But that shield is glorious.
Doom: The Dark Ages is a bigger change for the series than I realised.
This feels like an experience built from a thicker pitch document than we’ve ever had before.
There’s undeniable Doom magic here but there are question marks too.
It is a tool you always have at hand and around which everything is built.
The shield brings a different rhythm to play.
Where are the weak points?
if you time it right?
Where are the big enemies whose leaping melee attacks you oughta parry?
Are there any large enemies you want to stun by lodging your spinning shield inside them?
The shield is at the center of it all.
And because the shield gets you in close, there are more melee options now for you to use.
(I think there are even more melee weapons I haven’t seen, too.)
Glory kills return, then, although they’re changed slightly here.
There are some beefy adversaries; with better defences come more sturdy foes, it seems.
There are some enticing ideas there, and as a Diablo player, the concept of builds excites me.
It’s deliriously good fun, and feels almost like another melee weapon in use.
And I don’t dislike this.
They feel a bit like mini-games.
Even equipping a gigantic chaingun doesn’t change the rhythm much.
There aren’t enough ideas in either for them to feel fun for very long.
Perhaps these sections will evolve over the course of the full game - I don’t know.
But if they’re used too much, they could quickly overstay their welcome.
I’m not sure what to make of the abundance of story yet, either.
But the story has never been this overt before.
A lot of this is very enjoyable.
and “Deploy the Slayer!”
and “The Beast is tearing through our ranks again!”
Still, I’d be remiss not to mention it.
This preview was based on a press trip for which Bethesda paid travel and accomodation.
