Doom: The Dark Ages

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Title artwork.

Official Launch Trailer

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 involves a medieval theme, and was first formally announced at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 9, 2024. It was released on May 15, 2025 for PC, Xbox Series X|S, Game Pass, and Sony PlayStation 5. With Mick Gordon's departure after Doom Eternal, soundtrack duties will be taken over by Finishing Move Inc.

Plot

Reveal Trailer

Official Trailer 2

The game appears to be set on various locations of importance to the Night Sentinels during the Argenta Unholy Wars. 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".

According to an interview conducted with PC Gamer, Hugo Martin has stated that the story of the game will end somewhere short of when the Slayer was trapped in a sarcophagus in the backstory of Doom (2016), leaving room for more prequel material in the future.

Editions

Standard

The standard edition is a box with a disc for Xbox Series X|S or PlayStation 5, or a key for Windows PC. This edition will also be available on Steam and the Xbox and PlayStation stores as a digital download.

Premium Edition

The Premium Edition adds this subset of digital bonuses:

• The Divinity Skin Pack with skins for the Doom Slayer, dragon and Atlan.
• The digital artbook and soundtrack.
• A campaign DLC that is to be announced at a later date.

The Premium Edition also enables access to the game two days before its official launch.

Collector's Bundle

The Collector's Bundle includes the Premium content and further adds:

• A 12" Doom Slayer statue with detachable weapons and cape.
• A metal red key card replica.
• A SteelBook case.

Pre-order bonus

Pre-orders of any edition include the Void Doom Slayer skin.

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", and slowing down enemy projectiles to make "running and gunning viable again". The Developer_Direct gameplay videos do, however, display some jumping. The Slayers Club also mentions that the game will be taking into account the influences from the design of the original Doom from 1993. The hands-on demo gave a better look at upcoming mechanics such as upgrades, sprinting, and an "area ping."

Additional previews have shown that melee combat will play a major role in gameplay, with the shield saw in particular being vital for reflecting projectiles, parrying enemy melee strikes, and breaking enemy armor.

Mechanics in-game include:

• Area ping
• Parrying/reflecting
• Shield bash
• Shield leap
• Shield throw
• Sprint

The skill levels from previous games return, but it is now possible to fine-tune the game experience with customisable sliders. The sliders can be used to affect player damage, demon damage, enemy aggression, projectile speed, the value of resource drops, and so on.

Characters

• Prince Ahzrak
• Hell priest
• Bishop Kreed
• Deag Loric
• Marok
• Night Sentinels
• King Novik
• Commander Thira
• Commander Valen
• The Witch

Enemies

Ambient

• Tentacle
  • Giant tentacle
• Hell cultist

Fodder

• Imp
  • Stone imp
• Lost soul
• Soldier
  • Chaingunner soldier
  • Plasma shield soldier
  • Shield soldier
• Maykr drone
• Zombie

Heavy

• Acolyte
• Arachnotron
  • Armored archnotron
  • Ballistatron (variant of the Arachnotron with a ballista instead of a minigun)
• Cacodemon hybrid (with unique brain-like appearance)
• Hell knight
  • Battle knight (a variant of the Hell knight that wears armor and summons throwing axes)
• Imp stalker
  • Nightmare imp stalker
• Mancubus
  • Armored mancubus
• Pinky rider
  • Armored pinky rider
• Revenant
• Whiplash

Super Heavy

• Agaddon hunter
• Cosmic baron (a variant of the baron of Hell, with twin blades and the ability to generate psychic blasts)
• Cyberdemon
• Komodo
• Vagary

Enemy variations

• Champion
• Demonic leader

Titan Class

• Titan (now has variants wearing armor and shield)
  • Cyclops titan
• Giant cacodemon

