Doom: The Dark Ages Hands-On – A Brutal Ballet of Shields, Parries, and Pulverized Demons

Love Letter or Break-Up Note? Why This Doom Feels So Different

The latest entry in id Software’s legendary shooter saga is designed to split the crowd. Doom: The Dark Ages tosses shotgun sprinting aside and proudly plants its boots for a more deliberate, up-close slugfest. After only a few hours, I’m hooked—yet I can already see how fans glued to Doom Eternal’s turbo speed might bounce off this medieval bloodbath.

The Shield: Captain Hell-Slayer’s Star Attraction

Early in the campaign, the Doom Slayer straps on a circular shield—then almost immediately outfits it with rotating buzz-saw teeth. Fling it like a hell-forged Frisbee and demons freeze, twitching, begging to be finished off while you mop up the fodder around them. Beyond the glorious crunch-and-slice audio, this shield is all about control: lock down priority targets, dictate the arena’s pace, and choose who dies first.

Shield-Bash: Your New Long-Range Dash

Forget sprint spam. Aim your shield at a distant enemy, tap the bash command, and you propel across the map in a blink, splintering imps or staggering bigger brutes. Mastering this zip-attack restores that signature Doom flow—without the constant bunny-hopping footprint of Eternal. Marketing might shout “Stand and fight,” but in practice you’re still surfing firefights… just with a brutal new rhythm.

Blades Out, Guards Up: A Combat Loop Built on Parries

Id Software leans hard into sword-and-board DNA. Timed parries not only negate incoming pain—they charge a three-hit melee combo that detonates health bars. Yes, having to “earn” punches might feel odd when ammo is practically raining from the sky, but the damage payout is massive. Unlimited gauntlet swings would trivialize everything, so earning those knuckle sandwiches through perfect blocks hits a sweet risk-reward note.

Why Limiting the Power Punch Works

On paper, rationing your most satisfying attack sounds cruel. In practice, it keeps you juggling every tool: shoot to thin the horde, parry to stock melee charges, unleash the triple haymaker when a Hell Knight overextends. It’s a loop that rewards aggression and precision—one mis-timed parry and you’re eating a fireball to the visor.

Story Glimpse: A Slayer on Reluctant Holy Duty

I’m still only a handful of chapters in, but the premise is clear: some enigmatic religious order has yoked the Slayer to its bidding. The job? Same as ever—bleed the legions of Hell—only now you’re wondering who’s really pulling the strings. Where that plot goes is anyone’s guess, yet the combat clicked for me the moment the buzz-saw shield started humming.

Early Verdict

If the thought of chaining perfect parries into skull-shattering combos gets your pulse racing, Doom: The Dark Ages might be your new obsession. Just be ready to unlearn the muscle memory of Eternal, plant your feet, and let the shield sing. For everyone else? This might be the most polarizing Doom yet—and that’s exactly why I can’t stop playing.