DOOM: The Dark Ages

[Dankster Morgan]

Im kinda glad that its not eternal.

On first playthrough of eternal i was like damn this might be the best most epic fps ever, it was sick and i was super excited for the dlc.

But i just cant play that anymore, its too cracked out, after playing ancient gods part 1 i was totally over the that cracked out gameplay.
They took the speedrunners weapon switching tech of doom 2016 and decided to trun it up to 11 and make the whole gameplay ultra fast and centered around the weapon switching and combos. Finished dlc part 2 and i never touched the game since and i originally tought after the main campaign ill be playing it alot.

Dark ages seems to be much slower and closer to doom 2016 style, hugos comment of: if you were a ferrari in eternal then you are a tank in dark ages is all i needed to hear. As fun as eternal was im totally burnt out from that gameplay style.

I also prefer a slower pace. Eternal isn’t a game I can play all day

What are you talking about? The entire design of that game is based on rock-paper-scissors. The game had no freedom in combat at all, it was completely dictated by the mechanisms of the monster you were facing. There was no choice, you see an enemy you act EXACTLY the same every time. It is like the most famous thing about that game is the weapon swapping. The game was on rails, and on top of that you bounced around like a rubber ball. It was hella-stupid.

Not true at all really. Only the stone imps in TAG 2 and the ghost things in TAG 1 were truly only one option to kill, which I agree in that case.

There are tons of legitimate strategies.

 

[Juxtapose]

The game had no freedom in combat at all, it was completely dictated by the mechanisms of the monster you were facing. There was no choice, you see an enemy you act EXACTLY the same every time.

That's not the case at all, with the exception of the two Demons @Dankster Morgan highlighted. You could use any weapon you wanted against any enemy and completely ignore enemy weak points and quick switching. It would make things much harder, but was absolutely possible.

A Cacodemon was insta-kill with a Sticky Grenade or Frag Grenade in the mouth, but you could still take them out with the Chaingun, Arbalest, etc., as an example.

Once you got in the flow of the combat loop though, and were moving quickly while settings things on fire, stunning with frags, freezing with ice bombs, etc., you were restacking your health, armour, and ammo constantly. It was quite the dance.

All the platforming, while I get what they were going for with mobility, I was less keen on but it was all still great.

the ghost things in TAG 1

The Spirit. Technically, there were 2 ways to kill it, 1) The Microwave Beam, and 2) Kill every other demon in the arena so it had nothing to possess. It then dies.

Dude, remember the Spirit possessed Marauders... Ugh.

 

[Juxtapose]

Okay, I caved and pre-ordered it on Xbox. It's a Play Anywhere title, so I get the PC - Microsoft Store version at no extra cost.

Overall, the Premium Edition cost me $3.76 CA with tax, thanks to Microsoft Reward Points and a previous credit from Xbox.

 

[Jynks]

DA is out... game seems fun so far. I'm having a little trouble with the dash thing... it seems that when I do it as I rush into the middle of the area I get surrounded and hammered from all sides!

 

[Jynks]

My thoughts on DA.

So far, I am only past the first section, the game is extremely good.

Those Eternal fans will be happy to know that bouncing about is still a thing, which kinda sucks imo. The game is actually extremely fast. Jumping, shield dashing into a bazillion things, ricocheting green attacks and punch walking for health. There is a lot going on and it feels frantic at times. I actually think it is more like Eternal than Doom or 2016. There is an option to turn on "always sprint" which is the equivilant of "always run" in classic doom, make sure you turn that on. Once you get into the rhythm of it, the game plays much like Eternal, as in super fast, bouncing all over the place. This "stand and fight" thing, is just a marketing phrase.

I have been playing on default nighmare and so far, it is only level 1, the game has been very easy. I think I will drop to ultra-violence though to make it more chill. The health drops from the punch-walks is extreme. As long as you of not get hit twice in a row, you're good. In Eternal the chainsaw thing or w/e it was, shoulder gun, I forget, to get back health was a more deliberate act. Now health gain is more just part of playing naturally, kind of like a health regen in a round-about way. This is a lot of fun, as the action is not broken up. I heard someone say DA you feel like a bererker, and I get where he was coming from. The more you attack, the more health and ammo you have as a direct result.

The sets and environment is amazing. I play on a ps5 (not the enhanced ps5) and it looks great, and the frame rate is neat. Even though the ps5 can just plug in usb mice and keyboards, I am still using the controller, as that is how I like to play. still, looking at the steam forums I can see pc players already starting their bazillion tech support threads... consoles rules. Put in the disc, press play and your done. Plus they cost like a 3rd of the price as a gpu for pc : )

I've not been to sold on the sound yet. The music is great, but the actual sound effects feel muted and sorta more in the background. Maybe tweaking the sound mix setting will help. It astounds me that in 30+ years of gaming Doom2 still has the single best shotgun and Super-Shot gun sounds around. How did they nail it so perfectly.

