We Played a Few Hours of the New DOOM to give you our First Impression!
DOOM: The Dark Ages, the latest installment in the DOOM franchise, dropped last week, and I’ve logged several hours into the new game to give you my first impressions. Full transparency: I’ve never played a DOOM game before in my life. That changed, not only because I’m here to give you a review, but because I genuinely got hyped to try this game just off the trailers. I’m a long time FPS player, Halo is my favorite game, and I pretend to be good at Call of Duty and Warzone. So just having the opportunity to play and review this game got me excited because I could finally try out a legendary game franchise. So with that out of the way, let’s dive in!
You’re going to hear me say this a few different ways, but DOOM: The Dark Ages was really easy to pick up and start enjoying. DOOM’s gameplay loop is famous for its arcade style and run-n-gun technique. The hardest part to learn (or maybe unlearn) was what you needed to prioritize in combat. You don’t reload in a DOOM game, no shock there, but I must admit, my FPS brain was constantly scrambling to find and hit a reload button. As soon as you give into the run-n-gun gameplay, your ammo and health just take care of themselves.
I felt immersed from the jump, even with the story. I know DOOM guy/DOOM slayer, but the larger story/universe I’m not well versed in. Didn’t matter though, because DOOM is all about destruction on a massive scale. I mean honestly, you’re a dude in a world with demons trying to kill you. Do you really need to know your motivations or theirs? Nah.
The scale of the world was amazing and the visuals were great. So even though you’re essentially still playing in those tight hallways and rooms of DOOM games in the past, the settings are so much richer with the amount of visual storytelling depth around you. I played with headphones on too because you can’t not crank up the heavy metal music that accompanies your demon slaying fun, so you’re immediately sucked into the world and destruction around you.
I was really happy with the gameplay loop in the first few levels, and that was a major reason for me even wanting to try the game. The shield added something that I felt was missing in other games and really stood out to me in the trailers. But don’t worry, this is not a defensive game. Honestly, you forget that this huge killing machine on your arm is by definition a “shield.” You're constantly parrying with it, throwing it to kill enemies or traverse the world, and it only adds to your aggressiveness, it doesn’t slow you down.
The DOOM Slayer is cumbersome by design, and I kind of wished I had more ability to juke enemies and really turn up the finesse, but ultimately that isn’t what DOOM is about. They do give you sprint, and your movement is mostly tied to direct combat, so you just have to get used to it and when to use it. Your shield plays a role in this too, with a very useful lunge ability that can help you get out of a corner while taking out a bunch of enemies in the process.
They continually add new demons, from low level grunts to beefier mini-bosses, to major bosses, AND they’re constantly throwing new guns at you in the early game, so just when you think you can start to coast, there’s a new element to learn. Honestly, I think what DOOM does really well as a franchise is just own its core identity. It’s arcade-y, it’s run-n-gun, it’s point, shoot and never stop moving, and The Dark Ages delivers all of that. So for me, a rookie in this universe, I felt like a mega-demon slayer from the jump. But there is enough to the gameplay loop for a true skill gap to be achieved. The parry timing, having to match your weapon type to the enemy type and more allows returning players, or players who want to re-play levels and fully master the combat, feel rewarded for putting in more effort. They give you both experiences and you can choose for yourself. We tend to take that for granted in some of the other major FPS franchises these days.
Oh and you play as a huge robot on just the second level outside the tutorial level. You hop in an “Atlan” and just punch the crap out of these huge demons. It’s fun, it’s crazy and keeps you engaged. Then only two levels later, you start flying around on a huge dragon. I mean, come on, it’s just badass moment after badass moment. You literally finish off these huge demons by having your dragon breathe fire down their neck. It’s just insane because it can be, and that’s what makes it awesome.
In today’s gaming world, you don’t always get what you pay for (despite many promises to the contrary). DOOM: The Dark Ages delivered the experience I was hoping to get, and I greatly appreciate that. From launching in a complete state, no major glitches or anything, to having a simple menu system with no annoying shop messages taking up the whole screen or paywalled gameplay, Dark Ages is definitely worth copping. The game is also designed with replayability in mind, which is very refreshing, as most big FPS titles seem to lack this trait that was a mainstay of the early 2000s franchises.
While I can’t definitively say hardcore DOOM fans will be satisfied in every way by this game, for me as a new player, I was very happy that my first experience with the DOOM franchise was fun and easy. I strongly recommend Dark Ages, especially for those with Game Pass Ultimate like me, and it’s a great entry game for those looking to get into the rest of the DOOM franchise.
This review was conducted on an Xbox Series X. DOOM: The Dark Ages is available now on Xbox Series S/X, PS5 and PC.
