The Dark Ages is like a tank

With Doom: The Dark Ages, the iconic shooter series will receive a new offshoot in 2025. At the Xbox Direct on January 23rd, we finally received new details about the coveted title – including new information about the gameplay and the release date.

What do we know about the new Doom? The latest part of the Doom series is called Doom: The Dark Ages and will be a prequel to Doom 2016 and tells the origin story of the legendary Doom Slayer, in which you fight in a medieval war against hell.

The release is on May 15, 2025 on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. The shooter can also be played with a subscription via Game Pass.

By the way, there will be no co-op or multiplayer mode in Doom: The Dark Ages. The team wanted to focus entirely on the single player experience. This finally allowed them to introduce features that they had had on their wish list for a long time.

Power instead of acrobatics

What do we know about the gameplay? The developers emphasize that the gameplay of Doom: The Dark Ages will change significantly compared to the most recent offshoot Doom Eternal. The combat system there was very fast and the Doom Slayer was nimble and acrobatic. While in Doom Eternal you were more of a fighter jet, in Doom: The Dark Ages you should be like a tank, massive and strong. The game’s theme changes from “Jump and Shoot” to “Stand and Fight”.

In Doom: The Dark Ages, your equipment includes the so-called Shieldsaw, a shield with a chainsaw. This shield can be thrown and therefore used as a weapon. Or you can use it in a chivalrous way to block and parry attacks.

Of course, there are also powerful firearms that, according to the developers, are inspired by torture instruments – after all, they are supposed to fit into the medieval setting. Melee weapons will also include a morning star, electrified gauntlets, and a nail-strewn mace that you can swing parallel to your powerful shield.

You can see the new gameplay for Doom: The Dark Ages here:

Doom: The Dark Ages presents new gameplay in video

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In addition to the basic equipment – the shield, the melee weapons and of course your guns – there will be a few special features in the latest Doom that we were able to discover in the first trailer:

  • a huge Atlan mech with which you can beat up giant demons
  • a fire-breathing cyber dragon with a Gatling gun on whose back you fly through hellscapes.
  • Both the dragon and the mech should have different abilities and mini-bosses that you can destroy with them.

    How difficult will the new Doom be? So that you can experience the game the way you enjoy most, Doom: The Dark Ages is getting new difficulty settings. These appear in the form of sliders with which you can individually adjust the difficulty. For example, you can extend or shorten the time window for parades or reduce or increase the aggression of opponents and the speed of the game.

    For example, parrying is generally intended to be easier and more intuitive than in Soulslike games like Elden Ring, but you can shorten the time window for parries so much that they become absurdly difficult.

    For MeinMMO editor Dariusz, Doom: The Dark Ages is one of the most interesting shooters that will appear in 2025 – and the new information has even strengthened this impression. You can find out which other upcoming shooters you should keep an eye on here: 10 new shooters that will be particularly interesting in 2025 – you should put these releases in your calendar

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