| DOOM: The Dark Ages | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
DOOM: The Dark Ages is an action shooter and the latest installment in the long-standing DOOM franchise. Read on to learn how it plays, what it’s about, and everything else we know so far.
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DOOM: The Dark Ages Gameplay
DOOM: The Dark Ages' gameplay is a more boots-on-the-ground experience focusing more on melee and close quarters combat over Eternal's weapon cycling and aerial attacks. Staying true to the series' roots, this latest entry offers a fast-paced, first-person shooter experience that pits players—embodying the unstoppable Slayer—against the relentless Legions of Hell.
Equipped with an array of powerful weapons and abilities, players will boost their firepower, survivability, mobility, and speed as they blast through the game's intense story stages. Colossal boss battles, including a showdown with one of Hell's mighty Titans, mark key moments in The Slayer’s journey. Set against a backdrop of medieval carnage and rich lore, players will uncover the secrets of The Slayer's legendary—yet largely untold—past.
Recommend the game to:
⚫︎ Players who’ve played DOOM (2016) and DOOM: Eternal
⚫︎ Fans of the DOOM Series
⚫︎ Players who enjoy fast-paced, visceral, FPS action
⚫︎ People who enjoy high-quality, hyperrealistic graphics
Take Part in The Slayer’s Expanded Arsenal of Demon-Killing Weapons
In DOOM: The Dark Ages, The Slayer’s weapons are as legendary as the man himself. Leading the charge is the fan-favorite double-barreled Super Shotgun—minus the Meat Hook from DOOM: Eternal, but still packing a punch. Also making its debut is the Slayer’s new offhand weapon, the Shield Saw: a brutal tool that not only blocks enemy attacks but also slices through demons with a chainsaw-edged, Captain America-style toss.
Also included in DOOM: The Dark Ages is an arsenal of new weapons like the fan-favorite Shredder from the game's trailer, which mulches skulls into a wide fan of fragmented projectiles, the Chainshot, which breaks armor from afar with its chargeable ball and chain, the obligatory energy weapon in the form of the Accelerator plasma gun, and the Impaler, a stake-driving long-ranged option.
Mechas, Dragons, and Parrying Mechanics
DOOM: The Dark Ages introduces an expanded suite of combat tools and mechanics that aren’t necessarily just weapons, pushing The Slayer’s rampage to new, more violent extremes in this medieval setting.
The most talked-about addition is the Atlan Mech, a massive mechanized armor teased in the trailer as a potential means to confront massive foes like Titans. Getting its own dedicated gameplay sections, controls, and special attacks, the Atlan Mech take's the slayer's rampage to new heights as he mows down titans.
Adding to the excitement, players get to soar over battlefields on the back of Serrat, the Slayer's dragon. With its fiery form coursing with the ominous red glow of Argent energy, this unexpected mount brings verticality and a fearsome new angle to the Slayer’s crusade against Hell in dedicated flight combat sequences and dodge-attack-style duels against some of Ahzrak's Hell ships.
Rounding out the upgrades, DOOM: The Dark Ages introduces a parry and riposte mechanic—a first for the series—that works seamlessly with the new Shield Saw. This system allows players to deflect incoming attacks and send them right back to the opposition, potentially staggering them or breaking their armor.
DOOM: The Dark Ages Story
DOOM: The Dark Ages Story Plot
DOOM: The Dark Ages is a direct prequel to DOOM (2016) and DOOM: Eternal, and is set in ancient Argent D'nur during the time of King Novik and his Knight Sentinels. Featuring the Kreed Maykr as a representative of the Maykr race, Commander Thira and King Novik as the head of the Sentinaels, and the Slayer himself as a weapon for the Maykrs, DOOM: The Dark Ages pits this uneasy alliance of powers against an upstart Demon Prince named Ahzrak.
Seeking something called the Heart of Argent to awaken and control a powerful beast from another dimension, Ahzrak's siege of Argent D'nur could only be stopped by the Slayer. But while under the thumb of the Maykrs, he could only do as he is told, or at least, until he breaks out and begins his one man crusade against Ahzrak's forces anew.
DOOM: The Dark Ages Setting
DOOM: The Dark Ages reveals yet another chapter in the Slayer’s long and bloody history as a destroyer of demons, this time seemingly from a time before the fall of Earth and Mars and the discovery of Argent Energy.
As hinted at by the game’s official announcement trailer, this game is set in a time when the Slayer was the superweapon of gods and kings in Ancient Argent D'nur, and his arsenal reflects this period with the introduction of dragons, a greater focus on medieval-age melee weapons, and a revamped look.
DOOM: The Dark Ages Characters
The Slayer
Known to long-time fans as "Doom Guy" and rebranded as The Slayer in the explosive 2016 reboot, this legendary demon-slayer is the unstoppable force at the heart of the DOOM series. Armed with an arsenal that ranges from conventional guns to iconic weapons like the Crucible Sword and the BFG, The Slayer stands as humanity’s last line of defense against the legions of Hell.
Blessed with godlike strength and near-immortality, The Slayer is a terrifying presence on the battlefield, tearing through demons with relentless fury. For the forces of Hell, he’s more than just another player in the invasion of Earth—he’s their worst nightmare.
The Legions of Hell
From the smallest Imps to towering Cyberdemons, the Legions of Hell make up the relentless invasion force that storms Earth in DOOM: The Dark Ages. These infernal soldiers, numbering in the hundreds of millions, tear through to our world using portals powered by Argent energy, overwhelming humanity’s defenses with brutal strength and sheer numbers.
Familiar horrors like hulking Mancubi, Zombies, Imps, and Gargoyles make appearances, and sharp-eyed viewers have spotted possible sightings of fan-favorite demons such as a reimagined Revenant, a mounted demon riding a mutate Pinky, a terrifying Archvile-like creature, a massive armored creature resembling DOOM: Eternal’s Gladiator, Arachnotrons, and even a Titan (with its own armored variant, of course!)
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