Doom is back, and it has a nice Dark Ages theme, assuming the Dark Ages had demons, aliens, and modern weaponry. Is this the quintessential Doom experience, or have the developers gone too far? Read on
The Dark Ages
The Dark Ages
Rating: 4/5
Developer: id Software
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platform: PC, XBS
Price: Rs 5,999
Doom is as significant to geek culture as it is to gaming, which is evident from the fact that techies are always trying to run Doom on various appliances — of course, not this current version but the game’s first version. This cultural phenomenon is the cornerstone of id Software’s empire, and every Doom game in its stable always plays with new ideas and brings something new to the table. The last game, Eternal, is probably one of the best in the series. Things were hard, but it was still very fast and very enjoyable. So how does The Dark Ages manage to one up everything?
The answer is that it doesn’t. Eternal is still the best in the series; however, The Dark Ages has made it much more enjoyable and approachable for new players. Where Eternal took significant amounts of time just learning the mechanics of the game, Dark Ages will have you playing like a pro in minutes. It is also a lot more forgiving than the previous game.
There is also a story this time, not that Slayer has anything to do with it, but he is integral to the story. A cohesive story for Doom is odd, but it still works. The game also has a bunch of new weapons and each weapon comes with a companion where you can use the same ammunition to execute a different action, for example the Rocket Launcher ammo can be used in a grenade launcher. By far, my favourite weapon was the ravager, which crushes and shoots out skull fragments. The animation for that gun is just perfect in every way. You can also upgrade your weapons as you move along the game.
The maps also seem a lot larger and open, with villains constantly shooting at you from all angles, but the introduction of the shield and its efficient use protect you from instant obliteration. In fact, once you learn how to use it, dying is difficult. With so many villains around, I was getting Serious Sam vibes as well, but this game is much better in almost every way. The puzzles also seem more manageable this time, and there are still plenty of weapon skins, figurines and other goodies to find on the map. For me, boss battles were a bit of a hit-and-miss. Some were challenging, while others felt like you had played against this villain a million times before.
What I also missed from the game was a nice deathmatch mode in which I could go toe to toe with my friends and seriously show off our fragging skills. The pace of this game and the mechanics demand a nice, hopefully free multiplayer mod. Fingers crossed. Of course, they would have to introduce new skins so we don’t have multiple slayers running around.
Doom: The Dark Ages fills a void I didn’t know existed until I played it. It is a mindless FPS that is fast-paced, has entertaining weapons to play with and is not very complicated to play. Not that I didn’t like Doom Eternal, but this one feels more primal to the gamer in me. The only thing missing for me is maybe a multiplayer mode where I can kill people on a local LAN somewhere; this game desperately needs to be part of LAN parties. It has the pace and the weapons. That said, I feel like the price is very restrictive at R6,000. It isn’t a cheap game, and I would probably recommend getting the Xbox Ultimate Gamepass instead simply because you will get nine months of that subscription where you can play this game and others included in the subscription... by the time the subscription ends, you can take a call if you want Doom in your permanent library and probably grab it at a discount.
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