The 10 HARDEST Levels Sections in DOOM: The Dark Ages

The 10 Hardest Levels in DOOM: The Dark Ages

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, were taking a look at the 10 most difficult levels featured in DOOM: The Dark Ages! It may be the easiest DOOM ever made, but it still has its challenges.

Barrier Core

Now, in general, the mech levels arent all that hard after this point in the game. However, when youre being introduced to the mechs mechanics in Barrier Core, there might be a slight learning curve for some folks. Everything here feels drastically different compared to what you just experienced in the Village of Khalim and Hebeth. Theres a different timing for parrying, a different feel for the melee combat, and a much slower movement, the slowest DOOM has ever been. The level itself is super easy. The adjustment, though, may take some longer to digest.

Siege - Part 1

You will come across a handful of levels that take place in wide open areas, and Siege - Part 1 is the very first. It is also perhaps the most painful to endure not because of enemies, but moreso the level itself. The battlefield here is massive in size, and the pathways feel a bit all over the place. It can be easy to get lost in one area or get completely turned around while heading to another objective. Overall, Siege - Part 1 is going to test your patience when navigating the land and looking for secrets. Honestly, we wouldnt be surprised if this is the level that filters people out because of how weak and annoying it can get.

Ancestral Forge

Full admittance, the Ancestral Forge is probably one of the coolest levels in DOOM: The Dark Ages in terms of concept and visuals. Gameplay-wise, some Slayers may find themselves overwhelmed and perhaps a bit claustrophobic. There are a lot of tight areas that are not going to leave you with a ton of room to avoid fire. This may become even more cumbersome when searching for secret areas as some will ambush you with tanky enemies before you resume your main objective. That said, youll have to rely on parrying a lot here.

The Forsaken Plains

The Forsaken Plains has a lot of awesome ideas behind it for level design between Hells fleshy tanks, use of launchers, and blasting out of turret towers. Unfortunately, not everyone may warm up to this chapter. Much like Siege - Part 1, The Forsaken Plains have a few rooms that make it very easy to get yourself turned around and disoriented. Did I come from that way or that way? Waitwasnt I just here? Once again, youll have to constantly - CONSTANTLY refer to your map just to get to the next main objective.

Spire of Nerathul

For the first level of the Cosmic Realm portion of the game, the Spire of Nerathul might prove tricky for some players. However, were not saying that because of the new iteration of Cacodemon or even the introduction of the Komodo. The Spire of Nerathul is tough because of where its secrets are hidden and how you even get to them. Much like Siege - Part 1, youre going to have to spam your map to look for any little corners that might be hiding something. And even then, not all of the secrets will be revealed at the start. By the time you do figure things out, youre more than likely to be irritated than relieved when reaching that full completion percentage.

City of Ryuul

Now, this is where a level is tough for the reasons it should be! The City of Ryuul is one level that is going to mess with your head in the best of ways while throwing in a brand new enemy to ramp up the difficulty a bit. First off, youll come across a couple of rooms thatll force you to slow down, analyze your environment, and solve a puzzle. These puzzles will involve hidden switches and sometimes traversing watery tunnels thatll wind up in some other part of the area. Then, you have a new enemy to fight, the Acolyte, which can spawn fake copies of itself to overwhelm you and shield itself. This is where enemy priority comes into play; deal with the fake first, then focus everything on the Acolyte to get them out as soon as you can. Good luck!

Belly of the Beast

Belly of the Beast shares a similar level of challenge as Ancestral Forge in how parts of the level are structured. Once again, you have a nonlinear level that contains quite a number of narrow corridors and tight spaces, especially in secret areas. But the one gimmick that makes it even tougher is the presence of acidic puddles. DOOM is no stranger to this gimmick as older DOOM games featured this hazard. The Dark Ages, on the other hand, is a bit more particular with where acid puddles are placed. In other words, this is a level where you very much have to mind your step.

Resurrection

Not to beat a dead horse with messy level design, but Resurrection is yet another example of how haphazard DOOM: The Dark Ages can get. In the beginning, things are fairly linear in their design. There are some parts that are more open, but once things start looping back around and you start realizing how many secrets youre missing, thats where Resurrection becomes a bit of a headache. On your first go, youll likely have to do so much backtracking that you may find yourself struggling to get back on the main path by the time you find what youre needing. Once again, youre just going to have to check your map like a mad man.

Final Battle

While the mech segments are arguably the easiest theyve ever been during the first half of this level, Final Battle is only tough because this is your first fight against Ahzrak. Its a boss you have never faced before, and he comes in two distinct phases. Thankfully, the first phase isnt all that egregious as some of his attacks are similar to the Agaddon Hunter and the Komodo. The second phase gets a little more aggressive and heavy with projectiles, but if you can identify the parry windows and keep laying into Ahzrak with a broken weapon like the Ravager or the Impaler, you should come out just fine.

Reckoning

Under any other circumstance, the final level of a game would make a list like this mostly because of the final boss. Alas, that is not the reason why Reckoning makes the list (Ahzrak and the Witch are comically easy to defeat). The main reason why Reckoning is difficult is because of the combat scenarios youll have to endure. There are a handful of small areas that get packed with beefy enemies. As for the wider rooms, you can expect almost every tanky enemy to make an appearance here from the Valgary to the Agaddon Hunter to the Cosmic Barons. Hope youve saved some bolts for your BFC!

Was there a level you had trouble with in DOOM: The Dark Ages? Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!