The reboot of the Doom franchise that started with the 2016 nominal champion for the fast-paced shooter was a huge success, and its 2020 sequel Eternal bad luck Increased speed. So, perhaps surprising fans, the developer ID software decided to slow down the third part, Doom: The Dark Ages – But after playing for a few hours, I mainly like that they took new directions of the horrible shooting game that were admirably re-engineered to score similar doom urges with new flavors.
During a preview event in Los Angeles, California, ID software and publisher Bethesda brought journalists and influencers to perform for more than 3 hours of Doom: Dark Ages. A lot of game time includes early clips of linear motion, mecha sampling and dragon-guard battles and later expanded parts of the huge map carved into the arena – enough time to feel the flow of battle and upgrades.
Dark Ages is a prequel to the 2016 Doom game, and it has a thin story in itself, and if players forget what happened (or never played), then players don’t have to worry. The latest game has exploded so far in the past and that doesn’t matter – Doom Killer as a character is functionally immortal, so this adventure seems to be opening the game until it’s time to escape him in a quick way to swing the environment.
Boy, it’s a realm. As the trailer shows, the Dark Ages takes place in that medieval fantasy on the metal album cover and sprays the guns on the side of the van – Demons, Dragons and Doomsday Killers, mixing blood and thunder together. Of course, there are some sci-fi starships and tech that can play between stages and be equipped with a lot of guns, but everyone agrees that it makes sense to have a gunfight with a shield with a buzzing sound.
That gun alchemy is the center of the Dark Ages, and it’s clear that how players use new shields has started a lot of tinkering. This time, players are rooted in the ground – no longer broken – transitioning from the crazy battles of recent Doom games to the cruel craze of the Dark Ages. Shooting, caps, shooting, counter, death sunlight – This is a brutal ballet.
I found myself missing the air dash of the early Doom game and spent some time getting used to lifting the shield instead of keeping going. However, there are a handful of tools that prevent you from bent over behind your shield (only so many shots can be taken before a temporary disability) – you can sprint and slam the shield with your shield to get close and perform special melee attacks (with a certain amount of purpose before you need to replenish).
I had to watch limited ammunition, health and armor on the basis of tracking the enemy, which was a lot to follow and it took almost the entire preview to make it feel competent during the battle flow. It is color-coded: Avoid using orange explosions, but use a shield to stop green explosions from damaging or disabling enemies; they glow purple when death approaches, allowing you to end them. Going further into the demo, I found more interactions – for example, enemies wearing armor need to be shot to a speed that is enough to glow red, and then I can throw the shield away to crush it and make them vulnerable.
The fantasy setting liberates the franchise from its high-tech veneer, setting aside pulse rifles for a menuerie of innovative, medieval destruction methods: a buzzsaw added to the shield to throw into enemies, a magazine-fed stake thrower, a gun that churns up skulls to spew room-clearing bone fragments and even a gun that fires a heavy ball on a chain like a projectile flail. Upgrades creatively extend the action: For example, a gun that shoots plasma can be shot at the enemy, and you bring the shield into it to inflate the surrounding enemies.
High School Massacre: Mecha and Dragon Segment are interesting transfers
In its new massacre of shield and gun focus, an early trailer for Doom: Dark Ages shows a peek into the new game sequence, which excited fans: Driving a giant mech and riding a network of networks enhances the dragon. My preview blends with both and I have an obvious favorite. (This is mechanical.)
As I climbed into Atlan, just like Doom Killer was called, the game was scaled to accommodate my skyscraper frame. The scale is interesting here. Every huge step made the earthquake quake and I effortlessly surrounded the bridge filled with enemies who would do everything possible to eliminate the walk. I stepped on the tank squad to attract a series of large demons – naturally, I slammed the sunlight.
Atlan Battle is a fanatical battle, with a stunning sound selling my huge fist’s huge crunch, colliding with the demon’s face. Yes, there are some mechanical flows: hitting the enemy will build a meter to trample the directional column or fire energy explosion. When out of range, I hired Rockets to close the distance. It sold me how these Pacific-style sequences clashed with kaiju-sized demons how would it destroy the extended guns on the ground (and feel the metal like).
Sadly, the dragon sequence isn’t that fun.
In some places, players will ride dragons to fight in the air.
