How Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations’ new weapon bridges the gap to Doom Eternal

Every time a new Doom game is announced I always, perhaps foolishly, think there’s nothing left to do with this franchise.

That’s not to say that I’ve not thoroughly enjoyed the post-2016 run of first-person gorefests, but one would think there are only so many ways to rip and tear through the detritus of the underworld.

And yet, with every new game or expansion, id Software surprises me with a new implement of chaos that makes me want to jump back in. Last week, I got to see id’s latest in action, Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations, a new expansion which will be released next week.

The expansion, which id says is around the same size as both of the DLC packs for Doom Eternal, sees The Doomslayer building himself back to power after the destruction of his iconic armor and shield.

The star of the expansion is the Chain Spear, the Doomslayer’s new weapon. This weapon is the clearest through line between Doom: The Dark Ages and Doom Eternal, which takes place later in the timeline.

In the run-up to Doom: The Dark Ages, id spent a lot of time comparing The Dark Ages Slayer to a tank, rather than the fighter jet analogy used for Eternal.

This seemed to be in response to some players disliking the speed with which the Doomslayer flew around arenas in Eternal, and the increased focus on platforming. The Revelations DLC seems to bridge that gap, with the chain spear at the center.

Not only can it be used to skewer enemies from across the map, but it can also be used as a grappling hook, propelling the Doomslayer at high speed. The sense of grounded bulkiness that was so clear to The Dark Ages is basically grappling hooked out the window with this weapon, which id says is the basis of Revelations’ progression.

The rhythm of combat hasn’t changed much – it’s still a combat puzzle of matching your weaponry to your opponents’ weaknesses, but those battles are now far more vertical, and conducted at much higher speed.

During the presentation for the upcoming DLC, there was a great deal of talk about difficulty. Not just due to the fact that the expansion is harder than the base game, but because of Revelation’s endgame content. When players complete the expansion, they’ll unlock the chance to play through content in the far tougher endgame mode, which id says makes up 40% of the DLC’s content.

This is the start of a chain of content that increases in difficulty as players master it. The Endgame challenges are set to Master difficulty, and unlock new paths through the expansion’s levels. There are also ‘arcade-style’ Slayer Trials which will have scoring elements, and feature new higher-difficulty reskins of the base game’s enemies.

The fan-favorite retro doors will also return, meaning players can once again play through classic Doom levels. I feel like I’ve spent more time in my life playing through classic Doom levels in games other than Doom 1993 than in the original itself, but it’s a nice nostalgia pop that always works.

Once all of that is complete, and your fingers are still functional, you’ll have to fight the Uber Boss. You’d think that would be it, but no. Beating that boss gives you access to the Master Arenas, which id says houses the hardest encounters it has ever offered.

With the context of so much of the content being focused on difficult encounters, it makes sense to reintroduce some of Doomslayer’s Eternal moveset. While id says that the dash isn’t quite as long-ranging as it was in Eternal, it’s still significant.

Hugo Martin, the game’s director, compared the evolution from The Dark Ages to Revelations to that of the evolution from Doom 2016 to Doom Eternal.

When I reviewed Doom: The Dark Ages, I said id had put the series “back on track” after the controversial Doom Eternal, so it’s interesting to see them so clearly reference it both mechanically and with some structural elements. If that’s a sign that the wider, open areas of Doom: The Dark Ages didn’t hit with the audience, I don’t know, but I’d have preferred to see more of the latter.

Regardless of how it’s presented, I’ll play new Doom content.  While Revelations doesn’t seem like exactly what I wanted from more of The Dark Ages, the series is fairly unimpeachable when it comes to raw mechanics. Whether or not I’m of high enough demon-slaying ability to see all of id’s “hardest ever content,” I’ll have to wait and see.