Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 384 sampled Steam reviews (339 positive / 45 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing19% mention it
- Combat16% mention it
- Music & audio13% mention it
- Performance9% mention it
- Difficulty & balance9% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Combat33% mention it
- Story & writing13% mention it
- Music & audio13% mention it
- Performance11% mention it
- World & exploration11% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
57%
51 reviews
5-15h
85%
84 reviews
15-40h
95%
175 reviews
40-100h
100%
60 reviews
100h+
86%
14 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 86 | 186 |
| Creator reviews (2 tracked) | – | 93 | 4 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 88% | 82 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 83 | 405 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 90% | 84 | 1606 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Jul 29, 2026) · 300 reviews sampled · 1606 total reviews in window · weighted 228.1 up / 15.5 down · computed 1h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (241)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 80
“Doom: The Dark Ages is a great game, a fantastic demon slaughter festival, but not exactly the best Doom. There's too much plot, dialogue, side characters, cut-scenes, too much trying to make this campaign feel like Halo and Call of Duty. On the other hand, such an approach may appeal more to people who are unfamiliar with the beginnings of the series, not emotionally attached to the franchise since the 90s.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“DOOM: The Dark Ages is, for the moment, the best first-person shooter of this year, and I'm afraid that few titles will be able to threaten it in winning the well-deserved awards. It's a phenomenal game that I recommend to any fan of dynamic FPS games. While I love Eternal and it will remain in first place in my heart for a very long time to come, I can't escape the fact that its new, youngest brother is treading on its toes.”
read full review ↗ - 95
“DOOM: THE DARK AGES is an epic experience that combines a deep story and an addictive combat style in an excellent visual and audio mold. With its diverse stages, rewarding exploration, multiple weapons, and the new combat shield, Doom positions itself as one of the strongest shooter game experiences in this generation.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“DOOM: The Dark Ages wasn't what many fans expected. This is a step away from being a bit specific, but very powerful, offering a hurricane of meaty gameplay with an emphasis on spectacular melee combat.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Doom: The Dark Ages is an exceptional shooter with near-perfect combat, outstanding visuals, and top-notch level design. While sections featuring the Atlan Mech and Serrat feel basic and the variety of secrets has decreased, these are minor issues. The main downside is its short length and lack of extra content beyond the campaign. Still, it’s a must-play experience that leaves you eager for whatever comes next in the series.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Doom: The Dark Ages is a ferocious ride that could easily be titled as the king of the genre.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“DOOM: The Dark Ages arrives with the obligation to keep a very important franchise afloat with a release that is very different from its two predecessors but delivers on its promises. It brings its own proposal and executes it masterfully, but at the same time it feels strange. It's not that it needs more time in the oven, but it lacks seasoning; a spicy touch. It feels restrained, afraid to give everything it has to offer. It's DOOM, but at half-mast.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“As it stands, what might have been a return to form is instead merely a competent shooter with occasional highs and frustrating lows.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“DOOM: The Dark Ages doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, and it doesn’t need to. The game delivers the classic, brutal DOOM that fans know and love, now with modern, creative, and well-executed mechanics, giving you the perfect tools to decimate hellish hordes with style.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“DOOM: The Dark Ages isn’t a step backward. It’s a stomp with an iron-shod boot right on the neck, and even though it slips up a bit now and then, it remains the brutal, blood-soaked slaughter that fans crave. The Slayer may have slowed his pace, but he’s put on some weight. The new approach to the combat system offers a refreshing change of pace, while the visuals and level design show that id Software still knows how to create a hellish playground where players can let loose until the very last bullet.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“But what stands out most, especially in times where games built on grind start feeling like a chore, is how fun and fluid the Doom: The Dark Ages is. Wasn't that that the whole point?”
read full review ↗ - 80
“DOOM: The Dark Ages is a surprisingly safe sequel, but an unsurprisingly excellent game.”
read full review ↗
Gamepressure
ZdobywcyGier.eu
Eternal Games
GameMAG
INDIANTVCZ
3DNews
La Orden del Pixel
Slant Magazine
GameFM
Gaming Professors
Gadgets 360
Jump Dash Roll…and 229 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Update 4 Hotfix 2Jul 29, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Update 4 Hotfix 1Jul 14, 2026
- Revelations Update 4 Release NotesJul 7, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Update 3Nov 18, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Update 2.2Oct 15, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Update 2.1 Hotfix 1Sep 4, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Update 2.1Aug 18, 2025
- Update 2Aug 7, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- June 2025 PC Update HotfixJun 23, 2025
- June 2025 PC Update | Path Tracing (select NVIDIA GPUs) + Benchmark ModeJun 18, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Update 1 Hotfix Release NotesJun 12, 2025
- Update 1 Release NotesJun 5, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Small Game Patch - 5/14May 14, 2025
- Small Game Patch - 5/13May 14, 2025