Regardless of how well Doom: The Dark Ages maintains the formula of the series, there are new things for you to learn before diving in.
Doom: The Dark Ages is a fast-paced, first-person action game where the golden rule is to shoot, punch, or explode anything that moves. Otherwise, you will probably die. Traversing the infernal maps to complete the campaign requires not only good reflexes — you also need to use everything at your disposal to survive the battlefield.
Whether you’re a longtime Doom fan or this is your first time slashing hellspawns to the thrum of metal riffs, there’s plenty to learn. But we can help! Below, see our beginner’s tips for Doom: The Dark Ages.
Your shield is more than just protection
At first glance, your shield might not look like much in comparison to, say, a rocket launcher. It is, however, your strongest tool in Doom: The Dark Ages — and by mastering it, you can face legions of hellspawns without too much trouble.
First, besides protecting yourself from incoming damage, you can use the shield to propel yourself toward a target. While this is initially introduced as an offensive maneuver, you can adapt it to quickly escape from a tight situation. When in danger, look for a faraway enemy and use your dash!
You can also interrupt enemies with the shield by dashing at them as they charge their attack. Another option is to throw your shield once this option becomes available. When it hits large demons, the shield sticks to them, stunning them for a few seconds. Use this time to run or finish them.
Image: id Software/Bethesda Game Studios via Polygon
You can do more with your shield than just dash and stun. Parrying is an important mechanic in Doom: The Dark Ages, which you should always do when you see attacks highlighted in green — called Hell Surge attacks — coming. A shockwave. A giant arrow of demonic energy. It doesn’t matter. If it’s green, you can parry and deflect it back to its source.
The potential of parry Hell Surge attacks comes especially when you’re facing multiple enemies at the same time because the deflected Hell Surge projectile won’t hit only the source — it can kill whatever else is close to the source. And once you unlock some shield upgrades, this feature becomes stronger. (Although there is some timing to worry about when parrying, it’s nothing that you can’t tweak to your preferences in the settings.)
Weak enemies make you stronger
If you’re new to the Doom universe, some fights might feel overwhelming, especially when facing big bad demon boys who are followed by small minions that’ll annoy you throughout the whole fight. You must learn that these little fellows are there to actually help you, though.
In Doom: The Dark Ages, you can only recover health by killing enemies. Brutal, right? But when fighting a boss, you need to stay alive long enough to put them down. That’s when the weak minions come in. You must use them to restore your health. Whenever you’re low on health, run around the arena and find some weakling to kill before getting back to the real target.
Image: id Software/Bethesda Game Studios via Polygon
It won’t take you long to realize how straightforward Doom: The Dark Ages’ maps are. Even so, checking your map constantly is crucial in this game as it will highlight the location of objectives and collectibles. For collectibles to appear on the map, you must first open the area. Once you get close to them, their symbol will be shown on the automap.
Keeping track of what is around you by consistently checking the map is a good practice to not ignore secret rooms and weird corridors. (In general, the harder to reach, the worthier the prize.) In the worst-case scenario, you’ll grab a Life Sigil and some gold, which are still considerably rare in the game.
Image: id Software/Bethesda Game Studios via Polygon
The Doom games have always been about shooting demons and, although you have a cool shield now, this remains the main idea in Doom: The Dark Ages. However, regardless of how pumped you might get from the soundtrack, you can’t run toward every encounter and hope to survive by relying on a single gun.
Dark Ages has a large arsenal of different weapons, and each one is meant to respond to a specific kind of enemy. Accelerator is the one you want to switch to when enemies with shields appear, while Pulverizer should be your go-to option when a wave of enemies approaches. If you don’t change to a better weapon for each enemy and situation, death is the most likely result.
Your fists are as powerful as your guns
This is a simple but powerful mindset to have while playing the game. While it is totally possible to simply shred enemies shooting thousands of bullets at them, this is not the best way to kill them. If you hit enemies with melee attacks, they will drop ammo, giving you the chance to stay in the fight longer — and kill enemies faster!
At the same time, if you can daze enemies, you can execute them. You just need to hit them hard enough to almost kill them for a purple circle to appear in front of the enemy. Then, use the execute command to gain more health than a regular kill, which can bring you back from near death. So, considering how much you gain from fighting with your bare hands, stop wasting bullets and go punch some demons!
