It's been an incredible year for new games so far in 2025, with everything from expansive RPGs like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to creative new indie projects such as Blue Prince out there for players to discover and enjoy. Now, though, Xbox and id Software have come out with what very well could be one of the year's biggest Game of the Year contenders in DOOM: The Dark Ages. A prequel to DOOM 2016 and DOOM Eternal, The Dark Ages completes the narrative trilogy while introducing various new gameplay mechanics and other additions.
DOOM is arguably the most influential FPS franchise ever made, and the two modern titles that came before The Dark Ages are widely regarded as some of the best shooters in recent history. Because of that, many are curious to see what critics have to say about it — and now they don't have to wait any longer to find out. Ahead of its May 14 release date, reviews for The Dark Ages have gone up, with the game achieving a "Generally Favorable" score of 86/100 on Metacritic based on 47 evaluations across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5. Here are some quotes and scores to give you an idea of the range of opinions:
- TrueAchievements (100/100): "Doom: The Dark Ages might be a prequel, but it feels like an evolution for the franchise. Packed into a tightly crafted campaign that ramps up the stakes at every turn, it's without a doubt the most bloodthirsty and satisfying Doom to date. With fresh additions like the Shield Saw, Atlan, and Cyberdragon, there is a ton of variety to keep you engaged and hooked to the very end. Another fantastic win for Xbox and Bethesda."
- Shacknews (90/100): "After Doom Eternal proved somewhat divisive among fans, Doom: The Dark Ages should be a Doom game everyone can appreciate. It’s fast and hard hitting, featuring robust combat systems that make learning their ins and outs fun and empowering. I daresay it’s even better than Doom 2016, and is a must-play title for everyone interested in Doom, first-person shooters, and action games as a whole."
- VG247 (80/100): "Doom The Dark Ages will get your blood pressure up. It will test your reflexes, your problem-solving skills, your aim, and your ability to solve problems on the fly. It’ll probably test your patience a little, too, when the chugging, uninspired, padded-out sections in the middle start to wear a bit thin. But when it does manage to get your adrenaline pumping, you’ll be champing at the bit and thumbing shells into your shotgun so fast that the princes of hell themselves shaking in their boots."
- TechRadar (80/100): "Doom: The Dark Ages is a good shooter at its core, but as a follow-up to two of the best FPS games ever made, it falls a little flat. The new defensive combat feels like a step back, with movement getting a significant nerf, and, while Doom Slayer is still an exciting character, the story focus feels out of place."
- GamesRadar+ (70/100): "While Doom: The Dark Ages is a solid game, the ways it differs from previous titles are largely to its detriment. Most of what's praiseworthy about the Slayer's 2025 adventures are what's translated from older entries, while new features like the melee focus and mech sequences feel like fumbled missteps the series would be well-advised to forget going forward. Still, the joy of blasting cacodemons with a shotgun is never truly lost, and the over-the-top aesthetic will always elevate the experience."
- Dexerto (60/100): "Above all else, Doom: The Dark Ages has utterly fantastic combat. Moment-to-moment action is among the best in series history. But ultimately, in a desire to expand on a winning formula, id Software has fallen short of the high bar it set with Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal."
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Overall, the scores for DOOM: The Dark Ages are very positive, with most reviewers greatly enjoying the medieval theming of the prequel and praising the way the it envisions the Doom Slayer as more of a heavy (but still fast) juggernaut tank instead of a nimble fighter jet that constantly zips around at breakneck speeds. Indeed, its combat appears to be the weightiest and most brutal of any DOOM yet, with defensive mechanics like parrying as well as segments with colossal Atlan mechs and a mecha dragon mount spicing up the otherwise beloved, yet familiar gameplay formula.
In terms of visuals and sound, The Dark Ages is also a triumph, with its hellish environments, armies of demons, and the carnage of combat all brought to life with gorgeous fidelity and audio.
With that said, id Software's new title also doesn't sound like it's without problems. Several reviewers feel that the new Atlan mech and dragon-riding sections feel out of place in a DOOM game and distract from the core bombastic shooter gameplay, and some argue that elements of the slower, weightier combat feel clunky and awkward. The story has also received some criticisms, as has the metal soundtrack (to a lesser extent).
We reviewed DOOM: The Dark Ages ourselves, also, with my colleague Samuel Tolbert awarding the highly anticipated shooter a perfect 5/5 score. "With DOOM: The Dark Ages, id Software proves it can still reinvent the wheel, shaking up numerous aspects of gameplay, exchanging elaborate platforming for brutal on-the-ground action, as well as the ability to soar on a dragon's back or stomp around in a giant mech," he wrote. "The story is silly, but it fits the over-the-top tone of the Slayer's war against demons. It's still just as fun to rip and tear as it always has been."
The slightly slower, yet weightier feel of The Dark Age's combat sounds like a huge upside for me personally, as I found both DOOM 2016 and DOOM Eternal to be too fast for my taste. I also have a major weak spot for medieval and dark fantasy aesthetics, so on the whole, this game is pretty much right up my alley; as soon as it's out on May 14, I'll be jumping in on Xbox Game Pass. Alternatively, you can pick the Steam version of the game up for $64 at CDKeys or the Xbox one for $67 at CDKeys to save a few dollars on a full copy.
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