Doom is going medieval. Honestly, nobody really saw a shield coming to a franchise defined by double-barreled shotguns and Martian industrial complexes, but here we are. When the first trailer for Doom: The Dark Ages dropped during the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, the collective internet whiplash was audible. It wasn't just a new game; it was a total pivot in identity.
The coverage on IGN Doom Dark Ages details has been relentless because this isn't just Doom 3 or a direct sequel to Eternal. It is a prequel. It’s the origin story of the Doom Slayer before he became the silent, god-like terror of the UAC facilities. We are looking at a version of the Slayer who is younger, perhaps a bit more grounded—if you can call a man who rides mechs "grounded"—and fighting a war that looks more like Warhammer 40,000 than Quake.
The Mechanical Shift: Why You’ll Be Parrying Instead of Just Running
If you played Doom Eternal, you know the "push-forward combat" loop. You need health? Glory kill. You need ammo? Chainsaw. You need armor? Flame belch. It was a frantic, high-speed ballet that some players found a little too stressful. The Dark Ages is slowing things down. Just a little.
Hugo Martin, the creative director at id Software, has been vocal in interviews about the shift in philosophy. He describes the Slayer as a "tank." In the previous games, you were a fighter jet. Now? You are a heavy-duty piece of artillery. The biggest addition is the Shield Saw. It’s exactly what it sounds like—a shield with a serrated, spinning edge that allows you to block incoming projectiles and then hurl it like a lethally sharp frisbee. This changes the geometry of every fight. Instead of just dodging, you are standing your ground.
The "world-building" here is heavy. We’re seeing a version of the Argent D'Nur civilization that feels lived-in and decaying. It’s gritty.
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There’s also the flail. In the footage shared and analyzed across major outlets, the flail isn't just a melee weapon; it’s a resource gatherer. By hitting enemies with it, you collect souls or energy to power up your other gear. It’s a rhythmic change. You aren't just zipping through the air with the Meathook anymore; you’re planting your feet and swinging heavy metal.
Tech Specs and the Power of id Tech 8
The jump to id Tech 8 is a big deal. The sheer scale of the battles shown in the trailers—hundreds of enemies on screen, massive dragons, and towering mechs—requires a level of optimization that id Software is famous for. While Doom Eternal ran beautifully on almost anything, The Dark Ages is targeting a "cinematic" scale.
- The game is confirmed for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and—interestingly—PlayStation 5.
- This is one of the first major Bethesda titles to go multiplatform since the Microsoft acquisition.
- The environments are much more open than the "corridor-arena-corridor" layout of 2016.
The "Atlan" mechs are a standout feature. We saw glimpses of these giant machines in the lore of Eternal, standing tall in the backgrounds of levels like Exultia. In The Dark Ages, you actually get into the cockpit. It isn't just a cutscene. You’re punching demons the size of skyscrapers. This sense of scale is what id Software is banking on to make the prequel feel "bigger" despite being set in the past.
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The Aesthetic: From Cyberpunk to Heavy Metal Fantasy
People keep calling it "Doom-eval." It fits. The art direction has moved away from the neon blues and oranges of the UAC and into the browns, greys, and deep reds of a dark fantasy world. The Slayer himself looks different. He’s wearing a fur-lined cape. He has a more knight-like appearance.
The weapon design is also fascinatingly low-tech but high-power. You have a shotgun that literally grinds up skulls to use as shrapnel. Think about that for a second. You aren't picking up boxes of shells; you’re feeding the remains of your enemies into a hopper to shoot their friends. It’s grim, it’s metal, and it’s perfectly in line with what fans expect while feeling completely fresh.
The music is another point of massive discussion. With Mick Gordon out of the picture, the community was worried about the "sound" of Doom. However, the heavy, industrial, guttural tracks heard in the previews suggest that the internal team at id is leaning into a more orchestral-meets-chainsaw vibe that matches the medieval setting. It’s less "dubstep with guitars" and more "war drums in a cathedral."
Why This Prequel Matters for the Lore
For the lore nerds, this is the Holy Grail. We’ve spent years reading codex entries about the Sentinels and the betrayal by the Deag priests. Now we’re living it. We are seeing the Slayer when he was still a man—or shortly after he became more than one.
There is a specific tension here. We know where the Slayer ends up. We know he ends up in a sarcophagus on Mars. The journey there is what The Dark Ages promises to fill in. It’s about the fall of a civilization. It’s about how a warrior becomes a myth.
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What to Expect Next
If you’re looking to stay ahead of the curve on Doom: The Dark Ages, there are a few things you should be doing right now to prepare for the 2025 release.
- Revisit the Doom Eternal Codex: Specifically, look for the entries on the "Unchained Predator" and the "Sentinel Civil War." A lot of the locations seen in the new trailers are directly referenced there. It gives you a much better sense of who the bosses might be.
- Watch the "Art of Doom" Deep Dives: There are several community breakdowns of the trailer that identify the specific demon types returning from the 90s games. The Cyberdemon’s ancestor is in there, and it looks terrifying.
- Check Your Hardware: Since this is the debut of id Tech 8, don't expect it to run on a potato. If you’re a PC player, start looking at your VRAM. The texture density in the "Dark Ages" footage is significantly higher than anything we saw in 2020.
- Keep an eye on QuakeCon: That is usually where the "raw" gameplay—the stuff that isn't edited for a 2-minute hype trailer—actually gets shown to the public.
The shift toward a slower, more deliberate "projectile-heavy" combat system might alienate some of the "speed-run" crowd, but for most, it’s a welcome evolution. It prevents the franchise from becoming a parody of itself. By looking backward into the Slayer's history, id Software is actually finding a way to move the genre forward. This isn't just another shooter. It’s a reimagining of what a first-person brawler can be when you give the player a shield, a dragon, and a mechanical suit of armor.