When director Hugo Martin unveiled the mantra for Doom: The Dark Ages as "stand and fight" during Xbox’s Developer Direct earlier this year, I was instantly captivated. This concept starkly contrasts with Doom Eternal, which thrived on hyper-kinetic, constantly moving firefights. However, Doom Eternal had one enemy that echoed this new approach—the Marauder. A polarizing figure in the Doom universe, the Marauder is despised by many yet adored by me. My excitement for The Dark Ages surged when I realized that its combat revolved around reacting to bright green lights, a mechanic central to defeating the Marauder.

Rest assured, The Dark Ages doesn’t confine you to a frustrating showdown akin to the Marauder’s fast and tricky battles in Eternal. Instead, it introduces the Agaddon Hunter, shielded and wielding a deadly combo attack, but the essence of Eternal's challenging encounters permeates every enemy in The Dark Ages. The game reimagines, refines, and reapplies the Marauder's principles across its combat system, ensuring every battle feels strategic and engaging, without the exasperation.

The Marauder stands out as a unique adversary in Doom Eternal. Usually, you'd be weaving through combat arenas, slashing through lesser enemies and juggling larger threats. Eternal is often dubbed a management game, where speed, space, and shotguns are your tools for controlling the chaos. But when a Marauder appears, it shifts the dynamics entirely. This formidable foe, wielding an axe, demands undivided attention, often encountered in one-on-one skirmishes. When it joins larger fights, your best strategy is to dodge its attacks, clear out other enemies, and then face it head-on.

Doom Eternal's Marauder is one of the most controversial enemies in FPS history. | Image credit: id Software / Bethesda

Standing still isn't what "stand and fight" means in Eternal; it's about dominating the battlefield through strategic positioning. Too close, and you risk a lethal shotgun blast; too far, and you'll be pelted with projectiles, albeit easier to dodge. The key is to provoke the Marauder's axe swing because it's only vulnerable during the wind-up. Its energy shield absorbs your shots, so you must position yourself perfectly to exploit that brief moment when its eyes flash bright green—your signal to strike.

Similarly, in Doom: The Dark Ages, you'll be watching for those bright green signals. A nod to the original game, demons launch volleys of projectiles, some marked with green that you can parry back using the Doom Slayer’s new shield. Initially a defensive tactic, this parry becomes an offensive powerhouse later, thanks to the shield’s rune system, enabling you to stun enemies or trigger your auto-targeting shoulder cannon.

Navigating The Dark Ages' battlefields, you'll find yourself in a series of focused, intense one-on-one battles. Unlike the Marauder fights, survival isn’t solely dependent on these green signals, but mastering the parry with the shield runes elevates it to a crucial part of your combat toolkit. The game’s parry mechanics share the same foundational principles as the Marauder encounters—you need the right distance, perfect timing, and quick reflexes to turn the tide of battle. This focus transforms your journey into a series of strategic stand-offs against formidable demons.

The Marauder in Eternal disrupted the game's flow, forcing players to abandon their usual tactics. This break from convention is precisely why I love the Marauder—it demanded a new dance in a game of ballet. Eternal already broke the rules of first-person shooters by reimagining resource management and combat, and the Marauder challenged that further, making it the ultimate test. Yet, I understand the frustration it caused among players.

While the Agaddon Hunter might resemble the Marauder the most in The Dark Ages, every demon carries a bit of Eternal's fearsome foe within them. | Image credit: id Software / Bethesda

Doom: The Dark Ages addresses this by integrating diverse "dances" into its combat tapestry. Each major enemy has its unique green projectile or melee strike, requiring you to adapt your strategy for each encounter. For example, the Mancubus launches energy "fences" with green "pillars" you need to weave through to parry, while the Vagary sends volley of spheres, demanding you sprint to deflect them. The Revenant, reminiscent of the Marauder, remains invulnerable until you parry its green skulls.

With every demon demanding a different approach, the introduction of new foes feels natural rather than disruptive. The Agaddon Hunter and Komodo may present a challenge with their aggressive melee attacks, but by then, you're well-versed in adapting your tactics. This wasn't the case with the Marauder in Eternal, where players were accustomed to choosing the right weapon for the right enemy rather than relying on positioning and reaction-based strategies.

The Marauder's design wasn't flawed; it was its unexpected disruption of Eternal's established rules that caught players off guard. Doom: The Dark Ages prepares you for similar challenges by embedding its reaction-based mechanics throughout the game, not just as a sudden twist. While this makes the challenge less intense—the parry window is more forgiving than the Marauder's split-second vulnerability—the core idea remains: waiting for the right moment, signaled by the green light, to strike decisively. The Dark Ages may offer a different take on these concepts, but they are unmistakably present. You stand, and you fight.