The secrets in the opening level are not secrets, the map is so well done that finding them is just a matter of opening your automap. I have not yet found anything quirky like classic doom levels and stuff like that. The map has these cool "no return" markers so you can tell if you are leaving an area, giving you a chance to explore with minimal low tier respawns. So secret searching is not really a thing. At least not so far.

All in all DA is off to a great start, I mean it is no Doom2, but it is defiantly holding it weight.

 

[Juxtapose]

Okay, I caved and pre-ordered it on Xbox. It's a Play Anywhere title, so I get the PC - Microsoft Store version at no extra cost.

Overall, the Premium Edition cost me $3.76 CA with tax, thanks to Microsoft Reward Points and a previous credit from Xbox.

Interestingly, it also gave me the PC - Battle.net version as well, so I bought it once and got 3 versions of the game!

Hoping to have time to start it up tonight.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

I think it’s good so far! Definitely easier than eternal, but maybe that game’s insane pace just fried my dopamine receptors so everything feels slow by comparison.

It’ll probably take me a month or two to beat because of my schedule so I’m doing it on ultra violence. Will save the nightmare playthrough for the next time I have like 2 days to no life it.

 

[Juxtapose]

I've only had time to play the first level, playing on Hurt Me Plenty, and I'm enjoying it so far. The overall movement and feel seems kind of a cross between the last 2 games. It is "slower" paced then DOOM Eternal but doesn't feel bad or lesser for it at all. Hoping to play a bit more tonight and then this long weekend I should have lots of free time for it.

@Dankster Morgan What platform are you playing on?

 

[Dankster Morgan]

I've only had time to play the first level, playing on Hurt Me Plenty, and I'm enjoying it so far. The overall movement and feel seems kind of a cross between the last 2 games. It is "slower" paced then DOOM Eternal but doesn't feel bad or lesser for it at all. Hoping to play a bit more tonight and then this long weekend I should have lots of free time for it.

@Dankster Morgan What platform are you playing on?

Xbox series x, no point building a PC till my son is old enough to play with me haha. It’s my preferred platform all things being equal. I only choose ps5 when it’s like RE4 remake and there’s a dead zone on the Xbox controller. Glad you’re liking it bro

 

[Juxtapose]

Xbox series x, no point building a PC till my son is old enough to play with me haha. It’s my preferred platform all things being equal. I only choose ps5 when it’s like RE4 remake and there’s a dead zone on the Xbox controller. Glad you’re liking it bro

Cool, so same version. Keep in mind, assuming you bought it and aren't playing via Game Pass, that we also own it on PC - Microsoft Store and PC - Battle.net. 3 versions of the game for the cost of 1. We'll, 4 since we also have the Xbox Series S version.

Finished level 3 last night, and yeah, I'm really enjoying it!

 

[Jynks]

lol.... that didn't take long

Pretty sure this run will seem like a age in a few weeks.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

The new doom slayer face model looks so much better than the creepy baby face proportions in eternal. Even though it’s just Guts basically lol

 

[Juxtapose]

Digital Foundry has provided more coverage.

They did a breakdown and review of id Tech 8 here:

I like the comparison showing how raytracing illuminates and shadows areas.

The PC version is also extremely well optimized. They primarily looked at it using a lowly RTX 4060 8GB, at 1440p (reconstructed) at 60 FPS, and it performed great:

Lastly, I know a lot of people have been less keen on the soundtrack, but I actually find it's really good. Digital Foundry suggests turning up the music volume in-game for a better experience.

The soundtrack is now up on YouTube, courtesy of Bethesda themselves, for everyone to check out:

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Digital Foundry has provided more coverage.

They did a breakdown and review of id Tech 8 here:

I like the comparison showing how raytracing illuminates and shadows areas.

The PC version is also extremely well optimized. They primarily looked at it using a lowly RTX 4060 8GB, at 1440p (reconstructed) at 60 FPS, and it performed great:

Lastly, I know a lot of people have been less keen on the soundtrack, but I actually find it's really good. Digital Foundry suggests turning up the music volume in-game for a better experience.

The soundtrack is now up on YouTube, courtesy of Bethesda themselves, for everyone to check out:

I’m impressed with the game but I wish this game had the option like doom eternal to do higher frame rates on console and disable ray tracing. Cause I don’t really give a shit about graphics past a certain point. Having a locked 120 fps on console was sick. I understand doom eternal was made to run at 60 fps on hardware form 2013 so obviously TDA is more demanding on the new systems. Surprised there isn’t an option for unlocked frame rate, like God of War Ragnarok gets like 80-90FPS on base PS5 and it makes a difference. Locked 60 is still sufficient though don’t get me wrong.

