DOOM: The Dark Ages Preview 🔥 Slayer Goes Full Medieval

Imagine the Doom Slayer, not in a high-tech sci-fi hellscape, but stomping across a battlefield where castles burn, dragons roar, and medieval gods bleed. Welcome to DOOM: The Dark Ages, where ancient brutality meets cosmic horror in a blood-soaked symphony of rage.

Let’s rewind the clock. Before the Slayer became a god-killing legend, before the Super Shotgun and BFG melted our faces off, there was DOOM 1993. A game that didn’t just shape first-person shooters  –  it birthed them. Released by id Software, DOOM made running through corridors, blasting demons, and heavy metal soundtracks a way of life. It wasn’t just a game. It was a revolution. Guns, gore, and gut instinct ruled.

Then came DOOM 2016, ripping the franchise out of dormancy with a vengeance. Fast-paced, visceral, smartly disrespectful to modern FPS tropes  –  it made the Doom Slayer a force of nature, a middle finger to demonic armies everywhere. DOOM Eternal in 2020 doubled down: faster movement, crazier weapons, deeper lore. It expanded the Slayer’s mythology into a war spanning dimensions, with the ancient Night Sentinels, the Father, and the Maykrs fleshing out a cosmic battle.

But now, DOOM: The Dark Ages asks the forbidden question: What came before the Slayer was the Slayer? Before the high-tech Praetor Suit. Before the portals to Mars and beyond. Before humanity even knew what a Doom Marine was.

Set in a brutalist, iron-and-bone world, The Dark Ages offers the Slayer’s origin story  –  and no, it’s not pretty. This isn’t your modern tech-god stomping around with a shoulder-mounted grenade launcher. This is primal. Medieval. Mythic. It’s DOOM stripped to its rawest, gnarliest form.

Alright, let’s get into the meat grinder.

DOOM: The Dark Ages fundamentally rewires how you play as the Slayer. id Software describes the gameplay as controlling an “unstoppable iron tank,” not a lightning-quick acrobat. Every move you make has weight. Every swing, every shot, every execution feels like a tectonic event.

You’re not dodging and weaving  –  you’re smashing and conquering.

And your new toys? Absolutely savage:

• Shield Saw: Imagine if Captain America decided that his shield needed to murder demons. It’s a defensive tool, yes  –  you can parry enemy strikes with brutal timing  –  but it’s also a boomerang of death. Throw it across the battlefield and watch it slice enemies clean in half, only to return bloodied to your arm like a loyal dog of war.
• Reaver Shot: The ultimate medieval flail/gun hybrid. Fire a massive spiked ball attached by chains, rip through hordes, then yank it back to your hand in a whiplash of gore. Think Kratos’ Blades of Chaos, but designed by a sadistic blacksmith on a demon-killing spree.
• Skull Crusher: A cannon that lobs sharp bone fragments at high speeds. It’s a sickening weapon that feels ripped straight out of a cosmic horror novel, shredding enemies into chunks.

But weapons are just the start. DOOM: The Dark Ages cranks the set pieces to 11:

• Mech Battles: You’ll pilot Atlans, giant mechanical warriors built to punch Behemoth demons into the dirt. Full mech versus demon kaiju battles? Confirmed.
• Dragon Riding: You’re not hallucinating. The Slayer will ride a giant cybernetic dragon into battle. Airborne fights, fire breath strafing runs  –  all of it, delivered with heavy metal fury.

The enemies you’ll face? Even more horrifying. The developers are pulling inspiration from Lovecraftian horror for the new “Cosmic Realm” creatures. Expect eldritch monstrosities like:

• The Kaca: Tentacled horrors dripping with nightmare fuel.
• The Cosmic Baron: A towering demon overlord with reality-warping abilities.

Visually, The Dark Ages blends Gothic castles, ancient ruins, blood-stained battlefields, and hell-infested dungeons. The world feels alive  –  and dying  –  at the same time. Every fortress, every wasteland tells the story of a civilization desperately trying, and failing, to hold back the tide of chaos.

And let’s talk music: while Mick Gordon isn’t back, the soundtrack is still aiming for maximum carnage  –  roaring guitars, orchestral doom choirs, and pounding battle drums that make you want to suplex the nearest demon.

The hardcore DOOM community? Hyped. The idea of stripping the Slayer back to basics  –  no high-tech gimmicks, just raw rage  –  hit hard. People are here for the darker, grittier, more horror-fantasy vibe.

But  –  and there’s always a but  –  a segment of players are skeptical. The shift to slower, heavier gameplay has sparked debates across forums and YouTube. Some are worried it’ll lose the adrenaline-fueled dance of death that made DOOM Eternal so legendary. Others are asking whether id Software can stick the landing with a more story-driven experience without losing the “gameplay first” spirit.

And the no multiplayer thing? Yeah, that’s ruffled feathers. After Doom Eternal’s Battlemode… okay, fine, nobody’s really mourning Battlemode, but there’s still a hunger for something competitive. A Slayer vs. Slayer deathmatch. A demon vs. humans siege mode. Something.

Still, the overwhelming vibe is excitement. The DOOM Slayer, reborn as a knight of destruction, is just too good a concept to resist.

Finally  –  when can you get your gauntleted hands on this bloodbath?

DOOM: The Dark Ages officially releases on May 15, 2025. It’s coming to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC. And for the Xbox crowd, it’s dropping Day One on Game Pass  –  huge W.

Pre-orders are live now, and id Software isn’t holding back on the bonuses: deluxe editions with exclusive armor sets, a full artbook chronicling the development process, early access to a bonus campaign level, and  –  rumor has it  –  a behind-the-scenes featurette about the making of the Cyber Dragon.

The marketing is already heating up, with more gameplay reveals and lore drops promised for later in 2024. There’s even buzz about a full animated lore short explaining the Slayer’s earliest battles against the demonic hordes  –  think animated blood opera, with the Slayer as the anti-hero knight.

In short: DOOM isn’t dying anytime soon. It’s just getting older, meaner, and a hell of a lot angrier.