Doom: The Dark Ages isn't a continuation of the blood-ritual carnage of Doom Eternal, it's a return to the past – literally and spiritually. Developer id Software is unleashing a prequel to its modern series of Doom games, taking us back to a time where the Slayer was wielded as the ultimate super weapon of gods and kings. It sounds metal as fuck, and the perfect setting for a series that was running out of hell to raze.
The thing is, id Software has landed in this medieval war against Hell not out of convenience but out of a need to change the fundamentals of play. To return to where Doom became legend two decades ago. "At the start of every development cycle, I play the original Doom again, and have the team play it too. I realized that we still didn't hit the mark" says creative director Hugo Martin. And that is where Doom: The Dark Ages was born.
Back to basics
The cause of this epiphany? The projectiles. The nightmarish gauntlet of floating, homing hazards. "I noticed right away how slow those projectiles move – it just dawned on me that that is the maze. The movement is more horizontal as you weave your way between the projectiles, and every projectile mattered in the original Doom."
Doom Eternal invested heavily in verticality, making constant movement across multiple planes of wider combat arenas a central component of the core rhythm to encounters. Martin says that returning to the ethos that underpinned the series in the first instance became a "core pillar" of what the team wanted to achieve with Doom: The Dark Ages. "We couldn't go any higher in the air than Doom Eternal. That was a great experience, but we want each game to stand on its own," says Martin.
"If you were an F22 fighter jet in Doom Eternal, this time around we wanted you to feel like an Abrams tank," he adds, and it's an analogy that's indicative of where id is steering Doom: The Dark Ages. "It means you're more powerful and grounded. The combat system for new players – those who only got into Doom with the reboot – I think with The Dark Ages they are going to feel like this is a reimagined combat system. But for long-time fans of the series, people who played the original Doom, you'll see it's really a return to form."
What does that mean in real terms? Martin says the spirit of the original game comes alive in a number of ways, but perhaps the most notable is with respect to how you move. "You're heavier, more powerful, and grounded," he says. "We're making strafing-to-aim a thing again. You'll be weaving between projectiles, just like you did in the original Doom, to deliver that Super Shotgun blast to the chest… It almost creates this three-dimensional 'shoot 'em up' puzzle that you're weaving your way through."
Power trip
Doom: The Dark Ages is presenting flatter, denser combat arenas – set across more ecologically diverse environments than anything we've seen in the series so far. Powered by the latest idTech engine, id Software is getting phenomenal results out of its first Xbox Series X release. But between all of the devastation and evisceration, you may not have noticed just how many demons are pouring into your purview.
"We have more demons than we ever have before. There's a shot where the Slayer turns a corner and he's killing so many of them. Using that spread shotgun and doing all that damage, with all the gore bits coming off, and the feedback that we can achieve now in games is just incredible It's so exciting to be able to provide that for players," Martin continues. "The tech is really allowing us to do some of the biggest spaces and biggest AI, and the weapons feel like the most powerful you've ever held in a Doom game."
That's a bold proclamation. But one Martin is certain id Software can make good on, and one that's being directly reflected by an outrageous narrative frame. "You are a weapon of mass destruction in this game. We like to say it's this medieval war against the forces of hell and everything is going off and going wrong. The good guys are losing, and you're the nuclear option – and we're putting you in that driver's seat."
That, Martin says, means you'll be "killing more demons than you ever have before." He continues: "I think the number of AI on screen is… I don't even think there's a limit at this point, it's crazy. I keep waiting to hear 'no' from the programmers, and they haven't said it this time around. It feels like, tech wise across the board, we've been empowered to make our best game. The last two rebooted Doom games have built to this – we certainly had limitations in the past, and they just don't really feel like they're there right now. But with each game we try to build of the success of the last one, and learn the right lessons."
"You exploit weaknesses with the shield in your left hand, and then you hurt things with the guns in your right:
Hugo Martin
Martin is confident that the weapons in The Dark Ages are "the most powerful you've ever held in a Doom game" but it's worth digging a little deeper here, because id Software is introducing a surprising amount of nuance to the core combat rhythm of the rebooted series this time around. The biggest change is the introduction of the Shield Saw – which has earned its name because, as Martin puts it, "it's a chainsaw and shield." It looks rad in our first look at Doom: The Dark Ages, but it's impossible to overstate just how key this tool will be throughout.
"You will have that shield in your hand at all times – you're basically dual-wielding. I want players to feel like Aragorn, or Leonidas at the hot gates of 300. You're the hero of a massive battle in an FPS, in a Doom game no less. It just felt like it would be a really fun challenge for the team to take on, and I think we delivered it." I'm certainly keen to see more, particularly as Martin teases some of the ways the Saw Shield factors into play. "There's a lot of stuff you can do with the shield. You can block attacks, you can parry projectiles, there are melee weapons you can combo attacks with – you use it to solve problems. You basically exploit weaknesses with the shield in your left hand, and then you hurt things with the guns in your right. It's pretty simple."
All of this sounds excellent, and a massive shift from what we've come to expect from the modern Doom games – which have been relentless expressions of violence. But I'm absolutely ready to steer the Slayer into hell and back again in 2025, which is when the FPS is expected to land for PC, PS5, Game Pass, and Xbox Series X. Oh, and we didn't even get into the Mecha Dragon and the Atlan Mech which will let us shred titanic demons to a pulp… that's a story for next time, for the ages.
Here's everything announced at the Xbox Games Showcase, including Doom: The Dark Ages of course.
