Doom The Dark Ages Steam CCU peaked at 31,470

I didn't love Eternal, and it had nothing to do with the gameplay. The vibe was off. What makes Doomguy great is there's little backstory to him. He's just some soldier who was too pissed off to die, and loves killing demons. That's it, and Doom 2016 understood that. The only background lore you get from that game is the Demons writing a Bible about how terrified they are of him. That one day this fucking guy showed up out of nowhere and started relentlessly slaughtering them, and there was nothing they could do no matter what they threw at him. It was awesome.

Doom Eternal brought in heavier story elements, expanded the lore, and gave the "Doom Slayer" an origin I guess, and it never sat right with me.
 
I didn't love Eternal, and it had nothing to do with the gameplay. The vibe was off. What makes Doomguy great is there's little backstory to him. He's just some soldier who was too pissed off to die, and loves killing demons. That's it, and Doom 2016 understood that. The only background lore you get from that game is the Demons writing a Bible about how terrified they are of him. That one day this fucking guy showed up out of nowhere and started relentlessly slaughtering them, and there was nothing they could do no matter what they threw at him. It was awesome.

Doom Eternal brought in heavier story elements, expanded the lore, and gave the "Doom Slayer" an origin I guess, and it never sat right with me.
The lore is a slippery slope with me. I love a lot of the connections to previous games and other things. But it IS weird when things almost feel like it has Saturday morning cartoon vibes. I'm not too keen on demonic antagonists giving me Destro and Mumm Ra vibes. Or demons manning vehicles, lmao.

looks kinda boring
If you didn't care for 2016 and/or Eternal, it's very likely it's not for you.
 
I'd give games a chance at $60 even if I wasn't entirely sold on it. At $70+ I'm just going to find something else. Especially if it's a 20-25 hours one and done kind of game.

The $70 price point has killed my interest in nearly every "AAA" game release.
 
I didn't like 2016 that much and didn't bother with eternal. I had no interest at all in this, but only now that it came out am I hearing about how different it is, which sound interesting. The changes seem like a hard break from the doom roots, but I didn't like 2016 because I didn't like that interpretation of those roots.

RT required can't help. It's still not time to do that. RT has been incredibly slow going. Fun for benchmark gamers, at least.

Anyway the game is fucking expensive and it's out among e33 and oblivion. Tough break, doom!
 
I'd give games a chance at $60 even if I wasn't entirely sold on it. At $70+ I'm just going to find something else. Especially if it's a 20-25 hours one and done kind of game.

The $70 price point has killed my interest in nearly every "AAA" game release.
And I don't blame you, I don't blame anyone. I beat it under 16 hours, and I wasn't rushing it, so I'd recommend anyone wait if they're not big on replaying campaigns, getting all the collectibles, etc.

As it should, it's getting silly. A lot of people have budgets for gaming, and this is just straining that.

If you have a pretty strict budget, or just don't wanna drop a ton of money on games, Game Pass can be pretty appealing as long as it has or is getting what you want. Especially if you're interested in multiple games that are day 1 on it. Oblivion Remaster, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and DOOM TDA being out in such a small window feels like a Game Pass no brainer IMO.
 
I just want old Doom back.

Sci fi station, shoot demons, go to hell, shoot more. 2016 did a good job on the core idea. Eternal was... well it made choices, some hit and some missed for me.

People like this kinda fantasy hybrid shit with their Doom, more power to them. It isn't for me. I had Heretic and Hexen for that.

And at the price point, no way in fucking hell am I getting it. Maybe some day on a deep discount.
 
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From what I have seen seems really awesome, but I will wait for a sale like I always do.
And I liked the Lore introduction in Eternal, it was only the difficulty that put me off.
 
The game is too expensive for a high CCU. Gamepass doesn't matter, other less expensive games don't have this problem.

I personally can't wait to play it, but I'm waiting for a sale because I happen to be playing other stuff. The supply is much larger than the demand, and raising prices is just not going to work out the way they think it will.
 
