The DOOM franchise was always characterized by over-the-top action with its concept of slaying demons in style, and the weapons that are used for these deeds are just as iconic as the game itself. As the imminent release of DOOM: The Dark Ages approaches, we are taking a look at some of the best weapons in the entire franchise.

Please note that this is an ordered list, starting from the bottom and reaching all the way to the top.

Pistol – DOOM (1993)

The original DOOM didn’t just hit the right notes in terms of its heavy metal riffs but also nailed it with its suite of weapons. The starting pistol is not something that you would pull out against bigger demons, but it is most definitely an important tool to have in your arsenal. The sound effects have the proper weight to it, and it’s pretty effective at chipping away health points.

The entire package includes content such as Doom, Doom 2, TNT: Evilution and The Plutonia Experiment (which constitute Final Doom), Doom 2’s Master Levels, No Rest for the Living, and John Romero’s Sigil. It also features Legacy of Rust, a new episode with two chapters and 16 new maps developed by id Software, Nightdive Studios and MachineGames.

Multiplayer enthusiasts can also look forward to 25 new Deathmatch maps and cross-platform support for Deathmatch and co-op for up to 16 players. Other new features include mod support, remixed soundtracks in Doom 1 and 2, up to 4K and 120 FPS support on current-gen consoles and PC, text-to-speech, and more.

Developed by Adam Woodmansey, Base Ganymede was released in 2009 and spans three episodes. The megawad received positive reviews and was even one of the winners in the 19th Annual Cacowards.

Base Ganymede is only one of many add-ons to be officially added to the re-releases of DOOM and DOOM 2. Others include Harmony, Anomaly Report, Doom Zero, Sigil (from John Romero, who worked on the original game) and much more. id Software’s Final Doom was also made available for free.

Stay tuned for more details on official add-ons and updates to the re-releases. Alternatively, you can check out DOOM 2 RPG, recently ported to PC.

Base Ganymede is a free Add-on for the re-releases of DOOM & DOOM II, featuring 27 levels of new challenges for all skill levels from first-timers to speedrunners. Available now!https://t.co/oMYkfAbiH4 pic.twitter.com/djDepEplLM

— Bethesda (@bethesda) May 9, 2023

Here are all the new listings for Doom and Quake games:

• DOOM (1993): Ultimate Doom will be renamed to DOOM (1993). No other major changes are being made
• DOOM 2: It will now include Final Doom and master Levels as one install package. DOOM 2, DOOM 2 (Enhanced), Master Levels for Doom 2, and Final Doom can now be launched separately
• DOOM 3: It will now be merged into a package containing the original DOOM 3, along with the Resurrection of Evil expansion and DOOM 3: BFG Edition. The three versions can also be launched separetly. Those who already own DOOM 3 or DOOM: BFG Edition will be upgraded to the new package for free
• Quake 2: The game and its mission packs—The Reckoning and Ground Zero—will be merged into a single install package with launch options.
• Quake 3 Arena: Both Quake 3 Arena and Quake 3 Team Arena will be merged into one package with separate installs for both games.

id Software has also announced new bundles for the two franchises:

DOOM Classic Bundle:

• DOOM (1993)
• DOOM 2
• DOOM 3
• DOOM 64

DOOM Franchise Bundle:

• DOOM Classic Bundle
• DOOM (2016)
• DOOM Eternal

Quake Collection Bundle:

• Quake
• Quake 2
• Quake 3 Arena
• Quake Live
• Quake 4

And finally, here are the games getting delisted from Steam:

• Quake 2 Demo
• Quake 3 Arena Demo
• Quake 3 Team Arena Demo
• Quake 3 Team Arena
• Final Doom
• Master Levels for Doom 2
• Quake 2 Mission Pack: The Reckoning
• Quake 2 Mission Pack: Ground Zero
• DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil
• DOOM 3: BFG Edition
• DOOM Classic Complete Bundle

The level, called One Humanity, is the first level Romero has created for the game since its original release in 1994. To play it, you will need to buy the WAD file off of Romero’s official website. An official DOOM 2 copy with a modern source port is required, as you’d expect, and the level can be downloaded up to three times, so it is advisable to back it up after the purchase and download.

Priced at € 5, 100% of the proceeds earned from the sales of the level will be going to assist the concerned agencies Romero made the level to provide aid for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. You can purchase the level through Romero’s official website through here.

https://twitter.com/romero/status/1499172470330437633

As per the listing, the collection is going to have one additional game that the PS4 and Xbox One releases of the compilation did not have- namely, DOOM 64, which got ported to modern consoles in early 2020. In addition to that, the package will also supposedly include DOOM, DOOM 2, DOOM 3, and DOOM (2016). Its release date is mentioned as September 2 on the Best Buy page, at a price of $49.99.

An official announcement for this collection’s Switch version hasn’t yet been made by either id Software or Bethesda, but with QuakeCon 2021 kicking off imminently, it’s possible that we’ll be hearing something about this very soon. Either way, stay tuned, and we’ll keep you updated on any new details that come our way.

In a new Xbox Wire post, Microsoft has announced 20 games from Bethesda Softworks that will be added to Xbox Game Pass today. With a few exceptions, many of these titles will be playable on Xbox consoles, PC and the cloud. Even though The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition is already available for console owners, subscribers on other platforms will be able to play it as well.

