I am late with this review as I was not given review code and did not receive review support despite doing extensive pre-launch coverage for the game across our platforms. As such, I took a more relaxed approach, often only playing 1-2 chapters most days until completing the game.
DOOM: The Dark Ages is the latest game in the popular series and goes back to the early days of the conflict between the Demon Slayer and forces of Hell.
As such, the game has a Medieval theme as castles, Dragons, dungeons, and other mythical settings combined with science fiction as there are advanced weapons, giant mechanics, and flying vehicles in the mix.
Players will wage war against legions of evil creatures using a myriad of weapons, which can be upgraded at shrines using collected gold, and new weapons will become available as the game advances.
There is also a shield which is essential as not only does it block incoming fire, but it also rams enemies with devastating effect and is used as a thrown device to clear obstacles and activate switches and devices needed to advance.
I was happy to see that the very frustrating and annoying jump sequences of the past game were gone, as those jumps on and around tricky moving locations were very frustrating, and the emphasis on finding a path by locating an object that in turn was moved into position or otherwise manipulated was more satisfying for me.
The action is fast and intense, and the weapons, ranging from the familiar shotgun, plasma, and energy weapons, were great, as were some clever additions like a machine gun substitute that fired bone shards and one that deployed a punching glove on a chain. Of course, my rocket launcher and the new BFG-style weapon were also in the mix of impressive options.
Players have the option to collect hidden items along the very visually impressive maps, laden with a variety of enemies.
My biggest issue was that this became boring over time, as the same mix of enemies over and over in waves became stale, and I could guess the order in which they arrived and where they would be on the map.
This changed near the end of the game when new options arose, but fell back into place at the end as I was once again dealing with the same enemies.
The game had a few freezes along the way, including twice with a late-game conflict, which required exiting the game and starting over.
There is also no multiplayer in the game, which, as a person who has played DOOM since the start, was an issue. People have said to me that the multiplayer aspect of the last game was not great so it is not needed. My take is why not make it better and give fans what has been a staple of the series.
Visually impressive, with gory and intense action, makes for a compelling game and one of the better releases of the year.
4 stars out of 5.
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