I hope their next project is a Quake reboot or a new IP. It's pretty clear that Doom peaked with Eternal, and the hype ain't there anymore. Quake reboot is looooooong overdue at this point.
 
Love that Doom Reboot from 2016 but Eternal sadly ruined it a bit for me. It was a great game and probably even more true to the series but it was just way to fast paced for my taste. Having a million enemies spawn and then me running around in circles was exhausting. Dark Ages seems more of the same, hence I passed.
 
$60 feels like the breaking point for a lot of people. Anymore expensive than that then needs to be something they feel like they're going to get a lot of hours in like a rpg or open world game.
 
$60 feels like the breaking point for a lot of people. Anymore expensive than that then needs to be something they feel like they're going to get a lot of hours in like a rpg or open world game.
Makes you wonder if MS already expected extremely low sales and set the price higher to mininize losses.

Kinda like what they seem to be doing with their hardware.
 
It doesn't feel remotely like Doom. I don't care about the shitty story - who the fuck cares? The cutscenes are cringy embarrassing horseshit, and what kind of idiot decided that Doom required parrying and other Souls shit? Doom is a power fantasy that is part Evil Dead and part Iron Maiden album cover. The zoomer garbage that The Dark Ages is packed with is just utterly insufferable.

Adding insult to injury is the ridiculous price, no modding, SP only, 10 hours, and the fact that like everything else I ever liked, the carcass of Doom has been anally violated by corpos for so long that the name means absolutely fuck all. Doom was video gaming as punk rock, vomited up from the awesomeness of the 1990's shareware scene and the genius of the Johns. This is brand extension slop. Nothing more.
 
Mechs and dragon riding is such a dumbass addition. The combat system is the best part about these games. Why the hell would you introduce new ways of progressing through levels that doesn't allow you to do the best thing about your games, which is the on foot gunplay? Such a normies idea.
 
I didn't love Eternal, and it had nothing to do with the gameplay. The vibe was off. What makes Doomguy great is there's little backstory to him. He's just some soldier who was too pissed off to die, and loves killing demons. That's it, and Doom 2016 understood that. The only background lore you get from that game is the Demons writing a Bible about how terrified they are of him. That one day this fucking guy showed up out of nowhere and started relentlessly slaughtering them, and there was nothing they could do no matter what they threw at him. It was awesome.

Doom Eternal brought in heavier story elements, expanded the lore, and gave the "Doom Slayer" an origin I guess, and it never sat right with me.
Meme Reaction GIF by Robert E Blackmon
 
Which is a shame, it's one of the few games that move the industry forward in the right way: A prime example of how to use RT, amazing visuals, amazing gameplay (my favorite Doom so far), amazing performance, etc.

I know there's people bitching about RT, others even claim that "Doom Eternals runs at 400 whatever fps" but Doom Eternal is a last gen game, this game is clearly some notches above the previous couple games and it shows in everything and it looks so good without having to zoom in or look closely that I find so stupid how some claim it looks "barely better or even worse than 2016", bs, the game is a clear generational leap, something so rare these days.

The problem with this game is that it came right after two bangers and people spent money on those already, one of which is probably gonna be the GOTY, and right before a new console release so others might be just saving money instead. And I've seen many people playing it and talking about it so most probably people are saving money by playing it on Game Pass most probably.
 
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It doesn't feel remotely like Doom. I don't care about the shitty story - who the fuck cares? The cutscenes are cringy embarrassing horseshit, and what kind of idiot decided that Doom required parrying and other Souls shit? Doom is a power fantasy that is part Evil Dead and part Iron Maiden album cover. The zoomer garbage that The Dark Ages is packed with is just utterly insufferable.

Adding insult to injury is the ridiculous price, no modding, SP only, 10 hours, and the fact that like everything else I ever liked, the carcass of Doom has been anally violated by corpos for so long that the name means absolutely fuck all. Doom was video gaming as punk rock, vomited up from the awesomeness of the 1990's shareware scene and the genius of the Johns. This is brand extension slop. Nothing more.
un051xy.gif


Yep, exactly that, all of that.
 
