The last thing I anticipated Doom: The Dark Ages evoking was Halo 3. Yet halfway through my hands-on demo with id Software's gothic prequel, I found myself mounted atop a cyborg dragon, unloading machinegun fire into the hull of a demonic warship. After neutralizing its defenses, I landed my winged beast and stormed through its corridors, reducing its crew to crimson pulp before obliterating the entire vessel – only to leap back onto my dragon to continue my hellish crusade.

Scarab Assault Reimagined

Fans of Bungie's iconic Xbox 360 shooter will instantly recognize parallels to Master Chief's assaults on Covenant scarabs. While my steed traded Hornet rotors for holographic wings and my target swapped energy beams for occult artillery, the core experience remained: aerial bombardment transitioning into devastating boarding actions. Surprisingly, this wasn't the demo's only Halo-inspired moment.

Across two and a half hours, I experienced four distinct missions in Doom: The Dark Ages. Only the opener mirrored the precision-tuned combat arenas of recent Doom titles. The subsequent levels had me piloting a skyscraper-sized mech against demonic kaiju, conducting aerial strafing runs on my cyber-dragon, and exploring open battlefields peppered with secrets and mini-bosses.

Cinematic Shooter Renaissance

This represents a radical departure from Doom's traditional purity, instead channeling the setpiece-driven design of late-2000s shooters. The campaign opens with an elaborate cinematic reintroducing Argent D'Nur's lore – presented with AAA spectacle rather than through environmental storytelling. NPC allies populate battlefields like Halo's Marines, reinforcing your role as demonkind's apocalyptic spearhead.

The mechanical whiplash proves jarring during vehicle segments. The Atlan mech transforms combat into lumbering Pacific Rim-esque brawls, while dragon sequences adopt third-person perspectives reminiscent of Call of Duty's novelty missions. Both pale mechanically compared to Doom's peerless first-person combat – like switching between Van Halen solos and beginner guitar tabs.

Open Warfare Experimentation

"Siege" presents a more compelling evolution, expanding Doom's combat into Call of Duty-style multi-objective battlefields. Destroying Gore Portals across shifting terrain forces weapon reevaluation – shotguns for close-quarters, shield parries deflecting artillery shells, charge attacks bridging enormous distances. These expansive engagements evoke Halo's most ambitious sandboxes.

The Call of Doom Paradox

Ironically, The Dark Ages resurrects concepts discarded during Doom 4's cancellation – cinematic storytelling, vehicular setpieces, military aesthetics – but framed through id's perfected combat formula. Whether these elements enhance or dilute Doom's essence remains unclear, but their execution already surpasses early "Call of Doom" fears.

The Slayer's signature combat remains immaculate – shield parries and weapon juggling achieve new heights. While I question if vehicle segments justify their mechanical simplicity, I'm intrigued by id's ambitious synthesis of modern FPS traditions with their genre-defining carnage.