Doom: The Dark Ages

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Title artwork.

Doom: The Dark Ages (stylized as DOOM: The Dark Ages) is the next entry in the Doom series, revealed to be a prequel to Doom (2016). Previously known by a codename of Doom Year Zero, the game will involve a medieval theme, and was first formally announced at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 9, 2024. It has been set for release sometime in 2025 for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Sony PlayStation 5.

Plot

Reveal Trailer

The game appears to be set on various locations of importance to the Night Sentinels during the late stages of the Argenta civil war. A description of the Doom Slayer given in the first reveal trailer describes him as such:

"Before he became a hero, he was the super weapon of gods and kings..."

A description available on the Slayers Club explains that players will see the origin of the Slayer's rage and his "rise from a kingdom's last hope to Hell's greatest fear".

Mechanics

Early footage and statements from Bethesda suggest the gameplay will be somewhat slower and less aerial in nature than that of its predecessor, with, according to Slayers Club material, "firmly grounded, heavy-hitting clashes" featuring "vicious melee strikes" and destructible demons. Of note is that no jumping whatsoever was displayed in the reveal trailer. This is supported by earlier statements from creative director Hugo Martin that he was considering taking the next game in the Doom series in a different direction where the player would feel more like a "tank" and less like a "Ferrari". The Slayers Club also mentions that the game will be taking account of influences from the design of the original Doom from 1993.

Enemies

• Agaddon Hunter lookalike
• Arachnotron
• Demon on a quadruped mount
• Corrupted Sentinels, shield soldiers, and other former humans
• Flying arachnotron or mastermind
• Hell knight
• Imp
• Mancubus
• Revenant
• Titan
• Unidentified Hell nobles and other demons.

Weapons

• Flail
• Accelerator
• Rail spike
• Shield saw, which can be thrown with spikes deployed, can deflect projectiles and block melee strikes, and can be used as a ram during dashes.
• Skull crusher
• Super shotgun

Mounts

• Atlan mechs, now including a fully controllable version.
• Wintherin, including a mechanized, rideable mount known as the mecha dragon.

Pre-release

Doom Year Zero

Doom Year Zero was revealed as an upcoming game in the Doom series by an outdated internal ZeniMax Media presentation from 2020, which was mistakenly uploaded by Microsoft to the website of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for the FTC v. Microsoft case in 2023.

Little else was known aside from the title, release schedule, projected revenue, and it being a console/PC game as opposed to F2P/mobile, all listed on the presentation. The game was internally scheduled for release in fiscal year 2023, and DLC was also scheduled for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, but it has since been delayed or canceled after Microsoft's subsequent acquisition of ZeniMax. It was forecasted by ZeniMax at the time to be one of their biggest releases, as its projected revenue was higher than that of Doom Eternal and the third highest of all games on the presentation behind only The Elder Scrolls VI and Starfield.

Verge hint

On May 8, 2024, Tom Warren let slip in an article on The Verge that, "Microsoft will be banking on some new game announcements lifting the Doom around Xbox" (emphasis by original author). This was interpreted at large as meaning that a new Doom title would be revealed in the near future.

Doom: The Dark Ages

Later that month on May 24, 2024, Tom Henderson of Insider Gaming further collaborated with Tom Warren's reporting that the next Doom game would be revealed at the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase. Henderson stated that Doom Year Zero was the codename/placeholder name for what was now called Doom: The Dark Ages, Alongside that the game "was described to me as a ‘medieval inspired doom world’."

This description of the setting of Doom: The Dark Ages would correlate to a Polygon interview with Doom Eternal Game Director Hugo Martin released shortly before the release of Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part Two where Martin describing what the future of the Doom series could look like states “Could we tell a story about when [the Doom Slayer] first came to that place with the Sentinels, almost like a more medieval setting, a fantasy setting?” Martin asked. “I think as you play the DLC, too, you’ll see lots of hints of what we could do moving forward. Maybe even in the future. Again, our hero is somewhat timeless — I mean, literally, he’s immortal. So we could tell all kinds of stories.” This can lead to the interpretation that Doom: The Dark Ages may take place in between Doom 64 and Doom (2016) during the Doom Slayers stay in Argent D'Nur with the Night Sentinels.

QuakeCon 2024

An exclusive presentation was shown to attendees at the keynote for QuakeCon 2024, similar to that previously held for Doom (2016), showing off basic information about the game's weapons and several minutes of gameplay, including footage of the Slayer piloting and attacking enemies with the Atlan mech and mecha dragon. The shield saw was revealed to select from its numerous functions in a context-sensitive manner requiring only one input. Melee attacks were also discussed and it was revealed that the Slayer can choose between three different melee weapons seamlessly, with the flail being one of the three. The retooled glory kill system was briefly discussed with a highlight on the ability to execute fatal moves of the player's choice at any angle and at nearly any timing.

The Atlan mech was shown to possess many attacks, including kicks and punches as well as the ability to equip weaponry, such as a gigantic dual-barreled chaingun.

External links

• Steam page