Microsoft DOOM: The Dark Ages (PC/PS5/Xbox Series | 2025) - update (08/11): new details from QuakeCon

[Best]

2 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

Doom is a different mindset than other FPS games.  You need to be aggressive, and constantly moving.

 

I just played a half hour and didn't die once. It's frantic and really cool. Everything is well explained and checkpoints are clear to see. It's pretty impressive. 

[AbsolutSurgen]

Just now, best3444 said:

 

I just played a half hour and didn't die once. It's frantic and really cool. Everything is well explained and checkpoints are clear to see. It's pretty impressive. 

[skillzdadirecta]

18 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

[legend]

I've never played Doom (nor Eternal) on its easiest setting. Maybe it stays easy on that mode? Pretty sure I did both on Ultra Violence, and the end had me sweating, but maybe "I'm Too Young to Die" is appropriately scaled for people who aren't looking for a challenge?

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

3 hours ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

Doom is a different mindset than other FPS games.  You need to be aggressive, and constantly moving.

 

This is absolutely the key to success in the nu-DOOM series.

 

The game has a degree of kineticism and momentum that's really quite unmatched among mainstream FPS games.  Once you attain what can best be described as a "flow state", the gameplay truly becomes a seamless symphony of demonic slaughter!

[Moa]

Right, the new DOOM games are some of the very few single player FPS games where the most effective way to play is also the most fun. Most games kind of break when you start trying to power game them since the optimal strategy is usually cheesy and dull, but in DOOM the best way to play is to go hard and fast. The early Halo games are fantastic, but on the top difficulty they quickly become a tedious chore of waiting for your shield to regen while picking off enemies. They become more of an exercise in patience than skill. DOOM on nightmare is a difficult delight, my only complaint is that all the weapon swapping becomes hard on my wrists.

[Best]

14 hours ago, legend said:

I've never played Doom (nor Eternal) on its easiest setting. Maybe it stays easy on that mode? Pretty sure I did both on Ultra Violence, and the end had me sweating, but maybe "I'm Too Young to Die" is appropriately scaled for people who aren't looking for a challenge?

 

I think you might be on to something here. I've played over an hour and half and have had no issues on the easiest difficulty.

 

This is the game I needed in my current health situation. Fast, explosive, and extremely exhilarating. Just nonstop action with no story or anything. 

[legend]

9 hours ago, Moa said:

Right, the new DOOM games are some of the very few single player FPS games where the most effective way to play is also the most fun. Most games kind of break when you start trying to power game them since the optimal strategy is usually cheesy and dull, but in DOOM the best way to play is to go hard and fast. The early Halo games are fantastic, but on the top difficulty they quickly become a tedious chore of waiting for your shield to regen while picking off enemies. They become more of an exercise in patience than skill. DOOM on nightmare is a difficult delight, my only complaint is that all the weapon swapping becomes hard on my wrists.

 

I strongly disagree that the best way to play Halo on legendary wasn't the most fun. It was always my go to difficulty because it more greatly rewarded fun play and pulling off some really cool moves. The single back-shot on the hunter after a dance, the plasma-pistol to pistol headshot on the charging elites with plasma swords who die moments before they can finish the swing, the "creative" uses of vehicles. Etc.

 

However, I do completely agree that Doom encourages a very different style of play than most shooters and that that way is very fun in its own right.

[Best]

Ok. So after two days with Doom Eternal I can safely say this is a masterpiece in FPS. It is so well designed. I will be beating this so that says a lot. 

[Best]

I'm about 10 hours into this. Such an incredible fp shooting experience. I mean it stays fresh with new upgrades throughout and the action never gets old. I'm a story driven type of gamer but this is just flat out mindless fun. 

[AbsolutSurgen]

S Hayden is the best character in video games. 

[HardAct]

On 5/24/2024 at 1:00 PM, ort said:

Yes, Eternal was very good. As for being non-gun... I wouldn't count on that. I would be shocked if they made a DOOM game that didn't have guns. I mean, anything is possible, but I doubt that's the direction they go in. If they wanted to do that they shouldn't call it DOOM.

 

My least favorite part of the new DOOM games was the story. DOOM shouldn't really have a story and if it needs to have a story it shouldn't that goofy ass weird story. Not only was the story weird, but it was weird and poorly told.

The last two DOOM games have been just GREAT AAA titles and I'm all in on anything doom as long as they stay on the path their on and don't fuck it up. That said, I have never even thought abought the story while playing DOOM games. I think it's kind of laughable that you think the story is the worst part because i'm positive that even the DEV's think it's the worse part {No offence meant of course} LMAO. Anyway no matter the name they have my money as soon as they release anything DOOM at this point.

[Best]

I just got stuck in Eternal lol. I had to call it quits for this morning. I litteraly couldn't find where you go. 

[gamer.tv]

This thread is making me want to re-sub to PS+ to finish Doom Eternal.

