3.5/5 ★ – spathcody's review of DOOM: The Dark Ages.

Overall, a really solid entry into the new era of Doom games. I think the overall twists on the gameplay loop/formula work really well here, and i like the more melee-focused combat. Level-design is phenomenal, aside from a few instances where there's excessive backtracking to get secrets. This is primarily an issue with the larger levels in the game. The addition of the dragon missions and titan missions, while cool, do arguably overstay their welcome, and I think the dragon missions in particular suffer from being very repetitive and not really feeling "inspired". Mainly just "kill guy with dragon, land, kill enemies on the ground, repeat". If they continue this mechanic in a future game, I'd love to see an iteration on this where the mechanic can help improve upon or add a unique twist to the level design. Sadly, the worst aspect of this game is also one that Doom 2016 and Eternal have become primarily known for: the sound design. Not having Mick Gordon at the helm has left a vacancy that couldn't quite be filled. A lot of the overall tracks are well done, though the mixing of the audio itself could've used more time editing/mastering, as the music often finds itself lost in all the other noise of the game. Still, good to see the team behind this getting the chance to iterate/experiment with the core gameplay 2016 and Eternal have laid the foundation for. Can't wait to see what's next, and what more they have in store for this game with DLC.