The first time I played Doom was around 2000 on an old Windows '95 computer that someone had gifted to my family. The computer came preloaded with DOS and several games (including my forever favorite game of all time, Quest for Glory), and among them was the gory, violent shooter that was the original 1993 Doom. I spending hours trying to get past hoards of demons, collecting weapons and power-ups, and being creeped out by the soul spheres.

When I finally reached the end of the game, I feeling elated at clearing the title. Having completed my mission, I put aside the game and never touched another Doom game. I've played plenty of shooters in the years since then, but none of the modern Doom titles held any interest for me. Until, that is, I saw the trailer and Xbox Direct developer commentary for Doom: The Dark Ages.

Doom: The Dark Ages Sends The Doom Slayer Back In Time

Despite The Setting Change, It Still Feels Like A Doom Game

The first thing that draws me to Doom: The Dark Ages is the unexpected setting. Unlike other titles that take place in the future, The Dark Ages takes the action back in time to an alternate reality version of Medieval times. I never thought we'd see a historic location for a Doom game, and at first, I was skeptical. The idea of a historical Doom game sounds like it shouldn't work, but the trailer makes it clear that it doesn't just work — it makes the shift feel natural.

Of course, The Dark Ages doesn't just take place in regular historical times. Instead, the game takes some heavy liberties with the setting, adding futuristic elements for a setting that feels as though Elden Ring took a wrong turn somewhere and turned into a sci-fi/fantasy mashup. And the result looks incredible. Vast gorgeous landscapes work in unison with creepy demon designs and larger-than-life elements. The fantasy setting is more appealing to me than a vaguely futuristic one, and I love the mashup of the historical and the futuristic.

Despite being set in what's technically the past, the game doesn't completely abandon its origins. Judging by the trailer, even after over 30 years, with modern graphics and a completely new setting, Doom: The Dark Ages is unmistakably a Doom game. Just from watching the gameplay footage, I'm excited about the new twist on the old classic, but I also feel oddly nostalgic for the 1993 Doom.

Doom: The Dark Ages Is Made More Accessible With Difficulty Sliders

Customize How Hard Or Easy The Game Is

Doom: The Dark Ages approaches difficulty in a way that I've only seen a few other games do. Instead of having a preset "hard, normal, or easy" mode, the game will have sliders for different elements of gameplay. Players will have full control over how much damage they do to enemies and how hard enemies hit back, parry window, daze duration, and even the game speed, to name just a few.

This versatility makes the game more approachable than ever before and means that I can, for example, give myself more time to react without completely removing any challenge from the game (as an "easy mode" might do). This feature isn't the only thing that sells me on this game, but it's an element that helps to convince me I have to try it. I rarely need to turn on easy mode in games, but whenever I do, I sometimes feel a strange sense of failure, like I'm not playing the game the way it's meant to be played. With these difficulty sliders, I could lower the difficulty on one aspect while bumping it up in another, keeping the game challenging in a way that doesn't frustrate me.

I get the feeling that some fans will be upset by the inclusion of difficulty settings, but I'd like to remind these people that the original Doom game had a "godmode" cheat. The difficulty-setting sliders seem like a great middle ground between "too difficult" and "ridiculously easy." And while the difficulty level is not something that's kept me from trying modern Doom games, I have to it that I like the idea of exploring a huge world that would be right at home in a Souls-like game without getting dragged down by a brutal difficulty.

Doom: The Dark Ages' Guns Are Ridiculous But Simple To Use

The Weapons Are Awesome And Versatile

During the Xbox Direct 2025 presentation, id Software's Game Director Hugo Martin said, "Doom has and always will be all about the guns." This seems to hold true for The Dark Ages, as well, which has guns that were described in that same presentation as "brutal torture machines." In short, the guns and other weapons in the game simply look like fun.

Several guns were shown off at that Direct, each more impressive than the other. For instance, there's a sawblade weapon that can be used to slash at enemies, send blades flying for long-range attacks, and even double as a shield. If an awesome arsenal of guns isn't enough, Doom: The Dark Ages will also let players pilot a massive mech and a cybernetic, fire-breathing, gatling-gun-toting dragon.

Yet all this versatility will apparently be entirely adaptive, with input that only requires one button press. The way the weapon reacts to its surroundings and what actions it performs will be customizable through skills and upgrades, maintaining the complexity without making the playstyle too much about pressing the right button at the right time.

Between the setting, the adaptive difficulty, and the awesome weapons, Doom: The Dark Ages is shaping up to be a title that I, someone who's never played a modern Doom game, am excited to try out. From everything I saw in the trailer and the developer Direct, this is one Doom game that's going to be an incredible ride for both existing players and newcomers, and I can't wait to enter the mayhem.

Source: Bethesda Softworks/YouTube