Doom: The Dark Ages Review
I was having a pretty good time with Doom: The Dark Ages. Then I rolled credits, reinstalled Doom Eternal, loaded up Mars Core, and realised how much Id have lost their sense of playfulness. Less grounded than landlocked, less weighty than weighed down, this is the slightest, least essential, and least creatively vibrant of the modern trilogy. It's also a sinuous, gurning, intoxicating beast of an FPS. I like it. I'm disappointed. I can't wait for DLC to round it out. I don't think Id are capable of making bad games. I really hope the next one is better. Game director Hugo Martin trotted out a fair amount of investor speak in the run up to release, and now I can't get the phrase "core pillars of engagement" out of my head. It made me feel like a cocainated lab rat every time I started enjoying myself. Not for nothing, either. Eternal's dance had signature moves, but gave space to freestyle. The Dark Ages - between its call-and-response enemy design and Simon Says traffic light parries - wants you to dance to its tune. A campaign this long needs fresher riffs. Read more
I was having a pretty good time with Doom: The Dark Ages. Then I rolled credits, reinstalled Doom Eternal, loaded up Mars Core, and realised how much Id have lost their sense of playfulness. Less grounded than landlocked, less weighty than weighed down, this is the slightest, least essential, and least creatively vibrant of the modern trilogy. It's also a sinuous, gurning, intoxicating beast of an FPS. I like it. I'm disappointed. I can't wait for DLC to round it out. I don't think Id are capable of making bad games. I really hope the next one is better.
Game director Hugo Martin trotted out a fair amount of investor speak in the run up to release, and now I can't get the phrase "core pillars of engagement" out of my head. It made me feel like a cocainated lab rat every time I started enjoying myself. Not for nothing, either. Eternal's dance had signature moves, but gave space to freestyle. The Dark Ages - between its call-and-response enemy design and Simon Says traffic light parries - wants you to dance to its tune. A campaign this long needs fresher riffs.
