A few days ago, we were welcomed by Bethesda to discover Doom The Dark Ages during an event. This gave us the opportunity to get our hands on the game for four hours, to test four different sections of the game.
The id Software teams allowed us to play the game, with quite different levels, offering varied gameplay to give us an idea of this new batch of Doom which will arrive five years after the last opus: the excellent Doom Eternal. While waiting for the game's release, scheduled for May 15, 2025, discover our first impressions.
Doom The Dark Ages: the perfect opus to start Doom?
As a preamble to our preview, we were able to get some feedback from the development teams. They gave us a brief overview of Doom The Dark Ages, confirming that it is indeed a prequel to Doom and Doom Eternal. The game will allow us to discover the origin story of the Doom Slayer as he fights to protect the earth from the forces of hell.
The developers confirmed that Doom The Dark Ages was the perfect entry point for discovering the franchise. First of all, it is not a sequel, so it is not necessary to have played the previous installments. Secondly, it offers new gameplay, completely reworked. It is an opus that respects the soul and atmosphere of the saga, while being different. This is the most ambitious, fun, and crazy title from id Software and the Doom series.
This new installment is focused on narrative with an ambitious single-player campaign. The game will not feature multiplayer. It's a new vision for the saga, with more open levels, giving players more choice and freedom, and offering a lot of details and secrets to discover in the different levels.
To appeal to as many people as possible, whether they're regulars or new players, Doom The Dark Ages will offer six customizable difficulty modes, making the game accessible to everyone, or, on the contrary, making it a real ordeal that will send you to hell.
Finally, the title promises to amaze you thanks to the new id Tech8 engine with, on the program, 4K, 60FPS and compatibility with DLSS to offer very impressive graphics and visual rendering.
A little appetizer
To begin this review, we were able to play the game's introduction, to get our hands on it and discover the new gameplay mechanics. This was the perfect opportunity to test the famous shield, which will clearly be the major new feature of this installment. The latter is simply essential for destroying armor, countering enemy shields, and triggering mechanisms. It will accompany you throughout your adventure.
These first few minutes of the intro are enough to make us understand that Doom The Dark Ages wants to start on the same foundations as its predecessor. Graphically, it's indeed very clean, and the id Tech 8 engine clearly does the job. The direction is truly crazy, whether in the cutscenes or what happens in the game.
The sound and visual ambiance are really good and we are immediately immersed in the heart of the action. Like all Doom installments, we are treated to extremely nervous and enjoyable gameplay. On the other hand, don't get caught in the trap of rushing in, because the title will be extremely punishing.
Although we're in Doom, it's not just about rushing in headfirst. On the contrary. You'll have to pay attention to your surroundings, because it's coming from all sides. The goal will be to move, constantly, and to always be on the move. If you stay static for a few seconds, heavy damage will follow.
You shouldn't fire into the crowd without thinking either, because the ammunition is quite plentiful but you can still very quickly finish it off and miss in certain sequences. You must therefore oscillate and alternate between shooting and fighting with your shield or your devastating glove.
Because yes, in Doom The Dark Ages, you will have a glove that gives you great striking power (but which recharges and cannot be used infinitely). Likewise, your shield will be a truly formidable weapon. It allows you to break enemy armor and defenses, but also to launch devastating attacks to hit several enemies at the same time. Outside of combat, the shield will be essential to progress in the adventure and activate mechanisms, for example.
In Doom The Dark Ages, each level offers a "path to follow" in wide-open areas, allowing you to discover objects and secret areas if you search carefully. We're not really in an open world, but rather a corridor game with large open areas in which we can come and go.
Do you have your dragon license?
After discovering the introduction and the FPS gameplay, quite typical of Doom, it's time for the main new feature: the dragon sequences. Indeed, in Doom The Dark Ages, it will be possible to ride a dragon during very specific levels. This time, we have less dynamic gameplay, slower, and in third-person view.
This is clearly a change from what we are used to in Doom, but it remains effective. However, it is not yet optimal. Some shooting sequences are not very precise with dodges that are quite random. In the level we were able to test, we had to alternate between gameplay on the back of a dragon and FPS gameplay on the ground.
Sometimes, the game asked us to get off the dragon just to activate a mechanism with the shield. It took less than a minute, but it was enough to break the rhythm and offer a rather bizarre sequence without much interest. Towards the end of the level, we had to alternate between flying and ground gameplay again. This time, it lasted a little longer, with mechanisms to destroy on the ground.
This sequence was more fun than the first part of the level, allowing for a good alternation between the two gameplays, avoiding the redundant aspect. On the other hand, it must be said that for the moment, this phase on the back of a dragon is clearly the part of the preview that left us a little skeptical.
The feeling of power in a mech robot
The third sequence of the preview was the fastest, with only a few minutes of play. This time, we abandoned the dragons to return to a gameplay at the first person in order to control a giant mechanical robot. And, clearly, this time, it works very well. We have a feeling of maximum power where we can destroy everything with extreme ease.
In this level, we inevitably face other mech robots, offering us some fairly unique and epic gameplay sequences. In these fights, all the emphasis is placed on the dodge system, which then becomes very important. When you manage a good dodge, you can immediately perform a counterattack that will then be devastating.
This sequence was quite short (less than 20 minutes), but it remains a highlight of the preview and looks very promising.
The discovery of the “open world” of Doom The Dark Ages
Finally, the fourth and last part of the preview was dedicated to a semi-open area, the main new feature of the license with Doom The Dark Ages. We were then thrown into a huge area, with several objectives to complete and a fairly large area to explore freely.
First observation, the area is indeed very large and the id Software teams made us understand that, in any case, it was not possible to explore it all during the preview. We therefore have the choice of rushing in and completing the five objectives. Or, we can focus on exploration to find as many secrets and hidden areas as possible.
The gigantic open area is divided into several sections, which are sort of mini-levels. As soon as we arrive in an area with an objective, we have a sort of arena with several enemies. We must therefore clean up to be able to reach the objective, clear the area, and explore it peacefully.
Between the different areas, we have sections that we can visit and explore. It is in these sections that we can discover passages, caves and secret places that lead us to find loot or artifacts.
The concept is nice, but it still seems quite repetitive. In the sequence that we were able to discover, there was already a feeling of redundancy in achieving the objectives. We were able to complete four of the five objectives and the path remains the same. You have a mini-boss to kill, so we have to arrive in an area, similar to an arena. Waves of enemies arrive, increasingly stronger, and we have to wipe out everyone to defeat the boss and complete the objective.
Overall, we had to do the same thing four times, with the only change being different enemies to complete the objectives. Between the areas, there were open sequences allowing, if we wanted, to do a little exploration to break the rhythm and avoid chaining the same things five times.
We don't yet know if all the open areas will be built in the same way, but on this sequence, we still have doubts. There's good, but also bad.
Doom The Dark Ages: First Review
After four hours of play, controller in hand, it's clear that the teams at id Software are preparing, once again, an excellent game. The gameplay manages to change, while remaining effective and very enjoyable. Graphically, the game is a real eye-catcher and technically, it remains very solid.
The main new features are good. Whether it's the shield, with all it brings in terms of gameplay, but also the open areas or the third-person sequences in mech robots. We're still a little skeptical about certain parts of the open areas and the dragon sequences. But, we emphasize the idea and the desire to offer new things which, at first glance, are far from being missed.
See you May 15 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC to discover all this on the final version of the game and get our final opinion.
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