Here The dark age Really of expectation. In my last (and longest) section of the demo I was inserted into a sandpit open zone in ID and should approach it. My lonely goal is to close five demon tip portals, but how I do it and what distractions I go is entirely with me. Over an hour, I am repeatedly reminded that I have never played a Doom game like this.
As you would hope, this sandbox sequence is stacked with optional goals -heavily protected artillery batteries that you can take out, gold dates for upgrades and much more. At some point I just run somewhere when a tentacle in cathemic size bursts out of the ground and attacking this is not a script moment or even a goal that I have given, it is just another surprise that is hidden on the way.
But also surprise the core goals themselves. In this first mission of the first story, closing portals was simply a case to clear an arena, but in this case it is never the case. Some portals transport me to a dungeon and ask me to solve puzzles to find my way to the energy source that operates it. Other leaders present – overwhelmed beasts that are invulnerable for my attacks until I kill enough of their followers and go hand in hand with permanent upgrades after their victory. On the way I find new weapons and expand my weapon chamber with new options. It is restless, relentlessly inventive, as if ID had waited for an opportunity to transform new ideas into fate format.
And that is the most important snack from my full session Downfall: The dark age – This feels like a developer who is enthusiastic Be. I had expected a new story, new weapons and new demons – I didn't expect any new genres. I can't wait to find out what else this team has in stock.
Doom: The dark age Start for the Xbox series X | S, PC (via the Xbox -app for Windows PC, Steam and Battle.net), PlayStation 5 and Cloud on May 15, 2025. Day 1 with a game pass will be available.