Totally fair — €80 for a standard edition is steep, especially with how quickly games go on sale these days. Unless it's something you really need day one, waiting is usually the smart move.
 
I bought it and am enjoying it a lot. It took a bit for me to accept that it's not as good as Eternal. I also have mixed feelings about the shield, parrying in a DOOM game, and the lack of glory kills.

Beyond that, the art direction is solid, and the game is fun.
 
Tried it on Gamepass and game just didn't click with me

I just finished it, and it is completely unremarkable.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who felt this way. I got through chapter 5 and was beyond bored with it. I figured I'd come back to it later that evening but haven't even bothered turning my Xbox back on. Nothing about it grabs me or makes me want to come back to it.

Contrast that with Expedition 33 where I literally couldn't stop thinking about it. Mowing the damn lawn thinking about pictos and luminas and character builds.

It's barely DOOM to me. I might have enjoyed it more if they had made this a proper sequel/reboot to Heretic/Hexen instead of trying to Frankenstein Hexen and DOOM and Quake together into one package.
 
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i like the game but it has many problems.

It didnt look good:
Im a BIG fan of 2016 and Eternal but dark ages jist always seemed like a slow game in comparison, the trailers always made me think the game wasnt gonna be thag good.

Removing dash was a mistake. Instead we got sprint:
When your game has sprint,n no stamina and there is no reason to ever not sprint, then just get rid of it and make it baseline. Instead you're just gonna have to be spamming shift any time you walked sideways or backwards. I know there is a setting for auto sprint but again, if you just wanna sprint at all times, why is it even optional? Why create a setting to automate something that you wanna be doing all the time? Just make it baseline.

Titans:
Uninteresting as expected. Entire levels where you have three buttons to press.

Difficulty:
Too easy on the highest difficulty. Sure you can adjust everything but i dont wanna do that? If you have pre set difficulty levels, i expect them to be what they're advertised, i dont wanna tweak my own difficulty until it is enjoyable. The parry window and area are insanely big.

Annoying to play:
If you have extra lives, they're optional, so any time you die when you have some, you have to go through three screens to get back in to the game, they probably want you to be able to save them for bosses but i end up using them right away because otherwise it's too annoying to die and go through those screens. Holding to select instead being able to just click the fucking button also doesnt help..

Big open levels:
Just makes the game worse. Makes exploration worse, and the main objectives become the cliché of go disable those 3 points on 3 different corners of the map.

Repetitive:
I'm only halfway through and already the levels im playing sont feel different than 5 levels ago, i dont think i've seen any new enemies added since like level 5 or something, still playing mostly with the same weapons, i got the new mods for the weapons but for the most part they dont feel that different from the base version, they just feel like the make the base version irrelevant. So yeah im using super shotgun instead of the normal one and things like that, but nothing feels really different.

More annyoing:
If you want to 100% the levels you better be checking your map every 5 seconds because unlike previous games where you would know when you reached the end of the level and could teleport to other parts of the level to get what you were missing. In dark ages you dont know when the level is gonna end, you cant teleport, and even before the end, there are plenty of areas that you cant go back to after you passed a certain point.

Price:
we want everyone to be able to play our game except if you're poor. If you're blind and have no arms, we got you covered with acessibility settings. Just dont be poor, especially not in other countries, then we dont care about you.

There is probably more i cant remember right now, i just woke up and wrote this still in bed. It's still a solid fps. If this was made by eome AA dev, i'd praise it as a great game all things considered. But as a doom game by id, after 2016 and eternal, it's pretty disappointing.
 
There's 0% chance I'm ever buying this due to how they treated Mick Gordon, also doesn't help that marty stratton is an asshole. Might seem like a silly reason but oh well. 🤷‍♂️
 
I hope their next project is a Quake reboot or a new IP. It's pretty clear that Doom peaked with Eternal, and the hype ain't there anymore. Quake reboot is looooooong overdue at this point.
If sales and engagement is low with this one then it is more likely then not that Eternal is a big reason for it, DOOM Erernal selling a lot on the back of 2016, but then leaving a sour taste in many's mouth. Some of the garish neon like explosions of colour continued in all the previews of TDA too.

