I thought I knew what Doom was. Doom: The Dark Ages doesn't fit that image at all. It has a shield. It has parries. You move slowly, deliberately. But it's not this Doom Eternal sequel that has it wrong, it was me. Far from a safe sequel, this radically shifts what you'd expect from Doom, but in a way that, well, still feels a hell of a lot like Doom. Game director Hugo Martin explains it to me succinctly: "You feel aggressive, always, in Doom. If you don't feel aggressive, it doesn't feel like a Doom game."
Doom: The Dark Age's shield saw is more than just a new option. Going hands-on with the game, I'm constantly using it, constantly thinking about it. But one thing it isn't is something to cower behind. When you raise your shield it's to allow you to charge headlong into danger. When you parry it's to knock enemies off-kilter before hitting them with some of the hardest hitting weapons ever conceived. You might move slowly and deliberately compared to Doom Eternal, but it's always with purpose. You're not in danger, you are the danger. Doom: The Dark Ages is, I'm told before my demo, built around the concept of 'stand and fight', and every moment I'm directly in control of the Doom Slayer lives up to that. Taking hits and dealing them back twofold is the most aggressive Doom has ever felt.
