REVIEW | Doom The Dark Ages: Revelations

Last year, Doom: The Dark Ages delivered a brutal medieval twist on the Slayer’s legacy, and Revelations picks up that momentum with a far more ambitious expansion. You can read my review of Doom: The Dark Ages here. It has been a few months since I last played Doom, so it feels great to be back slaying demons again.

The story of Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations begins with the Slayer betrayed and wounded, thrust into a merciless purgatory where he must confront haunting truths and forge new strength with the help of a mysterious ally. To set his followers on the path to freedom, he must ascend from the prison of his own mind and face an abomination born of the gods themselves.

Revelations opens with a new six level campaign that continues straight after Doom: The Dark Ages, each map larger, denser, and filled with deeper puzzles, new demons, and fresh mysteries that push the world into darker territory. Early on, your shield is taken away and replaced with the Chain Spear, a new weapon that demands precision and mastery and reshapes how every encounter unfolds.

Once the campaign ends, Revelations moves into a full end game mode built around fresh challenges and rising difficulty. Here, you are tasked with earning eight key parts, each tied to demanding trials, before you can face the final boss. It is a structure that makes Revelations feel bigger and more layered than a typical add on, offering not just more Doom but a deeper climb into the Slayer’s harsh new chapter.

Now let’s get into the review.

Things I liked!

• Gameplay | Since I reviewed Doom: The Dark Ages last year, I already knew what kind of fast, aggressive combat to expect. Revelations builds on that foundation but quickly changes things when your shield is replaced with the Chain Spear. It takes time to master, yet by the end of the campaign it feels completely natural. The spear’s precision and mobility let you pull yourself toward enemies or launch into the air to strike from different angles, making it the centrepiece of combat.
  
  Upgrading the spear unlocks new moves, including a favourite that briefly slows time for precision attacks. Each upgrade enhances mobility or damage, encouraging you to experiment and refine how you approach each fight. By the later levels, the spear feels like a fully realised tool rather than a simple replacement for the shield.
  
  Later in the campaign, the shield returns in a new form, adding another layer of strategy to combat. You can quickly switch between the spear and shield at the push of a button, giving fights a dynamic rhythm that rewards adaptability and quick thinking. Both tools also play a role in puzzle solving and traversal, with certain sections requiring you to use the spear’s reach or the shield’s defensive abilities to progress through the world. It’s a clever way to make exploration feel just as engaging as combat.
  
  You also gain a new suit that upgrades ammo, health, and shields, giving a steady sense of progression without reducing the challenge. Combined with larger, more vertical arenas and new enemy types designed around the spear’s movement, Revelations feels sharper and more technical, a confident evolution of Doom’s relentless rhythm.

• Visuals | Revelations is a stunning showcase of what the Xbox Series X can do. The visuals are genuinely some of the best I have seen on the console, and they make every moment feel alive. The frame rate stays rock solid throughout, and I never noticed any slowdown, even when the screen was packed with enemies, explosions, and projectiles flying in every direction. Character models are incredibly detailed, from the intricate armour designs to the grotesque textures of the demons, giving every encounter a real sense of weight and intensity.
  
  The environments are breathtaking, shifting from towering gothic fortresses to fiery battlefields that pulse with motion and atmosphere. Lighting plays a huge role in setting the tone, with flickering torches, glowing runes, and dynamic shadows that move naturally as you explore. It all comes together to create an experience that feels deeply immersive. When you are playing, it is easy to lose track of time because the world pulls you in completely. Every texture, particle effect, and environmental detail adds to that feeling, making exploration just as visually rewarding as combat.
  
  
• Sound | The audio design in Revelations is just as impressive as its visuals and plays a huge part in how immersive the game feels. There are 16 new music tracks created specifically for this expansion, and they fit the tone perfectly. The soundtrack leans into heavy industrial metal with fast percussion, grinding riffs, and deep electronic layers that kick in during the most intense fights. It has that familiar Doom energy, but slower, moodier tracks bring a darker, atmospheric feel during exploration. The music shifts naturally with what is happening on screen, making every encounter feel even more dramatic.
  
