How good is Doom: The Dark Ages?: New doesn't mean better, say online reviews

How good is Doom: The Dark Ages?: New doesn’t mean better, say online reviews 219 comments

Bild: Bethesda

Doom, the series that brought fast-paced shooters into the modern age and freed them from the clutches of pseudonyms, is back. The Dark Ages can’t yet rely on its not-so-old brilliance, reviews reveal. As a result, there’s no better way. It’s highly lacking.

Summary :

New vs. Better

In its core games, the third new Thunder still impresses with its speed, creating a ballet of options that turn combat into a puzzle, before environments that are often described as a metal album cover. However, this isn’t the focus of many reviewers. Why? ID Software and Doom are well-known names. You pretty much know what you’re getting, at least from hearsay: a great “flow” that sucks, fascinates, and recaptures.

In these moments, testers are convincing about the new Doom, as always. It becomes more critical in the innovations. Here, the series tends to lack momentum. As for the new melee focus, the mech setup, the turret sequences—they are more, sometimes less, controversial. Even if each new aspect isn’t discussed in detail, the statement remains that “the campaign ends with the new ideas” (Eurogamer), and the shooter increasingly lacks creative highlights.

The reduced movement speed and the abandonment of hyper-agile double jumps are also perceived as losses, even if they focus on the new sign. According to the website, these can be considered movement and attack tools, not defensive tools.

Doom and the story…

It’s unclear why. Some reviewers want more “proven” content and see Doom Eternal as a highlight, the innovations as half-baked ideas that distract from the core of Doom, while others want a stronger return to the classic shooter or declare that ID Software can’t reinvent the wheel with every game. At some point, the game’s premise is familiar and couldn’t quite convince as much as the first time. The reviewers, in turn, agree: Doom Eternal remains the pinnacle of reboot games. “A lot of it feels like a first draft,” explains Rock, Paper, Shotgun. “Too much is in the way; you just want to “play more Damn Doom.”

There’s also agreement on a second point. Doom doesn’t need a story; it’s described as a bit of a sham, as superfluous, and therefore boring. It’s no wonder its criticism is growing. According to critics, the series’ new obsession takes on more space with a more complex narrative without being fraught with frustration.

Conclusion: Still Good

Fundamentally, The Dark Ages is a captivating shooter that develops a magnificent fascination in its best moments. However, according to critics, this stems from the reboot’s gameplay, less from the new ideas. More than once, a climax is missed that The Dark Ages truly lets slip. The “disappointment,” which also says the metacritic cut of a good 85 points, is at a fairly high level: well, not great, is still the conclusion, which Dark Ages cannot fully live up to the expectations set by its groundbreaking predecessors. The shooter still promises hours of fun.

This corresponds to technology. In the graph, “the game lacks that certain something” is the balance of the core computing technology test, but it places higher demands on the hardware than its predecessors and isn’t entirely green with the RTX 5000 series. The technology test provides all the details of Doom: The Dark Ages.

Doom: The Dark Ages Review Overview Publication Destructtoid 9.5/10 Eurogamer 4/5 Gamesradar+ 3.5/5 Gamestar 90/100 Kotaku 4.5/5 VG247 4/5 Rock, Paper, Shotgun 9/10 Doom: The Dark Ages Press: 85/100/100
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