DOOM: The Dark Ages performance and technology review – gloriously chaotic shooter with buttery-smooth performance ^↺

With the new version of the id Tech engine, system requirements have noticeably increased. While the previous title ran smoothly in Full HD with max settings on a GTX 1060, The Dark Ages now nearly requires an RTX 4070, at least if you're not using AI upscaling.

Anyone aiming for resolutions beyond FHD will need a true high-end GPU for smooth performance. At UHD/4K, even the top-tier laptop GPU, the RTX 5090, can no longer hit 60 fps natively. DLSS is essential here, but even with upscaling, GPUs below the 5090 won't reach that 60 fps mark.

You can squeeze out more frames using frame generation (FG), though the added latency is something to keep in mind. In QHD, that latency is well within acceptable limits. At UHD, though, it's up to each player to test and decide whether the trade-off is worth it.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is now the eighth main entry in the series and the third in the "modern" line of titles. Yet, the game is set before its two predecessors, DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal (2020). A standout feature is the "chainsaw shield," which alters the gameplay by enhancing close combat. The battles are fast-paced, fostering a distinct flow of action. A review delving deeper into the gameplay can be found here (in English).

While it may feel as though almost every game is made using the Unreal Engine, id Software continues to rely on its own id Tech 8 engine, now one version ahead of its immediate predecessor. It brings improvements to lighting and shadow rendering via ray tracing, expanded environmental destruction, path tracing, and physics. The same engine is also used in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

The engine does a great job, even if the game doesn't quite reach the visual heights of the most graphically advanced titles. Load times are quick, and the action runs buttery smooth if you've got a powerful enough GPU. The new DOOM is clearly more demanding than its predecessor. Ray tracing isn't optional this time around. It is fully integrated into the experience, so your graphics hardware needs to be up to the task.

When launching the Steam version, we were prompted to install a new Nvidia driver for DOOM: The Dark Ages. For the best performance, make sure you're running the latest version.

In-game loading times are pleasantly fast, and the graphics settings menu offers a wide range of options. The game supports Nvidia DLSS 4, Intel XeSS, and AMD FSR with or without FG, along with many other settings, including accessibility features. The difficulty level alone can be fine-tuned using numerous sliders, from game speed to the timing window for parrying attacks and the level of enemy aggression.

A definite plus is that all changes to the graphics settings take effect without requiring a restart.

The only thing missing is an integrated benchmark, which is why we use the tool CapFrameX and the opening scene of the first chapter (Village of Khalim) for our measurements.

We guide our character through the narrow, linear level without engaging any enemies. Our short benchmark run ends at the point where the spaceship crashes. This scene offers a solid indication of in-game performance. While large numbers of enemies have yet to appear, the spaceship crash alone creates plenty of on-screen activity.

If you want to play this fast-paced FPS with more than 60 fps on maximum settings, you'll need at least an RTX 4070. An older RTX 3060 reaches 60 fps only at low to medium detail levels. On maximum settings, the RTX 3060 still manages around 50 fps.

The currently best-performing iGPU, the Radeon 8060s, is a bit slower. It reaches around 43 fps at maximum settings and just misses the 60 fps mark even on low settings. The Radeon 780M, by contrast, struggles to hit 15 fps in FHD on low, and performance is similarly limited with the 890M.

In QHD, the older RTX 3060 just manages to exceed 30 fps, which is unlikely to be enough for a consistently smooth experience in scenes with larger enemy groups. With DLSS enabled, performance rises to just over 40 fps, making it at least playable.

Without DLSS, even an RTX 4070 does not reach 60 fps. You would need an RTX 4080 to achieve that level of performance. This clearly shows how demanding the game is, and highlights the increasingly important role upscaling technologies now play and will continue to play in the future.

Even the flagship RTX 5090 (laptop) is no longer able to maintain a smooth 60 fps in UHD without DLSS enabled. To reach that performance level, DLSS must be activated. Even with upscaling, all GPUs below the RTX 5090 fall short of 60 fps.