Doom: The Dark Ages (PS5) Review: Parry Through Hell

Doom: The Dark Ages is a prequel to the 2016 Reboot And eternal doom of 2020. Although I cannot say that I am particularly interested in the tradition of the Slayer background frame, there is a lot of appeal in the mixture of science fiction and fantasy and to give the aesthetics of Doom an important lifting. Fortunately, the changeS are not all visuals, because the new shield that players has is a real game changer and one of the most fun additions to a first -person shooting game that I have seen for years.

Although the shield may seem against all that Doom and the pushed mentality of his suite represented, it is important to judge Doom: The Dark Ages as his own game. Although there are more defensive options, and those you want to deploy if you hope to stay alive against the demons with which you are confronted, you will also have to use them offensively. The most important part of the shield is the possibility of adorning green projectiles, which you can then return to enemies to create openings and make damage. You can also launch your shield, which conveniently gets an upgrade of the chainsaw blade, to enemies in order to stun them, there is therefore a large layer of versatility which will be beyond simply blocking the incoming damage with.

Combining Doom: the combat loop of the dark age takes some time, but once it clicks, it becomes a real joy. This becomes particularly fun once you gain upgrades for your weapons and melee attacks, because you bounce back enemy bullets, using your shield to destroy the heated armor of enemies and perform executions to recover ammunition and health. Although you can keep the defense (or at least the parade) in mind here, you are always able to play aggressively and reward yourself.

The game’s boss fights are some of the best examples of the importance of Parry’s attacks, because they allow meetings to have really delicate models. Having parade through specific green sections of quick succession projectiles is always fun, and there are even a lot of mini-bassins meetings which are unique and improved versions of regular enemies that give you permanent buffs to search and defeat them. There are always new skills and weapons to acquire, which prevents the shooting game from never feeling repetitive during the level 22 campaign.

The levels are also incredibly varied, because the slayer will meet everything, from turrets to the possibility of mounting dragons and even maneuvering the giant Mechs of Atlan. The dragon levels are particularly fun, because flying in the air seems really magnificent and allowing you to really appreciate the scope and the tentacular size of the game. The mech is slow and methodical, which makes it a very different rhythm of the rest of the game, but to be confronted the colossal titans and put in place melee attacks before the Dodges make it quite satisfactory. Although I would not say that the variation exceeds the basic pistol game, that’s exactly why they are a good diversion and why most doom is always an FPS.

The campaign presents a fantastic art design, especially in The Cosmic Kingdom. The only drawback is that I have never been really invested in the story told, and there are a little too many cutscenes that I personally want a game of destiny. I really admired how much Doom 2016 has just not been interested in an exhibition and just wanting to tear things up, but I understand that it could be a tip that you can only draw once. Regardless of your investment in the story, the major gameplay moments that history builds for all delivering, and that’s what really matters.

Doom: The Dark Ages Review: final verdict

Doom: The Dark Ages shows that the ID software team refuses to rest on its laurels and always seeks to iterate on the fantastic DOOM base. The addition of the shield helps the gameplay to feel completely fresh, the parry system and the melee fight helping her differentiate himself from Doom Eternal, who perfected the fight of push. With a varied campaign that presents really stellar moments and boss meetings, it is one of the best PS5 shooters ever made.

Disclosure: The publisher provided a PlayStation 5 copy for our review Doom: The Dark Ages (PS5). Examined on version 1.001,000.