 

[Juxtapose]

I’m impressed with the game but I wish this game had the option like doom eternal to do higher frame rates on console and disable ray tracing. Cause I don’t really give a shit about graphics past a certain point. Having a locked 120 fps on console was sick. I understand doom eternal was made to run at 60 fps on hardware form 2013 so obviously TDA is more demanding on the new systems. Surprised there isn’t an option for unlocked frame rate, like God of War Ragnarok gets like 80-90FPS on base PS5 and it makes a difference. Locked 60 is still sufficient though don’t get me wrong.

If you watch Digital Foundry's review of id Tech 8, you'll see one of the big benefits to ray tracing from a development standpoint is that while building an area of the game, the lighting can be done in real time; it doesn't need to render out for the artists and designers to see how it'll look. This saves massive amounts of time during development.

Thus, since all the consoles are now ray tracing capable and with RTX cards being the common PC graphics cards according to Steam surveys, we're seeing mandatory ray tracing more and more, and that won't change.

Certainly on console, I personally think the cost of ray tracing (lower resolution and frame rates needed) typically outweighs the benefit, but it is what it is.

For frame rate and DOOM: The Dark Ages, on console, only the Xbox Series X has a solid 60 FPS. All 3 other consoles can not hold the frame rate, with the PlayStation 5 having the worst performance. This happens in hectic battles apparently, the so the game is solid and quite playable on all consoles, but it explains the lack of an unlocked frame rate.

 

[Trustful_Whale]

I’m impressed with the game but I wish this game had the option like doom eternal to do higher frame rates on console and disable ray tracing.

Raytracing is baked into the game, including hit detection, so it can't be toggled off period.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Ok that’s pretty cool

 

[Trustful_Whale]

Considering how well the game runs it's pretty impressive.
id wizards at it again.

HDR and the soundtrack are bugged, sadly, so hopefully that gets a fix soon.

 

[Lt. Boxy Angelman]

Five levels in...this game is amazing.

Being a giant robot is fun as hell.
The dragon operates more like a really fast helicopter than a dragon, but is also fun as hell once you get used to the Parry mechanics.

I'm pretty sure I already made this joke, but this incarnation of Doom is better at being Destiny 2 that D2 has been since before Witch Queen.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

I’m so used to Sekiro I keep wincing in advance thinking I fucked up a parry, but the window is very generous by default.

 

[Trustful_Whale]

You might as well turn the parry window down to 1; it's still pretty generous.
It's possible to miss parry and still get successful parry in time. Can pretty much double tap it or mash it a little even and there seems to be a cancel mechanic when sandwiching other actions between parries.

 

[Juxtapose]

Considering how well the game runs it's pretty impressive.
id wizards at it again.

Yeah. In all honesty, I'm impressed with how it runs even on the Xbox Series S. Dynamic 900p with ray traced global illumination targeting 60 FPS, and holding that frame rate better then both PlayStation 5 consoles.

HDR and the soundtrack are bugged, sadly, so hopefully that gets a fix soon.

For HDR, is that on console or PC?

What's the soundtrack bug?

 

[Dankster Morgan]

You might as well turn the parry window down to 1; it's still pretty generous.
It's possible to miss parry and still get successful parry in time. Can pretty much double tap it or mash it a little even and there seems to be a cancel mechanic when sandwiching other actions between parries.

I suppose it’s better this way. It’s there to give you something to do and an extra thing to pay attention to when dealing with enemy projectiles, rather than truly being a test of reflexes and patter recognition like Sekiro.

 

[Trustful_Whale]

Yeah. In all honesty, I'm impressed with how it runs even on the Xbox Series S. Dynamic 900p with ray traced global illumination targeting 60 FPS, and holding that frame rate better then both PlayStation 5 consoles.



For HDR, is that on console or PC?

What's the soundtrack bug?

Some mixing isn't working correctly and HDR is broken on PS5 and PC last I checked. Supposedly a patch is getting rushed out or something, idk.
In the meantime a workaround is to enable colorblindness settings with intensities set to 0, then play with the contrast from there.

I suppose it’s better this way. It’s there to give you something to do and an extra thing to pay attention to when dealing with enemy projectiles, rather than truly being a test of reflexes and patter recognition like Sekiro.

For this crowd the parry should be a cake walk. I'd say there's plenty of patterns to recognize as you wiggle through the bullet hell to send the green ones back. Big rewards for players keeping track of what's off screen since you don't have to be facing what you parry.
As long as you're attacking between parries you'll always be able to cancel into block so you can basically steal your turn back constantly by squeezing another shot in.

Then there's a bunch of sick stuff that can trigger during a parry. I'm on chapter 12.

 

[Jynks]

I have been playing with the custom settings a bit and found an awesome way to play..... basically turn down the projectile speed as slow as possible, but make the player damage super high.... what this dose is really make the "bullet hell" thing front and centre. I think the monster fire rates are not effected, so often you have waves of bullets slowly coming at you... dodging and reflecting.. it is super fun.