The following contains spoilers regarding weapon unlocks in Doom: The Dark Ages.
If anything has been made obvious about Doom: The Dark Ages and how the Doom franchise has evolved since its modern reinvention it’s that Doom (2016) was a blank canvas for id to paint expressive brush strokes on. It’s easy to reflect on id’s Doom reboot now and see it for how elementary it is in comparison, but as a framework that id could spring forth from there’s seemingly no limit to whatever imaginative aspirations the studio has for the franchise moving forward.
Indeed, while Doom Eternal commits to breakneck gymnastics and mobility, Doom: The Dark Ages arguably heads in the opposite direction, encouraging players to more or less go toe-to-toe with Hell’s demonic forces as they block/parry incoming projectiles. A shield and a flail are appropriate for the prequel entry’s dark, medieval fantasy setting as well. But, one seemingly small alteration to gunplay has a colossal effect on how players engage with its intact run-and-gun mechanics: a weapon class pairing system.
Doom: The Dark Ages Skin Requires You to Buy a Pizza
Hungry Doom fans can take advantage of a spicy crossover Doom: The Dark Ages is doing with Prince St. Pizza to receive an exclusive in-game skin.
Doom Eternal Marries Blisteringly Quick Gameplay with a Rainbow of UI
In Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal, players are restricted to two guns they swap back and forth between and must open the weapon wheel mid-encounter if they wish to swap to another gun before the one they have equipped runs dry. This isn’t a tremendously arduous task on its own, but, especially in games that pride themselves on high-octane speeds and a HUD UX that feeds players all the information they need, the weapon wheel can bog the experience down considerably, even if it does offer a bit of respite via a slow-motion effect.
A lot of emphasis in Doom: The Dark Ages is placed on the Doom Slayer’s brand-new Shield Saw and melee weapons, which don’t replace gunplay but are now equally vital beyond what Doom Eternal posited with the now-defunct Blood Punch, Chainsaw, and Flame Belch.
In order to perpetually replenish ammo, health, and armor, Doom Eternal has players juggle these mechanics—all of which contain cooldowns and pickup resources of their own to scavenge amid panicked encounters with Doom Eternal’s Marauders—while also expecting them to constantly leap around the arena like it’s an obstacle course. Therefore, accessing different weapons on the fly is the cherry on top of a dense, multilayered sundae, and The Dark Ages not only rewrites the book on what a Doom game should play like but also offers a clever workaround for the weapon wheel.
Doom: The Dark Ages’ Weapon Class System is a Godsend
Weapon swapping may be slow, and purposefully so, yet The Dark Ages’ gunplay doesn’t require players to swap weapons that much, if at all, considering how instrumental the Shield Saw is in tandem with the Power Gauntlet, Flail, or Dreadmace. To be fair, Doom Eternal gives players more reasons to never stick to one weapon for too long since demons have unique weak points that can be easily exploited with different guns.
Doom: The Dark Ages still features a weapon wheel, but swapping guns is made surprisingly fluid with firearms now belonging to distinguished classes. Befitting a setting with castles, dragons, and other medieval tropes, the Doom Slayer’s inventory now includes ingenious firearms, such as Doom: The Dark Ages’ skull-crushing Pulverizer. And, in what is one of the game’s least sensational yet most paramount new mechanics, The Dark Ages features a class system that pairs two sibling weapons together for better accessibility. Doom: The Dark Ages’ weapon class pairs include:
- Shotgun: Combat Shotgun and Super Shotgun
- Rail Spike: Rail Spike Shredder and Rail Spike Impaler
- Plasma Rifle: Accelerator and Cycler
- Launcher: Grenade Launcher and Rocket Launcher
- Skullcrusher: Pulverizer and Ravager
Every weapon in Doom: The Dark Ages has a class-related pair besides the Reaver Chainshot and BFC (Ballistic Force Crossbow), and the weapon wheel already accounts for both pairs in a single slot, ensuring that weapon class swapping is a system that players can take advantage of often.
This class system is subtle, and anyone who either prefers the weapon wheel or uses the weapon wheel instinctively can overlook it completely. However, the biggest boon this class system grants players is that they can technically have four guns to swap between—two that are swapped between via the ordinary swap input, and two that are swapped between by swapping to an equipped gun’s sibling with its own dedicated input—and spend less time in the weapon wheel, especially if their weapon selection choices are made arbitrarily.
The Dark Ages not only rewrites the book on what a Doom game should play like but also offers a clever workaround for the weapon wheel.
Doom: The Dark Ages has a different luster and flavor than its predecessors. Still, as Doom continues to prove that it can’t be leashed or bottlenecked, many of Doom: The Dark Ages’ big gameplay changes are in favor of greater accessibility and, crucially, less downtime in the run-and-gun FPS genre that the iconic series is known for.
DOOM: The Dark Ages
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 86 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
- Released
- May 15, 2025
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
- Developer(s)
- id Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- id Tech
- Franchise
- DOOM
- Genre(s)
- FPS, Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PlayStation 5
