With enough practice, one can even master the domain of hell. I’m not sure if this same logic is why Doom games have a “take it easy on me” break in period in earlier levels, but the warm up rounds of mindfully restrained sense of posturing make the burning sensation of hellfire a lot more palatable.


Pictured: What it feels like starting up The Dark Ages for the first time

In spite of writing about Doom: The Dark Ages a hell of a lot, there always seems to be yet more to say about id Software’s latest in demonic slaying delights. I am generally a fan of both the game and the series overall, so the gross amount of exposition involved with the title seems about right, especially when the replay value is so high. Not quite as much as 2016 and Eternal per say, due to a lack of additional distractions, ala SnapMap (custom levels) from 2016, and the Battle Mode from Eternal…which also eventually saw a horde mode at some point…and DLC… Eternal just melts faces with how awesome it was.


I was being metaphorical, but yeah, Eternal doesn’t fuck around

I digress however, and attempt to give Dark Ages more of it’s due, instead of gushing about Eternal. The game has only been out about a month, so complaining about a lack of DLC is quite silly, though id has mentioned it is coming at some point (hoping before the end of this year.). The folks over on PC are in for a tasty treat, as an update is coming out tomorrow that will add path tracing to the title, which apparently is going set to give a magnificent visual upgrade to the entire experience, giving a magnificent boost to the Ray-tracing qualities the game possesses, and Nvidia has a comparison video you can check out over on their blog, which is worth a look, considering how radical the before and after looks with the new tech involved.


Maybe not this radical of a difference, but you get the idea

No news if the update will make it over to consoles, which is a shame, but the inevitable trade off of picking the less customizable platform, the trade off always being more streamlined accessibility. Console peeps should know what they’re getting in for at this point. As mentioned in my To Do List, I did 100% The Dark Ages, though it was a rather sane achievement list to grapple with; only being 28 cheevo’s deep, and none of them difficulty related. I’d be a hypocrite now if I said I felt burned by the seeming lack of greater challenge asked of the players, but I have also stated not every game needs to be the next Everest to climb, nor needs to last an eternity in terms of content. The feelings of greatness come in all shapes and sizes, and an experience feeling eternal can be great, but short and cozy is the way to be.


Again, I was being metaphorical, but this related picture of Doom: Eternal themed shorts do look cozy

I’m still going through on a higher difficulty currently, playing through on Nightmare, with game speed cranked up to 150%, which is one of several ways to customize the experience on the fly. The speed difference considerably changes the ebb and flow of the entire game, in amazingly satisfying ways, and it’s one of those stupid quality of life moments I absolutely can’t believe more games don’t offer up. I’m not sure if it has to do with any particular games levels of optimization that makes it possible, with most devs not being able to put their code through such an intense ringer by cranking up the speed or not, but The Dark Ages is optimized so well, the entire game still plays flawlessly, with no frame rate drops whatsoever. Fingers crossed more devs take note, and add deeper levels of customization to their games, speed modifications included, as the ability to tweak your game on the fly in this day and age seems vital to any game’s longevity process, which is ultimately what everyone wants: more fun for longer.

Till next time.
~Pashford