The long awaited prequel, not sequel, to DOOM: Eternal and the 2016 reboot of the classic shooter franchise DOOM has finally been given a new release date. We've known the game would come out in 2025 for some time now, but exactly when it would release has been unknown until now.
DOOM: The Dark Ages officially releases May 15th. Mark your calendars for the return of the Doomslayer.
Tons of new details and more information on new ones was revealed as part of Xbox's Developer Direct livestream. Gameplay changes have been shown including movement, melee, guns, more of the cybernetic dragon, and the massive Pacific Rim style mech the Doomslayer can use to fight huge demons. Hell yeah.
You can watch the new gameplay trailer here.
The two biggest changes the developers described were the changes to movement and the melee weapons. Movement in DOOM: The Dark Ages is much more in line with the classic DOOM games. In the 2106 reboot, it was all about speed and never taking your finger off the trigger. In DOOM: Eternal flying around the map was the key to survival. In DOOM: The Dark Ages, the combat is on the ground and linear. You'll be dodging projectiles, some slow, some fast, while taking on enemies of various shapes and sizes.
The combat is described as a “return to form.”
The developers described the differences between the newest and last DOOM games saying, “In DOOM: Eternal, you felt like a fighter jet. In DOOM: The Dark Ages, you'll be an iron tank. Heavy, strong but still fast. A grounded combat system with an emphasis on power over the acrobatics of DOOM: Eternal. And a balance between enemy projectiles and player movement speed that makes strafing to aim viable again.”
Up next, are some of the most metal melee weapons the team behind the game could have come up with: the Shield Saw, an iron flail, an electrified gauntlet, or a DOOM spiked mace. I really wished I saved up more PTO this year.
The Shield Saw looks absolutely incredible. The gameplay shown of it looks like an amalgamation of Captain America and Gears of War topped off with a whole lot of blood. The shield can block, parry, and be thrown with just one input. The action taken from that input is circumstantial and changes based on what the player is doing. The parries from the shield can be followed up with either of the three melee weapons mentioned before. The flail seems to be able to attack multiple times either between several targets or just one, while the electrified gauntlet looks to be able to chain the electricity between enemies, and the DOOM spiked mace seems to have an area of effect style attack.
The developers added, “That’s right, we have three melee options that are part of a melee system all on one input complete with combos and upgrades, and it’s totally awesome.” Indeed, it is.
On to the star of the show: the guns.
Doom: The Dark Ages, has some returning and some new guns that perfectly fit with the style of the games and the medieval theme of this one specifically. The returning weapons seem to be the Combat Shotgun, the Plasma Gun, and the Double Barrel Shotgun. Just like the last two games, they look like tons of fun, but the new weapons look even better. There’s a slow firing, semi auto, marksman style gun that seems to shoot bolts of solid metal and a gun that grinds up skulls of enemies and shoots pieces of bone in a wide arc to hit many enemies at once.
Can I get another hell yeah?
Finally, the video showcases the amazing, thirty story mech that has been teased for two games. Of course, you can’t forget about that cybernetic dragon. The developers state that neither of these two additional aspects of the game will be only run and gun, one off uses, but big parts of the game that are customizable and have bosses attached to them. Have you ever wanted to hop into a Pacific Rim style mech and beat up giant demons with your bare, metal fists? I know I have. Have you ever wanted to ride a fire breathing, gun toting, cybernetic dragon? Me too. In DOOM: The Dark Ages, you’ll do it all.
Watch the full video below.
Are you excited for DOOM: The Dark Ages? Let me know in the comments!