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A few weeks ago, I was able to play about 3 hours of Doom: The Dark Ages, and heres everything you need to know about the upcoming release and what to expect when it launches. Before we get into it I want to explain that while these opinions are my own and are not under any kind of filter, I was giving significant special treatment. Not only was I able to play the game early, I was also flown down to LA, put up in a nice hotel for 2 nights, and was given free transport and food. In spite of that, I remain steadfast that my loyalty is to my viewers, and not to any corporations. With that out of the way, let’s talk about the game, starting with performance, as when it comes to FPS games, is of utmost importance.
With shooters, having a consistent framerate is pertinent to maintaining a sense of flow, and it’s not just the base framerate but the 1% lows that can have a huge impact on game feel. I’m happy to report that the game ran at a flawless max settings, 4k, 60fps, with DLSS on, but no frame generation. I couldn’t get the full spec breakdown but I knew we were playing on a 4090, which is by no means a mid range card, but the point remains that the game ran great, and that cannot be undervalued. Any of the modern Doom games are a overload of blood, sparks, and bullets, which is great and all, but if that impacted the performance at all, then it would be for nothing, and I’m glad to say that the neverending gore was never an issue for the framerate.
Now let’s talk about that gunplay, because my god is it satisfying. I’m sure fans of the series aren’t surprised to see that the different guns feel good and play well, but what I was most skeptical of was the shield saw. I typically see shields as being primarily defensive, which in concept feels antithetical to Doom, because this is the most “W key” ass game where caution is broken down for more ammo in the pulveriser. Shockingly the shield is far more of an offensive tool than anything else, which is great, because it means that even more so than the other games, I was throwing myself in a demons face. Now it’s not just dodging bullets or melee attacks, but memorising attack patterns so you can turn attacks against enemies and barrel stuff them at the same time.
This changes how the bullet hell esque gameplay functions too. Instead of dodging in any direction, I’m throwing myself into the parryable attacks, which gives a higher risk and reward to the gameplay. You won’t see too many of the sections I’m going to talk about because we were only able to record footage of the Siege level, but I can confirm that each level was on equal level of quality. We played the tutorial, a level where we piloted an Atlan, which is a massive mech, a level where we rode a dragon, and the aforementioned Siege level. As far as glitches go there were only two I encountered. One where I tried to jump on top of an elevator while it was moving, causing me to get stuck, and another where, when riding the dragon, there was an audio issue. Both of these were already on the dev teams radar, and in my experience, things like this are almost always fixed by launch, so I’m not concerned with polish.
Doom is a series I haven't fully dabbled in, but in spite of that, I played Doom The Dark Ages, and dabbled in Doom Eternal, and while this isn't a Doom The Dark Ages review or Doom The Dark Ages critique, after this Doom The Dark Ages preview, I can say it's DOOM at it's best. I can't answer should you buy Doom The Dark Ages, as I only have 3 hours of Doom The Dark Ages gameplay under my belt, but from what I played of Doom The Dark Ages I can say the Doom shield saw is an excellent addition, and it's endlessly satisfying to use that shield saw to rip and tear through the demon hordes. If this does well, I will consider doing a Doom review or a Doom critique. If you've seen the Doom The Dark Ages trailes then what do you think? Are you looking forward to the Doom The Dark Ages story or the Doom The Dark Ages ending? Let me know!