A gaming expansion is rarely the event of the year. But Doom: The Dark Ages — Revelations has landed to silence its critics and, by near-universal reviewer consensus, leave the series in the finest shape it has ever seen.
There is an almost unbearable irony to its release. On 7 July 2026, just as Revelations went live, news broke that id Software had been gutted by Microsoft layoffs — over 130 staff let go, with reports suggesting the majority had worked directly on this very expansion. That the result is the best modern Doom title yet makes the whole situation all the more painful to sit with.
The Slayer’s Shield Is Gone — Deliberately
When Doom: The Dark Ages launched in 2025, it earned genuine praise alongside a persistent criticism. The Slayer had been slowed down. Air dashes were removed. The entire combat system pivoted around a Captain America-style shield — a tool for deflecting projectiles, bashing enemies and generating momentum. For players reared on the kinetic aerial combat of Doom Eternal, it felt like trading a sports car for a tank.
Revelations acknowledges this directly. Not quietly. In the opening level, a boss literally tears the shield in half. Id Software is not being subtle about what this expansion is doing: this is a correction, and they want you to feel it from the first minutes of play.
Chain Spear, Dashes and a Combat Revolution
In the shield’s place comes the Chain Spear — simultaneously a weapon, a mobility tool and a parry system. Rather than raising a barrier to absorb incoming fire, you clash the spear against enemy attacks. Time it correctly and you bat projectiles back cleanly; miss and you take the full hit. The margin for error is tighter than the old Shield Saw allowed, but the satisfaction of a successful clash far exceeds what the passive block ever offered.
The spear also doubles as a grapple. Throw it at an enemy or an environmental node, and it hauls you through the air along a controllable arc — you can orbit around targets, steer mid-flight, or drive yourself into a devastating ground pound. The mechanics draw obvious comparisons to Doom Eternal’s Super Shotgun hook, and that seems entirely intentional.
Dashes are back too. Full air dashes, the kind that defined Eternal’s rhythm, sit alongside the Chain Spear in the Slayer’s revised toolkit. A “perfect dodge” mechanic charges a meter for enhanced spear attacks when you time your movement correctly. The Slayer feels like himself again — fast, precise and lethal.
“Revelations is about the Slayer reclaiming his apex status in the mortal realm — but it’s also about id reclaiming the best aspects of Doom.” — PC Gamer
A DLC That Corrects, Not Just Expands
Revelations makes several deliberate structural choices that separate it from a standard content drop. The level design moves away from the sweeping open-world areas of the base game towards tighter, more focused arenas — closer in spirit to Doom Eternal’s approach. Secrets are no longer visible on the map, forcing players to actually search for them the old-fashioned way. There are genuine puzzles. A hub world set in Purgatory gives the campaign a light Metroidvania flavour, with newly unlocked abilities opening access to fresh areas.
Post-game content includes redesigned maps drawn from the original 1993 Doom, which provides exactly the kind of reward that keeps completionists occupied long after the credits roll.
The expansion clocks in at six to seven hours on a direct playthrough, though most players will spend closer to twelve once difficulty and secret-hunting are factored in. At £17.99 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S — the base game is required — that represents solid value for a purely action-focused gaming experience.
Should You Play Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations?
If you finished the base game and wanted more speed, more aerial combat and more of what made Doom Eternal click, the answer is an uncomplicated yes. Revelations is the synthesis the series has been building towards: the grounded, weighty feel of Dark Ages fused with the kinetic, vertical intensity of Eternal. Early reviews from Metro (9/10) and Noisy Pixel (9/10) reflect that consensus. PC Gamer’s Morgan Park called it “a masterful comeback” for a series that needed exactly that.
The tragedy is that the team who built it may not get the chance to build another one. Microsoft’s layoffs have left id Software severely diminished, and a follow-up title — or even a new engine — is far from guaranteed. If this turns out to be the last Doom for a long while, the developers have left the series in better shape than they found it. That, under the circumstances, is no small achievement.
