In what is surely one of its most divisive points of discourse,Doom: The Dark Ages’ Glory Strikes, essentially watered-down finishing blows on enemies who’re left dazed (a stun state signified by a purple glow), are composed of swifter yet more lackluster animations that pale in comparison to the creative violence portrayed in Glory Kills. The issue, then, is that Glory Kills were removed with almost no trace inDoom: The Dark Ages—thankfully, this is not without a tenable reason.
Substituting Glory Kills for Glory Strikes makes combat faster with shorter animations, but that’s ironically unnecessary in an installment that’s knowingly and purposefully slower without dashes to facilitate and prioritize parries and melee attacks, though the Doom Slayer’s new sprint and shield launch mechanics do a lot to make up for that. Still, expecting players to parry every green projectile and attack they see on screen wouldn’t be possible if they were watching a one- or two-second Glory Kill animation every five seconds, and Glory Kills, as great as they are inDoom(2016) andDoom Eternal, aren’t missed too much when all ofDoom: The Dark Ages’ combatfeatures come together in unison.
Glory Kills are a Core Part of Doom’s Soft Reboots
Doom(2016) andDoom Eternal’s Glory Kills are essentially a means of instantly executing a staggered demon while also taking the opportunity to withdraw health from their corpse and bless players with a moment to catch their breath before they continue leaping and dashing around incessantly. Indeed, each entry inDoom’ssoft reboot trilogy—Doom(2016),Doom Eternal, andDoom: The Dark Ages—is now tremendously polarizing in the sense that they’re all unique, resulting in pockets of the community inevitably preferring one’s gameplay over another and vice versa.
Some players might enjoyDoom Eternalmore thanDoom: The Dark Agesbecause of its cat-and-mouse chases and platforming emphasis, for example, while other players might enjoyDoom(2016), as basic as it is, for now being something of a palate-cleansing neutral ground between its prequel and sequel games. Each is a dish prepared and served in wildly different ways, and what one takes away is often replaced with something that complements that dish far more, even if it’s a tough swallow getting rid of that one star ingredient.
Doom: The Dark Ages Proves Glory Kills are Gratifying, But Not Essential
Doom: The Dark Agesfeatures Glory Strikes, not Glory Kills, distinguished by a lack of gratuitous finisher animations. By default, the Doom Slayer simply kicks the dazed demon or strikes them with the Shield Saw, if not the melee weapon they have equipped. A Glory Strike is different from a dazed execution, however, as it only weakens an enemy and extracts health from them. Either way, while Glory Kills perform basically the same function without a gruesome finisher, it’s highly noticeable how little effort the Slayer commits to eviscerating and demolishing demons this time around.
The closest players can get to achieving what could be considered a Glory Kill is when they land a dazed execution on a demon from above; in such cases, the Doom Slayer invariably bisects or decapitates demons with the Shield Saw, depending on the demon players are executing.
Instead, players are encouraged to indulge in one-on-one engagements after nearby fodder or morale mobs have been dealt with. Parries and melee strikes create a slow-motion effect, too, and extracting health, armor, or ammo is baked into these regular mechanics so that players are never low on any of them, which is easy enough to guarantee when tackling demons formulaically.
Glory Kills, as great as they are inDoom(2016) andDoom Eternal, aren’t missed too much when all ofDoom: The Dark Ages’ combat features come together in unison.
Most enemies can be telegraphed into a series of attacks that exploit and daze them quickly, such as a ‘parry, shoot, strike’ string. But others, likeDoom: The Dark Ages’ Mancubus or Arachnotron, are effortlessly stunned with a Shield Saw throw and slain almost instantly with one or two follow-up Super Shotgun blasts, particularly when both weapons are fully upgraded.
Not unlikeDoom Eternal,Doom: The Dark Ages’ weighty gameplayhas a lot going on at any given time, only it is much more manageable with players being incentivized to parry projectiles and strike enemies with melee weapons rather than indulging in a chaotic mix of double-jumps, double-dashes, Chainsaws, Flame Belches, Blood Punches, and Crucibles. Glory Kills might’ve melded well withDoom: The Dark Ages’ combination of ingredients after all, though they would’ve been yet another dogged animation among foundations, and there are already plenty of epic beats achieved in gameplay.
