Doom: The Dark Ages

Eternal was a fighter jet. The Dark Ages is a tank. This prequel plants the Slayer on the ground with a Shield Saw that blocks, parries and ricochets, and the whole combat loop orbits it: deflect the green projectiles, close the distance, and turn demons into scenery.

The arsenal is gloriously medieval-industrial — flails, skull crushers, bone-chewing shotguns — and the scale is bigger than ever, with wide battlefields, a giant mech and a cyber-dragon to ride. When it all clicks, it's pure catharsis.

The mech and dragon sections are thinner than the on-foot combat, and the wider levels sometimes dilute the pace. But as a reinvention, it's bold and it lands.