DOOM: The Dark Ages Hands-On Preview – Slayer Brought Some New Toys
It has been over four years now since we’ve seen a new mainline DOOM game, but the day is almost upon us, with DOOM: The Dark Ages due for release this coming May. Ahead of said release, publisher Bethesda Softworks invited MP1st for some hands-on time with the game.
We can now finally talk about it, and we have our preview ready to let you know how the latest of Doomguy/Slayer’s adventures is shaping up.
Single-Player Only
First of all, our hands-on was entirely offline. Or, perhaps, at least only a solo effort – there is no multiplayer component for DOOM: The Dark Ages, as this is intended to be a single-player game, despite there being a versus in the last. At any rate, I imagine the newfangled shield saw would be quite difficult to balance in multiplayer combat. After spending some time with it, though, I think it would be fun to test it out against other players. More on that unique item momentarily.
DOOM: The Dark Ages is built using the id Tech 8 engine, and on the desktop systems we were on, at least, it ran buttery smooth. I’m sure we were on at least an RTX 4090 combined with other high-spec hardware, and of course your experience will vary depending on what hardware you’re rolling with if you’re on PC, but at least with id Tech, there should be a good baseline performance for most players.
As a first-person shooter, DOOM: The Dark Ages plays wonderfully with a keyboard and mouse, though a controller was also provided and used during our hands-on for a chapter or so. Whatever way you play, controls are pretty standard stuff here, though the shield saw does require some extra inputs in order to utilize properly, and new melee weapons also add some complexities. By holding the right mouse button, the player blocks incoming attacks from the front. While blocking, you can use the shield as a battering ram, which will quickly slam you into any targeted enemy in front of you. This shield can also be used like a disc, which is important in the occasional puzzle you might come across. In the chapters we played, the puzzle sections were quick, used simply as a brief change of pace (and perhaps also as a respite against dozens of enemies at a time). Combined with the new melee options, DOOM’s combat has immediately become more versatile.
Flailing Gauntlet, Gory Executions
An item called a gauntlet is given early in the campaign and it can be used to perform melee combos. It has a limited number of charges, which get filled slowly over time naturally, but more quickly with each enemy kill. Indeed, DOOM: The Dark Ages rewards playing aggressively, as enemies will drop health and ammo when killed via combos. The gauntlet can also be combined later with the flail, which deals more devastating damage and can stun larger enemies. Changing between traditional weapons at various ranges and up-close brutality is a seamless transition that is fun to experience over and over as you decimate hundreds of enemies.
Certain larger enemies can fire projectiles at you, some of which are target-seeking. Some of those projectiles glow in a different color to indicate that you can parry them and send them back to their sender, dealing damage that otherwise might have been inflicted on you. It’s a great way to dish out extra damage to those bigger enemies, who in most situations should be taken out ahead of any peons in the area.
One thing I loved about my time with DOOM: The Dark Ages was its fast pace. Any time I stepped out onto a battlefield (which was obvious as they were mostly open spaces), I very quickly had to decide which enemy or group of enemies to attack and wing it from there. Though I was playing on the normal difficulty level, called “Hurt Me Plenty,” it would still take no time to die, even against basic enemies. Checkpoints felt forgiving enough in that they only sent you back a couple of minutes at most, giving you a few moments to consider a different strategy as you work towards the section that killed you last time. Or not – the open nature of most battles meant you didn’t necessarily have to take on that large, winged demon right away if you didn’t want to. You can also collect life sigils, which will be automatically consumed if you lose all your health, to respawn where you died.
An Exciting Change of Pace
While most of our time with DOOM: The Dark Ages took place on the ground, a couple of unique sections completely changed the game’s feel. First, the Slayer was placed inside a giant mech-like machine called the Atlan. This machine had slower movement animations but plenty of firepower, which you definitely need against the huge, building-sized enemies in this section. It wasn’t a very tough area but a cool part you could thrash about with and cause large-scale devastation wherever you walked. Our second departure from the more traditional trigger-happy combat sections involved a dragon we mounted. This became a flying section, which, of course, will divide some players depending on how much they enjoy flight mechanics. However, this section was split up because your task was to board a handful of Hell Carriers. These served as flying battleships, and once you took out their defenses, you’d board them via an opening. The game would then shift back to the traditional firefight combat DOOM is known for, and at the end of the sequence, you’d cause catastrophic damage to the flying fortress and jump your way out onto your awaiting dragon, mid-air. It kind of reminded me of the Railjack missions in Warframe, only somehow even more badass.
DOOM: The Dark Ages felt like an exciting return to simpler times with plenty of modern conveniences. The shield saw is a fun change to simply shooting up nearly everything that moves, including ranged combos that felt satisfying to execute, and relatively easy to grasp.
Fans of first-person shooters in general, and those of DOOM especially should be ready to have a blast when DOOM: The Dark Ages launches on May 15, 2025 on Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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