Revealed during today’s Xbox Developer Direct, Doom: The Dark Ages will be released on May 15. During the presentation, developer Id Software shared a up-to-date, extended look at the upcoming shooter, and Digital Trends learned additional details about what the studio describes as a return to form related to the original Moose.
Doom: The Dark Ages was first revealed during the Xbox Summer Game Showcase in 2024. It is a prequel to the 2016 game. Moose a reboot that reimagines the shooter as a medieval fantasy. We haven’t seen much of it since then, but I just took a more comprehensive look at the project, detailing its design philosophy, up-to-date weapons, and more.
Instead of repeating Eternal Doomgameplay requiring high mobility, Dark Ages focuses on raw power. Id claims it drew inspiration from the ’93s Moose this time with a more grounded approach to combat. For example, it was noted in Developer Direct presentations that players will find that firing while avoiding enemy projectiles is more profitable this time around. In a Q&A session ahead of today’s publication, director Hugo Martin explained how Dark Ages connects to the original Moose.
“I think I spent more time playing classic Doom on this project than on any other,” says Martin in response to a question from Noclip. “It was a really deep dive. At the beginning of every project, however, there is the awareness that it is an original Moose and that’s why it’s stood the test of time because it’s truly one of the most accessible shooter, first-person, single-player campaigns ever created… As for the combat, it’s incredibly streamlined and that’s why it’s still fun to this day. The first thing I say is that it is more powerful and acrobatics based Eternal Doomand that’s what it means. When I say that when you play it, you’ll see that it’s truly a return to form, that’s what I’m saying. It’s more like a classic Moose than any game we’ve ever made.”
Although this aspect is familiar, Dark Ages introduces several significant changes to the series. In addition to tons of brand up-to-date weapons, the Doom Slayer now also has the Circular Saw, which has a lot of features. It can block, parry and deflect attacks, and can also be thrown at enemies such as Captain America’s shield. All this happens with the press of a contextual single button. He also has three equipable melee weapons – an iron cejak, a mace, and an electric gauntlet – which also operate with a single button. Glory Kills have also been improved with a more adaptable system that allows players to activate them from any angle.
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Dark Ages will also include more adaptable accessibility options, allowing players to, among other things, raise and decrease game speed.
In addition to basic shooting and exploration, Dark Ages offers much greater original swings. The Doom Slayer will pilot both the 30-story Atlan mech and a dragon equipped with a Gatling gun. Id says these aren’t just quick mini-games, but full-blown mechanics with their own boss fights.
As for the story, which begins with the imprisoned Doom Slayer, Id compares the project to a Hollywood blockbuster. It places an emphasis on enormous set pieces and a greater emphasis on narrative. To achieve the latter goal, this time the story will take place more in cutscenes than in story codices (though they will still exist alongside other collectibles). Hugo Martin cites Batman comics as his main inspiration, including Frank Miller’s work on the series.
“The inspiration was actually the Batman comic book Batman: Year One” says Martin in response to IGN’s question. “When we were writing the story for 2016, I’m a pretty massive comic book nerd – there are bigger comic book fans than me – but I’m a fan and I just loved Batman: Year One. When we were writing the fiction for Slayer, his story and The Slayer Testament, that’s what we called it internally. Rumor had it that we called it that way Killer: Year One. That’s what it was called for a while.”
There is one thing Dark Ages I Won’t Have This Time: Multiplayer. Marty Stratton from Id confirmed that this time around the series’ typical set of modes has been reduced to focus on single-player gameplay.
“It’s just a campaign. We made that decision right away,” Stratton says. “We basically wanted to break free and create things like Atlan. The mech experience and the dragon experience, both are almost like mini-games within the game. We know that our campaigns are a enormous part of why people come to play contemporary Doom games, so we decided to put all our efforts into it and create the biggest and best Doom game we’ve ever made.
Doom: The Dark Ages will be released on May 15 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
