How Doom: The Dark Ages Is Changing the Way You Slay Demons

Doom: The Dark Ages, a prequel that transports the Doom Slayer back to a medieval setting full of demons to slaughter, was one of the best surprises from last June’s Xbox media briefing, a mix of absolute carnage and gritty style. In other words, a signature id experience, and yet another chance to iterate on the classic first-person shooter series. But as id tells Den of Geek during a press preview ahead of the game’s Developer Direct broadcast this week, this isn’t just “Doom Part 3” (or “Doom 0,” as we like to think of it) but an experience that provides a different way to slay those demons.

id Software studio director Marty Stratton and creative director Hugo Martin have a clear analogy for how Dark Ages is meant to feel when compared to its vertical and pacey predecessor: in Doom Eternal, you were a “fighter jet” but in Dark Ages you’re an “iron tank.” To put it another way, and in their words, Doom 2016 was about getting back to the “run and gun” roots of the series, while Eternal asked you to “jump and shoot.” In Dark Ages, you will “stand and fight.”

This gameplay philosophy is certainly on display in the Developer Direct video, which shows off Dark Ages‘ emphasis on brutal melee combat, as the Doom Slayer smashes his way through the demonic hordes with flail, gauntlet, and the new shield saw—which he can use to not only block, parry, and deflect attacks but also to cut down his enemies. The hulking, ultra violent protagonist himself is heavily armored, built like the scariest linebacker you’ve ever seen on a field, and seems to shake the earth with every step.

Stratton and Martin confirm this version of the Doom Slayer is meant to feel heavier, but that’s not to say Dark Ages is meant to slow down the pacing of Doom. (In fact, a new menu of modifiers allows you to customize the experience to your liking, including by adjusting the game speed as well as damage against you, the parry window, etc.) The goal was to give players an experience that felt fresh while also evoking the original Doom.

“It’s just got to be different,” Martin says of making the Doom Slayer feel more like a tank. “I just don’t think as a game, I want to play the same thing. I want to play a Doom game. Don’t change so much that it’s not Doom. This is how I think of it: I want to feel strong, there’s got be a good amount of speed and exploration and power. But I’m okay with you changing what that power fantasy is, especially if the change you make brings it back closer to that classic Doom.

“That was the goal, just innovation. You’re competing for gamers’ time, [who] want something new but familiar. [Dark Ages] is a fantasy world, but it’s our fantasy world. You’re the iron tank battling the forces of hell in this medieval war. That’s just something that sounds fun that I’d like to do.”

When asked whether the tweaks to the gameplay were in any way a reaction to criticisms regarding the combat in past games, Martin explains that he always looks at the negative comments to see what people didn’t like. For him, “you learn more from the negative feedback sometimes, then you do the positive stuff.”

“In 2016, it was that it was too repetitive. And then Eternal, some people said it was too hard,” Martin says, although he thinks of the latter criticism in a different way. “I actually think that it’s too complex. The complexity of the control scheme led to unnecessary difficulties. You really want to be fighting the demons, the bad guys, not your controls.”

So, how does that translate to Doom: The Dark Ages?

“An ergonomic control scheme, fewer strings on the guitar, so to speak, was really the goal, something that felt intuitive,” Martin explains. “That way, when we do pressure the player, they’re not reaching for buttons that they aren’t familiar with.”

The changes to the feel and setting also perfectly fit the prequel story the team wanted to tell in Dark Ages. In fact, this is a game id has been thinking about for a lot longer than you might expect.

“We wanted to do it from the beginning when we started out rebooting the franchise,” Martin reveals. “There’s kind of a how-to book on creating IPs, established by great brands like Lord of the Rings and directors like George Lucas. Usually you want to create an interesting world, give that world a history, and then you want to have heroes with an interesting past. If you’re lucky enough and fans are happy with what you did, you’ll be fortunate enough to explore some of that past.”

The narrative approach has been revamped alongside the gameplay, with much more of the story being delivered through cutscenes than the more text-heavy Codex approach. It means Dark Ages, which begins with the Doom Slayer being imprisoned (if you can believe such a thing is possible), is overall designed to be a more cinematic experience than past games.

Levels themselves are set on more “expansive worlds” that allow you to go off the beaten path and explore for resources, upgrades, and other secrets. Oh, and you can also traverse areas in the game while riding a giant cybernetic dragon. Not enough? You also get to pilot a mech called an Atlan, perfect for smashing kaiju-sized demons.

“There wasn’t a lot of place to go after Eternal. You couldn’t go higher, or more vertical, particularly once you got through the ancient gods,” Stratton says of the updates to world design and traversal. “It’s like, what’s new? How do we do something that will feel new and make this game stand on its own?”

It isn’t all change, though. The team also looked back to classic Doom for ways to get Dark Ages closer to the roots of the series.

“The original Doom, why it’s stood the test of time, is it’s really one of the most accessible shooter, single-player campaigns ever made,” Martin says. “That’s not to say it’s easy, but it’s easy to get into. When it comes to combat, it’s really incredibly streamlined, and that’s why it’s still fun to this day.

“That’s why I say [in the Dev Direct] it’s a more grounded Slayer. More powerful and grounded over the acrobatics of Doom Eternal. You’ll see when you play it that it’s really a return to form. It feels more like classic Doom than any game we’ve made up to this point.”

According to Martin, “the core essence of being aggressive is still there.” After watching this latest preview, we won’t argue there.

Doom: The Dark Ages is out on May 15 on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

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