DOOM: The Dark Ages

For a game that built momentum so perfectly throughout its entire run, it’s unfortunate that it ends with a whimper. Note for the future: When you reach the finale, end the story. Don’t do a second finale. Considering the fact that this game will get some DLC in the future, it will one day have the equivalent of three climaxes. I need more shotguns in Doom, not more finales...Regardless of that mistake, Doom: The Dark Ages is still a standout example of how to take an old franchise and do something with it that feels fresh while still being true to the lineage of the series. And while Dark Ages has one too many cutscenes and endings, none of that ruins the frenetic and ultra-smooth combat, not even some bits in which you ride a dragon and pilot a mech. Doom: The Dark Ages is a brilliant, bloody, and hyper-aggressive remix of the Doom formula that works in more ways than it doesn’t.

The one thought that kept occurring to me during my first playthrough was this: I can't wait to collect everything and get all the upgrades so I can stop worrying about sniffing out air vents and puzzles, switch my brain off, and just play some goshdarn Doom. It took me about halfway through my next run before I realised something: all this exploration, all this bloody gold collecting, it's not something you're supposed to do once as a fun extra before the real game starts. It's an integral part of the cadence of a game that veers repetitive and thin without it. There's just plain less to do here. Less to combat. Less reason to replay levels. This is a solid enough FPS that I don't regret playing - sometimes, it's downright captivating - but between the mech, the dragon, and all the medieval armour, something vital has been crushed under all that extra weight.