Knowing the Doom The Dark Ages lore and timeline will help you understand the basics of what is going on in this prequel game. Why does the Doom Slayer have a big fur cape and who is he fighting with? Don't let the Doom The Dark Ages name fool you as it doesn't match with the same period of human history, instead taking place in alien realms long before Doom 2016.
We'll explain everything you need to know about the Doom The Dark Ages lore, setting, and timeline below in a totally Spoiler-Free guide, meaning that you don't need to worry about anything in the game itself being ruined for you!
When does Doom The Dark Ages take place?
Struggling with the game's puzzles? Check out how to solve the Doom The Dark Ages fire pipe door in Hebeth, or discover how to navigate the Doom The Dark Ages rotating room in the Kar'Thul Marshes!
Doom The Dark Ages covers a war called The Unholy Crusade, referenced in Doom 2016 and elaborated on more heavily in Doom Eternal, but never shown before now. That war takes place well before both of those games and saw the demons of Hell clash with the alien world of Argent D'Nur, led by King Novik and their greatest warriors, The Night Sentinels - you'll see a lot of both factions across all Doom The Dark Ages chapters.
As shown in Doom Eternal, Doomguy accidentally ends up on Argent D'Nur during his battles with the demons and, after proving himself in the gladiator arena, would become one of their most legendary warriors.
In fact, he was so effective that the Sentinels' masters, the angelic Maykrs, bestow Doomguy with superhuman abilities and turn him into the Doom Slayer (you can play Eternal for more info on this).
But this is where The Dark Ages takes place: Doomguy is now the Slayer, fighting to keep the demons off Argent D'Nur in allegiance with the Maykrs and Night Sentinels. The reason it looks like the medieval period (and is called The Dark Ages) is because the culture of Argent D'Nur is a mixture of Viking, fantasy and medieval mixed with science fiction technology (this is why nearly all Doom The Dark Ages weapons look the way that they do). The game isn't actually set in Earth's Dark Age period, though it is clearly inspired by it and the mythology around it.
What year is Doom The Dark Ages set in? The Doom Timeline Explained:
The exact year or time frame Doom The Dark Ages is set isn't clear since it isn't set on Earth, but instead the alien world of Argent D'Nur. It would be more illustrative to say that The Dark Ages is a sequel to the original 1990s Doom games but a prequel to the Doom 2016 reboot, taking place long before the Doom Slayer awakens on Mars.
That means the chronological order of all Doom games – aka, the Doom timeline – goes as follows:
- Doom (1993)
- Doom 2
- Doom 64
- Doom: The Dark Ages
- Doom (2016)
- Doom: Eternal
- Doom: The Ancient Gods Part 1
- Doom: The Ancient Gods Part 2
Ready to start playing through the Unholy Crusade? We've got the solutions to the toughest puzzles, the Doom The Dark Ages Wolf Statues, right here! Or if you're wondering what's ahead of you, find out: how long is Doom The Dark Ages? It might be more than you think…
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