Ridiculously enjoyable: Doom – The Dark Ages reviewed

In the beginning, there was Doom. The videogame landscape was formless and void. But id Software created a square-headed space marine and several billion two-dimensional demons for him to kill with a shotgun, a chainsaw and a BFG (Big Fracking Gun); and several billion teenage boys saw that it was good, and they called it the First-Person Shooter, and lo, they gave up leaving their bedrooms altogether.

The original Doom (1993) really was the genesis of a genre: dark, intense, relentless, addictive. The latest iteration of the game – which plunks our space marine and his demon hordes in a medieval world rather than a space station – stays true to its vibe, while using all the processing grunt available in next-gen consoles to tune that vibe up. You’re still chasing a blue keycard to open that door, still strafing frantically to avoid incoming fireballs, still grunting and panting as the screen throbs red at low health, still mowing down uglies in their hecatombs. The big innovation: Doomguy now has a shield. You can shield-charge distant enemies, throw it like Captain America, bounce incoming projectiles back to source – and, yes, if you must, use it to block attacks. But it doesn’t make the game defensive. When you’re on the verge of dying, baddies drop more health boosts, so the way to stay alive is… to attack more aggressively. And melee-strikes reward more ammo, so you’re further incentivised to get up close and personal. There are so many demons. Even on easy mode (‘Hurt Me Plenty’) it’s frenetic; and the gameplay is rich without being overcomplicated. It’s just ridiculously enjoyable. Welcome back, Doomguy.