I've been a fan of DOOM for my whole life, ever since playing the original back in '98 or so when I was around 5. And with good reason, as this franchise is pretty iconic to the FPS genre. Anyway, a few years back I finally managed to play DOOM '16, and when this game got announced, with its pretty steep requirements, I knew I had to upgrade my PC for it. And so I did, and blasted through Eternal just in time for Dark Ages' release.
Now, I'll try to avoid the comparisons to the previous games from the modern trilogy, but I'll say that Dark Ages is easily my favourite of the three. While some might argue that the gameplay feels more tanky, I personally felt it pretty reminiscent of that of the original DOOM. Sure, you don't go around dashing all over the place, but the sheer number of enemies on every map, the scale of them... It feels like playing an even bigger version of the original DOOM.
Of course, the game did come with its gameplay changes, most importantly, the shield and its parrying mechanics. I personally found it a great addition, and I don't think it rewards a slow approach; if anything, it makes you really wanna jump into the fray and get up close and personal with the demons. My favourite tactic when fighting Cyberdemons, for example, is getting right up to them and parry their attacks as I blast them with my shotgun. Speaking of Cyberdemons, and the demons in general, I love the designs in this game, and that leads me into my next paragraph, where I'll talk about the artistic direction.
It is SUPERB. While DOOM has always had a sort of sci-fi element to it, I loved that in this game they went more into the dark fantasy aspect of the whole thing, and it makes sense, you're fighting demons. The architecture of Argent D'Nur in its prime is impressive, and the Cosmic Realm, which is introduced in this game, is amazing. That's one of the strongest points for this game in my opinion; the addition of a whole new dimension of creatures to fight. While the cosmic enemies are basically adaptations of traditional DOOM enemies, like Cacodemons or Barons of Hell, it did provide some great visual variety. There's also several new demons as well, so it's not like they take a backseat.
In terms of weapons, you get the usual DOOM variety, although with a few twists to fit the setting: the rifle, for example, is actually a sort of nailgun in this game. You still get the shotgun, rocket launcher, plasma weapon, and a couple of new weapons; there's no BFG here, but don't worry, as the game certainly makes up for it with its own superweapon.
The graphics are superb, and they justify the requirements. While forced raytracing might be annoying for those lacking a supported GPU (and I was in that group until last year), it certainly makes the game look beautiful. And performance is excellent, with very fast load times, and no frame drops or anything. The soundtrack is also very good; sure, it's no Mick Gordon, but I think Finishing Move did a good job.
Oh, I was forgetting to mention a few more things about gameplay, and that is that beyond traditional DOOM gameplay, there's also a few mech and dragon sections. Some people didn't quite like them, but I personally found them to be a great change of pace. I think I haven't talked about the story either, and while some might say it's not that important in DOOM games, I think it was pretty good, giving a bit more insight into the Doom Slayer's time helping Argent D'Nur. Prince Ahzrak is a good villain, and someone you'll definitely want to kill (alongside some very cool bosses spread throughout the game).
All in all, I'd say this is a great game, and one I can easily recommend.
