Summary
TheDoomseries has long been regarded as thequintessential first-person shooter video game franchise, staying true to its roots as a boomer shooter.Doom: The Dark Agesis the latest installment in the series, and is enjoying a successful release. One of the standout features ofDoomgames is the wide variety of demons that players get to fight, which changes with every game.
Doom: The Dark Agesis no different in this regard. While the game’s core identity remains consistent with the rebooted games,Doom (2016)andDoom: Eternal, the latest game has undergone a change in art style, from the colorful ultraviolent boomer shooter horror ofDoom: Eternalto a more gothic medieval one. There are a few demons whose designs have remained similar to previous installations, but some have undergone a complete transformation to suit the more Lovecraftian style ofThe Dark Ages. The best demon designs inDoom: The Dark Agesgo a long way into solidifying the game’s identity as a darker, more Gothic horror shooter.
8Imp Stalker
A Noteworthy Homage to the Classic Imp Design from Doom (1993)
The newer generation ofDoomgames have done a great job with their tributes to the original games in the form of well-designed demons that translate well into modern graphics. The Imp Stalker fromDoom: The Dark Agesis a great example. These tall humanoid demons pack a punch in the early stages of the game and are reminiscent of the imps from the firstDoomgame, released in 1993.
While the imps inDoom (2016)andDoom: Eternalare slender, agile creatures that launch projectiles from range and can scale walls, the Imp Stalkers are slower, but a lot more durable. Despite this, they can be difficult to trace, especially those that take on a semi-invisible form that can’t be locked onto with shield surge. While they serve as a nice homage to the original Imps, they also seem to be the predecessor to the Archvile fromDoom: Eternal.
7Pinky Rider
The Pink Beasts Are Now Quadrupedal and Ridden by a Humanoid Demon
The Pinky makes a return inDoom: The Dark Ages, but with a whole new design compared to the one inDoom: Eternal. While the Pinkies inEternalwere bipedal creatures that charged at the slayer like a bull, the ones inThe Dark Agesserve as a mount for a humanoid demon with a bow. While these Pinkies do visually look like a bull or a hyena, their movements are more like big cats in a fight.
Their behavior is also different from the Pinkies in the previous game. Players now have to defeat their rider before defeating the Pinky itself. The Pinky also doesn’tcharge at the Slayerlike it did inDoom: Eternal, instead resorting to bites, which can cause quite a lot of damage.
6Cacodemon
The Hilarious Meatballs Have Turned into Lovecraftian Horrors
The Cacodemon is one of the most iconic demons inDoomlore. It has historically had the appearance ofa floating red meatballwith a single eye and a dangerous bite. ButDoom: The Dark Agesgave it an interesting makeover. Instead of a cartoonish meatball that can easily be killed with an exploding grenade in its mouth, it now looks like a tentacled nightmare straight out of Lovecraftian novels.
It had a similar appearance inDoom 3,but that game was a lot more of an atmospheric horror than the fast-paced action shooters that are the newerDoomgames. Every demon in the gamelooked different from its traditional counterpart.
5Cyclops Titan
The Doomslayer Can Finally Fight Titans in Doom: The Dark Ages
The titans appear inDoom (2016)andDoom: Eternalas background props. The player can see them alive inEternalfighting humans in gigantic mechs. Seeing these made players wish they could fight one in the game, andDoom: The Dark Agesfinally grants them that wish.Players can control Atlan mechsin the game, and during these sequences, the opponents they face are the Titans.
The design for the standard Titan remains unchanged fromDoom: Eternal, but to add variety to the enemy types while players control mechs, they added a few variants. The Cyborg Titan is one of these variants. In addition to the Titan’s standard melee attack, Cyborg Titans also have a ranged one. They’re also more durable and can put up more of a fight than the regular Titans.
4Vagary
The Terrifying Arachno-Humanoid from Doom 3 Makes a Return
Doom 3is one of the least popular games in the franchise, but it still had some unique demons that hadn’t been seen before, and the Vagary was one of them. Continuing the series trend of introducing unique enemies as boss fights, the Vagary makes its first appearance inDoom: The Dark Agesas the Vagary Champion, a meaner, tankier variant of the demon clad in golden armor that is resilient to the Doomslayer’s guns.
