Doom The Dark Ages Launches May 15 With Mechs and Dragons

Doom: The Dark Ages, the next game in the franchise after 2020’s Doom Eternal, is coming in May, and it’s already looking like a heavy metal album cover come to life ahead of its planned release on May 15. 

Developers id Software showed a preview of the upcoming Doom game and answered some questions at a digital preview event on Tuesday. The team made it clear that the departure from the sci-fi setting the series is known for to a more medieval fantasy setting wasn’t a recent decision. 

“We wanted to do it [medieval setting] from the beginning,” said game director Hugo Martin. “It fits in that prequel timeline.”

Doom: The Dark Ages is a prequel to 2016’s Doom that explains what the protagonist (colloquially known by fans as Doomguy) did after the events of the original Doom games released in the ’90s. Players learned about how the Marine who was fighting demons on a military base on Mars ended up in another dimension where he fought hordes of monsters for eons to become the legendary Doom Slayer, as told in records found throughout the game. Dark Ages not only bridges the franchise’s eras in terms of timeline but also with how it plays. 

With the Doom Slayer’s gameplay, id Software took a bit of a different approach from the more recent Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal where speed was the name of the game. This time around, the Doom Slayer is like an iron tank, and nothing best represents that than his Shield Saw. 

A new tool in the Slayer’s arsenal, the Shield Saw is both for defense and offense. It can be used to parry enemy projectiles and attacks, with those parries of up-close attacks causing the enemies to get stunned. When on the offensive, the shield’s serrated blades act similar to a chainsaw as the Slayer throws it into a demon’s body and tears into its flesh. Then just like Captain America, the shield comes right back. There’s also a charge attack where the Slayer rushes into an enemy with his shield up. 

The Slayer still has an arsenal of guns like the iconic shotgun, but in Dark Ages, he’ll have access to multiple melee weapons too, including a spiked mace, an iron flail and an electrified gauntlet that players can use on enemies. Each will have its own combos and upgrades and will be used in Glory Kills, which are ultraviolent attacks that finish off stunned enemies. The developers say the new Glory Kill systems offer more fluidity to allow players to jump from one kill to another, and triggering them doesn’t break up the action. 

The team also emphasized that strafing is more viable in Dark Ages. This emphasizes the theme of the Slayer being a powerful brute instead of the quick acrobatics that were the focus of the reboot. 

This slower pace could be one of the biggest changes for a Doom, but there are larger ones in store — in one case quite literally, like the additions of a giant mech and a cybernetic dragon that the player can use in the middle of the fighting. The mech called Atlan is the size of a building and at certain points of a level, the Slayer can jump in and fight giant demons. As for the dragon, it also will play a part in certain areas where the Slayer can fly the dragon to different floating city areas. Both the mech and dragon are available only at designated points in the game. 

The inclusion of a mech and dragon also represents a growth in the game’s play space. The Doom reboot had many restrictive areas that gave a claustrophobic feeling like the original Doom game while Doom Eternal added more space for platforming, but Dark Ages gives players more area to rip and tear through enemies. 

Another innovation from the developers was the new difficulty system. Rather than simply choosing between normal, hard, very hard or ridiculous hard difficulties, the id Software team added sliders to change various aspects of the gameplay such as the enemies’ speed, the timing window of parries and more. Not only does this offer a bigger challenge to hardcore Doom fans, but it also makes the game more accessible for those who need to tweak certain mechanics to engage with them. 

Hardcore fans may not be happy that Dark Ages is a campaign-only game with no plan for online multiplayer. However, the developers say Dark Ages is one of the biggest Doom adventures, and it’s going to be a long game, but not too long for fans — and there are plans to make DLC for the game.  . 

Doom: The Dark Ages launches on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series consoles on May 15, will be priced at $70 and will be available on day 1 for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.

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