The recent Xbox Developer Direct offered an exciting preview of DOOM: The Dark Ages, setting the scale of the series even higher while showing off its visceral moment-to-moment gameplay. Taking a new direction for the series by slowing down from its fast-paced predecessor in favor of a more heavy-hitting gameplay style, The Dark Ages is shaping up to be a fresh take on the successful formula of the reboots. While the tankier boots-on-the-ground gameplay may be disheartening for diehard Doom Eternal fans, it could help The Dark Ages fix the biggest problem with the franchise's latest entries.

With the release date for Doom: The Dark Ages only a few months away, fans thankfully won't have to wait too long to try out the new gameplay style and wide range of new weapons firsthand. Occurring before the events of Doom (2016), The Dark Ages will explore one of the most unique settings the series has ever seen, all while exploring a fleshed-out version of the Doom Slayer's backstory​​​. While more Doom Eternal-inspired gameplay would have been a welcome prospect, the new direction for The Dark Ages will help it stand on its own with an independent identity.

Doom Eternal: Ancient God's Slowed Down Combat Too Often

Inconsistent Pacing Compared To Doom Eternal's Base Game

While Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods offered even more incredibly climactic setpieces to the already groundbreaking sequel, it struggled to maintain the level of consistency the series had been praised for.

The most common complaint about The Ancient Gods was the new enemies that tended to consistently slow down combat whenever they appeared, whether from having powerful defenses or requiring very specific weapons to take down. While it wasn't as noticeable in the first entry, these issues were even more prevalent in The Ancient Gods Part Two, especially with the final boss not matching up with the action-packed gameplay of the series.

The Ancient Gods' Spirit enemies were the most common source of complaint when The Ancient Gods DLC was first released, as their empowered demons had considerably large health pools on top of forcing players to stand still while using the less favorable Microwave Beam to finish them off. While there's merit in encouraging players to adopt new playstyles or try different weapons in DOOM to shake up the gameplay experience, it comes at the cost of cutting down the player's freedom, a core part of Doom Eternal's experience.

Even though enemies like the base game's Cacodemons had a somewhat similar mechanic by preparing them for a glory kill with a well-placed sticky bomb, they could still be dispatched with relative ease using practically any other weapon in the game.

There's Plenty Of Room For Challenging Enemies In Modern Doom

Providing Encounters To Test The Metal Of Any Slayer

Despite complaints over The Ancient Gods and its seemingly unbalanced combat encounters thanks to new enemies that often slow down players, that doesn't mean there isn't room for challenging encounters. Even though Doom Eternal​​​​​'s Marauders caused similar frustration by breaking up the gameplay flow and slowing down combat, they provided a more unique and rewarding encounter nearly every time. While the first few fights with a Marauder can be a long-lasting duel to the death, experienced players can finish one off with simply one or two fast-paced combos, encouraging skilled gameplay and experimentation.

While not everyone was a fan of the new direction Eternal took after the success of its more grounded 2016 version, there's no debating that Doom Eternal offered an incredibly exhilarating gameplay experience that rewarded high-skill play. Given that Doom: The Dark Ages seems to be taking a more calculated approach to its boss encounters and gameplay mechanics, it will likely have a much easier time balancing the flow of combat at a more consistent level.

Doom: The Dark Ages Is The Right Step Forward For The Franchise

Shaking Up The Franchise For A Wholly Original Experience

With Doom Eternal taking on the more fantastical version of the series' sci-fi fantasy setting, Doom: The Dark Ages feels like a natural progression for the series' setting and themes. The setting provides opportunities to explore new stories, a unique visual style, and new thematic weapons in The Dark Ages, making the transition into slower-paced combat more seamless. Despite not having the same freedom of movement as its predecessor, The Dark Ages will have a much better chance of providing a smoother gameplay experience, albeit with fun detours like flying sections and mech battles.

New mechanics help make the Slayer an unstoppable force by pushing ahead no matter what enemies can throw at him.

While a shield is typically seen as a slower-paced defensive weapon, The Dark Ages seems to flip this concept on its head by making the Shield Saw a core part of the Slayer's fighting arsenal, allowing him to parry attacks, burst through obstacles, shred enemies, or even bounce it between Demons. Even though the concept of parrying and deflecting abilities may seem a bit strange for the fast-paced combat of the series, these new mechanics help make the Slayer an unstoppable force by pushing ahead no matter what enemies can throw at him.

The changes made to the glory system further emphasize this new level of gameplay consistency, as, despite their satisfying visceral nature, they took control out of players' hands and tended to get repetitive in the long run. While fans will have to wait and see how the more powerful and grounded combat in Doom: The Dark Ages feels to play at launch, there's no doubt that it will provide a refreshing take on the series with some inspiration from the series' roots.