The Doom series has always been gaming royalty — it’s one of the most important games that changed the medium forever. 2016’s reboot and 2020’s Doom Eternal — both fantastic FPS games and even better Doom games — reinvented and cemented the franchise’s modern identity — a breakneck, ultra-violent ballet of speed, strategy, and hellish spectacle.

So when Doom: The Dark Ages was announced, with its slower pace, medieval setting, and reimagined tone, I was pretty excited but worried about the devs risking the formula they had perfected just for change’s sake. Thankfully, that is far from the case, and Doom: The Dark Ages proves that evolution doesn’t require abandonment — just bold vision.

Doom: The Dark Ages price and availability

Doom: The Dark Ages is available on PC, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro, and the Xbox Series X/S. Xbox Game Pass holders can play the game on day one, i.e., May 15, 2025. The third entry in the revived trilogy, Doom: The Dark Ages has no last-gen versions, and has been built exclusively for current-gen consoles and PCs. Bethesda offers three variants of the title-

• Standard Edition ($70): The base game, with a pre-order bonus that gives you the Void DOOM Slayer Skin.
• Premium Edition ($100): The base game and the pre-order skin, along with 2-day early access, campaign DLC when it drops, a digital copy of the game’s artbook and soundtrack, and the Divinity Skin Pack.
• Collector’s Bundle ($200): All the benefits of the Premium Edition, along with a 12-inch PVC statue of the Doom Slayer, a Metal Red Key Card replica, and a Steelbook case of the game.

The best Doom story yet

The Doom timeline is pretty much Jeremy Bearimy at this point — and that’s okay. Doom’s never been about the story. I’m the Doom Slayer, I kill demons, and they fear me — that’s all I’ve ever needed. The lore runs deep, sure, but it’s for me, the player to engage with, not the character. If this game has been one of my most anticipated releases in 2025, it was never because of the story.

For the Slayer, it’s about getting to the next bunch of demons to slaughter. Emotional stories are great in games, but expecting that from Doom is like asking a chainsaw for poetry. The story in The Dark Ages is tied together well and told with self-awareness. It’s not cutscene-heavy, and when it does pause, it’s brief and adds something.

All story beats happen at the start of levels, keeping the gameplay front and center.

Almost all story beats happen at the start of levels, keeping the gameplay front and center. Commander Thira’s a welcome screen presence, while the antagonist is so cookie-cutter he could’ve been replaced by a board. Still, the evolving presentation, killer art direction, and sacred-yet-blasphemous world do a lot of heavy lifting.

Towards the second half of the story, the game goes in an entirely new direction vis-à-vis art style, and it took me quite a while to pick my jaw up from the floor.

A jet fighter before, a tank on legs now

The Doom Slayer carries an unprecedented heft in The Dark Ages

Most of the fanbase, myself included, had reservations about the Doom Slayer now being slower than before, but after about fifteen hours of taking down everything hell’s forces have thrown at me, I can confidently put those worries to rest.

The slayer has never been tankier, and you immediately understand from the first five minutes what the devs meant when they said that The Dark Ages is about standing and fighting rather than jumping and shooting like Eternal.

Yes, things are slower — but that’s intentional. There’s a deliberate weight to the Slayer now, reflecting both his Praetor armor and his mythic status. The core loop of kill, scavenge, survive is intact, just rebalanced. Veterans of Eternal might take a moment to adjust, but the payoff is worth it — the combat is just as rewarding, and arguably more visceral.

The combat is just as rewarding, and arguably more visceral.

Each action the Slayer takes carries a new weight with it — the ground shaking with each jump, the surrounding enemies visibly shaken with every punch. Armed to the teeth with a shield and an arsenal that would make Bugs Bunny jealous, the Slayer takes on every battlefield with a heaviness that I haven’t yet experienced in any other game, let alone any Doom title.

Gone is the double jump or the dash and double dash, replaced by a sprint action. This can certainly be one of the more divisive decisions from a gameplay perspective, but when terra firma shook as I barged towards my enemies, I felt objectively more badass than ever before.

The Shield Saw makes defense feel rewarding… and violent

Rip and tear, mince and blend

The shield saw is perhaps my favorite addition to any Doom game ever — it parries, it blocks, you throw it in different ways at different enemies to get different results, it stun-locks, it helps in platforming sections, and it even helps open up gates. Plus, just like the meathook, it gives me the option to bash into an enemy halfway across the arena. What can it not do?

Early into my first hour in Doom: The Dark Ages, as I was bombarded by enemy projectiles and imps, I realized just how imperative it is to constantly use the shield in the heat of battle. Not only would I be losing out on cool points if I didn’t, but I’d also be seeing the “you have died” screen aplenty. The shield’s defensive abilities are absolutely crucial to surviving on the battlefield, while on the offense, it could very well save you from running out of ammo in every encounter.

