I like heavy metal. I’ve loved it since I was a kid. All of the best heavy metal albums have this structure. This is a specific style that is as predictable as it is persuasive. They are designed to set the scene, establish the mood and install the presence of the killer opening track – Blood and Thunder by Mastodon, Metallica’s battery, and Ace High by Iron Maiden. Next, get the second track. It’s bigger, troublesome, longer, stiffer. Using these albums as examples, I Am Ahab, Master of Puppets, respectively, until midnight for two minutes each.
Now you’re hooked – as well. Because what comes next is some duff slices of central album filler that keep you rimmed to the gnarly ones on the edge of the track list.
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It is the fate of the Dark Ages. The ID software developers are hoping to see boxers on the shelves of local indie record stores, drawing the series’ metal inspiration to a logical conclusion with the game, closing the Doom (2016) trilogy with a tribute act similar to a classic metal album.
The intro track (sorry, “first level”) is Ace High on Doom Maps. It throws you without hesitation, as you are given an insatiable thirst for shotguns, shields, and demonic flesh, so some nice slamming riffs lined up in the background hang in the background. If you played 2016 or Eternity, you know the drill. Cycling, stay mobile and improvising all the tools available. Giving you a gun means that the catchy riff is loose. Your movements are bass and shield with such rhythm. The shield is a drum and supports the whole thing.
The biggest gimmick of the Dark Ages is the shield. A heavy, satisfying buckler on the left wrist slams against the enemy, placing a distance close to the threat, and the boomerang becomes the devil of the feed, thinning out the herd and farm ammunition. It is a more interesting and adaptable sight than the flamethrower of eternal destiny. It’s fun to use. Once the game opens, you can slot the Devil Rune to make it even more powerful. Like real life.
It also opens up another incredibly pleasant mechanic, Parry. The hell horde fills the screen with green projectiles such as missiles, floating shields and screaming skulls. And if you press the Parry button at the right time, these dangers will be returned to the sender. This also comes with a buff. Certain perks allow Parry to refill ammunition, add his own projectiles to the mix, and paint the armor.
Replacement, fire, punch, run, shield bashing, fire, fire again, summoning a feeling like Tris’ effect again. It masses my brain into a flowing sensation and makes me crazy. In the shield, dark ages find heavy, swaying feet.
However, shields can do a lot just to add variety to the mix. It’s like your favorite 80s hair metal band, adding new guitarists to your roster, putting in 12 studio albums and getting things a little more exciting. You can hear them and trill them together in the mix, but it’s really the same and doesn’t add much to the overall flavor.
The fate of the Dark Ages is good. Very good. But in the middle of that 22 levels, you feel like you’ve seen and heard its best lick. The enemy variety begins to slow down by focusing on numbers rather than diversity that appears to be carried over in the mid-padded sections, with the level design being left to predictable. Doom and Doom Eternal already strikes a lot of the grounds Dark Age really needs to do incredible things to stand out in the trilogy. Sadly, the medieval world is leaning heavily towards marketing and feels more like set dressing than the characters themselves.
Fortunately, the central tenets of the Nu-Doom series are as convincing as ever. In fact, I think the Dark Ages nailed the flow and integration of combat better than the other games in the series. That’s because the weapons are very variable and feel different enough to upgrade your paths and variations and actually make them viable. Take the “launcher” archetype. You can choose to bounce a very pleasant ball that explodes death into the devil’s face or instead spray a rocket square into your chest in an RPG.
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If you prefer the pure, dizzy attack of getting close with enough explosives to take away a small country and standing up personally, the good news! Instead of eating with Crossfire, there is a perk that allows you to heal damage with Rocket Splash Damage. But only if you first assume. So, you will snuggle up the combat encounters around you, bait projectiles, then blow yourself into an inflammatory frenzy as you cannibalize all the poor hell f**ks you thought it was a good idea to get in your way.
The central level is a bit of inspiration and repeated, but I was constantly in awe of the scale and sight of the combat situation you were throwing at. There are strange bosses that slow things down a bit (there are too many villains equipped with essential shields that will stay upright when you play bullet hellish-like feet games with them), but for the most part, gunplay and traversal feel great. It’s FPS heaven to come up with ways to melt one big bastard’s armor while thinning the feed, avoid the hail of the arrival of projectiles, and go all the way to the toes with axe-wielding brutes. It’s like trying to solve Sudoku with Mosh Pit.
But then all the candy rappers will be together by the end. The best albums weave all the themes, styles, energy and creativity on the tracklist and focus on the final song. That is the end of the fate of the Dark Ages. That’s almost – largely – Fills out the shortcomings of the middle (medium) section, running a set piece ball of bombs and wall-to-wall running.
The fate of the dark ages will raise your blood pressure. It tests your reflexes, your problem-solving skills, your goals, and your ability to solve problems on the spot. Maybe you’ll also test your patience a bit. It’s when the chug in the center, the padded section with no inspiration, started to fade a bit. But when it gets your adrenaline pumping, you will shoot the shell with a bit, defend your shotgun very quickly, and the Prince of Hell himself will shake their boots.