Doom: The Dark Ages takes us back to the beginning, and it'll be in our hands next year
After a few leaks, Doom: The Dark Ages has been officially announced as the next game game in the shooter series.
The Xbox Showcase has brought us a first look at iD Software’s highly-anticipated next project. It’s sadly not a Quake reboot as many of us had hoped, but you’d known that would be the case if you’ve been keeping up with leaks and rumours.
Doom: The Dark Ages is the studio’s next game, a project that’s reportedly been in development for around four years.
Doom: The Dark Ages - arriving in 2025 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S - very much looks like a modern Doom game, with a very familiar flow to its combat. One of the interesting new additions is the chainsaw shield. As the name suggests, the game takes place in a quasi-medieval time period - thought this is still a shooter.
The Dark Ages was previously known under the codename Year Zero, and after watching today's reveal, it’s very clear why. This is the first game to be created by ID as a Microsoft studio, following the conglomerate’s acquisition of Bethesda and Zenimax in 2020.
While the developer shipped two expansions and released several updates for Doom Eternal, it’s been especially quiet since; opting not to attend showcases or really hint at what it’s working on next publicly.
Eternal released in 2020 as a direct sequel to the 2016 reboot. It was about as well-received as its predecessor, but received a lot of criticisms for its more challenging game flow and platforming sections. Hopefully, The Dark Ages will avoid those pitfalls.