Doom: The Dark Ages vs High On Life 2
Heavy medieval combat versus comedic skateboarding—your tolerance for pace and tone decides the winner.
id traded Eternal's mid-air chess match for medieval ground combat and a parry button — heavier, slower, and divisive in ways Eternal wasn't.
Falls short of HoL1's voice-cast peak — HoL2 trades sharper writing for skateboard mechanics, leaving the gunplay split 56/44 among critics.
Steam popularity
Shared scale — sparklines are directly comparable across both games.
Doom: The Dark Ages
May 2026 peak CCU 1,682 ↑ 9% MoM
All-time peak 31,401
High On Life 2
May 2026 peak CCU 147 ↓ 28% MoM
All-time peak 2,937
Key differences
Combat pacing
Dark Ages replaces Eternal's airborne acrobatics with slow, ground-based parry combat.
HoL2's gunplay is split 56/44 secondary to skateboarding traversal.
Narrative tone
Doom's lore is dark, visual, and humorless, driven by medieval aesthetics.
HoL2 trades sharp writing for darker satire, falling short of its predecessor's voice-cast peak.
Movement mechanics
Grounded combat with mechs and dragon set pieces replaces platforming.
Skateboarding is the new traversal core, dividing critics on its integration.
Which one is for you?
Pick Doom: The Dark Ages if
- You found Doom Eternal's platforming and ammo juggling exhausting.
- You want a heavier, parry-focused combat with shield weapons.
- You enjoy id's large-scale arena battles over tight corridors.
Pick High On Life 2 if
- You finished High on Life 1 and want more Squanch absurdism.
- You enjoy Borderlands-style FPS comedy with uneven gunplay.
- You're curious about a 12-hour shooter with skateboarding mechanics.
Bottom line
Pick Doom: The Dark Ages for polished, weighty combat; choose High On Life 2 only if you loved the first and tolerate weaker writing for comedic traversal.