DOOM: The Dark Ages — id Software Invents Brutal Medieval

Platform	PS5, Xbox Series X, PC
Genre	FPS / Action
Publisher	Bethesda Softworks
Developer	id Software
Release Date	May 15, 2025
Score	8.5/10

A deliberate break, not a timid sequel

Let's be straight from the jump: if you're expecting DOOM Eternal with a medieval skin, move along. DOOM: The Dark Ages isn't playing that game. id Software had no interest in lazily cashing in on its predecessor's formula — this studio, since 1993, has always preferred smashing its own foundations rather than resting on them. This new entry is a radical statement of intent: slow the pace, thicken the brutality, plant the Slayer in the mud instead of the air.

DOOM Eternal was a death dance choreographed to the millimeter, a ballet where every jump, every meat hook, every dash chained together with metronome precision. The Dark Ages is a brawl. A heavy cavalry charge where the Slayer digs his boots into scorched earth and pushes forward, relentless, like a wall of flesh and steel that refuses to bend. This isn't regression — it's mutation. And like any mutation, it unsettles before it convinces.

The narrative context frames this entry as a prequel, set well before the events of DOOM 2016. The Slayer lands in a world of visceral dark fantasy, caught between demonic cathedrals and apocalyptic battlefields. The story premise remains what it's always been in this franchise — a ticket to organized violence — but the presentation is polished, coherent, and surprisingly immersive.

Gameplay and controls: the shield changes everything

The signature weapon of this entry isn't a firearm. It's a serrated shield — the Skullcrusher — that you hurl like a boomerang, use to parry projectiles with precise timing, and wield to literally shred enemies at point-blank range. This central mechanic completely reshapes how you approach every confrontation. Less aerial mobility, fewer platforms to chain in a panic, but a ground presence that feels deliberate, almost primal.

The parry system deserves special attention. Unlike Eternal's defensive dash, which was forgiving enough to reward near-misses, the shield parry demands a tight timing window — not as punishing as Sekiro, but demanding enough that every successful block delivers immediate, physical satisfaction. The PS5's haptic feedback amplifies that feeling: deflecting a Hell Baron's fireball and sending it right back into his face is one of the raw pleasures the game hands out generously.

The firearms arsenal is still substantial. The Super Shotgun returns, as deliciously brutal at close range as ever. The Plasma Mace — new to this entry — introduces a charge mechanic that rewards players who stay in the fight rather than those who backpedal. The Rail Cannon provides surgical strikes on heavy targets. But unlike Eternal, where rapid weapon-switching was a constant mechanical obligation, The Dark Ages lets you find your own rhythm, your own style of carnage. Less virtuosic, but more personal.

Expect around ten hours to finish the campaign on standard difficulty, more if you dig through levels hunting upgrades and collectibles. The game offers four difficulty levels, including an Ultra-Nightmare mode for certified masochists — permadeath included.

Art direction: demonic medieval done right, finally

This is probably where The Dark Ages surprises the most, and the best. id Software had a dangerous mission: build a dark fantasy world that doesn't smell like cheap cosplay, that doesn't feel like half-digested Warhammer Fantasy or a first-person Diablo IV. The result exceeds expectations.

The environments are massive, labyrinthine without being confusing, and packed with dense visual lore. The demonic cathedrals of the opening hour — their vaults built from fused bones, their stained glass depicting scenes of ritual massacre — set the tone immediately. The art team worked with a rare stylistic consistency: every asset, every texture, every set piece tells a story without needing a single line of dialogue to explain it.

The bestiary has been completely reimagined to fit this aesthetic. Hell Barons wear armor forged into their own flesh — plates of calcified bone that grew around their bodies like natural shells. Imps now look like fallen Gothic gargoyles, crouching on ruins before diving at you. Demonic Knights are a new bestiary entry: massive, slow, but capable of absorbing an obscene amount of damage while charging with a brutality reminiscent of Juggernauts from certain military FPS games, only infinitely more threatening.

On the technical side, the id Tech 8 engine runs at a stable 4K/60fps on PS5 and Xbox Series X with no visible compromises. The dynamic ray tracing on the metallic surfaces of demonic armor mid-combat is a detail with zero functional utility that proves the studio has total command of its tools. On PC, the game is a model of optimization — rare enough to be worth calling out explicitly.

The soundtrack: Andrew Hulshult in Gordon's shadow

Let's address the elephant in the room. Mick Gordon is no longer at the helm, and his absence is felt. His collaboration with id Software ended on bitter terms after DOOM Eternal, and it's Andrew Hulshult — veteran of Prodeus and DUSK — who picks up the torch. The verdict is mixed.

