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Doom The Dark Ages was a wild ride during the entire play through and really showcases what ID Software tried to do with the changes made in this iteration. However, Doom The Dark Ages is lacking in some areas while excelling in others. Lets talk pros and cons...
Pros:
Pacing - Doom The Dark Ages features fantastic pacing during and between levels. The game has moments where it lets you breathe to explore the areas around you and try to collect every secret and item you can possibly find. When you are thrust into battle it secures you in the field with red barriers to let you know nothing else matters other than you and the enemy at that moment in time. I really enjoyed the breaks in action (or the difference in delivering said action) with the new Dragon and Mech levels that are in this game. The dragon levels were by far my favorite chapters.
Level Design / Map Design - Doom The Dark Ages has fantastic map design and level design. The map is super useful, highlighting the secrets well and letting you figure out how to find them. Even though you know they are there, its not easy to spot all of them and the feeling of exploration is there. Some maps are super linear as expected, but others are a bit more open ended letting you choose which direction you want to go first to explore / tackle objectives. Its actually a really fun combination and I thought it was done well.
Graphics - The graphics in this game, as expected are pretty good. I wouldn't say they are mind blowing, but I played at maximum settings 4K resolution and there were moments in the game (especially the open maps) where I thought "dam this looks really good". Areas are dark and broody with lots of your typical blood and bodies everywhere. Overall I enjoyed the visuals in this game.
Game play - Here is where i personally enjoyed the game play in this game. I know for some people, the shield will throw them off and they feel it slows down combat and I totally get that. I myself enjoyed the combat in Doom The Dark Ages but there are some cons and I will list that below. Overall the weapon choices in this game are a lot of fun (although can feel a bit repetitive between the different weapons of the same "archtype") and the shield spices things up nicely with the shield charge (which i used constantly to run around the battlefield). Overall it was fast paced, fun, somewhat challenging and rewarding as well with the parry mechanic in this game.
Progression / Unlocks - This game features a great progression system that has a ton of weapon abilities you can unlock with resources gained while exploring. You can also level up your shield...4 different melee weapons and many different shield runes as well to cause effects when you parry. There is so much customization to how you will rip and tear demons its awesome. Definitely a lot to experiment with and unpack here.
Now lets talk cons:
Game play - Yes this is a pro and a con. So the game play for me was fun, rewarding, fast paced and felt good. The problem is sometimes you will feel combat gets slowed down due to the parry mechanic. Animation lock becomes a small problem because after a parry its encouraged that you melee the enemy usually for a combo, but results in sometimes your inability to do so because the enemy goes flying backwards quickly but your animation is slowed due to the parry so you cant get a combo off in time sometimes. It can definitely feel a little glitch at times during combat but overall i didn't experience this TOO much.
Toned Down Compared To Previous Dooms - This game is 100% more toned down than previous dooms in terms of overall bloodyness and violence. The glory kills of previous dooms have been replaced with basically melee executions that dont result in the same level of violence as the previous. Glory kills you were able to rip / tear enemies apart, snap their necks etc. In this game that barely happens. Every once and a while youll get the opportunity to maybe cut a head off with your shield but its usually cinematic / cutscene ending for a mini boss or big boss. Its unfortunate.
Bugs and Glitches - This game has some bugs and glitches as expected. Within my first stream of the game, i experienced a crash immediately upon starting the game and getting to the menu screen (only happened once or twice) On the third level, i experienced a no music bug, where combat had zero music playing and no ambient music was playing during exploration as well. Literally nothing but footsteps. I encountered a shield parry bug where after clicking the shield once, I was unable to click it again until i switched weapons, resulting in me being unable to shield or parry...I also experienced a no footstep sound bug where my footsteps literally disappeared. Its all documented on my channel for those who never experienced such bugs, i did unfortunately.
Music - The music in this game is good... it really is. But its just nowhere near as good as micks unfortunately. I was hoping that it would be, but I understand now that was nearly a impossible task. Still, there are moments where the music DOES hit well, its just not as good as micks. So i am labeling this as a con, but to be fair its one of those "up to the player" cons.
Value - This is a big one for me right now. In a day and age where games are going to start charging you 80$ retail, this game being $70 retail doesn't hit home as strong value for me considering its campaign only right now and I finished the campaign in 15 hours. I've played this game a extra two hours after completing it hunting achievements. I am nearly 100%. 15 hour campaign for me, full current price when I recently played Expedition 33 and have 40+ hours in that game and I am currently exploring Oblivion remastered and we all know how many hours you can get in that game...all for $50 retail. Its a hard sell iIMO. Die hard doom fans will pick it up instantly, but i HIGHLY recommend at least waiting for a 25% off sale to bring it more in line with campaign length to price expectations.
All in all, as a game i thoroughly enjoyed Doom The Dark ages. It 100% has its faults no doubt and issues, but is still a solid entry into the doom franchise. I wouldn't say its my personal favorite of all the DOOM games I've ever played, but I did enjoy this one a lot (especially the dragon levels, DAM those were awesome).
Thank you for reading and if you want to see my game play of this game, check out Hypnotic LIVE on YouTube for the full live review of Doom The Dark Ages.
Thanks for reading!