wiesbaden. Overall, I had two hours to check how hard I am now.
Doom: The Dark Ages rocks in the new trailer, reveals the release date
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The Dark Ages is Bockschwer, but suffering is fun
As a veteran of the series, I am used to gambling somewhat higher levels of difficulty. What has been ultra-violence since the DOOM from 2016 is usually what I start with. In The Dark Ages, I considered for the first time whether this is really the best choice.
From Eternal I know that I think about a “cookie cutter” method, hot: I see which weapons and combinations work best and rase through the level. In the new Doom, however, this no longer works.
Most of the opponents, even the Fodder Demons, now need their own tactics and some of them have to be adapted in the middle of combat. This is particularly evident in the elite opponents:
There are weapons for the various maneuvers that bring the appropriate styles as well as new tools. And this is exactly where The Dark Ages shows what makes it a new and really good doom.
Doom Slayer with a shield: only real with the chainsaw!
In the Dark Ages the Doom Slayer becomes a tank. Instead of quickly avoiding and simply running the opponent, you run into the hordes with a shield and power fist or argument flail and slide in front of you.
The sign is exactly the thing that is new and important. You now have the opportunity to go to the “perfect parade” to redeem floors, overwhelm opponents or to strengthen your attacks. This is even necessary against certain opponents and miniboses to win.
If you fight against enemies that you cannot block, a shield throw is usually attached. You smash the built -in chainsaw into the chest of the demon and stun him for a short time in order to do it or at least weaken it. However, caution is advised here, because as long as the sign is gone, you can’t parry, of course …
Alternatively, the shield throw serves to do Fodder Demons or destroy their shields. Super -heated metal even explodes and ensures a large area of destruction.
If you are of the opinion that an opponent would have to see the run of the super shotgun from the inside, you can go to cloth with a rush. All of this in combination ensures different variants in combat, which you have to combine from a certain difficulty.
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Typical for the Middle Ages, dragons and power ranger-Mechs
The Dark Ages plays in a world that is roughly based on the European Middle Ages with castles, heavy armor, dragon and Mechs. You know from the siege of the past.
Fun aside, dragon and mech are new features. For the first time, Doom has vehicles. In the game test we each had a level with the kite and one with the mech. Both are more cool gadgets for the corresponding missions.
The dragon flies through the area and shoots on enemies. Above all, you need it to get the ships out of heaven. The mech, on the other hand, acts like the robot of the Power Rangers and is used to rip off demonic titans.
Based on the short scenes I could see, I could not see how important the vehicles are for the game. But they are a nice change and and slow down the rapid shooter gameplay a little. However, they also show very clearly what I don’t like about The Dark Ages …
Lots of doom, little Dark Ages
For the fact that Doom: The Dark Ages plays with somehow having a medieval flair, the little gets through. I was in some sci-fi spaceships at least as often as I was in medieval castles.
The dragon is crammed with futuristic metal and has laser wings. The weapons are all of any cyber punk bullets, as you know them from Doom, with a few exceptions, such as a dispute, the shield and a spherical thrower. We don’t need to talk about the mech here.
Actually, I was looking forward to a doom that would be a little more personal. More close combat, medieval weapons, generally a martial flair with knights, armor and bloodshed.
It is not very helpful that the background music is as metal-heavy as always. Although Mick Gordon is no longer there, shredding electric guitars, basses and dissonant chords accompany the slaughter. Cool for Doom, less suitable for a medieval setting. As a metal fan, I would have liked something in the direction of Viking war chants or something. There are enough good role models for this.
When I noted that at Bethesda on site, it was somewhat evasive that the finished game had more to offer. I leave it open whether I get my wishes fulfilled, but don’t build on it.
The new Doom no longer writes history, but tells them
What the Dark Ages makes much better than all predecessors is the story. Instead of having to read everything in the code, the story and everything important are now told in cutscenes.
The developers even emphasized that this should be better in the Dark Ages. Similar to the Soulsborne games, Doom actually has a strong story, but nobody really gets along-simply because she is not prominent in the games.
In the latest part you no longer have to click through menus and read dry texts with background information, but get tailored scenes that tell the history of the game. This not only ensures a welcome turning point when snapping demon, but also moves more into the world than usual. And if you don’t like it, you can skip everything.
If you don’t care about the whole thing around it, you will definitely get a solid solo shooter with a lot of action, much biger and crisp challenge with Doom: The Dark Ages. At least the campaign will be joyful. If you are looking for more, you will find 10 new shooters here, which are particularly interesting in 2025