Doom: The Dark Ages’ weapons have become my favorite

Fifty shades of slay

While Doom Eternal forced you to use every weapon in your arsenal by limiting ammo capacity, The Dark Ages' weapons are just so varied and badass that I wanted to use each one of them. From the skull-crusher machine gun, to the shield saw, to the Super Shotgun, and then, a perfect hit to the dome. Chef's kiss, ladies and gentlemen.

Removing constant glory kills in battle was certainly going to be a divisive feature, and glory kills in The Dark Ages might not lock you into a close-up animation as the Slayer violently takes the demons apart, but they still make you invincible for a second, letting you close in the distance to your staggered foes.

The Dark Ages’ weapons are varied and badass.

Furthermore, exclusive glory kills are still here — they are just reserved for the more challenging, enhanced enemies you come across, and it only makes killing them that much more rewarding. If you still want that sweet old glory-kill action, just remember to hit jump right before going in for the kill.

The Atlan Mech makes Doom: The Dark Ages the coolest Doom ever

Prime Mike Tyson in a Gundam

Entering the gargantuan Atlan Mech for the first time in a Doom game was a surreal experience, and I had an ear-to-ear grin as I piloted the titan-killing mech, looking for the nearest shipping container to hit the kaiju with. As you pilot the skyscraper-like mech to pick on titans your own size, parries are replaced with perfect dashes. These fill up a combo meter, leading to a one-hit kill that would put Jin Kazama to shame, as you watch Beelzebub’s big boys crumple to the ground.

Taking down bridges, buildings, and power grids in my way as I ran to deck the nearest demonic titan, I still found myself wanting to be back on the ground on my own two feet, because the action on the ground-floor is what I came for. The Atlan Mech still has its own weapon the size of a zip-code, and dodging and weaving titans before going for the uppercut is deeply rewarding — that is why these segments shine really bright, even if the only enemies you fight are titans… and slightly stronger titans.

Thankfully, these segments come rarely, which means they don't overstay their welcome like the Batmobile in Arkham Knight. The mechs are here to add to the experience, not take over it entirely.

Atlan Mech segments don't overstay their welcome.

The Dragon Mounts are simply not as fun

Bit of a drag-on

Much like the Atlan Mech segments, Dragon Mount sequences in Doom: The Dark Ages, are peppered lightly in between, breaking up the fast-paced boots-to-posteriors action as you soar into the skies, taking down hell-carriers and breathing fire down titans’ throats. Is it cool the first time you do it? Yes. Does it still get boring almost immediately and feel disjointed? Also yes.

With the mechs, things remain up close and personal with the demons, but riding atop a dragon with flaming red wings, there’s no sense of the battle’s intensity. All you do during the Dragon Mount sequences is wait for a certain-colored attack to come towards you, dodge it, and then counter-attack once to land aboard a ship. It isn’t as if traversal via dragon is integral to the story here, either. The Slayer is always where he wants to be in a second, be it through portals, beams, or the good old-fashioned cut-to-black.

I definitely enjoyed myself chasing demon ships at breakneck speeds, weaving through obstacles as I hunted it down, but it wasn’t nearly as engaging as fighting in a mech suit, or just shooting demons in the face, down in the trenches. Adding these segments was always going to be a polarizing decision, and I just happen to find myself on the other side — as cool as it looks the first couple of times, the Dragon Mount isn’t integral to the Doom experience in The Dark Ages, and nor is it as interesting as the trailers made it look.

Turret shooting is the weakest part of Doom: The Dark Ages

The dragons are far from the weakest point in Doom: The Dark Ages. That award goes to certain turret sections where you sit in one place and fire bottomless clips through a minigun at an endless barrage of demons, waiting for the next cutscene to begin.

All you do here is shoot without being able to defend yourself as hordes of demons and projectiles fly at you. The worst bit? It doesn’t even matter, because you never die, as long as you keep shooting.

Enemies have never been more diverse in Doom

Enemy variety is staggering in Doom: The Dark Ages

Playing through the 22 levels in Doom: The Dark Ages, I came across all types of hellspawn. You name ‘em, they have ‘em. Everything from Imps to Hell Knights, from Revenants to Mancubii, and even the Vagary from Doom 3 — you won’t run out of fresh faces to split in half. You can use whatever weapon you want against their weakness, although it’s just as effective to keep hitting them on the head with the flail instead. The only thing unchanged is fodder demons. They’re still the ol’ reliable health dumps.

My one-on-one with the Aggadon Hunter was unforgettable in Doom: The Dark Ages.

