Doom: The Dark Ages

Hooded cultists summoning blood portals? Hey, at least they're hanging out with their friends. As a parent, the game I'm most concerned about these days is probably something like Roblox. By contrast, Doom feels like an entirely known and understood entity. Let's savour it. Here's a slice of pure gaming charisma that has come to us, unfrazzled, from a more innocent time. And it's kind of lovely.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is a fun and flashy shooter stuffed with engaging content - it's a thrill-ride from beginning to end. In the shadow of DOOM Eternal, though, the more varied set-pieces and methodical combat cause its flame to burn just a bit less bright than I was hoping for.

Doom: The Dark Ages is AAA gaming at its best, with huge set pieces and memorable moments around every corner of the beautiful environments that only add to the highly-polished and heavily-addicting gameplay. Id Software hasn't held back any punches in creating one of the most grandiose and large-scale games in recent memory, utilizing their big-budget funding to create a 100% user-focused experience that makes the player feel immensely powerful without forgoing a sense of challenge or difficulty.

Doom: The Dark Ages is another stellar entry in the classic franchise, thanks to its engaging, grounded combat, expansive and varied locales, phenomenal graphics and hours of gameplay. Though it’s not revolutionary, it delivers a fast-paced and visceral experience few games can match.

Doom: The Dark Ages is a heavyweight shooter that, at its core, is lighter on its feet than its predecessor. However, id has at times gone too wide with its half-baked new features and open level design. Rip and tear, until it is done. But please, Slayer, get out of the damn robot.

Doom The Dark Ages will get your blood pressure up. It will test your reflexes, your problem-solving skills, your aim, and your ability to solve problems on the fly. It’ll probably test your patience a little, too, when the chugging, uninspired, padded-out sections in the middle start to wear a bit thin. But when it does manage to get your adrenaline pumping, you’ll be champing at the bit and thumbing shells into your shotgun so fast that the princes of hell themselves shaking in their boots.

Doom: The Dark Ages is a good shooter at its core, but as a follow-up to two of the best FPS games ever made, it falls a little flat. The new defensive combat feels like a step back, with movement getting a significant nerf, and, while Doom Slayer is still an exciting character, the story focus feels out of place.

Doom: The Dark Ages may strip away the mobility focus of Doom Eternal, but replaces it with a very weighty and powerful style of play that is different from anything the series has done before, and still immensely satisfying in its own way.