This time Doom is in the Middle Ages and you have to think.

Oh, Doom. So many old game series have disappeared, waved or mature, but you: you just stay Doom. Your hero is a muscle bundle with a green helmet that is feared by everyone, your enemies are demons from hell (you don’t have to humanize that). And speak? The player does that nicely through the cannon in her hands. Effective, and so simple that you can play the original Doom on any device, from Refrigerators to lawn mowers. A formula to get through a ring. Don’t change anything anymore.

Doom Was fished out of the trash in 2016 by its original makers, ID software, and polished: more beautiful worlds, the vague touch of a story, occasionally jumping and scrambling. But it remained Doom, from the simple violence to the first aid boxes. After the even faster Doom: Eternal (2020) ID software now comes with Doom: The Dark Agesa prequel, which takes place in a completely different place (not the earth or mars but a medieval world, a kind of techno-Game of Thrones) Where the Doom Slayer is of course chartered to hunt the legions of hell back home.

The pace is more embarrassed. Suddenly the slayer has to be defended: your big asset in this game is your shield, which stops attacks. If it gets too close, you hit the enemy in the face. And okay – The usual exuberant collection of weapons are also present. It remains Doom.

There is rarely to say much about these games. They exist by the grace of their adrenaline capacity. But it is precisely the reduced speed that the real Doom experience is in the way. Instead of constantly moving, instead of emptying your head and sailing all the way on your reflexes, you now suddenly have to think tactically. Ah, those enemies have shielded. You have to shoot at that first. Wait until they are near other enemies, and then throw your own shield, because then they explode. And then, and then – and so on.

It just doesn’t work. Fighting lasts too long, dragging on endlessly. Insurate levels in which you suddenly have to go through a kind of roller coaster on a dragon or in a large robot suit feel forced. The best thing is Doom: The Dark Ages When you are released in a larger area. Just sniff atmosphere, really on an exploration. The real adrenalinerush only comes when you can search for half an hour of secrets. Ha! Gold pieces to make my shield a little better again!

Look, there is nothing wrong with this Doom. Every doom is just Doom; If you like it, it’s fine. Yet it feels like the trilogy ends with a hiss. That delicious highlighting rock music Disease this time – The legendary metal composer Mick Gordon left after legal disputes. A staircase after.

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