Bosses

• Kreed Maykr
• Enhanced Ahzrak
• The Old One
• Ahzrak and Witch

Vehicles

• Hell carrier
• Hell ship
• Hell tank

Weapons

Guns

Plasma rifle class

Accelerator

Cycler

Skull crusher class

Pulverizer

Ravager

Railspike class

Impaler

Shredder

Chainshot class

Reaver chainshot

Launcher class

Rocket launcher

Grenade launcher

Shotgun class

Combat shotgun

Super shotgun

Super class

Ballistic force crossbow

Melee

Reaver class

Flail

Power gauntlet

Dreadmace

Shield saw

Mounts

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

Missions

• Village of Khalim
• Hebeth
• Barrier Core (Atlan level)
• Sentinel Barracks (The Vagary Champion is the mini-boss.)
• The Holy City of Aratum (Dragon level)
• Siege - Part 1
• Siege - Part 2
• Abyssal Forest (The Agaddon Champion is the mini-boss.)
• Ancestral Forge
• The Forsaken Plains
• Hellbreaker (Atlan level)
• Sentinel Command Station
• From Beyond (Dragon level)
• Spire of Nerathul (Dragon level) (The Komodo Champion is the mini-boss.)
• City of Ry'uul
• The Kar'Thul Marshes
• Temple of Lomarith
• Belly of the Beast
• Harbor of Souls
• Resurrection (Dragon level) (Kreed Maykr is the boss.)
• Final Battle (Atlan level) (The Old One and Enhanced Ahzrak are bosses.)
• Reckoning (Ahzrak and Witch are the boss.)

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 described what the future of the Doom series could look like. “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 Slayer's 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.

The majority of content from the previously exclusive QuakeCon presentation was later reused in the Developer_Direct show of January 23, 2025.

CES 2025

Nvidia showed new footage of The Dark Ages as part of their showcase for their GeForce 50 series of graphics processors. A series of locations was shown, including a rainy outdoor area with runic writings, a hallway in a Sentinel structure and an arena in an industrial facility, followed by footage of a group of Sentinels approaching the Slayer.

Developer_Direct

At Developer_Direct 2025, id Software revealed the May 15, 2025 release date and more gameplay details, accompanied by a "gameplay sizzle" trailer and an extensive video presentation. The game will run on the id Tech 8 engine, for which the PC specifications were announced.

Hands-on demo

Many details emerged after a four-level, three-hour demo of the game was released to press and select influencers, with an embargo lifted on March 31, 2025. The four levels included the four major types of game play to be included in The Dark Ages: story levels, Atlan levels, dragon levels, and sandbox levels.

The story level reveals that the Doom Slayer has become enslaved and is held captive by the Maykrs, who fear his power, aboard an orbital station. After numerous requests for help, he is dispatched to the world of Argent D'Nur.

Game play details revealed include the ability to generate resources such as health, ammunition, and armor through execution of specific moves, as in the previous entries in the series, and streamlining in this regard sees these abilities integrate into other weapons' attacks through mechanisms such as weapon upgrades, as opposed to being independent attacks requiring separate inputs, such as Eternal's flame belch. Enemy shields and armor can be gradually overheated with rapid attacks, after which they become vulnerable to being shattered. There are no longer alternate fire attacks in the game at all; they have been replaced by the shield.

Atlan game play sequences are mostly melee affairs, with punches and a combo meter which enables moves such as a stunning stomp and a knock-out blow. Dodging is a critical mechanic, since getting hit resets the combo meter. The Atlan's massive chaingun weapon is delivered by airdrop midway through the stage.

During the dragon portion of game play, a flying city has to be protected from invasion by a demonic fleet of Hell carriers. Like the Atlan, the dragon can also dodge, and can fire its afterburners to move faster. It can lock on to circle strafe targets. Hell carriers must have their gun batteries and shield generators destroyed, after which the Slayer can land the dragon on the ship, and enter it on foot to fight the demons within. Inside, he can destroy the ship's engines by shield dashing into them, after which the ship is destroyed and the Slayer returns to his dragon mount mid-air amidst the exploding debris. Rings can be found during some portions of the flight path which restore the dragon's health when passed through.

Sandbox levels are revealed as open-world-like experiences where the Slayer must close multiple gore portals. Along the way are numerous and varied optional goals, including artillery batteries, gold caches, and boss fights with "Leader" enemies. Leader enemies have a morale meter which must be depleted by destroying their underlings; until the meter is sufficiently depleted, the leader itself is invulnerable. Permanent stat upgrades are earned by defeating such enemies. According to information from Eurogamer, these open-world sandbox levels are largely if not entirely optional experiences from which the player can come and go.

Toys are slated to return, with such noted for the mancubus and the pinky rider so far.

Soundtrack

Listings for a soundtrack release were noticed online by April 29, with a release date set for May 14, 2025.

See also

• Doom: The Dark Ages version history

External links

• Official site
• Steam page