{"id":2033295,"date":"2026-07-08T15:19:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2033295"},"modified":"2026-07-08T15:19:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:19:40","slug":"dooms-new-chain-spear-weapon-seems-to-be-dividing-the-dark-ages-audience-im-like-an-hour-in-and-i-cant-wait-to-get-the-shield-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2033295","title":{"rendered":"Doom&#8217;s new Chain Spear weapon seems to be dividing The Dark Ages&#8217; audience &#8211; &#8220;I&#8217;m like an hour in and I can&#8217;t wait to get the shield back&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/doom-the-dark-ages\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Doom: The Dark Ages<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Doom&#8217;s new Chain Spear weapon seems to be dividing The Dark Ages&#8217; audience &#8211; &#8220;I&#8217;m like an hour in and I can&#8217;t wait to get the shield back&#8221;<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">A pointed issue.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Doom-TDA-Revelations---new-enemy.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Doom: The Dark Ages - Revelations \/ new enemy\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Doom-TDA-Revelations---new-enemy.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Bethesda Softworks<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/fran-j-ruiz-author.png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"fran-j-ruiz-author.png\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/fran-ruiz\">Fran Ruiz<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:19:40+00:00\">July 8, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/doom-the-dark-ages-revelations-spear-reactions?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          5 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"eb723ee8-7b74-4798-a76c-9da4ec5a9021\" data-name=\"Doom: The Dark Ages\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Doom: The Dark Ages\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Doom: The Dark Ages\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Doom: The Dark Ages\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Doom: The Dark Ages\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Doom: The Dark Ages\" title=\"Follow Doom: The Dark Ages\"><br \/>\n  Follow Doom: The Dark Ages<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Only a few weeks after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/doom-the-dark-ages-revelations-dlc-announcement\">Doom: The Dark Ages &#8211; Revelations<\/a> was revealed to the world, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-layoffs-july-2026-id-software\">Xbox has made deep cuts to developer id Software<\/a> that could change the studio and their games forever. But for now, players seem to be enjoying the expansion &#8211; albeit for one divisive new weapon.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing, Revelations sits at a &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3469450\/DOOM_The_Dark_Ages__Revelations\/\">Very Positive&#8217; rating on Steam<\/a>, which is usually a good barometer of reaction, with some players describing it as the child of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/doom-the-dark-ages\">Doom: The Dark Ages<\/a> and Doom Eternal, which is the vibe I got from a hands-off demo I saw a few weeks ago. &#8220;This doesn&#8217;t even feel like a DLC, this feels like a full on sequel,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/profiles\/76561198038931832\/recommended\/3469450\">one player said<\/a>. &#8220;Feels like a tribute to everything Doom while still being innovative,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/id\/DisguisedHippo\/recommended\/3469450\">another player stated<\/a>. During the aforementioned preview, game director Hugo Martin confirmed that it was indeed the goal to honour the series&#8217; history with Revelations&#8217; bonus &#8216;retro levels&#8217; and the overarching design.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations - Official Reveal Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2026\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Bvjwvv0vxL0?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/Bvjwvv0vxL0\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations &#8211; Official Reveal Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations &#8211; Official Reveal Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2026<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Bvjwvv0vxL0\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But a deeper look at what <a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/app\/3017860\/discussions\/\">the Steam forums<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Doom\/\">the Doom subreddit<\/a> are saying reveals that many players aren&#8217;t getting on with the divisive new Chain Spear weapon, which has a surprising number of upgrades and abilities. &#8220;My problem is too many options with a single item. Surrounded by enemies I struggle to choose the correct attack so I just spam everything at complete random,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/app\/3017860\/discussions\/0\/564787571097563786\/\">Steam user Terepin posted<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>But as Martin pointed out at the preview event &#8211; and as other people are pointing out &#8211; getting used to the Chain Spear may take time, not that everyone seems inclined to believe that. &#8220;So far, this DLC feels like it&#8217;s wanting to do too many things,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Doom\/comments\/1uqft6j\/the_spear_may_be_one_of_the_clunkiest_and\/\">one Reddit user said<\/a>. Other players are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Doom\/comments\/1uq2nzg\/im_stuck_with_the_spear\/\">baffled by tutorials<\/a> that don&#8217;t make it clear the new Spear controls are unbound, either. &#8220;It feels like no one play-tested the spear controls,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Doom\/comments\/1uqc398\/it_feels_like_no_one_play_tested_the_spear\/\">another user wrote<\/a>. &#8220;I&#8217;m like an hour in and I can&#8217;t wait to get the shield back. I hate playing with this thing so much.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Doom: The Dark Ages - Revelations \/ retro flashback level\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Doom-TDA-Revelations-retro-level.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Doom: The Dark Ages - Revelations \/ retro flashback level\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"Doom-TDA-Revelations-retro-level.