[Best]

Just now, gamer.tv said:

This thread is making me want to re-sub to PS+ to finish Doom Eternal.

 

For a FPS it's a 10/10 type game. Do it!

[Keyser_Soze]

 

[Bacon]

This and Gears won NotE3

[stepee]

This doesn’t look woke but I need him to take the helmet off to make sure.

[Brick]

Fuck yes! That shield makes Captain America look like a little bitch. 

[Bacon]

The Mech combat, Dragon riding, and Shield seem a bit too gimmicky, imo. Doubt it will be as good as Eternal, but it could still easily be a 9/10.

Eternal was 10/10 GOTY

[Best]

So fuckin badass. Having just recently beating Doom Eternal this is absolutely a buy for me. 

[Reputator]

5 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

 

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF I JIZZED A LITTLE

[ort]

Looks good to me. Happy to see plenty of

guns

.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

[Bacon]

I always thought Glory Kills were an unfortunate necessity, rather than a positive addition.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Doom: The Dark Ages is introducing big changes to combat because id Software came to one core realization: "Every projectile mattered in the original Doom" | GamesRadar+

WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM

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Creative director Hugo Martin on how Doom: The Dark Ages is a spiritual successor to the original game, and how the Saw Shield will completely upend your expectations

 

Quote

The thing is, id Software has landed in this medieval war against Hell not out of convenience but out of a need to change the fundamentals of play. To return to where Doom became legend two decades ago. "At the start of every development cycle, I play the original Doom again, and have the team play it too. I realized that we still didn't hit the mark" says creative director Hugo Martin. And that is where Doom: The Dark Ages was born. 

 

The cause of this epiphany? The projectiles. The nightmarish gauntlet of floating, homing hazards. "I noticed right away how slow those projectiles move – it just dawned on me that that is the maze. The movement is more horizontal as you weave your way between the projectiles, and every projectile mattered in the original Doom." 

 

Doom Eternal invested heavily in verticality, making constant movement across multiple planes of wider combat arenas a central component of the core rhythm to encounters. Martin says that returning to the ethos that underpinned the series in the first instance became a "core pillar" of what the team wanted to achieve with Doom: The Dark Ages. "We couldn't go any higher in the air than Doom Eternal. That was a great experience, but we want each game to stand on its own," says Martin. 

 

"If you were an F22 fighter jet in Doom Eternal, this time around we wanted you to feel like an Abrams tank," he adds, and it's an analogy that's indicative of where id is steering Doom: The Dark Ages. "It means you're more powerful and grounded. The combat system for new players – those who only got into Doom with the reboot – I think with The Dark Ages they are going to feel like this is a reimagined combat system. But for long-time fans of the series, people who played the original Doom, you'll see it's really a return to form." 

 

What does that mean in real terms? Martin says the spirit of the original game comes alive in a number of ways, but perhaps the most notable is with respect to how you move. "You're heavier, more powerful, and grounded," he says. "We're making strafing-to-aim a thing again. You'll be weaving between projectiles, just like you did in the original Doom, to deliver that Super Shotgun blast to the chest… It almost creates this three-dimensional 'shoot 'em up' puzzle that you're weaving your way through."

 

 

[legend]

1 hour ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Doom: The Dark Ages is introducing big changes to combat because id Software came to one core realization: "Every projectile mattered in the original Doom" | GamesRadar+

WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM

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Creative director Hugo Martin on how Doom: The Dark Ages is a spiritual successor to the original game, and how the Saw Shield will completely upend your expectations

 

 

 

 

I'm glad the interviewer did bring it up, because it struck me as funny how he was saying this one is more grounded whereas Eternal was more of a fighter jet, since in this one they're letting your ride a fast as shit dragon  

[AbsolutSurgen]

11 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Doom: The Dark Ages is introducing big changes to combat because id Software came to one core realization: "Every projectile mattered in the original Doom" | GamesRadar+

WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM

---

Creative director Hugo Martin on how Doom: The Dark Ages is a spiritual successor to the original game, and how the Saw Shield will completely upend your expectations

 

 

 

Sounds like they've taken the feedback from Doom Eternal to heart.  Doom Eternal was very good, but the platforming really held it back.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

New details from QuakeCon:

 

Quote

• World is much more open than previous games
• Three melee weapons: Flail (collects ammunition), Mace, and Fists (creates chains of electricity)
• The saw shield can be used to traverse the map
•  Saw Shield can be thrown at enemies
• Less verticality than Doom Eternal; jumping is weightier and heavier now (comparable to Power Armor in FO4)
• Glory Kill system has been reinvented
• New weapons revealed; Double-barrel Plasma Ehotgun, Single-barrel shotgun
• You can nail enemies to the wall with the Nail Gun
• The giant mech can be used several times throughout the Campaign
• The mech fights with its fists and a double cannon
• Mech can perform Glory Kills and has a specialized HUD