Doom director claims The Dark Ages can be beaten without using a gun, but "the game's not necessarily built to do that"

When you think of Doom, your mind will undoubtedly go to blasting demons into hunks of viscera with a Super Shotgun or the BFG9000. And despite heading back to the past, Doom: The Dark Ages shows no signs of straying away from series tradition. The trailers have featured all the weapons you’ve come to expect and some new ones – like that really cool one that grinds skulls into projectiles. But according to Doom: The Dark Ages game director Hugo Martin, you can make your way through the game without firing a single shot, apparently.

One of the new features in Doom: The Dark Ages is a parry system and enhanced melee attacks with the likes of a shield/chainsaw hybrid and a demonic flail. And when asked by PC Gamer if it was possible to make your way through the game without shooting, Martin seemed optimistic. "If people could beat Dark Souls with no damage and pistol-only Nightmare runs on [Doom 2016], I'm sure people will figure out how to do it with the shield and the melee, because they're pretty powerful, but you'd have a hard time, that's for sure."

That being said, this isn’t a situation where this approach has been hardwired into the game as a standard approach, as Martin says, "The game's not necessarily built to do that," adding, "Not like a Dishonored or something where you're balancing the game for somebody to be able to do that." At its heart, Doom: The Dark Ages is still an adrenaline-filled FPS, not an immersive sim, so the developers definitely expect Doomguy to do what he does best.

The trailer for the game also shows that the Doom Slayer will have access to some vehicles – namely, a machine gun-mounted dragon and a mech suit – so unless those can punch (the dragon does not appear to have fists), you will likely have to shoot at some point. Although that’s for the sickos of the Doom community to figure out what counts in a potential gun-free run of Doom: The Dark Ages when it launches on May 15, 2025.

Despite the action-packed nature of the series, Hugo Martin recently revealed that a lot of players care about Doom’s story, leading to a heavier focus in The Dark Ages.