How does Doom: The Dark Ages compare to Doom Eternal and Doom 2016?

A little more than 30 years ago I booted up Doom on MS-DOS for the first time and battled my way – tooth, nail, shotgun, and BFG-9000 – through the relentless hordes of Hell (including the commensurately awe-inspiring and terrifying Cyberdemon).

If you’d told ten-year-old me back then that in the year 2025 I’d be firing up the latest Doom game, Doom: The Dark Ages – the seventh mainline title in the series for those keeping track – on an Xbox Series X as a middle-aged dad with the ecstatic delirium of a ‘90s kid on Christmas morning, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.

But here I am, for the third consecutive decade emptying shotgun shells into fireball-slinging Imps, spraying Hell Knights with chainguns and damn near pissing my own pants at the sight of a Cyberdemon. And loving every minute of it.

Is Doom: The Dark Ages a worthy successor to the classic 1993 game? Does it reinstill those same feelings of invigorating trepidation and childlike awe? Does it prove a worthy follow-up to 2016’s Doom, which rebooted the series in perfect form? And Doom Eternal, the best-selling Doom game ever?

The answer to those questions is yes. How emphatic a yes that is for you will depend on which Doom game in the reboot trilogy you enjoyed more, 2016 or Eternal.

Let’s get this out of the way: Doom: The Dark Ages is not Doom Eternal 2. While it carries over some of Eternal’s standout elements – particularly the “combat puzzle” mechanics where demons can’t simply be blasted into oblivion — it presents a different kind of challenge. In Eternal, the core gameplay loop centered around rapid weapon switching and exploiting enemy weaknesses with specific tools, all while managing resources: Flame Belch for armor, Glory Kills for health, and the Chainsaw for ammo. It was a more layered and demanding system than Doom (2016), but once mastered, it became deeply rewarding. There was a unique satisfaction in “solving” the combat encounters –learning the rhythm, memorizing enemy counters, and executing with precision. The downside? Eternal’s gameplay loop felt overwhelmingly busy at first and didn’t quite feel like Doom until you settled into its rhythm.

The Dark Ages channels the same spirit but reconfigures the combat puzzle through a distinctly medieval lens. Gone is the forced weapon-switching of Eternal, replaced by a slower, more brutal, and “crunchier” feel that recalls the raw intensity of Doom (2016).

Melee, which took a backseat in Eternal, makes a triumphant return. Players can once again pummel demons into submission with the Power Gauntlet, or unleash the Slayer’s medieval arsenal—crushing foes from a distance with the Flail or bludgeoning them up close with the devastating Dreadmace.

And then there’s the Shield Saw, The Dark Ages’ most brutal and defining melee addition — a weapon that fuses defense, carnage and mobility into one vicious tool.

While in Doom Eternal, the Slayer danced through a hellish playground – double-jumping, dashing, sprinting, launching off jump pads, and swinging from monkey bars with almost acrobatic finesse – in Doom: The Dark Ages that agility is traded for sheer force. The Slayer treads along like a tank, each step thunderous, and what he loses in speed, he more than makes up for in impact. His shield is no mere defensive instrument; it’s a brutal weapon, wielded like a blood-soaked amalgam of Captain America and King Leonidas from 300. He hurls it at demons, slicing some apart and embedding it in others, then locks on and charges shield-first across the arena, obliterating anything in his path.

In addition to using the Shield Saw in concert with weapons fire to chip away at TDA’s new armored foes and block melee attacks, one of its standout features is the ability to deflect incoming projectiles. It’s one of Doom: The Dark Ages’ most satisfying new mechanics, made even better by the chiming, resonant ding sound that rewards every perfectly timed deflection.

Whereas Doom Eternal had the Slayer dancing around his enemies in a frenzied ballet, The Dark Ages slows the tempo but retains every ounce of potency, turning combat into a more deliberate weave through storms of incoming fire, gnashing demon teeth and slashing claws.

Whether you prefer Eternal’s high-flying intensity or The Dark Ages’ grounded, up-close brutality ultimately comes down to personal taste. For me, The Dark Ages feels closer to classic Doom—and I’ve found myself more naturally drawn into its gameplay loop than I was with Eternal.

What doesn’t feel like classic Doom or Eternal – and will likely be the most divisive new feature among fans – are the dragon and mech segments, which are vast departures from anything seen before in a Doom game. While the idea of the Doomslayer riding a cybernetically enhanced dragon (called a Witherin) or piloting a Pacific Rim-sized mech is admittedly bad-ass and id Software should be lauded for trying new things to break up the monotony of gunplay, as it stands the vehicle levels in Doom: The Dark Ages are more fun as a spectacle than they actually are to play. That’s not to say they’re bad – they’re just not what I expected.

