Doom: The Dark Ages review roundup: 'the weakest entry in a fantastic trilogy'

Doom: The Dark Ages is another enjoyable romp, but some of the changes don't pay off

• 👍 Doom has a Metacritic score of after 84 after 47 critic reviews

• 👏 The game has 88% positive reviews, 12% mixed and 0% negative

• 👶 Doom: The Dark Ages is a prequel to Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal

• 📅 Doom: The Dark Ages releases on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC on May 15

Fans of the Doom Slayer can soon rip and tear their way through hordes of snarling demons in Doom: The Dark Ages. But does it live up to the previous entries in the series?

The game brings several changes that have seemingly fallen flat with some reviewers, though it seems like Doom: The Dark Ages is still an enjoyable romp through hell and back nonetheless.

Doom: The Dark Ages is currently sitting on a Metacritic score of 84 after 47 critic reviews. That’s a lower score than Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal achieved, which both scored 88, respectively.

Here’s what critics had to say about the latest entry in id Software’s iconic first-person shooter series.

Hardcore Gamer loved Doom: The Dark Ages, giving the game a perfect score and described it as “AAA gaming at its best, with huge set pieces and memorable moments around every corner of the beautiful environments that only add to the highly-polished and heavily-addicting gameplay.”

PlayStation LifeStyle also found plenty to enjoy, awarding Doom: The Dark Ages 9/10 and claimed its “one of the best PS5 shooters ever made” and said “the addition of the shield helps the gameplay feel entirely fresh”.

VGC gave Doom: The Dark Ages 8/10, and like many outlets, lamented some of the new gameplay changes that have been introduced. “Its main flaws come when the game takes you away from its main, excellent combat loop. While not every new addition works, the game’s new open zones are a treat, and the Doomslayer’s arsenal is still incredibly fun to run around with.”

TheGamer was less impressed with Doom: The Dark Ages in its 7/10 review, declaring it “the weakest entry in a fantastic trilogy of games” and wished the game “took risks and sought to reinvent what it means to play a Doom game rather than build upon the familiar.”

Dexerto also wasn’t enamoured with Doom: The Dark Ages. Even though it said the game has “utterly fantastic combat”, it scored the game 6/10 and claimed “id Software has fallen short of the high bar it set with Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal”.

Doom: The Dark Ages releases on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC on May 15. It’s free to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game subscribers, but the usual $70 on PS5 and on other storefronts.

Check out the upcoming PS5 games and upcoming Xbox games lists to see what’s coming next to Sony and Microsoft’s consoles.

• Up next: Assassin's Creed Shadows review roundup: 'better than many expected it to be'

Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.