4/5 ★ – Onahx's review of DOOM: The Dark Ages.

The fact that this is probably my least favorite of the three modern Doom games should say something, because even this is great. Lots of respect to Bethesda for not just making another Doom Eternal, which they totally could have after that game’s success. The Dark Ages feels entirely different wild still maintaining that sense of adrenaline that really makes these games awesome. The big new addition here is the shield, which by itself totally changes how you play the game. Parrying attacks is the name of the game here which feels very satisfying and allows the enemies to be way, way more aggressive. And while I miss the dash from Eternal, being able to zoom straight in on any enemy with the shield bash makes up for it. This is also one of the most visually impressive games I’ve seen in a while. The world here is so detailed and I could easily just stop ripping demons apart to stare off into the mountains. That all being said, I do sincerely miss the crazy graphic glory kills from the past two games. The finishers in this game feel so tame in comparison. The Dark Ages also REALLY wants you to care about its story for some reason, which I just never did. My last gripe is that it’s simply, like, kinda easy. I never felt like I really needed to use this game’s equivalent to the BFG and I rarely died. Granted, I was playing on normal difficulty but that’s the same for Doom 2016 and Eternal and they were significantly harder. Normally that’s not something I care about that much but with these games it definitely adds to the vibe. Regardless, Doom: The Dark Ages is still a great game and another success in Bethesda’s modern Doom titles. I’ll likely be coming back to this one the least but I still absolutely recommend it and had a blast tearing demons apart here.