DOOM: The Dark Ages ATLAN ACADEMY from NIGHTMARE to NEWTYPE
0Sorry for the immediate asinine alliteration. I am doing a second play through of the game on Nightmare difficulty and game speed set to 120%. While I can't lie, I'm not in love with the game. It has plenty of bright spots, but I am ultimately finding the combat loop and story both a bit underwhelming. Everything makes a great first impression, but the game just feels like it lost a bit of the soul from the previous entries. I think this is due to a combination of factors like overly simplistic mechanical depth, an exclusive reliance on pre and post mission cinematics to convey the game's story (there are still codec entries to be fair but there is only one entry per item and only the absolute most important characters and locations get one outside of the weapons). I have no problem with them choosing to use cinematics to tell their story if that is what they want to do. I just feel like the game really needed additional lore to flesh out the world and story. 2016 had a near perfect balance of story and gameplay and while Eternal was not as well paced or actively engaging from a narrative perspective. There was just so much there to dig into that it kept things engaging, even if confusingly so at times. Dark Ages has its moments and definitely touches on some interesting things ID has introduced to the lore with the modern games. I've always been fascinated with the history of the Wraiths and was very happy to see the Dark Ages explore that a bit more. Unfortunately, like much of the other additions to the game and story, I feel like they stopped a bit short, and we are left wanting to know more. I am certainly excited to see what direction they take the DLC regardless as I still very much believe in the studio and know they have what it takes.