If you want better camera behavior
Choose Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. It scores 5.0 vs 1.5 for camera behavior, with a 4.4 overall score.
Doom: The Dark Ages Review
Bottom Line
Choose Doom: The Dark Ages if you want a heavier, shield-driven Doom with strong gunplay, secrets, visuals and difficulty options. Skip it if you need Eternal-style mobility, memorable storytelling, or consistently strong mech, dragon and boss sections.
Best for
Best for players who want a heavier, more grounded Doom focused on shield parries, melee pressure, big arenas, secrets, and flexible difficulty tuning. It also suits newcomers who found Doom Eternal too demanding.
Not for
Not for players who mainly want Doom Eternal’s high-mobility acrobatics, minimal cutscenes, or deep weapon-switching complexity. It is also a weaker fit for anyone sensitive to repetitive vehicle sections or thin story characters.
Verdict
Doom: The Dark Ages lands as a bold, mostly successful reinvention of modern Doom. Reviewers repeatedly praise the shield saw, parry-heavy combat, crunchy weapons, generous accessibility sliders, secrets, and strong visual presentation. The tradeoff is clear: the heavier, grounded design lowers the mobility and mechanical chaos some Eternal fans loved, while the more cinematic story, open maps, bosses, mech missions, and dragon sections divide opinion. Its best moments make the Slayer feel powerful and tactical, but its weaker diversions can feel shallow or repetitive. Overall, the evidence points to a highly fun shooter with standout combat systems and presentation, held back by uneven pacing and supporting content.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
55 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.013 (24%)
-
Positive 3.5-4.421 (38%)
-
Neutral 2.5-3.414 (25%)
-
Negative 1.5-2.47 (13%)
Pros highlights
-
Combat drew the strongest agreement, with most reviewers praising shield-led, melee-heavy gunfights, while a minority felt the defensive shift weakened Doom’s flow.
-
Weapon balance was broadly praised for useful, varied weapons, though some reviewers felt guns were simplified or overshadowed by the shield.
-
Accessibility options were consistently praised, especially difficulty sliders, color customization and tuning tools, with minor caveats around clarity or audio-cue gaps.
-
The shield saw and revised mechanics were often praised as a major new layer, though a few reviewers found the system one-note or overly dependent on the shield.
-
Soundtrack quality was divided: several reviewers loved the metal score, while others found it less memorable or a downgrade from earlier entries.
-
Fun factor was strongly positive overall, even in mixed reviews, with reviewers repeatedly calling the campaign fun, rewarding, or charismatic.
Cons highlights
-
Dragon and flying sections were the most repeated weak point, ranging from acceptable spectacle to dull, half-baked or mechanically thin segments.
-
Narrative quality was highly divided, ranging from Doom’s strongest story to self-serious, confusing, bland or unnecessary storytelling.
-
Mech/vehicle-style sections were mixed to negative overall: some enjoyed the spectacle and scale, but many found them shallow, repetitive or underpowered.
-
Difficulty balance varied widely by reviewer, with praise for parry generosity and sliders but criticism that the game could feel too easy or unfair.
-
Crash stability was mixed across platforms and review periods, from flawless stability to dashboard crashes and freezes.
-
Writing quality was mostly criticized for dull cutscenes, cliched dialogue and disjointed storytelling.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other Video Games, this product is above average in polish, mission design, weapon balance, near average in fun factor, exploration quality, below average in value for money, writing quality, side character depth.
Comparison summary
55 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher20 (36%)
-
Same as average within 0.3 pts16 (29%)
-
Below average 0.4+ pts lower19 (35%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| value for money | 1.5 | 3.8 | -2.3 |
| writing quality | 1.8 | 3.6 | -1.8 |
| side character depth | 2.0 | 3.7 | -1.7 |
| flying mechanics | 2.5 | 3.8 | -1.2 |
| polish | 5.0 | 3.5 | +1.5 |
| boss design | 2.3 | 3.7 | -1.4 |
| camera behavior | 1.5 | 2.9 | -1.4 |
| driving mechanics | 2.9 | 3.9 | -1.0 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better crash stability
Choose South of Midnight. It scores 4.8 vs 3.3 for crash stability, with a 3.9 overall score.
If you want better accessibility options
Choose Marvel’s Wolverine. It scores 5.0 vs 4.6 for accessibility options, with a 3.7 overall score.
If you want better map and navigation design
Choose Ghost of Yōtei. It scores 4.8 vs 2.4 for map and navigation design, with a 4.4 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
Doom Eternal
- Better: soundtrack impact The reviewer uses Doom Eternal’s Mick Gordon score as the benchmark The Dark Ages fails to match.
- Better: mechanical richness The reviewer says The Dark Ages is not as mechanically rich as Doom Eternal.
- Better: glory kill animation variety The reviewer says Doom Eternal had more unique glory-kill animations than The Dark Ages.
2016 Doom reboot
- Better: overall trilogy standing The reviewer still considers the 2016 Doom reboot the best and most balanced modern entry.
Doom (2016)
- Better: glory kill animation variety The reviewer says earlier games had more unique glory-kill animations than The Dark Ages.
FAQ
Is Doom: The Dark Ages still fun if it is slower than Doom Eternal?
Yes. Most reviewers still found the core shooting, shield parries, melee pressure, and demon-slaying loop very fun, even when they missed Eternal’s speed.
How good is the new shield saw?
The shield saw is the most praised new feature. Reviewers liked its blocking, parrying, throwing, armor-shattering, and mobility uses, though a few felt it dominated the sandbox too much.
Are the dragon and mech sections good?
They are the most mixed parts of the game. Some reviewers enjoyed the spectacle and pacing break, but many found the dragon and mech mechanics shallow, repetitive, or weaker than normal combat.
Does the story matter this time?
The story is more prominent than in some earlier Doom games, but review sentiment is split. A few reviewers liked the stronger cinematic focus, while many found the plot, dialogue, or side characters forgettable.
How are the accessibility and difficulty options?
Reviewers strongly praised the customization suite, including sliders for damage, parry timing, game speed, and colors. A few wanted clearer explanations or more audio accessibility.
Is the game technically polished?
Most reviewers praised visuals and performance, especially on strong hardware or consoles, but a few reported crashes, frame drops, glitches, or pre-launch stability concerns.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
Article Reviews
gamepressure.com
- Review score
- 3.1
lordsofgaming.net
- Review score
- 4.0
gametyrant.com
- Review score
- 4.6
videogameschronicle.com
- Review score
- 4.2
Top Video Games to Consider
Best for fluid traversal, rewarding exploration, striking art, and forgiving quality-of-life features. Skip it if you want deep combat, radical genre innovation, or consistently demanding bosses.
Pros: difficulty balance, boss design
Cons: innovation, sandbox freedom
Good if you want fast, tactical roguelite combat with huge progression depth, striking art, and standout music. Skip it if repetition, resource micromanagement, or a less emotionally satisfying sequel story...
Pros: combat system, progression system
Cons: originality
Good if you want a beautiful, demanding survival sandbox built around exploration, building, progression, and memorable co-op. Skip it if long resource runs, harsh death recovery, and deliberate pacing sound...
Pros: town-building system, exploration quality
Cons: grind level, fast travel convenience
Best for joyful destruction, dense exploration, and a charming DK-Pauline adventure. Skip it if camera quirks, frame-rate dips, easy bosses, or premium Switch 2 pricing are dealbreakers.
Pros: fun factor, world interactivity
Cons: frame rate stability, boss design