Anyways, mmmh… still curious to play it, maybe not yet though… tempted as I do have GPU still so… mmmh… I kind of would have wanted it on PS5 Pro but maybe with a few patches down the line…
 
Games have to be perfect to be worth €80. I'm not buying it for full price myself. Will just get it from a cheaper supplier of keys.
 
Yes and it would have sold way more if it wasn't on gamepass.

That game is going to win game of the year. As long as ms is looking after them then yes, gamepass is great.

Sure it might not make the same revenue as sales but that's the risk you take.

Its only the same as a company going with a marketing deal with Sony when you think about it.
 
To summarise what I've read so far, this is underperforming for one or more of 3 reasons:
  1. There are more GamePass subscribers on PC than I thought
  2. The industry has found the ceiling for acceptable prices
  3. It just isn't that great
 
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Gamepass is not the issue as we've seen games sell well even on it. The fucking 80+ euro price is the issue lmao. Fucking scummy ass shit.
 
If they'd of made a Doom game..

I'd of bought it 🤷‍♂️

This just isn't Doom to my old arse.

You appear to have made up your mind, but I'm as old as the hills and played a lot of the original Doom in my uni days.

This game plays more like Doom than 2016 or Eternal, and is well worth a shot.

Obviously there are new mechanics added in to keep it fresh and interesting, but they don't detract from the experience.

I am just amazed that all three new games play so different! They've done a good job there.
 
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To me Eternal was a big disappointment.
And now seeing TDA, I'm absolutely convinced that whomever was responsible for the greatness that was 2016, were not properly credited and probably got fired very soon afterwards.

The guys currently in charge of Doom have no fucking clue. The art and engine are amazing, but the game design is a complete mess and totally misunderstands what made Doom great.
 
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So far I'm finding it awesome. I'm 7 chapters in and as long as it keeps it up, I'd put it up there with Eternal and 2016. Although they have obvious similarities, they are vastly different games with their own approach to weapons and utilities.

I just finished the dragon mission and I can't for the life of me figure out why some think it's bad. It was one of the best missions so far and it didn't outstay it's welcome. So far TDA reminds me of older PS2 generation 007 games where you have the on foot, car and other sections that help change things up.

Shame it hasn't hit a higher player count but I imagine a big part of that could be higher requirements. If people just aren't interested, well then that's their loss. I wish that there were more AAA games like this.
 
Yeah, fuck gamepass for saving me tons of money on video games. I want to open my wallet more as a consumer, I simply cannot spend money fast enough! MS is such trash for coming up with this pro consumer idea.
Subscription services are the trojan horse for the saying " You will own nothing, and you will like it."

Frustrated Clint Eastwood GIF


Not everybody wants to rent their games. Theres nothing pro consumer about subscriptions, companies raise their prices all the time. As soon as you stop paying, those games, movies or songs are no longer available. You have less right as a consumer as well. No ownership over what you pay for, nothing to pass down after you're gone. Just perpetually paying for something that only benefits the corporation.
 
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It doesn't feel remotely like Doom. I don't care about the shitty story - who the fuck cares? The cutscenes are cringy embarrassing horseshit, and what kind of idiot decided that Doom required parrying and other Souls shit? Doom is a power fantasy that is part Evil Dead and part Iron Maiden album cover. The zoomer garbage that The Dark Ages is packed with is just utterly insufferable.

Adding insult to injury is the ridiculous price, no modding, SP only, 10 hours, and the fact that like everything else I ever liked, the carcass of Doom has been anally violated by corpos for so long that the name means absolutely fuck all. Doom was video gaming as punk rock, vomited up from the awesomeness of the 1990's shareware scene and the genius of the Johns. This is brand extension slop. Nothing more.
Ah OK so let's just play the same game we played 30+ years ago but get charged £70 for it? No thanks. This is the epitome of 'damned if you do and damned if you don't' when it comes to gameplay changes. You'll never please everyone, but that doesn't make this a bad game.
 
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