Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations review

Don't scoff at it being a DLC: Revelations is the best Doom has ever been. Hell, it would be worthy of being a standalone sequel if it weren't so tightly woven with the base game in ways id Software joyfully refuses to do with its full-fledged follow-ups. While I adored The Dark Ages' visceral demon-crushing, its level design fell flat. Some levels were too linear; some were needlessly open. So I wasn't expecting to enjoy the DLC too much before I went in.

Turns out, Revelations is a perfect blend of Eternal's movement and level design, and The Dark Ages' timings-based combat. And you know what? I think it's the most fun I've ever had in Doom—and it's almost the size of a full game, clocking in at about 10-15 hours. A damn shame considering Xbox laid off id Software developers just days before its release. Talk about the dark ages.

Tip of the spear

Only a short way into Revelations, Doom Guy loses all his gear, including his Shield Saw—but don't worry, it's getting replaced with something even better. Enter the Chain Spear. This is the big gimmick of the DLC, trading the defensive power of the shield for massively increased mobility. And in typical id fashion, this new weapon is a multifaceted tool that's so creative that it could support an entire game on its lonesome.

You can attach it to enemies to launch yourself around, even upgrading it to let you orbit them while you blast away. You can slash enemies, destroying metal and shields. This can also parry green Hell Surge attacks if you time it right, similar to the Shield Saw in the base game. The bricks tied to Doom Guy's feet have been untethered now too so you can dash in any direction.

The spear is just as gnarly and badass as you'd expect, but it's home to a remarkable amount of depth, especially when you start unlocking the various upgrades. Dodging and parrying attacks earns you Empowerment, which you can use to throw a stunning spear (great for flying and spectre enemies), stab it into enemies to superheat metal and cause explosions, or, my favourite, groundpound to cause enemies to drop health.

You'll regain access to your old weapons and, soon enough, the repaired Shield Saw, opening the door to yet more combos. Revelations encourages you to master the flow of combat more than ever with tougher demon encounters and more tools to play with.

It's a hell of a lot of buttons to juggle at any given time, but it's one of the most rewarding, satisfying combat systems in the genre.

Level up

While your mileage with the combat still largely hinges on how much you like the gimmick of countering specific attacks, the level design is a clear step up in every regard. For one, I was consistently amazed by how cool Hell, Purgatory, and the Lovecraftian-inspired Cosmic Realm look. Hands and faces protruding from medieval castle walls. Cosmic beasts in unfathomable, shifting labyrinths. It's rad.

Details

The new missions are among Doom's greatest. They're intricate and layered, striking a great balance between mandatory encounters, optional puzzles, and endgame clean-up. The boring binary choice of going one direction to progress or the other to find the obvious secret path is, thankfully, gone. Though that does mean backtracking is common if you're not stalking the map screen, and you can't return to levels until after you've beaten the story. It's pretty punishing if you miss some Platinum on your first run through. Given the focus on combat mastery and perfect flow, having to retread old encounters isn't a bore, at least.

I was pretty surprised by how good most of the puzzles are. You're still moving blocks and finding keys, but there are more layers and some of them actually had me stumped for a minute or two. It's the polar opposite of the base game, which felt like it begrudgingly included them out of an obligation to its predecessors.

I loved returning to the main puzzle box hub area after each mission to see what else I could access, such as lowering the water level or pulling down obelisks for treasure. This area contains a lot of the endgame challenges as well, which you'll unlock after beating the story, like time trial combat challenges, silly levels inspired by the original Doom, and tough bosses.

The rewards from exploring are also much improved, harkening back to the satisfaction of checking every nook and cranny in Doom 2016. Frankly, I got fed up with most of the secrets being barely hidden, boring Life Sigils and Codex pages in The Dark Ages' main campaign. Here, you're assembling relics for Platinum to grab those meaningful upgrades and getting new skins and toys on a consistent basis. Revelations realises how fun it is to navigate and comb over well-crafted Doom levels.

Revelations is, on the surface, just more Doom. You shoot a hell of a lot of demons in a boxed-off room. But the new and existing tools at your disposal are perfectly intertwined, while the smart level design elevates the combat and exploration. Even the story is great here, something I usually don't care for in Doom—I love the retro stylings of the flashback levels, and how being a prequel lets it retroactively tie into its predecessors in cool ways.

It's just a crying shame that such a refined, full-throttle Doom experience is not only relegated to a DLC for the most controversial entry in the series, but that the team that made it has lost talent thanks to Microsoft's studio-crushing hammer.