That’s not to say they’re bad—they’re just not what I expected. Maybe my hopes were too high. I imagined soaring over battlefields like some ultra-metal Targaryen, incinerating hordes of demons with atomic flame breath or whipping titanic enemies with a dragon’s tail. Instead, the dragon sections play more like on-rails rhythm sequences: you glide briefly through tunnels, follow a tightly restricted flight path, and when you finally reach combat, you’re locked in place, nudging the dragon in specific directions until you earn the right to fire a laser. Rinse and repeat. Like I said, not bad – just missing that extra bit of oomph you’d expect from something as epic as the Doom Slayer riding a dragon into battle.

The mech (Atlan) levels – can be a bit more enjoyable, but they still feel like an extension of the core gameplay rather than a meaningful evolution. Yes, the Atlans look great, and yes, uppercutting giant demons with Zord-like fists is undeniably fun. But they lack the distinctiveness you’d hope for.

Unlike Titanfall 2, where piloting a mech feels like a dramatic shift in scale, tempo, and mechanics, the Atlans don’t offer that same transformative experience. In Titanfall 2, Titans come with unique loadouts—missile barrages, energy weapons, chainguns—that redefine how you approach combat. In Doom: The Dark Ages, the mech sections look the part but don’t quite deliver that same mechanical identity or gameplay variety. I understand that Titanfall 2 sets a high bar, is game whose crux is deeply-layered mech combat and I certainly wouldn’t expect Doom: The Dark Ages’ mech levels – which are used to switch-up the gameplay loop momentarily to match them. Still, the mech levels are lacking something in the same way that the dragon ones are.

Another sticking point with Doom: The Dark Ages is the double-edged nature of its ambiance and aesthetic. I genuinely love the grim, fantasy-tinged, gothic-medieval design – it’s a bold shift that contrasts nicely with the brighter, more vibrant levels of Doom Eternal, and the lifeless, barren hellscapes and cold, metal corridors of Doom 2016. But at times, The Dark Ages leans a little too heavily into the gloom.

Some levels become so visually dark and drab that enemies start blending into the environment. The deep shadows, blackened stone architecture, and muddy brown landscapes can obscure enemy silhouettes, making them less visually distinct. It’s not constant, but it happens often enough that I occasionally found myself wondering mid-fight – Wait, what am I fighting again? What did I just kill? What’s attacking me from where? Unless it was a Pinky Rider, which is hard to miss, the readability of combat sometimes suffered under the weight of the game’s otherwise compelling atmosphere.

Aside from those occasional moments of over-drabness, Doom: The Dark Ages absolutely nails its ambiance – especially when it comes to enemy design. While the demons may appear familiar at first glance, their fusion of medieval, fantasy, and sci-fi elements gives them a fresh, more menacing edge. The Imps, with jagged bone spikes protruding from their muscular, brown exoskeletons, feel like vicious throwbacks to the original Doom. Revenants now sport grim-reaper-style hoods, adding a spectral creepiness to their skeletal forms. The pale-skinned Mancubus somehow looks even more grotesque – slothful, bloated, and more corpulent than ever. And the Agaddon Hunter stands out as a red-skulled, bull-horned, demonic doppelgänger of the Doom Slayer himself. Every enemy feels thoughtfully reimagined to match the game’s darker, more barbarous tone, and together they form a bestiary that’s thematically spot-on and perhaps the best in a Doom game yet.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Doom: The Dark Ages’ soundtrack. Much like the dragon and mech levels, it’s acceptable by all means; the sludgier, chugging heavy metal riffs suit the nature of The Dark Ages’ gameplay and set the mood well enough. There’s just nothing as memorable as Mick Gordon’s stuff from Doom 2016 and Eternal; nothing that grabs your attention or gets you amped like “Rip and Tear” or “Doom Hunted” or “Meathook.”

Doom: The Dark Ages is yet another powerhouse entry in the rebooted Doom series. Just like Doom Eternal took the foundation of Doom 2016 and cranked it into a faster, more chaotic gear, The Dark Ages flips the formula once again – trading speed for weight, and frenzy for ferocity. Its shield-first, melee-heavy combat might feel slower or even stripped down at first, especially for players fresh off Eternal’s relentless pace but once the rhythm clicks and you’re using the shield in brutal, creative combos to dismantle increasingly punishing enemies and bosses, it all falls into place. It’s not a step back—it’s a pivot. And when it hits, it feels like the perfect middle ground between 2016’s raw aggression and Eternal’s tactical carnage.

Do you agree with our Doom: The Dark Ages review? How do you think Doom: The Dark Ages compares to Doom Eternal and Doom 2016? Let us know in the comments.