I hear your voice, reader: How does the Doomsday Killer climb on the back of a dragon with neon red wings, jet thrusters and machine guns? But the speed and excitement of riding straight from the heavy metal cover of the iconic fantasy beast slowed down, which is the part I’ve played.
I sprinted the level at the highest speed until it was time to take over the enemy, which just caused my dragon to linger while I pulled out a fixed enemy and shot me – which mixed some bullet hell gameplay nicely, but it was a disappointment compared to the Swift and Swift and Lithe Dragon Combat I expected. I may also keep shooting from a fixed helicopter.
Your dragon will complete the work when you’re enough to slam a giant enemy demon.
The Dragon part I played had some cool toys, in which I systematically knocked down the Demon Battleship (technically hell carrier) and the main gun, and then dived into the dive to destroy the central core of the large ship from the inside. Flushing and repeating several ships gives me time to understand and reluctantly adapt to the Dodge Mechanic in the fixed part, which is more punishment than meaningful.
But even after struggling in this section, there are undeniable highlights in the game’s commitment to the moment of fists swaying – for example, when my dragon flies forward and twists his chin to spin the jet-type nozzle of his throat, I can activate a nasty giant demon. Heavy metal as hell.
The best last: siege, open range of death
The fourth and final part of the demonstration is simply called Siege. Although the first foot section I’ve played followed the early doomsday game on a rather linear path, the siege opened to a huge map – essentially multiple contained arenas connected by paths and sidewalks, you can attack in the order you choose, with many secret areas.
If the first level is a classroom that teaches the rhythm of battle, then this is the test: the wide range of enemies from infantry to towering cyber figures will immediately hit you. But hey, you’ve trained this (right?), and in this section, Bethesda gives me a lot of tools to eliminate death.
Just like the previous Doom Game, the Dark Ages punishes the glutes have a lot of difficult settings – in the huge victory of accessibility, there are a lot of cutting the enemy’s health, causing damage, extending the Parry window and more to make the player experience the right switch. Of these six difficulties, I boldly chose the third one (super violent), a hard mode that was higher than normal (harm me a lot), and was muscular in the demo session.
The first area of the siege put me in trouble and did my best to wipe the floor with me around the first group of enemies. After reluctantly immersing in normal difficulties, I won the victory, pushing forward the huge map, looking at the surrounding hills, and deciding which pack of enemies to take over next.
The fourth part of the preview demo allows players to fight through a huge map.
Hidden in the corner of the map is the secret part that is usually granted to gold, which can be spent on the Sentinel Shrine statue to improve my skills. These are divided into multiple trees for melee, shields and guns, the latter I think makes the most sense and brings out the personality of each gun. Unlike previous Doom games, I took the initiative to one or two weapons on one or two, and the various enemies and situations of the Dark Ages made me spin smoothly between gun arsenals (when I remember being in the heat of battle anyway).
The siege part took me about an hour to complete the entire work, prying to the secret area, and systematically clearing the arena filled with mixed different demons. I wandered over grass mounds between Gothic village buildings, while in the background, a friendly Atlanta played a long game against a huge arch. It is atmospheric, but not distracting. The game is adjusted to focus on the enemies in front of you.
In the first part of the presentation, the grim future fantasy story ends with the captured doom killer, bound by the mysterious energy bolts in the chest, being shot down onto a medieval planet, the last lawsuit to save the king’s people. One title card reads: “Before he became a hero, he was a super weapon for the gods and kings.” It soon became clear that the Doomsday Killer was a pawn in a political game between the quarrels and the demon nobles. It tells the first story about a mythical man who only knows the battle with the power of hell, which sets the foundation for the first story.
But the final part of the demo is Siege, the real bones that players will experience in Doom: Dark Ages. Bethesda tinkered and adjusted the doomsday formula to force players to shoot different rhythms. From the demo, they had success, which is admirable considering the players enjoyed the fast-paced battles of early games. The gunfight is tight, but the animation and delicious sound effects are perfect, making the player feel like he’s breaking the meanest villain, hell can be summoned.
Today, the gaming industry seems to have avoided risks and produced sequels, just like replaying everything from before. From a demonstration perspective, the Dark Ages only has about four hours of gameplay, which is probably the difference, and it’s the cruel feeling of fighting for the medieval doom game with brand new systems, weapons and machinery.
We’ll know if the demo represents the entire game: Doom: Dark Ages will be released on May 13, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
