DOOM The Dark Ages made a very big announcement during Xbox Direct and we were able to find out more ahead of the event. The game will surprise you.
DOOM The Dark Ages will be released soon for PC and consoles and brings with it lots of new features. The game appeared during the Xbox Direct this evening to show us some of it. He also took the opportunity to make an announcement that was highly anticipated by fans, although unfortunately it was leaked ahead of schedule.
Even more than with DOOM Eternal, Id Software wants to pull out all the stops with DOOM The Dark Ages. A few days ago, thanks to an online event hosted by the studio, we were able to get a brief overview and also learn more about the game, its context and its new features.
DOOM The Dark Ages or the most ambitious game of the license
So the developers told us that this new DOOM is neither more nor less than the most ambitious of the entire franchise, but simply the studio's most ambitious game in general. As a sort of admission of failure given the very mixed feedback on DOOM Eternal's platforming phases, the studio decided to do this a real return to basics. “In DOOM Eternal you were a fighter plane, in DOOM The Dark Ages you will be an attack tank”this is the vision that led the developers to review the gameplay of this new work.
Leave the grappling hook and the antics, The Dark Ages will leave us more grounded, but give us a little more freedom of movement. This will allow us to move sideways while shooting like a madman, without any noticeable drawbacks, but also allow us to rely on a major new feature: the chainsaw sign. The latter can be used as Captain America's shieldThey can be thrown to slice monsters, lifted to deflect blows, and even used as a weapon for some finishing moves.
The executions, the famous glory kills, will still be there, but slightly different. DOOM The Dark Ages completely redesigned the system to make it smoother and more interesting. We have to disorient enemies by blocking blows or weakening them before killing them with our melee weapon. There will also be at least three: a mace, a flail, and an electrified gauntlet. Of course, the big guns will be there and will offer very different mechanics there too. The game is based on medieval, dark fantasy with a touch of science fiction, as described by the developers. The design of the weapons will be very atypical. In any case, most of them will be very massive and that is normal since the enemies will be more numerous than in the past.
A very cheeky shooter that promises to add variety to the gameplay
We are not satisfied with being allowed to destroy everything on earth, The game also lets us fly into the air on the back of a cybernetic dragon. Of course we can ride the creature multiple times and it will offer unique gameplay. We will cut through the air, they will destroy huge facilities and we will even be able to face gigantic creatures. By the way, the same applies when we drive the mecha, because yes, There is also a giant mecha. There we can also stuff ourselves with huge monsters to play with Pacific Rimthe destruction of the environment and other pleasant things like that. The developers promised us varied gameplay It has a calming effect, especially with regard to the dragon, so as not to reproduce the mistakes of other games in the genre. Of course, there will also be unique objectives and mini-bosses to defeat with our two mounts. In short, there will be bleeding there too.
Do you like crazy games? You will be served. DOOM The Dark Ages promises intense massacre sessions. The creatures will be very numerous and will always have special abilities that make them unique. We will find most of the bestiary already familiar, but also a few new ones. On the other hand, the design of all monsters has changed. This new DOOM takes place long before 2016's DOOM. Our hunter is then a weapon in the service of “good”. We don't know much about the narrative yet, but the developers told us they've made efforts here too. So DOOM The Dark Ages could definitely surprise us. Especially since the game will have a codex. We can find information about everything around us, places, creatures and people we meet.
DOOM The Dark Ages will be much more open… an open world? News that will divide
The game therefore opens up several aspectsand even exploring. Since its reboot, DOOM has featured more labyrinthine but generally linear environments. You could explore and discover secrets (a very entertaining thing), but nothing more. With DOOM The Dark Ages the license takes a step forward and offers us huge areas to explore. For example, the developers told us about an area that has become a real battlefield that we can explore at will. Fight on the front lines or explore the surroundings, Discover hidden caves and even dungeons.
Of course we are rewarded with loot. Especially since the skills system is still there, has obviously been changed there too and will force us to search everywhere. This is what the studio told us “It is the players who determine the pace of the game”. A point that we really want to find out since it is very strange knowing our hunter's penchant for blood. It's hard to imagine that he enjoys getting lost here and there to discover his surroundings. From then on to talk about the open world? Maybe not. That's what we were told the areas would be very largemore We weren't told anything about an open world in the traditional sense. In any case, it was promised to us a lot of different environmentsand from this point of view it is very promising.
During this Xbox Direct, DOOM The Dark Ages showed us a little bit of it. But it's the extremely cheeky gameplay that will really please fans. The game has also announced its release date and you won't have to wait long to get your hands on it. DOOM The Dark Ages is expected on May 15, 2025 for Xbox Series, PC, but also PS5. The game will also be available on Xbox Game Pass from day one.
