During a recent hands-on demo of Doom: The Dark Ages, I found myself unexpectedly reminiscing about Halo 3. Picture this: I'm perched on the back of a cyborg dragon, unleashing a relentless barrage of machinegun fire at a demonic battle barge. After obliterating its defensive turrets, I land my beast on the ship's deck and storm through its lower levels, reducing the crew to a gruesome mess. Moments later, I burst through the hull on my dragon, continuing my relentless assault against Hell's machines.
Fans of Bungie’s iconic Xbox 360 shooter will instantly recognize the parallels to Master Chief's assault on the Covenant’s scarab tanks. While the Hornet helicopter has been replaced by a holographic-winged dragon and the laser-firing mech by an occult flying boat, the essence remains the same: an exhilarating aerial assault followed by a devastating boarding action. Interestingly, this wasn't the only moment in the demo that echoed Halo. Although The Dark Ages retains Doom’s signature combat, the campaign design carries a distinct late-2000s shooter vibe, characterized by elaborate cutscenes and a focus on gameplay novelty.
Over two and a half hours, I experienced four levels of Doom: The Dark Ages. The opening level mirrored the tightly paced, meticulously designed gameplay of Doom (2016) and its sequel. Subsequent levels, however, introduced piloting a colossal mech, flying the dragon, and exploring expansive battlefields filled with secrets and powerful minibosses. This marked a significant departure from Doom's traditional focus on mechanical purity, drawing closer to the likes of Halo, Call of Duty, and even older James Bond games like Nightfire, known for their scripted setpieces and novel mechanics.
This direction is particularly intriguing, considering the series' past. The canceled Doom 4 was initially envisioned to resemble Call of Duty, with a modern military aesthetic and a heavier emphasis on characters, cinematic storytelling, and scripted events. Id Software ultimately deemed these ideas unsuitable for Doom, opting instead for the more focused approach of Doom (2016). Yet, here we are in 2025, with The Dark Ages reintroducing these elements.
The campaign's brisk pace is punctuated by new gameplay ideas reminiscent of Call of Duty's most innovative moments. My demo began with a lengthy, cinematic cutscene reintroducing the realm of Argent D'Nur, the opulent Maykrs, and the Night Sentinels—the Doom Slayer's knightly comrades. The Slayer is portrayed as a terrifying legend, a nuclear-level threat. While familiar to avid Doom players, this deeply cinematic approach feels fresh and reminiscent of Halo. This extends to the levels themselves, with NPC Night Sentinels scattered throughout, similar to UNSC Marines, creating a sense of being part of a larger force.
The introductory cutscene packs a lot of character work, raising questions about whether Doom needs this level of storytelling. Personally, I prefer the subtler narrative approach of the previous games, conveyed through environment design and codex entries, with cinematics reserved for major reveals as in Eternal. Thankfully, the cutscenes in The Dark Ages are used sparingly, setting the stage for missions without disrupting Doom’s intense flow.
However, other interruptions arise. Following the opening mission, which blends pure shotgun action with parrying Hell Knights using the Slayer’s new shield, I found myself piloting a Pacific Rim-style Atlan mech to battle demonic kaiju. Then, I was soaring on the cybernetic dragon, attacking battle barges and gun emplacements. These scripted levels shift gears dramatically, introducing gameplay ideas akin to Call of Duty's standout moments, like the AC-130 gunship sequence or dogfighting missions in Infinite Warfare. The Atlan mech is slow and heavy, turning Hell’s armies into Warhammer miniatures from a skyscraper-high perspective, while the dragon is fast and agile, offering a very different experience with its wide-angle third-person camera.
Variety is a hallmark of many top FPS campaigns, as seen in Half-Life 2 and Titanfall 2. Halo's longevity partly stems from its blend of vehicular and on-foot sequences. Yet, I’m uncertain if this approach will suit Doom. The Dark Ages maintains the series’ complex, demanding combat, requiring constant attention as you juggle shots, shield tosses, parries, and brutal melee combos. In contrast, the mech and dragon sequences feel less engaging and more on-rails, resembling QTEs.
In Call of Duty, switching to a tank or gunship is seamless because the mechanical complexity aligns with on-foot missions. However, The Dark Ages reveals a stark contrast in gameplay styles, akin to a middle school guitar student jamming with Eddie Van Halen. While Doom’s core combat remains the star, the mech and dragon sequences left me yearning for the ground-level intensity of a double-barreled shotgun.
My final hour of play introduced a new twist with the level "Siege," which refocuses on id’s exceptional gunplay while expanding the typically claustrophobic level design into a vast open battlefield. The objective of destroying five Gore Portals evokes Call of Duty's multi-objective missions but also recalls Halo’s contrast between interior and exterior environments. This level demands you rethink the effective range of your weapons, use charge attacks to cover vast distances, and deploy the shield to deflect artillery from tank cannons.
Expanding Doom’s playspace risks losing focus, as I found myself backtracking through empty pathways, which disrupted the pace. I envision The Dark Ages could further embrace Halo's approach by integrating the dragon as a Banshee-like vehicle, allowing players to soar across the battlefield and dive into miniboss battles, enhancing both pace and integration.
The reintroduction of ideas from the canceled Doom 4—scripted setpieces and vehicle scenes—raises intriguing questions. Were these elements always a poor fit for Doom, or did they simply seem off when too closely resembling Call of Duty? While I share the skepticism of fans who once feared a "Call of Doom," I'm also excited to see id Software potentially make these elements work within the modern Doom framework.
At its core, The Dark Ages remains anchored by its visceral, on-foot combat. Nothing in the demo suggested this would not be the main focus, and everything I played confirmed it's another stellar evolution of Doom’s essence. This alone could support an entire campaign, but id Software has broader ambitions. While some of the new ideas feel mechanically thin and potentially disruptive, there's still much to explore. I eagerly await May 15th to experience id's unparalleled gunplay and satisfy my curiosity: Will Doom: The Dark Ages be a compelling late-2000s FPS campaign, or a disjointed one?