One enemy in particular that I was looking forward to was the Aggadon Hunter — a spin on the incredibly tough field boss, the Marauder from Doom Eternal, who can truly go toe-to-toe with you, and boy did it do exactly that. My one-on-one with the Aggadon Hunter is definitely one of the more memorable moments during my time with The Dark Ages, especially one instance where I couldn’t have possibly known I was about to be jumped by one, and thus started the battle on the back foot.

The stronger, tankier Slayer makes short(er) work of demons

For the rest of the enemy types, even on Nightmare difficulty, I found it rather manageable to stun lock the stronger ones to take them out at my leisure, moving around the battlefield to always have the upper hand. I’m going to tweak around the difficulty settings further, but Doom: The Dark Ages does feel like it’s going to be easier to get through than Doom Eternal or Doom 2016 — at least on the Nightmare difficulty preset that I went with.

Doom: The Dark Ages’ medieval setting is breathtaking

Change not just for change’s sake

Set long before the events of Doom (2016), The Dark Ages puts the slayer in a medieval fantasy setting — one that fits like a glove for the franchise, reframing the Slayer less as a cosmic avenger and more as a brutal knight of prophecy. This is exactly the breath of fresh air I wanted from the next Doom game, rather than just Doom Eternal 2.

Tall, monumental buildings and complexes loom over you, towering over the mountains they are built around. Great statues, titans, mechs, and trees remind you of the scale of the world as they gel perfectly with each other. Cities float in the sky showing you just how grand the scale of everything is, all while marrying modern and medieval perfectly. Add to that a fur cape for the slayer and a shield with a saw on it, and I’m completely sold from the get go.

Gone are the neon-infused sci-fi labs and sprawling space stations; in their place are scorched cathedrals, rune-etched keeps, and beast-ridden wastelands — all rendered in stunning detail. It’s a world that feels lived in, blasphemous, and ancient. Most importantly, it never comes off as a skin swap. The design of every weapon, enemy, and environment is deeply tied to this new world’s lore.

Sprawling levels show off id Software’s biggest Doom yet

Awesome and impressive level design has always been a Doom staple, and it’s only gotten better. Right off the bat, you’re thrown into a massive field with four gates to open — each its own arena, tackled in any order. While some levels are linear, most are larger, more open, and offer far more player choice.

Platforming, a divisive part of Eternal, is thankfully scaled back and refined here. Movement still matters — sprinting, jumping, climbing — but now it’s more purposeful. Jump pads and grapple points are fluidly built into combat arenas rather than sticking out like gamey elements. The world design naturally follows suit — labyrinthine, but never frustrating.

I wish there were a better way to phrase this, but I’d been wondering what the giant tentacles do.

The siege map is a standout, letting me blaze through demon hordes and stumble across hidden goodies like weapon skins and mini-bosses. I wish there were a better way to phrase this, but I’d been wondering what the giant tentacles do. The answer was “disappoint”.

I even opened the map — a first for me in a Doom game — just to see what I’d missed. One puzzle, ripped straight from God of War, had me hunting hidden statues to unlock a chest. But overall, it’s the familiar Doom loop — arenas, keys, auto-triggered doors, and minimal downtime. I turned off the HUD after level one — no need for numbers. It’s either them or me. That’s the Doom experience.

The game looks and performs beautifully well

Mind-blowing fidelity with staggeringly smooth performance

The Dark Ages begins in a rain-heavy environment, flexing that RTGI with bolts of lightning flashing around the map and lighting up the arena around you. Running on an RTX 4070 Ti at 1440p, the game, at max settings with Ray Tracing on, gave me a very smooth 75-80 fps experience, and that’s before frame generation comes in.

Now, I might be pretty satisfied with those numbers had it been a regular old single-player game, but for Doom, I needed to get my monitor’s worth and get every frame. Simply turning on DLSS Frame Generation to 2x bumped my frames up to the 120s, and going with the second-highest Nightmare preset resulted in a smooth 140+ fps experience.

Buggy launches have been a terrible video game trend lately, but I’m glad to report that in my entire time playing Doom: The Dark Ages, that was never an issue — I encountered no bugs, no crashes — only nasty insects that needed bullets to the face. Only thrice did the game suddenly drop down to 60fps for a second before getting right back on the horse.

Inarguably the best Doom experience yet

Doom: The Dark Ages is not Eternal 2. It’s something braver — a reimagining that honors its roots while forging a new path. It’s bloodier, slower, moodier — and undeniably Doom. The combat is still fierce, the movement still slick, but the tone has shifted toward something mythic and monstrous.

It might not click instantly for everyone, especially fans expecting another sprint through neon Hell. But give it time. Once the rhythm sets in, the fantastic medieval world of the game begins to speak to you, and The Dark Ages reveals itself as one of id’s boldest — and most rewarding — entries yet.