  Sound effects are crisp and powerful, from the roar of demons to the impact of the Chain Spear when it connects. The shield has a satisfying weight to it, with a distinct clang that makes each block feel meaningful. The shotgun’s heavy blast and the plasma rifle’s electric hum stand out most, giving combat a sharp, tactile edge. Combined with the environmental audio, like distant echoes in gothic halls or the crackle of fire in battlefields, the entire soundscape pulls you deeper into the world and complements the visuals perfectly.
  
  
• Layered Exploration | One thing I really enjoyed about the levels is how often they encourage you to explore. You’ll frequently come across paths you can’t access yet, and returning later with the right key or upgrade almost always leads to a secret area packed with rare goodies. It gives the levels a fun, layered feel, and I liked how the game rewards curiosity and backtracking with meaningful finds rather than simple filler. 
  
  
• Enhanced Challenge | One thing I really appreciated in Revelations is how the overall difficulty has been ramped up. Encounters feel more intense and strategic, with tougher enemies and more demanding arena layouts that keep you fully engaged. Despite the higher challenge, the excellent accessibility options from the base game return here, making it easy for players of all skill levels to tailor the experience to their comfort. It’s a great balance that makes the action feel more exciting without shutting anyone out.
  
  
• End Game | Once the main campaign wraps up, Revelations opens into a full end game mode that adds a satisfying layer of challenge and progression. You are tasked with earning eight key parts, each tied to a demanding trial that pushes your combat skills and mastery of the Chain Spear even further. I really enjoyed several of these trials, even if a few required multiple attempts before I fully mastered them. Collecting all eight parts feels rewarding, and once you have them, you can face off with the end game boss, giving the expansion a strong and memorable finale. 

Mixed & disliked!

• Story | One of my weak points in the base game review was its story, and unfortunately it is much the same here. The narrative takes a clear back seat to the gameplay, and while the action is fantastic, I often felt the story was only there to push me from one encounter to the next. If the story had a little more weight, it would enhance the experience so much more. It never ruined my enjoyment, but it does feel like a missed opportunity, especially with how strong everything else is. 

• Complex Controls | While I liked the upgrades on the spear, I found some of the button combinations needed to pull off certain moves a little difficult to remember during combat. In the middle of fast fights, it was easy to forget which sequence triggered which attack, especially when switching weapons quickly. It never became frustrating, but it did make some of the spear’s advanced abilities harder to use effectively.
  
  Enemy Difficulty | I also found one of the new enemy types, the Arch‑Vile, really challenging to deal with. He constantly teleports whenever you get too close, making him extremely difficult to hit and finish off. On top of that, he has a lot of health, shields protecting him, and he can spawn additional demons, which quickly turns encounters into chaotic battles. He appears frequently throughout the expansion, and I often felt he was tougher than some of the main bosses, which made his encounters feel more exhausting than exciting.
  
  
• Ammo Shortage | In some of the arena fights, I found ammo surprisingly scarce at times, forcing me to rely on melee attacks more than I’d have liked. While it adds tension and encourages improvisation, it often leaves me feeling overwhelmed when surrounded by tougher enemies. It’s only a minor issue but worth mentioning, as a few extra ammo drops would have helped keep the combat flow smoother. 

• How long did I play the review before publishing? 13 Hours
• How long to beat the DLC? 12 Hours
• How many Achievements did I earn before publishing? 7/10 OR 280/420G
• How long to get 100%? | 15 Hours +
• You’ll love this game if you like these | Metal: Hellsinger & Wolfenstein: The New Order

Score: 87/100

A brutal, ambitious, and consistently thrilling return to demon slaying.

Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations delivers a sharp and satisfying expansion that builds confidently on the base game with deeper combat, stunning presentation, rewarding exploration, and a challenging end game that keeps the action exciting right to the finish. A few elements like the story, complex controls, ammo scarcity, and certain enemy types fall short of the high bar set elsewhere, but they never outweigh how fun, polished, and engaging the experience is overall.