Alright folks, let's talk about a game that's been living rent-free in my head since its 2025 release: Doom: The Dark Ages. I'm a pro gamer, I've seen 'em all, and let me tell you, this one had me hyped. But, and it's a big but, I've got some serious baggage from its predecessor, Doom Eternal. That game was a real rollercoaster—thrilling at first, then leaving me feeling like I'd just eaten too much cotton candy: sweet initially, but ultimately kinda sickening. I loved Doom 2016—it's a modern masterpiece, a real banger. Eternal? It started strong but ended up being a one-and-done deal for me. Meanwhile, I'm still blasting through Classic Doom levels like it's 1993. That's the legacy The Dark Ages needs to live up to, not Eternal's flash-in-the-pan act. The trailers looked lit, no cap, but they need to fix one core, fundamental flaw.

Doom Eternal's Restrictive Gameplay: Id Software Went a Bit Overboard, Didn't They?

Making a great old-school FPS, the real deal, comes down to three pillars, my dudes: the maps, the weapons, and the enemy roster. Plenty of games nail the weapons and enemies. My personal GOAT? Serious Sam. That game makes you switch weapons constantly, but it feels organic, like you're adapting to a chaotic battlefield. The combat is visceral, it's fun, it's the whole point! But Doom Eternal? Somehow it managed to take that free-flowing chaos and put it in a straightjacket.

The on-the-fly combat dynamic is essentially ruined because your ammo count is so pathetically low. You're not switching weapons because it's tactically smart or feels cool; you're switching because the game forces you to, whether it matches the situation or not. In Serious Sam or Classic Doom, you switch because a horde of Kleer Skeletons is charging and you need the double-barreled shotgun, stat! It's a natural reaction to the enemy design. In Eternal, you switch because you're out of bullets and your chainsaw fuel just recharged. It makes combat feel less like a dance and more like following a rigid checklist. And trust me, it gets worse.

The Better You Get, The Worse It Gets: A Total Buzzkill

Here's the real kicker, the part that makes me go 'WTF, id Software?'. Once you actually get good at Doom Eternal, once you've mastered its so-called 'core loop', the game becomes... boring. A total snoozefest. It's the opposite of what should happen! When you master a game, you should feel like a god, not like you're running the same assembly line routine for the thousandth time.

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It's extremely telling that the opening of the Ancient Gods Part Two DLC outright tells the player how the game 'should be played'. That's a major red flag! The core of Eternal isn't the awesome weapons or the demonic enemies; it's the loop: Glory Kill for health, Flame Belch for armor, Chainsaw for ammo. Rinse and repeat. Those last two are on cooldown timers, turning combat into a robotic routine. You stop thinking 'What's the coolest way to eviscerate this Mancubus?' and start thinking 'Okay, cooldown's up, time for the Flame Belch, then a Chainsaw on that zombie.' It completely destroys the fun in freeform combat. Every fight starts to feel the same, a repetitive chore.

One of my all-time favorite games is the Xbox 360 classic Ninja Gaiden 2. Why? Because every combat encounter feels different each time you play it. The chaos is emergent, not prescribed. In contrast, Doom Eternal got stale faster than week-old bread. I have zero interest in ever booting it up again. A game should never punish you for getting good by becoming less fun.

Doom: The Dark Ages Has To Be Different: Built for the Long Haul

It's honestly frustrating. Doom Eternal was a blast on that first playthrough—exploring, finding secrets, it was a wild ride. But long-term? It's a ghost town. Doom: The Dark Ages has to be fun in the long term. That's the secret sauce. That's why Classic Doom is still kicking 30 years later; the gameplay remains incredible to this day and never gets old. Sure, mods and megawads help, but they'd be nothing if the core gameplay wasn't rock-solid.

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Now, looking back from 2026, we know how The Dark Ages turned out. The trailers looked fire, no doubt, pushing those consoles to their limits. But I thought the same thing about Eternal's trailers. So what does The Dark Ages need to do differently? Let's break it down:

  • Ditch the Mandatory Cooldown Loop: The combat should encourage creativity, not enforce a rotation. Make resources plentiful enough that weapon switching is a choice, not a desperation move.

  • Empower the Player, Don't Pigeonhole Them: Mastering the game should open up new, crazy ways to play, not lock you into a single, optimal, boring pattern.

  • Design Enemies Around Weapons, Not Resources: Like the classics, enemies should have clear weapon weaknesses that feel satisfying to exploit, not just be ammo piñatas for your cooldown abilities.

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In the end, as a pro who's played it all, my verdict on Doom: The Dark Ages hinges on this one thing. It can have the most banging soundtrack, the goriest glory kills, and the coolest medieval-meets-demonic aesthetic (and from the screenshots, it sure does), but if it repeats Eternal's mistake of a restrictive, robotic core loop, it'll be another flashy title I shelve after one playthrough. Here's hoping id Software learned their lesson and built a game for the ages, not just for launch week. The ball's in your court, Slayer. Don't screw it up.