In 2025 there will be no room for swimsuit test anxiety. The only garment we will have to prove we are worthy of wearing is the dirty and heavy armor of the Slayer in DOOM: The Dark Ages.
Developer / Publisher: id Software / Bethesda Softworks Price: ND Localization: Absent Multiplayer: Absent PEGI: ND Available on: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X/S Release date: May 2025
Hello, and welcome to Dallas, Texas, home of id Software. I’ve never been to Dallas, Texas, but hearing those words open the presentation of DOOM: The Dark Ages, it’s like I’ve returned to a familiar place. After all, when you’ve spent a disproportionate number of hours wandering around Doom maps, enjoying every last byte saved in those WAD files, it’s normal to feel at home.
And so, while my senses were kidnapped by truculent images enhanced by the metal accompaniment, a part of me followed the developers and a part of me compulsively looked for a keyboard and mouse to take part in the slaughter, forgetting that there would have been no opportunity to try the gameplay firsthand. Still excited by what I saw, here I am sharing my first impressions with you, anxiously awaiting May, the month in which the game could finally find a home on our hard drives.
DOOM: THE DARK AGES AND TRAVELS THROUGH HISTORY
Normally, in a video game with such historical weight, a brief summary of the lore and genesis would be in order; however, according to the developers themselves, DOOM: The Dark Ages does not require any previous experience, indeed it represents the best opportunity to enter its fantastic universe. Are you a newbie and think the Cacodemon is a devil with dysentery? There is room for you too and the coils of fun will envelop you from the first moment of play.
The Middle Ages merge inextricably with hell. Spectacular.
Veterans, on the other hand, will be happy to know that we are facing the prequel to Doom from 2016 and above all a return to the origins also in terms of gameplay, while benefiting from all the wonders made possible by almost ten years of hardware progress.
DOOM: The Dark Ages, prequel to Doom 2016, marks a return to the origins: no more jumps and acrobatics, we’re back to fighting with our feet firmly planted on the ground.
We are once again strong and powerful beasts, we have left behind the acrobatic jumps of Doom Eternal in favor of a heavy and safe gait, dodging bullets and tearing enemy flesh apart with devastating weapons. Operation nostalgia? Boomer shooter decked out with high-resolution textures, polygon-filled models and special effects? No really, given that the innovations are numerous and many of these concern one of the aspects most loved by fans of id Software productions: combat.
SHIELD, MELEE AND FIRE WEAPONS
Normally in first person shooters when they shoot at us our only defense is represented by armor points. DOOM: The Dark Ages instead equips us with a circular saw shield with which to block or deflect enemy fire, and then transforms into a Rotating Blade of Grendizer designed to mutilate the unfortunate people who find themselves in its trajectory when we launch it like newbies Captain America.
The Slayer is equipped with a shield which, if necessary, becomes a circular saw, to parry, deflect and mutilate.
Melee plays a fundamental role in the experience, and we will have nailed clubs, electrified gloves and gigantic morning stars at our disposal to unleash a bit of healthy medieval-style ultraviolence on the infernal creatures. The videos incredibly conveyed the sensation of hurting the monsters ready to attack us in strong numerical superiority. So we’ll have to slap our way in? Absolutely not; lovers of firearms will find ammunition for their teeth as there will be no shortage of machine guns, shotguns and various guns, each with different modes of use and combos to score as many Glory Kills – imagine them as a sort of Fatality in Mortal Kombat – possible by maiming, impaling, and burning Hell’s minions.
Not just melee weapons, but also cannons that spew fire at will.
With such an arsenal available, with multiple functions, one wonders whether it wouldn’t be worth getting some clandestine surgeon to have a couple of extra fingers inserted, just to have all the buttons that the game will surely require under control. id Software goes against the grain and promises that, thanks to an intelligent system of contextual activations, only a couple of buttons will be needed to press at the right time. In the video you can actually see very rapid sequences of different actions, but the players’ hands are not shown. Do we trust? And above all, can’t you also smell soulslike in the air? The developers ensure that everything will be extremely user friendly and the learning curve will not take hours to climb. Even if superhuman abilities are required, let’s not despair: the experience is completely customizable through a series of accessibility options – I would almost say leniency – which allow you to adjust the difficulty of the challenge based on everyone’s needs, even going so far as to slow down the ‘whole game; and to think that at the time of the first Doom, PCs were equipped with the Turbo button to make them faster!
DRAGHI AND ATLAN, IN SINGLE PLAYER
Our Slayer won’t always walk around on foot as we will finally be given the chance to pilot the Atlans, mechs the size of an apartment building, to punch demons of equally generous dimensions. And there is no shortage of mounts, worthily represented by a fire-breathing mechanical dragon equipped with machine guns.
We will not only tackle the enormous levels on foot, but also driving a gigantic Atlan or riding a fire-breathing dragon.
From what we understand, they will not be freely usable but rather protagonists of some specifically designed sections, complete with miniboss. The most demanding players, however, may not be satisfied with a simple sequence of levels to clear, and DOOM: The Dark Ages also promises a compelling story, through a series of worlds with different biomes passing from dark forests to alien lands, without leaving out dangerous dungeons. By properly exploring the levels we will be able to unlock new skills and enhance the character, thus motivating us to stick our noses into even the most remote corners of the map.
Look at that beautiful fire-breathing dragon, don’t you already want to roast some demons?
Since we can only passively watch gameplay videos, it is normal to have some doubts about the structure of the game. Does all this apparent freedom of exploration and movement imply an open world structure? It would seem not, and DOOM: The Dark Ages should only be – and fortunately – a set of enormous labyrinthine and interconnected levels, without areas added just to increase the number of square kilometers of the map. Multiplayer is absent, given that id Software preferred to spend all its energy on creating a memorable adventure to be enjoyed solo. This first look put quite an intense hype in my veins, thanks above all to the look of the game, damned as hell and dirty as the darkest years of the Middle Ages. The Slayer’s attacks exude power, Ork wickedness and ignorance from every pore. I realize that it’s a bit reckless to talk about GOTY when the page still says “January” on the calendar, so we’ll talk about it again in May, when the ordeal begins.
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