Doom: The Dark Ages are credited to the Eternal Predator

When director Hugo Martin explained that Doom: The Dark Age spell was direct “stand and fight” earlier this year by Xbox developers, I was immediately seduced. This is a direct objection to the idea of ​​the previous game Doom Eternal, a shooting game built on a super dynamic, permanent mobile firefighting. But one enemy of eternity does ask you to “stand up and fight” – the Raiders. Perhaps the most controversial enemy ever in the Doom game, it is hated by many… Being loved I. When I realized the trick of doom: The battles in the dark ages reacted to bright green lights – the same thing that was key to killing the predators – I knew I was all-round.

Don't worry, the Dark Ages won't force you to fight a cage battle with an enemy as fast and troubled as the eternal predator. Sure, there is an Agaddon Hunter protected by a bulletproof shield and lashed out with deadly combo attacks, but the legacy of eternal infamous battle comes not through one enemy but each one. Reconsidering, recalibrating and refurbishing, the ideas behind the Predator have been applied to the core combat designs of the Dark Ages. result? Every encounter has the wisdom of the raider confrontation without any sense of frustration.

The Raiders are a little unusual. Fighting in Doom Eternal will usually let you run a loop on the battlefield, reduce feeding enemies, and bounce between larger enemies. Eternal is often called a management game, which is not only applicable to your resources; by using speed, space, and shotguns, you have to manage the tribe. When the Raiders appear, everything will come out. This tough nail, power type of axe swing requires all your focus, so why it often fights in one-on-one situations. In strange moments, people fought even bigger battles, the best strategy was to avoid blows, clear the mob's deck, and finally – stand up and fight.

Of course, this does not mean literally standing – after all, this is doom forever. Instead, it is about dominance throughout the space by carefully positioning. Go too far and the Raiders will catch your deadly shotgun explode, which is nearly impossible for Dodge. Fall too far and he will bomb you with projectiles that are easier to dodge, but you won't be beyond his axe swaying range. The thing is, you think He tries to hit you with that axe, because the only time in the entire battle where the Raiders are vulnerable is in the attack animation. His energy shield absorbs every bullet you fire, so you need to put yourself in the best position he will drop the guard and kill. This is your tip when his eyes flash bright green: You have a split window that blows up his brain.

The bright green you are looking for in Doom: Dark Ages is also what you want. In a tribute to the first outing in the series, the demon fired a bullet-like hell projectile magnetic tool. Among those shots, there are special green missiles that can be tortured with the new shield of Doomsday Killer, transferring the ordnance back to its source. This was largely a defensive move during the game's opening hours. But later, once you unlock the shield’s rune system, Parry becomes a valuable offensive tool, amazing demon, with lightning bolts or triggering your shoulder installation, automatically targeted cannon.

Unlike the battle of the Raiders, survival does not depend entirely on the reaction to these green lights. Making the most out of your more direct tools can make you win. However, the shield rune makes you one of your most powerful components of Arsenal – worthy of activations. And, if you weave it into your combat method, you will soon find that the foundation of The Dark Ages parry has something in common with Eternal’s Predator Battle. You need to find the right distance, because the demons don't fire projectiles at close range, and when green orbs appear, you need to manipulate the right position to catch them. Then, like grabbing Marud midway, you need to react quickly to get the parry itself. All of this requires concentration, so your trip through the battlefields of the Dark Ages becomes a collage of a bagged vs-One-One battle and fights against a variety of powerful demons. You stand and fight. Just like you are against the predators.

Perhaps the most cited argument against the predator is how it interrupts the eternal flow of doom. You simply can't fight it with the technology you conquer every other challenge. This conversion is actually why I love Maruader so much: while the rest of the game requires you to do ballet, it insists that you break the dance. Doom Eternal is a game based on breaking the rules of first-person shooter that requires you to think about resources, weapons, and engagement in new ways. The predators violated the rules and thus posed the ultimate challenge. But, as much as I like the challenge, I understand why many people hate it.

Doom: The Dark Age overcomes this problem by ensuring that the different “dances” are part of the Great Disco Hall. Each major enemy type has its own unique green projectile or melee strike, so your approach changes with each enemy you encounter. For example, Mancubus fires interlaced huge energy “fences” that feature green “pillars” at either end, so you have to weave left and right to parry each end. Vagary initiates a deadly orb similar to an abacus, forcing you to sprint towards the line, and you can deflect your ranks as if they were deadly tennis balls that reached the courtroom. Meanwhile, the skeleton grinds replicate the predator's close distance. This is powerless damage until you can deflect one of the green skulls it fires in alternating ways from the shoulder launcher.

Because each demon needs a different step, it will never be shocked when a new enemy with the left field is introduced into a new enemy. Of course, both Agaton Hunter and Komodo have some difficulties due to their intense melee combination attacks, but you are used to the way they move and react when they arrive on the scene. This is not the case with the Predator, because Eternal's rule set is based on the position and reaction strategy needed to use the right gun for the right demon, rather than defeating this unique threat.

The problem with the Predator was never its design. This is because it violates the rules and is not prepared for it. Doom: The Dark Ages train you something similar by making your own reaction-based twitch mechanic a core component of the entire experience rather than a mid-game curveball. Such a shift does mean that the challenge is largely gone – the shield’s Parry window is much larger than the split window required to react to the Raider’s eye flash, even on the greater difficulty. But the basic concept of the Raiders – locking a step with the enemy, waiting for the perfect moment, and catching the light when it shines on the green – is here in every battle. Doom: The Dark Ages may provide very different meanings to these ideas, but they are still completely recognizable. You stand and fight.

Matt Purslow is an advanced feature editor for IGN.