The Vagary inThe Dark Agesfeatures a design that offers a noticeable departure from the one inDoom 3,which was a woman’s torso with spider legs from the waist down. This one looks less humanoid, having large arms that are reminiscent of those of a scorpion, like the Scorpion King fromThe Mummyfranchise. The Vagary is one of the more challenging demons to defeat inDoom: The Dark Ages.
3Agaddon Hunter
The Predecessor to the Doom Hunter is More Menacing
The Doom Hunter fromDoom: Eternalwas one of the most durable demons in the game, but had a singular weakness to Plasma.Doom: The Dark Ages,being a prequel, introduces players to the Doom Hunter’s predecessor in the form of the Agaddon Hunter. These demons seem a lot more menacing than slow humanoids mated to a caterpillar track.
Agaddon Hunters make a strong case for being the coolest-looking demon inThe Dark Ages,much like the Marauder was inEternal.They’re large and agile and have a challenging parry window with their glowing green blade. They also get a powerful shield that renders them invulnerable until they can perform their next melee attack. Whether intentional or not, these are a lot more challenging to fight than their successors inDoom: Eternal.
2Revenant
The Crafty Skeletal Demon Gets a Terrifying Makeover
The Revenant is another mainstay of theDoomfranchise, making its first appearance inDoom 2: Hell on Earth(1994). The demon’s design has remained consistent since its first appearance: a tall, lanky humanoid skeleton with a jetpack and two rocket launchers. That was the case untilDoom: The Dark Ages, where it underwent an interesting transformation. The lore-based explanation for these changes in demon design is thatThe Dark Agestakes place in the “cosmic” realm.
The Revenant is called an “Acolyte” inThe Dark Ages,and looks a lot more like its namesake, with a body that is reminiscent of the grim reaper or a shadestraight out of an Eldritch fantasy. It can also go into an ethereal form that makes it temporarily invulnerable to anything other than its own projectiles parried back at it. These projectiles take the form of glowing skulls, unlike the ones in previousDoomgames, which looked more like rockets.
1Tyrant
The Giant Demon Gets Wings in Doom: The Dark Ages
Also known as the Cyberdemon, the Tyrant has been a mainstay in the series since the originalDoom.It was a boss fight as the Cyberdemon inDoom (2016), and returned as a super-heavy inDoom: Eternal, where it’s referred to as a Tyrant again. It takes on by far its most menacing form inDoom: The Dark Ages, though, gaining agility and ranged attacks with heavy melee blows compared to its slow, large, vulnerable hitbox inEternal.
The Tyrant inDoom: The Dark Agesis not as large as the ones in previous entries, and has wings that are reminiscent of those on vampires in popular media. Not only does it look a lot more menacing, it’s also more of a challenge to fight, and requires a different approach rather than just shooting at it until it dies.
WHERE TO PLAY
BECOME THE SLAYER IN A MEDIEVAL WAR AGAINST HELLDOOM: The Dark Ages is the prequel to the critically acclaimed DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal that tells an epic cinematic story worthy of the DOOM Slayer’s legend. In this third installment of the modern DOOM series, players will step into the blood-stained boots of the DOOM Slayer, in this never-before-seen dark and sinister medieval war against Hell.
DOOM: The Dark Ages is a dark fantasy/sci-fi single-player experience that delivers the searing combat and over-the-top visuals of the incomparable DOOM franchise, powered by the latest idTech engine.REIGN IN HELLAs the super weapon of gods and kings, shred enemies with devastating favorites like the Super Shotgun while also wielding a variety of new bone-chewing weapons, including the versatile Shield Saw. Players will stand and fight on the demon-infested battlefields in the vicious, grounded combat the original DOOM is famous for.STAND AND FIGHTExperience an epic story of the DOOM Slayer’s rage in this cinematic and action-packed story. Bound to serve as the super weapon of gods and kings, the DOOM Slayer fends off demon hordes as their leader seeks to destroy the Slayer and become the only one that is feared. Witness the creation of a legend as the Slayer takes on all of Hell and turns the tide of the war.DISCOVER UNKNOWN REALMSIn his quest to crush the legions of Hell, the Slayer must take the fight to never-before-seen realms. Mystery, challenges, and rewards lurk in every shadow of ruined castles, epic battlefields, dark forests, ancient hellscapes, and worlds beyond. Armed with the viciously powerful Shield Saw, cut through a dark world of menace and secrets in id’s largest and most expansive levels to date.
