Sometimes, the worst kinds of hell end up being the most inane thing you hadn’t even imagined.


Unfortunately, those are the ones that haunt you for the rest of your days…

Heading into the “finale” of Doom: The Dark Ages | Revelations, the latest DLC release for the last installment in the newest Doom trilogy that has spanned the preceding decade, one does realize in that moment how much time has elapsed during this series development, and it’s always in these moments that one kind of has to take a pause and consider the ramifications and collateral damage of the passage of time, while marveling at the continuum it exists in all the same. However, for all that has changed, there are some things that stay the same, and Doomguy/Slayer is still fighting the good fight, one demon at a time, with his ever fattening bag of goodies and all manner of new hell conquering gear that make destroying the place as savory as it was the first time you picked up a super shotgun.


Hell’s Boogeyman

For anyone just joining us; welcome, glad you could make it, you arrived just in time to see the wrap up of Revelations, a short (but beefy) little journey I’ve been making the past few days, in seeing what may be developer id software’s swan song content for the current iteration of Doom, before a possibly inevitable reboot comes along for the series. Revelations represents some self-referential ups to its own series, as we’ve been re-exploring old ways to play, as I’ve detailed prior with the inclusion of a new weapon, The Chain Spear, which acts as a surrogate for the “meat hook” attachment that came accessorized with the Super Shotgun in Doom: Eternal, effectively “Eternalizing” the Dark Ages.


The Chain Spear: show stopper, stage stealer, heart breaker

Its been a real blast to get back into the swing of things, though, the contrast between the overly dramatic and gratuitously showy performance that comes with the Chain Spear performance, and all of its high flying dramatics, does reinforce the notion of how streamlined everything is with Dark Ages formula, as the shield has such a sweet weight to it; letting one get up close and personal with the demons, things tend to get real, and then the fights get over really fucking quickly. Both playstyles are great with that said, and some times its just a vibe on which one suits the moment more.


Don’t lose your head scrutinizing over which one to pick: both the spear and the saw equally deliver

Towards the end of the campaign, when id is ratcheting up the difficulty to see what they can truly get cooking, it does pay off to kind of go a hybridized route, and rewire your brain a bit to quick swap between the two styles, to maximize efficiency levels. With the kind of distance one can achieve relatively quickly with the hook shot like tendencies of the Chain Spear, combined with the quick, successive blows that comes with the delight of becoming a makeshift battering ram via what the Shield Saw has on offer, anyone who can master the juggling process of utilizing both will have absolutely no problems totally obliterating hell’s hordes in the blink of an eye.


Crowd control takes on a whole new dimension of quality with the Spear/Saw quick swap dichotomy

Having said that, due to the fast paced nature of the game, it will take some practice, as there are a lot of moving parts going on to contend with, so expect to put in some time if you want to earn those street credentials. Having said that, there are plenty of simple and straight forward ways to play, that are well within the realm of satisfaction for anyone who utilizes them. Though I enjoyed the flow state I achieved when switching between the two, I will admit a laziness about me this time around, as the efficient brutality of the shield/super shotty combo was just too alluring of a pleasing payoff to ever say no to.


What can I say? It’s always an absolute blast to “get nuts” by dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight

While they don’t add any new guns* in the DLC (*at least, throughout the main portion of the story campaign), the amount of abilities and upgrades one has at their disposal gives players plenty to play with, so there remains an array of new options to explore in terms of where battle strats and combat variety is concerned. Id Software finally brings back both the Pain Elemental and the Arch Vile enemies from the Doom days of old, and its fun to see them back in action. Having said that, with the nature of these two beasts, they had to seriously retool how both of them worked, cause when you get down to it, they are likely a nightmare to actually implement, as not every engine is as stable and easy to work with as the original Doom engine, so incorporating enemies that effectively spawn other enemies at any given moment, in conjunction with the level of fidelity The Dark Ages achieves, and the silky smooth 60 fps it maintains throughout, has got to be a hard balancing act. Thankfully, the Pain Elemental’s retooling tones down the annoyances of how many Lost Souls he can summon at any given time, and the Arch Vile is turned into something of a mini boss, so he usually dominates the stage whenever he shows up, so it feels like a special occasion worthy of ceremonious focus.


Now that is the smile of someone who looks forward to clocking into work everyday; an important reminder of how vital it is to be able to take pride in the work one does

I wouldn’t say the levels themselves truly stand out, but I am challenged when I think about how one does make backdrops really pop when one is a faster than light slaughter train, completely drenched in blood and viscera, zooming too and fro with their head just completely immersed in a pile of demons at any given moment, so I’m not sure I count that as a serious detraction to the experience. Every level does have a few cool set pieces to it with that said, which usually exist in “transitionary” areas between arenas, and id software does a good job of making those moments always look like the cover of a metal album, which never gets old in my book.


There is definitely noteworthy shit to see…when one isn’t drowning in demons, that is

The story remains totally irrelevant, so a big whatever in that regard, though the main campaign feels a decent length, for how much combat is involved. I will say, though I haven’t really taken a deep dive into the end game/post story content in Revelations yet, it almost seems to me that beating the campaign is only about half of the content available, with the hardest battles, coolest unlockables, and most intense gameplay coming after the fact, so the promise of what remains is quite enticing. I am definitely going to push forward to see what’s hidden in the darkest depths, as the difficulty level present in the main portion of the game was surprisingly forgiving for DLC, though I did play a metric shit ton of the vanilla portion of the Dark Ages when it first came out, so it is possible the game is harder than I’m giving it credit for, but the difficulty scaling options are excessive in their offerings, so anyone of any experience level can tweak it just right for their level of comfort if they want to take the extra five minutes to do so.


“Daddy says every time a developer includes extensive accessibility options in one of their video games, an angel gets its wings!”

With all of that said, though I usually avoid compartmentalizing mass swaths of reality into absurdist contingencies, I feel as if there are three major kinds of DLC. The first is the transcendental kind, which either fundamentally ups the ante with shocking regard, whether it be through new mechanics or sheer amount of content rivaling the main game, it basically feels like a whole ass other game. Then you have the broken messes of farce, where you’d question why they even released it, but you know the answer is money, with no regard for quality whatsoever. The last category being the tried and the true; a great follow up to the main game, and a nice wrap up to cap everything off with.


I bet dollars to donuts this Chalupa Supreme throws an absolute bitch fit every time he needs to pay for a second seat when he has to fly on an airplane

Revelations comfortably slots into the third category, and anyone who enjoyed what this trilogy represented, in all of its rich Doominess that it provided, you’ll find an excellent distillation of all of that within Revelations, which should keep you busy for a little bit, especially if you’re a difficulty junkie, as there are many ways to make a truly intense experience. Even if you blow through all of that, there is always the Ripatorium, which is like a horde mode, where you can rip and tear to your hearts content, which id software recently just upgraded to its 3.0 version, and may yet do a 4.0, if there is any further chances of any more content coming to The Dark Ages, that is.


Hail to the king, baby

However, I’m guessing Doom is likely to take a little nap for awhile, as the team will need a few years to move forward with where ever they want to take the series, but as I’ve stated recently, I won’t be surprised if it turns out to be a reboot. As long as we have more ripping and tearing to look forward to at some point, I’ll remain a happy, if not hell bound, camper.

~Pashford