DOOM: The Dark Ages made us want to mosh against demons again
DOOM: The Dark Ages was one of the most impactful announcements of the Xbox Showcase, so much so that it is worth discovering it and commenting on what was shown.
A new DOOM? But aren’t you a little tired of these FPS games? Enough really, we need more. And then they could at least pick up the Quake series. What do you say?! There’s a machine gun loaded with skulls and a shield that’s also a chainsaw? When does it come out? Jokes aside, the announcement of DOOM: The Dark Ages at the Xbox Showcase wasn’t exactly a surprise , considering it had been teased weeks earlier. Nonetheless, when it appeared it immediately captured general attention because it seems exactly what a new DOOM should be: a metal symphony of explosions, blood and weapons so absurd that they make the rounds and become cult objects (give us that shield. .. Now).
From DOOM to DOOM
Id Software is not only a historic software house , but also a fairly prolific one for the years we are living in. Not that I can release a game a year, but considering that DOOM came out in 2016, Quake Champions in 2017 (in closed beta), DOOM Eternal in 2020, and DOOM: The Dark Ages comes out in 2025 (and we’re not counting DLC , remasters and various re-editions), has evidently found its own rhythm, favored by the enormous internal skills in the technological field and by the choice to remain anchored to a genre that it knows perfectly, also because it has in some way canonized it (other times and other developers )
DOOM: The Dark Ages made us want to mosh against demons again
DOOM: The Dark Ages – Announcement Trailer
The current Id Software seems to be a studio with really clear ideas, considering that Hugo Martin, the director of DOOM Eternal before and now of The Dark Ages, had already explained in 2021 what the setting of the new game would be in an interview with Polygon: “Maybe we could tell the story of when the DOOM Slayer first arrived there with the Sentinels , with a more medieval fantasy setting.” So it was, one might comment. Moreover, already in The Ancient Gods Part 1 and 2, the two narrative DLCs of Eternal, there were clear clues as to where the series would end up. In any case, the trailer seen at the Xbox Showcase dispelled any doubts.
DOOM: The Dark Ages made us want to mosh against demons again
The trailer
One of the best moments in the movie is when the Doom Slayer grabs a skull and uses it to reload a machine gun, starting to mow down demons as if they were balloons. It’s one of those passages that is so over the top that it’s somehow sublime. In general, the entire video is a hymn to a certain way of understanding the genre, which is currently found above all looking towards the independent scene, where boomer shooters (first-person shooters that look to the origins of the genre for their gameplay and technology ) proliferate, because the community that follows them is tired of tame games like Call of Duty and the like .
The metal music pumps, the Doom Slayer has a miraculous design in its own way , which starts from that of the space marine of the original DOOM without being ridiculous. This was already the case in 2016, the year of the reboot, but now his figure appears somehow even more imposing, perhaps because he survived the risks associated with having to start from scratch in such an important series. When we see him grab the aforementioned saw shield and tear demons into pieces by throwing them at them, as if he were a Captain America out of hell, one might think that whoever made the trailer really got everything right, that is, gave the public potential of DOOM: The Dark Ages exactly what he wanted, without hesitating or trying alternative paths. How can you not enjoy when the Doom Slayer raises his shield and blocks blows in rhythm with the background music?
A strange Middle Ages
The Middle Ages itself in the game is only a seasoning for a dish that in its own way seems too tempting to be refused. There are therefore castles and dark burning forests, but also cannons and flying cities. The Doom Slayer’s armor itself is not exactly medieval, despite the fur cloak (which looks very Nordic warrior-like) and some classy touches such as the chain attached to the waist. He is a mixed bag, but one of those who seem aware of it and who affirm their nature with great pride.
There are shields, but also a carved shotgun made by who knows what craftsman, there are armored demons, vehicles, dragons with metal wings but, above all, there is a lot of shooting, between smaller enemies who are exterminated and the larger ones who seem to resist the shots better engaging our hero in more challenging fights (real duels?). There is a kind of gigantic robot that it seems we will be able to drive, just as it seems that we will be able to ride dragons, at least according to the final scene in which we see one with the Doom Slayer on its back framed with a decidedly videogame style. In short, in the trailer there are so many suggestions designed for the most radical FPS fans that it is really difficult to find anything wrong with them.
Moreover, Martin explained in an interview with Games Radar+ that the starting point of The Dark Ages was the very first DOOM, in which every bullet counted, because the movements were mainly horizontal and the player was there to dodge the hardest shots lenses.
And the beauty of how the new chapter was presented is precisely this: DOOM: The Dark Ages could be very different from DOOM Eternal, which developed mainly vertically, but still managed to satisfy the DOOM community thanks to its focus on some fundamental elements. For Martin, in DOOM Eternal the player felt like an F22 fighter, while The Dark Ages’ goal is to make the player feel like a tank . So the player will be more powerful and will stay on the ground longer, in what promises to be a real return to the roots of the series. “We’re putting the need to aim and dodge the focus again. You’ll dodge waves of bullets, as happened in the original DOOM, and then get to hit enemies in the chest with the Super Shotgun.” The firefights will therefore take place in flatter and denser arenas compared to previous chapters.
id Tech to the rescue
The new version of id Tech, the game engine that allowed us to create battles against an impressive number of demons, will also help in this sense. There is talk of dozens, if not hundreds, of enemies present in the arenas at the same time: “Technology is allowing us to create some really large spaces and improve the artificial intelligence, with weapons that seem to be the most powerful ever seen in a DOOM “.
After all, the story itself required a brutal approach : “In this game you are a weapon of mass destruction,” explained Martin, who then continued “We like to describe it as a medieval war against infernal forces where everything is going bad. The good guys are losing and you are the nuclear option.” In short, demons will be killed in profusion on a scale that is unprecedented for DOOM. We can not wait.
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