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Bethesda Softworks<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Though we haven&#8217;t played The Dark Ages &#8211; Revelations ourselves, at least not yet, we can tell you it continues the events of the base game &#8211; which occurs before the events of Doom 2016 &#8211; and follows a Metroidvania structure with an emphasis on endgame content. The new Chain Spear as well as other upgrades allow the Doom Slayer to better cover distances, in contrast with the base game&#8217;s tankier approach to battles.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/doom-the-dark-ages-review\">Eurogamer&#8217;s four-star review of Doom: The Dark Ages<\/a> called it &#8220;a more grounded Doom, but one that&#8217;s as brisk and playful as ever&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Only a few weeks after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/doom-the-dark-ages-revelations-dlc-announcement\">Doom: The Dark Ages &#8211; Revelations<\/a> was revealed to the world, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-layoffs-july-2026-id-software\">Xbox has made deep cuts to developer id Software<\/a> that could change the studio and their games forever. But for now, players seem to be enjoying the expansion &#8211; albeit for one divisive new weapon.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing, Revelations sits at a &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3469450\/DOOM_The_Dark_Ages__Revelations\/\">Very Positive&#8217; rating on Steam<\/a>, which is usually a good barometer of reaction, with some players describing it as the child of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/doom-the-dark-ages\">Doom: The Dark Ages<\/a> and Doom Eternal, which is the vibe I got from a hands-off demo I saw a few weeks ago. &#8220;This doesn&#8217;t even feel like a DLC, this feels like a full on sequel,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/profiles\/76561198038931832\/recommended\/3469450\">one player said<\/a>. &#8220;Feels like a tribute to everything Doom while still being innovative,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/id\/DisguisedHippo\/recommended\/3469450\">another player stated<\/a>. During the aforementioned preview, game director Hugo Martin confirmed that it was indeed the goal to honour the series&#8217; history with Revelations&#8217; bonus &#8216;retro levels&#8217; and the overarching design.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations - Official Reveal Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2026\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Bvjwvv0vxL0?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/Bvjwvv0vxL0\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations &#8211; Official Reveal Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations &#8211; Official Reveal Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2026<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Bvjwvv0vxL0\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But a deeper look at what <a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/app\/3017860\/discussions\/\">the Steam forums<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Doom\/\">the Doom subreddit<\/a> are saying reveals that many players aren&#8217;t getting on with the divisive new Chain Spear weapon, which has a surprising number of upgrades and abilities. &#8220;My problem is too many options with a single item. Surrounded by enemies I struggle to choose the correct attack so I just spam everything at complete random,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/app\/3017860\/discussions\/0\/564787571097563786\/\">Steam user Terepin posted<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>But as Martin pointed out at the preview event &#8211; and as other people are pointing out &#8211; getting used to the Chain Spear may take time, not that everyone seems inclined to believe that. &#8220;So far, this DLC feels like it&#8217;s wanting to do too many things,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Doom\/comments\/1uqft6j\/the_spear_may_be_one_of_the_clunkiest_and\/\">one Reddit user said<\/a>. Other players are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Doom\/comments\/1uq2nzg\/im_stuck_with_the_spear\/\">baffled by tutorials<\/a> that don&#8217;t make it clear the new Spear controls are unbound, either. &#8220;It feels like no one play-tested the spear controls,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Doom\/comments\/1uqc398\/it_feels_like_no_one_play_tested_the_spear\/\">another user wrote<\/a>. &#8220;I&#8217;m like an hour in and I can&#8217;t wait to get the shield back. I hate playing with this thing so much.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Doom: The Dark Ages - Revelations \/ retro flashback level\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Doom-TDA-Revelations-retro-level.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Doom: The Dark Ages - Revelations \/ retro flashback level\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"Doom-TDA-Revelations-retro-level.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Bethesda Softworks<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Though we haven&#8217;t played The Dark Ages &#8211; Revelations ourselves, at least not yet, we can tell you it continues the events of the base game &#8211; which occurs before the events of Doom 2016 &#8211; and follows a Metroidvania structure with an emphasis on endgame content. The new Chain Spear as well as other upgrades allow the Doom Slayer to better cover distances, in contrast with the base game&#8217;s tankier approach to battles.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/doom-the-dark-ages-review\">Eurogamer&#8217;s four-star review of Doom: The Dark Ages<\/a> called it &#8220;a more grounded Doom, but one that&#8217;s as brisk and playful as ever&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Doom: The Dark Ages Doom&#8217;s new Chain Spear weapon seems to be dividing The Dark Ages&#8217; audience &#8211; &#8220;I&#8217;m like an hour in and I can&#8217;t wait to get the shield back&#8221; A pointed issue. Image credit: Bethesda Softworks News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on July 8, 2026 5 comments Follow Doom: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-2033295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2033295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2033295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2033295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2033295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2033295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2033295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}