As technology develops video games as well as video games, there is a rapid advancement in the industry. Video games are becoming surprisingly realistic, not only due to the graphics like video footage, but also the depth of the world these games live in. Games like Baldur’s Gate 3 demonstrate the layered, complex stories that NPCs have to offer.
Take a game like Unrecord, for example. If you haven’t seen the demo yet, it ruins the fact that most people thought they were watching body cam footage the first time they saw it. But what’s more exciting was the budget. The demo costs just 20,000 euros. In the world of video games, it’s lunch. Helldivers 2 is estimated to be between $50 million and $100 million, but some estimates show up for upcoming Grand Theft Auto VIs between $1 billion and $200 million.
Video games need not only “better” but also to get to new areas more and more for developers to splash.
The road to the dark ages
Several games have opposed this, mainly due to innovation in their genre. The fate of 1993 essentially invented the boomer shooter genre, or at least made it mainstream. There are games like Wolfenstein 3D, but this really set the baseline for first-person shooters.
All successful arcade style FPS after that is built from the core, basic principles set by Doom. Simple, confusing, merciless violence. The Call of Duty series, Titanfall, and Overwatch all promoted all of the Doom principles.
These principles create a big point to define the game of destiny: violence, enthusiastic action, and the belt of the demonic enemy.
This release in the rebooted series (the success of Doom Reboot and Doom Etern in 2016) created a major point to highlight this shift’s transition to modern combat and storytelling.
Combat is more tactical, but not excessively so plan your strategy before the battle. Storytelling is separated from audio logs and scattered debris throughout the map.
The kneeling reaction is to say, “This is not a game of destiny,” and in part is true. But it is to undermine the foundation of typical fate with ironic stubbornness to change. A kind of nymbiism in video games. All the good stuff is there, but there’s more attention to the storytelling and combat elements.
Shield play
If you played the previous two games in this rebooted series, you will feel the visual style and art direction. This game is pretty cool at certain points in the Slayer story, with almost steampunk aesthetics, but this game takes most of it where you expect it.
Slayer is the protagonist and the man who ultimately becomes the murder of his destiny. His character is well treated and he is given a huge aura of cruelty. The story places him on the edge of the blank where he falls, which turns him into a passionate vindicator we know well. It’s a clever place to place a slayer. Because they know what he will turn into.
A great job was done reflecting this version of his character throughout the gameplay. At the very least, if you don’t like the more grounded, stand-and-driver battles, it’s possible to understand who the Slayer is. From where I jumped in, he is a weapon not yet free to the enthusiasm of his enraged desires.
As he enters into battle, his footprints land in a fierce noise. His attacks have seen fewer abuse and more measurements. He has this chainsaw shield boomerang. This will be the channel for attacks.
In previous installations, it was more fun to blow 20 demons than 20, so it felt like the enemy would have them own a bit. But that doesn’t work here. When I passed away I had to reevaluate my approach.
The gameplay also extends into several mechanically unique sections, with the addition of dragons and giant mecha armor in particular. Mech Armour transforms the Doom Experience into a massive scale, with a bulldozing swing that matches the wood and scale. However, the dragon misses the mark. Even in this slower, more tactical game, it’s too slow and basic. When fighting the dragon, aiming is achieved in the lock-on system, so all you do is keep pressing and dodging the retaliatory fire. It lacks both crazy violence and tactical combat.
Other major gameplay changes include the “Siege” level. This is an open world sandbox style level that does things you don’t see before. I was skeptical at first, but in the end, the world is fully filled with enemies and sidetracks, secret territories and rooms. It was here that I was the most dead, as you don’t just move through the enemies and speed up into the next room.
You have to set up a fight, and this is where combat tactics play a role. There are some pretty cool side rooms and passes. This provides more puzzles than enemies to advance. In reality, the puzzle is just too simple for most of the time, at least in what I’ve played.
What’s important is the fundamental overhaul of storytelling. There are far more cinematic moments and cutscenes that can slow the entire game down. At first I went back to the irony that I mentioned before.
But as it goes further, you begin to fuel the importance given by the story. It’s not just a destruction of vengeance. No, you are fighting for a bigger cause, whether you are proud or not.
And I think it’s most important when it comes to storytelling: what other ways are there? Because if this game plays in the same way as previous installments, it would be a gut punch. Needless to say, it’s a truly compelling story. I can only imagine the misery of telling this story in small pieces and audiolog. This is how I escaped from my previous game. Because they were really teasing in the rewards of this game.
I’ve been thinking about it so far
Overall Destiny: I think Dark Ages is not only a fascinating advancement in one great video game franchise, but it also feels true to the heart of it. Doom has done everything it takes in three generations of games. That’s enough for that “Ocarina of Time” moment, a fundamental shift towards storytelling and depth.
I hope that what I demoed was not a showcase of the full breadth of gameplay, but a bullying of the diversity of the game going forward. If that’s what I expect, I think Doom has fulfilled everything it needs while changing the world of video games enough. The series is where we need it, and we’ll look at the pace to tie this rebooted series together in an orderly way.
But the most exciting is the moments that everyone thinks are looking forward to.
Doom: The Dark Ages will be released on May 13th, 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PCs. Stay tuned for the overall reviews that are close to the release.
