Doom: The Dark Ages rips into May 2025 release date

id Software is putting a medieval twist on the iconic FPS series in this new installment.

Xbox Game Studios
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The latest Xbox Developer Direct featured a segment focused on Doom: The Dark Ages, id Software’s next game and the latest installment in the legendary first-person shooter series. After highlighting some of the game’s new features and mechanics, the developer confirmed that Doom: The Dark Ages will be released on May 15, 2025.

id Software’s deep dive into Doom: The Dark Ages showed off what fans can expect when they jump into the next hellish adventure. While Doom: Eternal emphasized verticality and aerial movement, Doom: The Dark Ages is going back to basics with combat inspired by the 1993 original. The trailer shows the Slayer strafing to avoid enemy attacks and maneuver the battlefield while simultaneously firing at enemies.

The new trailer also revealed the emphasis on melee combat in Doom: The Dark Ages. The Shield Saw is one of Slayer’s new weapons, and he can use it (with a single button) to throw it at enemies and protect himself from incoming attacks.

While Doom: The Dark Ages is definitely not an open world game, it features vast locations that players can explore. There are designated locations where players can summon a dragon mount for Slayer to ride on. The dragon is equipped with a machine gun that can be used to attack enemies. The medieval setting is also home to some gargantuan creatures, and Slayer can pilot a large mech to even the odds.

We’re less than four months away from Doom: The Dark Ages’ release on May 15. It was just one of four games spotlighted during the Xbox Developer Direct.

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

From The Chatty
  • reply
    January 23, 2025 11:00 AM

    Donovan Erskine posted a new article, Doom: The Dark Ages rips into May 2025 release date

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      January 23, 2025 12:20 PM

      Looking forward to this even though I didn't have the best experience with the previous Doom game.

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        January 23, 2025 12:20 PM

        I mean... it's Doom. I must play Doom.

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          January 23, 2025 12:28 PM

          To be fair, I was always a little iffy on Eternal. Everything I’ve seen about Dark Ages looks like they learned from their mistakes and are going all killer, no filler. I don’t expect better than 2016, but I think it will be far better than Eternal.

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            January 23, 2025 3:25 PM

            I found it a fun game to watch but not so fun to play, personally. Those speed runners know how to put on a show.

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              January 24, 2025 9:37 AM

              There's an interesting phenomenon in Eternal where there is a "wrong"/less skilled version of succeeding in it, based on going around in circles and taking potshots instead of actually mastering the movement and weapon juggling. I found I resorted to the former style a bit too often in response to all the stuff going on.

              The design goal of Eternal was clearly to allow greater skill expression, and they succeeded in that. But there's a pretty big part of the fanbase that didn't like the prescriptive approach to its combat loop, or just the speed level in general. My impression is that the devs consider Eternal a mission accomplished and are going back to more accessible gameplay.

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                January 24, 2025 9:45 AM

                Wouldn't the original Doom games be more like the circle-strafing potshots gameplay than some kind of e-sport platforming and weapon juggling? I absolutely played Eternal in that fashion but I also play through the originals at least once per year. Romero's Si6il expac (read: Episode 5) was different. Had to more or less creep through that one and use your head/senses.

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        January 23, 2025 12:34 PM

        The shield saw looks pretty cool.

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        January 24, 2025 9:30 AM

        It looks like they're dialing back from the hectic gameplay of Eternal. TDA seems to be based more around responding to specific attack patterns than blazing fast movement and gun/ability switching.

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        January 24, 2025 9:42 AM

        I too hated the electrified pyramid platforming in Eternal. /shudder

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      January 24, 2025 8:29 AM

      In fact, as an old-school doom fan, I am very happy about this news. Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal were great remakes and kept all the features of the original, so I have high hopes for this game

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