According to id Software, the prequel aims to portray a more powerful Doom Slayer (pic) that feels closer to the experience of classic titles in the franchise. — Photos: id Software
Doom: The Dark Ages finally has a release date set in stone, with the prequel to the 2016 revival of the seminal first-person shooter Doom slated to launch on May 15.
Gameplay footage from the Xbox Developer Direct unveiling of the game, from developer id Software, showed off the Doom Slayer's trademark brutality, now even more amped up from the previous installments.
As shown in the initial trailer, players will wield what basically amounts to a chainsaw shield that can be thrown at enemies and used to block and parry in the style of Captain America, with some visceral glory kills thrown in for good measure.
The new trailer footage also shows what looks like the shield's ability to traverse the map, in essence helping players 'blink' to enemies that are hit by the shield further afield.
This comes as part of a shift from a more acrobatic gameplay loop like in Doom Eternal to one where players take on enemies head-on close up, with three different melee weapons to choose from, including a mace and flail alongside the requisite armoury of guns.
The new combat loop also looks meaty and visceral, with the parries and blocking coupled with the damage being dished out making the Doom Slayer feel like a walking tank as he cuts down hordes of demons.
According to id Software's Marty Stratton and Hugo Martin, the prequel aims to portray a more powerful Doom Slayer that feels closer to the experience of classic titles in the franchise, with the developers saying that they don't want to simply produce a rehash of Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal.
They further describe The Dark Ages as being a perfect entry point for players new to the franchise while also hitting the spot for longtime fans, with the goal for each game in the modern Doom trilogy to have its own feel, though with the core elements of the franchise still being present.
Environments in the title will be filled with secrets and treasures to explore, with the largest play space ever in a Doom game, making for larger sandboxes with multiple objectives that let players explore to find resources for weapon upgrades.
It also features very granular custom difficulty settings, with sliders for everything, including game speed and how much time players have to parry attacks.
This allows players to exert more control over how easy or hard their game ends up being, making for a more accessible experience for players, and for the hardcore crowd who want to ramp things up on top of the higher difficulty settings like Nightmare and Ultra Nightmare.
Players may also be pleased to hear that the 30-storey mech, known as the Atlan, and the dragon with a Gatling gun ridden by the Doom Slayer from the trailer will also have their very own gameplay loops, enemies, and bosses to deal with.
Another area where The Dark Ages differs from the previous title is how the levels are laid out, with a more linear structure without a hub area like there was in Eternal.
The soundtrack for the prequel will be composed by the award-winning team at Finishing Move, known for their work on Borderlands 3, Crackdown 3, Halo Wars 2, and The Callisto Protocol.
The title will be a single-player-only prequel to the series and covers the origin story of the Doom Slayer that was hinted at in the codex entries from Doom (2016), launching on the Game Pass, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Steam.