Doom: The Dark Ages Review

The pitch was a fighter jet becoming a tank, and mechanically that is exactly what happens. The double jump and dash are gone, the shield saw becomes the centre of everything, and demons telegraph green projectiles that you are meant to parry rather than avoid, which turns arenas into a rhythm of block and counter rather than a sprint. It is a real idea and for long stretches it works, with the melee weapons hitting with genuine brutality and the shield throw giving crowd control a satisfying arc.

The medieval hell art is striking, and the engine runs beautifully. Where it falters is everything outside the arenas. The mech sequences are slow and shallow, the dragon flying sections repeat one dodge and shoot pattern for far too long, and the exploration between fights pads a campaign that would be sharper at two thirds the length. The story is delivered through cutscenes that take themselves seriously, which is the wrong register for this series.