DOOM: The Dark Ages is a prequel to DOOM (2016), inviting players to find out more about how the Doom Slayer ended up where he was at the beginning of DOOM, while also introducing some impressive new mechanics. The Slayer not only has an enormous mech – the Atlan – to roam around in, but his very own dragon that’s mounted with cannons. It’s all very flashy. What could go wrong?
Acting as a narrative bridge between classic DOOM and modern DOOM titles, this medieval-inspired fiasco is a playground of combat opportunities for those who are veterans of shredding demons or new to ripping and tearing hellish foes apart. To help you out with this adventure, here are our DOOM: The Dark Ages tips, tricks, and guides.
DOOM: The Dark Ages tips and tricks
Use your map often
We’ve made sure to say this in every single chapter of our DOOM: The Dark Ages walkthrough; the map is your best friend.
As you explore the various chapters in the game, any secret locations or items you should be grabbing will appear on your map when you’re close to them. They won’t appear when you’re on the other side of the map, so make sure to open your map and scour your surroundings regularly, to ensure you don’t miss anything of note. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you’re checking the map after each major enemy encounter, and especially before passing any points of no return.
You can also view the list on the right-hand side of your map to help keep track of which secrets and collectibles you’ve already found, and what you’ve still got left to grab.
Utilise every bit of your arsenal
I’ll be honest, except for DOOM 64, DOOM: The Dark Ages is my first modern DOOM game. That meant I had a lot of learning to do, and one such thing I had to quickly learn was to utilise every bit of my arsenal to really make the most of enemy encounters (and clear them quickly).
This means Shield Bashing into fights (and to safety, if you’ve a large enemy directly on you), slinging your Shield at fodder enemies so you need not waste ammo, and mindlessly shooting at larger threats. That said, you should also be sure to use your melee weapons when there’s opportunity to do so too; this was my downfall. All those melee charges – which recharge at a reasonable rate (which only gets better with upgrades) – going to waste! Don’t be like me. Use every resource available to you!
Look behind you and keep moving
I probably don’t need to say this, but in DOOM: The Dark Ages, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by enemies. If you spend too much time focusing on the threat in front of you, you’ll no doubt end up with Zombies and Imp Stalkers wailing away at your back, and your HP will quickly be depleted.
You want to constantly be moving. Whether that’s sprinting around the room slinging your Shield at enemies, or strategically using your Shield Bash to travel around the room taking on enemies. Whatever you do, just don’t stand still; it makes you an easy target!
Mess around with your settings
DOOM: The Dark Ages and the challenge it provides, especially at higher difficulties, are good fun. That said, there are a few settings you can tweak to not necessarily make things easier, but to customize combat however you please.
If you want things to be even more fast-paced, did you know that you can actually turn the Game Speed up? That’s right. You can have the Doom Slayer stomping around at 1.5x speed if you want. That said, maybe take care to not stomp through levels too quickly, as this saw my game crashing a lot more than I’d like when I was rerunning levels at stupid speeds… Oops!
Similarly, you can also turn on visual cues for projectiles, and customize whether the visual cues appear for parryable projectiles only or all projectiles in the vicinity. Of course, you should always be cautious of your surroundings when taking down mobs of demons in DOOM: The Dark Ages, but this particular setting does help ensure you aren’t missing parryable attacks or getting caught off guard unnecessarily.
Mess around with the settings and see which options suit your playstyle!
DOOM: The Dark Ages guides
Below, we have listed all of our DOOM: The Dark Ages guides to help you out with progressing through the game and ensuring you don’t miss any secrets or collectibles.