There’s nothing quite like Doom, especially after recent releases saw the series reinvent itself as a fast-paced arcade-shooter that wasn’t afraid to paint the town red with demonic blood. A new entry in the series was recently showed off again at the Xbox Developer Direct, and this time, Doom: The Dark Ages will see players create a medieval massacre when they take on the armies of the damned.

A dark fantasy with an over-the-top arsenal and a metal soundtrack, rumors of a Doom prequel began to appear in 2023 after court documents were leaked, with the game having the working title of Doom: Year Zero. Now that it’s out in the wild and has been shown off in great detail, here’s a closer look at everything we know about Doom: The Dark Ages so far.

When will Doom: The Dark Ages be released?

As revealed during the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, Doom: The Dark Ages will be released in 2025. During the Xbox Developer Direct in January 2025, id Software and Microsoft announced that The Dark Ages will launch on May 15.

Doom: The Dark Ages platforms

Doom: The Dark Ages will have a multi-platform release on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5. Microsoft owns the franchise but will continue to release new entries in the series on rival systems like PS5. It’s a first-party game for Microsoft, so it should also be available via Game Pass.

Will Doom: The Dark Ages be PS5 Pro enhanced?

The number of games with a PS5 Pro Enhanced label are still small for now, and Doom: The Dark Ages isn’t currently on that list. Games developed by Id Software are typically some of the best-in-class when it comes to visuals, and the next Doom could certainly benefit from the extra horsepower of that system if it does get optimized for the high-end Sony console.

Doom: The Dark Ages story, setting, and characters

As GameSpot’s Steve Watts reported, Bethesda said that it aimed to shift the feeling of Doom again with The Dark Ages. Whereas Doom Eternal wanted to make you fight like a fighter jet, Dark Ages makes you an iron tank who can stand your ground. That’s thanks largely to the versatility of the new Shield Saw. This piece of equipment lets you block, parry, and attack, with each function complementing your array of firearms. And, Bethesda noted, this means strafing is a viable strategy again. There’s also a revised Glory Kill that’s more contextual and varied based on your weapons and the angle you’re facing the enemy demons.

Though you’ll be spending most of your time killing demons on foot as the Slayer, you’ll also pilot both a giant mech and a cybernetic dragon. The studio noted that each has its own suite of abilities and minibosses to fight. In a deep dive into a mission, we saw the Slayer confronting a large battle taking place outside a medieval castle, with an open sandbox to discover secrets and resources. After breaking through the enemy lines, you can go back to the main castle gates to trigger what appears to be a giant boss battle.

The Dark Ages is a strictly single-player game; there is no multiplayer. “We made that decision early so we could really just go all in on the campaign. It’s our largest, most expansive, most epic campaign ever, and we’re just really happy with the decision,” executive producer Marty Stratton said.

Doom: The Dark Ages gameplay

Like the other Doom games, the primary combat of The Dark Ages is pure run-and-gun action at its core. The game has a distinct push-forward sense of energy influenced by the original Doom games, according to The Dark Ages’ directors Hugo Martin and Marty Stratton.

“At the beginning of project, everybody kind of goes back and plays the original Doom,” said Stratton. “There were so many things in that original game that just have have fueled us… It’s always that evolution, but there’s just so much of the DNA even with the way that we develop and our our team size. When we were talking about like what is Doom [in development], it was very much like borrowing from those ideas of the original Doom and Doom 2. As the brand has evolved and the ideas through the lore and all the different gameplay mechanics have evolved… it’s amazing when you play the game you’re just like ‘this is unbelievable.'”

The directors also explained how the slower-moving projectiles in this game harken back to the first two Doom titles.

“I think in the original Doom, in the opening hours, we all remember imps or soldiers firing slow moving projectiles… and they hit hard,” explained Martin. “And if you get hit by one of those, you’re in a lot of trouble… That’s where the movement comes in. Instead of constructing a multi-tiered arena… if we ground it, slow down the projectiles, make them hit way harder, and create patterns in the space, then that’s the jungle gym you’re going to move through.”

What we haven’t seen yet is how the health and ammo economy of The Dark Ages will function. 2016’s Doom forced players to essentially use specific tools and moves to harvest what they needed from their enemies, and Doom Eternal built on that idea with a system of action, chainsaws, flamethrowers, and swords. It was a killer combo of rhythm and speed, and it’ll be interesting to see how Doom’s emphasis on rip and tearing through enemies will evolve in The Dark Ages.

Doom: The Dark Ages weapons

Some of the best arsenals in video games can be found in the Doom games, and The Dark Ages looks set to continue that tradition of outrageous firepower. So far, we’ve seen the Doom Slayer’s signature super-shotgun, a plasma-firing assault rifle, a rifle that fires railroad stakes, and a weapon that grinds up skulls and turns them into deadly pieces of high-velocity shrapnel. Officially, this is called the Skullcrusher, but unofficially, we’re calling this our head-cannon.

Doom: The Dark Ages shield

Interestingly, The Dark Ages will also see the Doom Slayer wield a shield in combat, proving that the best defense is a metal-bladed shield-saw that can be thrown through demons as if you were a bloodthirsty version of Captain America. Not only can you block attacks and push through enemy fire with the shield, but you’ll even be able to parry enemies when you nail the timing of it. In the brief snippet of gameplay we’ve seen so far, the Doom Slayer hurls the shield like a demonic frisbee through cannon fodder enemies, ricochets off a wall to do even more damage, and catches it in one fluid motion, readying it for use against the legions of Hell.

While you’ll have to wait until 2025 to feel what it’s like in action, one enterprising modder has already inserted it into the original Doom game.

Can you ride a dragon in Doom: The Dark Ages?

Hell yeah, you can! While there aren’t too many details on it yet, we do know that the Doom Slayer will mount a jet-fueled, cybernetic war dragon in the game.

Can you pilot a Pacific Rim-style mech against Godzilla-sized demons?

You bet your chainsaw-shield that you can rip and tear on a titanic scale, thanks to the Atlan mech.

Keep checking back with GameSpot for more on Doom: The Dark Ages in the days, weeks, and months to come!