Screenshot: iD Software / Claire Jackson / Kotaku
Doom The Dark Ages is an interesting little beast. It’s still Doom at heart, in the vein of the last two games. But the vibe is just so very different, and not just because of the medieval setting. It’s the Army of Darkness of Doom games, if you follow. That goes double for the music, and while there’s, uh, obvious reasons for that. Fact remains, this is a game where you’re an absolute unit, ripping demons to shreds; but there’s way more Warhammer shit in its veins than before.
Doom 2016 and Eternal may have sparked a whole new fire under the djent-ier side of metal—to the point that there’s folks trying to make the name “Argent Metal” happen—but The Dark Ages is slotting into a deep tradition of metal portraying high-fantasy Hell, without swaying too far in either direction. So, if you were one of those folks who fell down a metal rabbit hole after the first two games, and need something to match the vibes a little better this time around, or if this is your first step into a larger, more brutal world, let’s walk you a little further down the path with an appropriate six more albums to go hunting down to keep the brutal times rolling long after you’ve Shield Sawed your last demon in half.