Hulshult delivers a brutal, heavy, effective soundtrack. The saturated guitars are there, the hard-hitting industrial passages are there, and several tracks hit an intensity that perfectly matches the game's new combat tempo. The main theme, with its guttural choirs and mid-tempo riffs that crush rather than soar, captures the spirit of this entry better than any line of dialogue could.

But let's be honest: the DOOM 2016 soundtrack was a sonic revolution. Eternal's score, despite its chaotic production, contained moments of pure genius — BFG Division remains one of the greatest compositions in video game history. Hulshult doesn't operate at that level, and you almost resent him for being this good without being exceptional. His work is solid, occasionally very good, never transcendent. For a DOOM game, that's almost a criticism.

The sound design outside the music, however, is beyond reproach. The shield whistling through the air before cracking against demonic armor, the deep organic thud of Glory Kills reimagined for the medieval setting, the low rumble of approaching Titans — every sound is sculpted to maximize the game's physical impact.

Content and replayability: dense, not endless

The main campaign spans 22 levels across varied settings: claustrophobic underground dungeons, open battlefields swept by sulfur storms, demonic fortresses perched on cliffs of solidified lava. The pacing avoids uniformity — the developers smartly alternate open spaces where raw power rules with tight corridors that favor the shield in close-quarters combat.

Two gameplay sequences break entirely from the standard format. The first puts you at the controls of a demonic dragon for an on-rails aerial segment — visually spectacular, mechanically limited, but a welcome change of pace. The second has you piloting a mechanical Titan dozens of stories tall in a city-scale battle against a demonic horde. These sequences recall the gameplay inserts in God of War 2018, with less finesse but significantly more decibels.

Beyond the campaign, timed challenge modes return with global leaderboards. Isolated combat arenas for perfecting your combos. And for completionists, every level hides secret areas that unlock lore archives, permanent upgrades, and Slayer cosmetics. Nothing revolutionary in terms of post-campaign content, but consistent enough to justify multiple runs.

Strengths

• + The serrated shield is one of the best new mechanics introduced in an FPS in years — intuitive, deep, and satisfying to master.
• + The art direction is consistent from start to finish, with a demonic medieval world that has a genuine, distinct visual identity.
• + The boss fights reach epic proportions without ever becoming endurance tests — the mid-game encounter against the demonic Titan in particular will stand among the great FPS moments of this generation.
• + The gameplay generosity: the game lets players develop their own style without systematically punishing them the way Eternal could on higher difficulties.
• + The technical optimization across all platforms — exemplary, no excuses.
• + The environmental storytelling, understated but present, giving real depth to a world that could easily have been treated with superficiality.

Weaknesses

• − The soundtrack, solid but unremarkable, falls short of the iconic standard set by previous entries. Hulshult does the job — he doesn't make history.
• − The reduced mobility will feel like a step backward for Eternal fans who had internalized verticality as a core reflex. The adjustment requires genuine unlearning.
• − The dragon and Titan sequences, spectacular to watch, lack mechanical depth. More control, more risk — both were needed.
• − The story remains inconsequential. The cinematics are polished and the presentation has improved, but the narrative goes nowhere interesting. If you're looking for real storytelling, you're still in the wrong place.
• − Post-campaign longevity is limited for anyone who doesn't care about leaderboards or timed challenges.

Verdict: a different kind of greatness

DOOM: The Dark Ages isn't trying to top Eternal. It doesn't play on the same field, refuses the same rules, and fully owns being a slower, more grounded, more physical experience. It's a risky bet from id Software — turning the most agile franchise in FPS into something that feels more like a cavalry charge than an acrobatic ballet. And that bet, by and large, pays off.

What elevates the game from a successful experiment into something greater is its absolute conviction. No hesitation in the game design, no lukewarm compromises that try to please everyone and end up satisfying no one. The Dark Ages knows exactly what it is and throws it in your face from the opening seconds. Compared to recent genre attempts at reinvention — a Halo Infinite that stumbled forward, a Redfall that had no idea what it wanted to be — that clarity of vision is almost a luxury.

The break from Eternal will put some people off, just as the break between DOOM 2016 and Eternal divided players at the time. That's the mark of a franchise that's alive, in motion, refusing the comfort of repetition. The Dark Ages digs in a different direction, and that direction leads somewhere unique, brutal, and memorable. Not the best DOOM. But unquestionably a great DOOM.