Doom: The Dark Ages devs looked to everything from Star Wars to Batman Year One to shape the iconic shooter's next game

Id Software looked to the likes of Batman and Star Wars to help shape Doom: The Dark Ages into the game it is today.

In Edge's latest issue, studio director Marty Stratton explains that the beloved comic Batman Year One inspired an internal prototype called Slayer Year One. In addition to riffing on the tale's name, the project aimed to return to the character's roots.

That's not the only Batman comic that id Software referenced, either. The Dark Knight, featuring a rather brutish Batman, was also an influence. I can already see what notes the developers were taking for John Doom.

The fantasy setting was already on the mind, too, and shaped by Star Wars creator George Lucas's body of work. A prominent faction in The Dark Ages' story, the Sentinels has been weaved into the fiction since Doom 2016 – a faction whose culture is defined as medieval.

"It’s interesting to go back and look at some of our early prototypes," Stratton says. "It’s amazing to see not only how far they’ve come but how the vision was so tangible."

“You follow the IP development rulebook that was created by a lot of great people, [such as] George Lucas,” he adds.

Set to release May 15, id Software has called Doom: The Dark Ages the studio's "biggest" game world ever and a "dramatic expansion." Stratton teases that this one "takes you to some unbelievable locations." We'll have to wait and see just what the Doom team has in store, but the devs are certainly being guided by some of the most beloved source material out there.

Why wait? A modder is bringing Doom: The Dark Ages to classic Doom with all its deadly toys included.