4.5/5 ★ – RoseFNV's review of DOOM: The Dark Ages.

Yes, the Dragon stuff could have been better, yes the story could've used its ideas better to provide a more interesting conflict, and yes the upgrade system is kinda a pretty big step down from Eternal, but all of that fails to matter in a game with so much spectacle and sights and demons to slaughter with a combat system that is among the best ever created in this genre. It's definitely messier than eternal and 2016 but I think once you get to grips with the general flow it becomes just as satisfying as those two if not more with a kick ass arsenal of weapons and a shield/parry system that flows beautifully in the battlefield as you parry back projectiles one direction and throw your shield saw through hordes of weaklings in the other. It's great, it's so so great and it turned a game I wasn't super about at first into a game I couldn't put down for long, continuously wanting to go back to it just to get a taste of that rush that this game floods into your veins. It looks incredible, runs beautifully, contains probably my favorite level design of the series, has a solid soundtrack (worse than the other 2 but I'm not a big metal person so it doesn't really affect me much honestly), and while the execution of the story left a little to be desired I think there's enough interesting ideas and visuals to keep it interesting enough even when the game gave into cutscenes. Glad the finale to this trilogy delivered, this is easily one of the best gaming trilogies out there and I'm so glad we live in a world where each one can shine on its own merits the way these do without dropping in quality between them.