I was tentatively curious about Doom: The Dark Ages when it was announced, but after attending an early preview event, I'm full-blown excited for it. Set in a medieval fantasy/sci-fi setting that serves as a direct prequel Doom (2016), The Dark Ages seemingly has a few ways to differentiate itself from the previous games. The aim is to have this game stand on its own as something familiar yet different from either Doom (2016) or its sequel, Doom: Eternal. As for exactly how the developer is approaching this, id Software's Marty Stratton (Studio Director) and Hugo Martin (Creative Director) talked about the game and fielded a slew of questions.

Eternal was a different game than 2016 was, as id Software isn't afraid to experiment with the Doom formula. Hugo Martin noted, "any time you get to make a game three times, there's so many lessons learned," and talked at length about how those lessons have influenced the new game. If the Slayer in Eternal could be described as a "fighter jet," the Slayer in The Dark Ages is more like an "iron tank." Whereas Eternal had a lot of acrobatics and longer range fighting, the new game is meant to be a return to form for the franchise. Most weapons are tooled for close- to mid-range combat, and like classic Doom games, enemy projectiles are slowed slightly so it's viable to strafe to avoid them. The idea is to encourage closer combat and to help facilitate the new gameplay loop.

In The Dark Ages, the Slayer gets the Shield Saw; if you're reading this, you likely already saw it in the trailer. If you haven't seen it yet, just imagine Captain America's shield merged with a chainsword from Warhammer 40K. Much like Cap, the Slayer can use this shield to block and parry enemy melee strikes, deflect projectiles, or throw it at distant foes; I don't think he ever used it to saw anyone's head off, though. The Slayer apparently holds the Shield Saw in his off-hand all the time, so regardless of your weapon of choice, the gameplay loop always involves using the shield effectively.

As to what the weapon of choice may be, there's a selection of them. The presentation didn't cover ranged weapons much, other than that the wide-firing skull-crushing gun is called, well, the Skull Crusher. In the trailers, there's clearly a shotgun by any other name and a gun that spikes enemies to walls, and one can reasonably rest assured that the Slayer will have other ranged toys. This time around, there will be three different melee weapons available, starting with the electrified gauntlet, and the Slayer later encounters an iron flail and a giant spiked mace. Each weapon has its own combos and upgrades, and they're all charged up like the blood punch mechanic from Eternal.

The levels that will feature in the game are touted to be larger and more open, with some of them representing the "largest play space ever in a Doom game." Objectives can often be tackled in any order, with plenty of room for exploration and finding secret caches of collectibles and supplies. At points, the Slayer will be able to ride a cybernetic, fire-breathing dragon that is equipped with a machine gun, but it wasn't clear exactly how often or where it will be available. At other key points in the game (and for some entire levels), the Slayer can pilot the Atlan, a 30-story mech that was shown to use its massive fists to brawl with enemies and a pair of giant Gatling guns to mow down foes.

There are a couple other areas where The Dark Ages is notably different than the previous two games. The game will feature more cut scenes and characters than in previous games, as the desire is to bring out the story and lore, so it's not only found in codex entries along the way. Additionally, the game will not feature a multiplayer component at all, as the decision was made early on that the game would be campaign-only. The team wanted to devote its resources to the campaign and make its narrative as strong as possible.

The game will feature preset difficulty levels, but the difficulty can be tweaked with a series of sliders to further tailor the experience to the player's liking. Game speed, incoming damage, parry window timing, and other aspects can be either increased or decreased. Some things like game speed could be changed with CVARs before, but this marks the first time these kinds of changes have been built into the UI and made fully accessible. The idea is that the game can be more accessible to everyone: a "Doom for all Slayers" that also serves as a great entry point into the series for new fans.

Doom: The Dark Ages is poised to be something different from either Doom (2016) or Doom: Eternal. Martin described the gameplay as an "iron tank battling the forces of hell in a medieval war" that is still fast paced but also a grounded return to form. The new gameplay loop seems to be more streamlined than what Eternal had, and I came away from the presentation with the feeling like this might end up being the most true-to-form Doom game. The Dark Ages has a release date of May 15, 2025, so we won't have to wait long before we find out.