Ahead of today’s Xbox Developer Direct, we got to see a preview of Doom: The Dark Ages and learn all about the game from the developers. Doom: The Dark Ages is a prequel to Doom (2016) and is set during a medieval war against the forces of Hell where we get to see the Doom Slayer in his early exploits that gave rise to his legend.
As a prequel, the game will be a good jumping in point for new and returning players who haven’t followed the story of the previous entries. However, this time around the developers wanted to focus on the story and said this is the biggest story the franchise has seen akin to a summer blockbuster. With no multiplayer this time around, the developers were solely able to focus on creating the best story possible in a single player campaign. They also wanted to move the story away from the players having to read the codex to get all the story information and, instead, will feature a plethora of cutscenes where players will get the full breath of the story without having to do more digging on their own. They even teased a “fantastic” villain who we did not get to see.
While story is cool, what appeals to most about Doom is the combat, and, in Doom: The Dark Ages, combat doesn’t look like it’ll disappoint. Described as “less Ferrari more Monster Truck,” Doom: The Dark Ages foregoes the acrobatic nature of Doom: Eternal and instead goes for the heavy power based combat with a focus on standing your ground and fighting back. You have your wide range of incredible looking guns to use, and areas are more open and flat to see the returning of strafing around enemies like in the classic games. However, this preview focused more on the alternate methods the Doom Slayer has at his disposal this time around. The biggest being his Shield Saw. This will be your go to in how you handle fighting back against the hordes of Hell. The Shield Saw can be used in a variety of ways such as for blocking, parrying, deflecting or even throwing it to take out enemies.
Then there’s the Doom Slayer’s melee capabilities. This time three will be three unique melee weapons for players to use. They will start off with an electrified gauntlet, but throughout the story will unlock both a mace and flail to wreck havoc of the hordes of enemies. Doom: The Dark Ages also has an updated glory kill system. Instead of synced animations that pull you out of combat, this time, glory kills are fully player controlled with a focus on fluidity so the kills don’t pull you out of the action and with how many enemies there are you’ll be able to jump between the ones who are ready to be taken out easily. Then, there are two incredible new features in the skyscraper sized Atlan mech and the cybernetic dragon that the Doom Slayer can use. Unfortunately, these cannot be used at any time, but at predetermined points in the story. However each will have their own suite of abilities and have specific enemy encounters and bosses to take out.
With story and combat being a huge focus, Doom: The Dark Ages is also the biggest game in the franchise. Gone are the linear mission structure or hub area from Doom Eternal. Now, the game is more akin to the progression of Doom (2016), but the areas transition from linear areas to huge open sandbox areas for players to explore and take on the missions there how they like. There are a wide variety of different locals players will visit such as battlefields, different worlds, and castles just to name a few. Exploration is highly encouraged in the game as levels are expansive with plenty of upgrade materials for weapons and equipment as well as a large amount of secrets to discover.
The biggest new additions to Doom: The Dark Ages is the developers want to make the game as accessible as possible to both new and old players. They are doing this by implementing a variety of difficulty sliders that can be changed and fine tuned to make the game as easy or as hard as a player desires. Thus, this should be the most approachable entry in the series and players will be able to play the biggest campaign in the series however they like. Though there will still be tough enemies scattered throughout the game to test players’ combat prowess.
Eager fans won’t have to wait too long as Doom: The Dark Ages releases later this Spring on May 15, 2025 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S|X.