Doom The Dark Ages update fixes one of the worst problems, and makes it tougher

What does it mean to feel like the Doom Slayer? 2016 and Doom Eternal nailed the energy. With that soundtrack ripping and tearing through your senses, you felt deadly, invincible, and full of righteous rage. But that's no good if you're getting killed every five minutes. You want a challenge. You want to feel as if you're fighting through gritted teeth. But id Software's FPS game also needs fierce momentum – it shouldn't be a stop-start uphill crawl. Between Battlefield 6, Borderlands 4, and Killing Floor 3, we have a lot of good shooters coming up. But if for any reason you've struggled to settle into id's latest, the new Doom The Dark Ages update makes it well worth revisiting.

I've written already about how id Software shapes and characterizes the Slayer. In our own Doom The Dark Ages review, Aaron goes into greater detail about the ways the FPS game builds and maintains the player's sense of power. But there's a problem. The weapons, monsters, and general effects all sound great, but it's hard to hear Doom The Dark Ages' soundtrack. Created by Finishing Move, those melting guitars and pounding percussive beats deserve to be heard; Doom's music, right from E1M1, has always been crucial to its mood and pace. The new patch is here to help.

The game's audio mix has been rebalanced so that music and effects are more evenly audible when using the default settings. A small bug which meant the music would sometimes cut off during level transitions has also been nixed, and the extra sound effects produced when holding down 'sprint' have been turned off by default.

So, that helps with the soundtrack. What about the challenge? If anything, from my experience, Doom The Dark Ages leans too far into the Slayer fantasy – I'm no 'ZeroMaster,' but even I blasted through the whole game on Ultra-Violence with barely a single death. You want to feel tough, sure. But you also want to feel like a champion; like you've faced up to Hell's very worst and emerged victorious. The new update addresses that, too.

Seven of Doom The Dark Ages' levels now contain either extra enemies or additional enemy waves. In some cases, these are minor – a couple more Imps on Village of Khalim – but later in the campaign, the reinforcements get stronger. The Battle Knight in Siege is now supported by an Arachnatron, for example, and there are more Lost Souls, Stone Imps, and Hell Knights on the Sentinel Barracks mission.

The Atlan mech sections have also been slightly reworked. Health drops will now linger in the world for a shorter amount of time, meaning you have to be more reactive to collect them. Finishers are now more varied – after using a finisher, players can still use the one previously stored.

"Players were paying too much to use a finisher, which led to holding on for the most powerful attacks and then cashing out," id Software says. "This creates a more dynamic combat experience that rewards building up multiple finishers for extended combos and more strategic decision-making."

Alongside Doom The Dark Ages, you might want to check out some of the other best new PC games, or maybe look ahead at the most promising upcoming PC games on their way soon.

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