The full list is quite extensive and includes the following titles:

• Dishonored Definitive Edition
• Dishonored 2
• Doom (1993)
• Doom 2
• Doom 3
• Doom 64
• DOOM Eternal
• The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
• The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion (Console, PC)
• The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition
• The Elder Scrolls Online (Cloud, Console)
• The Evil Within
• Fallout 4
• Fallout 76
• Fallout: New Vegas (Console)
• Prey
• RAGE 2
• Wolfenstein: The New Order
• Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood

Prey and Fallout 4 will be returning to the service after exiting last year, though the latter is the base version and not the Game of the Year Edition. Dishonored Definitive Edition and The Evil Within are new entries while Dishonored 2 makes its return after leaving last September. It should be interesting to see if Dishonored: Death of the Outsider and The Evil Within 2 arrive on Game Pass at some point.

A roundtable discussion is currently on-going between Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda team members – find out more about that here. Microsoft has also confirmed that some future titles from Bethesda will be exclusive to Xbox and PC. Stay tuned for more details in the coming days on which ones.

The latest entry in the legendary shooter series, DOOM Eternal, is now out on most major platforms. The game follows the pseudo-reboot that released in 2016, building on its frantic gameplay. But you can’t forget the originals, that were just recently re-released on new hardware. Bethesda and id haven’t forgot them as they’ve now canonized new material for both DOOM and DOOM 2, decades after they released.

Bethesda has announced DOOM Zero, a collection of 32 new levels for the celebration of the 25th anniversary of DOOM 2. These not only include a host of these new levels, but also new sound effects, enemies and boss fights. This is technically a mod that was released last year from indie developer Christopher Golden for DOOM 2, but is now being made official and are available add-ons for currently available versions. You can read more about it through here as well as see it in action with a trailer below.

DOOM and DOOM 2 are available on basically anything and everything at this point, and you can find DOOM Zero as an official add-on for all official versions of those games.

#5. CYBERDEMON – DOOM 3

DOOM 3 catches plenty of flak from many series fans because of how different it was from its predecessors, with the game adopting a slower survival horror approach as opposed to the bombastic, in-your-face action DOOM is otherwise known for. And while many of those criticisms are fair, there’s still a lot to love in this game- sadly, the final boss fight against the Cyberdemon is not one of those things.

The fight against this beast does not do justice to it intimidating physical appearance. Though it’s equipped with a rocket launcher that can do devastating damage if it hits you, avoiding those hits is actually pretty easy- you just have to make sure you stay on the move, keep out of its line of sight, and use the spires around the Hell Hole for cover.

Keep killing the little enemies that spawn while doing so, and turn around every once in a while to fire off the Soul Cube- rinse and repeat just a few times, and the boss fight is over. Cyberdemons have appeared as major enemies in DOOM games quite a few times over the years, but this encounter in particular has to be one of the most disappointing against one of them.

#4. ICON OF SIN – DOOM 2

The Icon of Sin has a special place in the hearts of DOOM fans for many reasons, the primary being that John Romero’s head is literally the final boss in DOOM 2. But though the boss has a strong legacy and remains a popular one among the DOOM fanbase to this day, the actual fight is not the most difficult- if you play your cards right.

The biggest threat this encounter poses is not actually the Icon of Sin itself- it’s all the other demons that spawn around you. From Arch-viles to Pain Elementals to Revenants, there’s quite a bit that you have to contend with, so staying on the move and staying alert is pretty important. It’s just a little disappointing that the boss itself doesn’t pose too much of a threat itself.

The Icon of Sin is literally a giant head on a wall, and it doesn’t take too many shots to bring it down- just three shots with the rocket launcher, that’s pretty much all that’s needed. Sure, the other demons do make things a bit more complicated, but by and large, this fight can be dusted off with ease pretty quickly.

#3. MOTHER DEMON – DOOM 64

Unlike the Icon of Sin and the Cyberdemon, DOOM 64’s Mother Demon can be a pretty tricky boss encounter. For starters, she’s got some impressive attacks up her sleeve, from a flame trailer to her homing rockets, and both of these can be pretty devastating if they hit you. If you don’t manage to successfully dodge these, you’re toast.

Thankfully, keeping your distance from her is a good strategy that makes those dodges pretty easy to pull off. It doesn’t take a lot of shots with the Unmaker to kill her- of course, that depends on you having received all three Demon Keys beforehand, without which the Unmaker is unusable.

If you do find yourself in that situation, relying on the BFG 9000 is your next best bet, because even with more powerful weapons – like the rocket launcher – it can take quite a lot of shots to take the Mother Demon down. It also doesn’t help that she’s quite agile, which just makes the fight that much trickier.

#2. SPIDERDEMON – DOOM

The Spiderdemon was the perfect intersection between ingenious visual design and solid execution of mechanics. Visually, its weird, twisted form was horrifying to behold, and the actual fight against it did complete justice to how threatening it looked. It might not be the toughest boss fight in the series, or even the game itself, but it posed more than a semblance of challenge.

Its chaingun attack is nearly impossible to avoid, especially at close range, which means keeping your distance and keeping on the move is almost crucial in this fight, something that the ledges on the edges of the battlefield come in very handy for.

Defensively, the Spiderdemon isn’t the most formidable foe out there. Weapons like the BFG, the rocket launcher, and the Plasma Rifle are particularly effective against and, and it doesn’t have a ton of health, so if you know what you’re doing, you can actually get through the battle pretty quickly.

#1. SPIDER MASTERMIND – DOOM (2016)

DOOM (2016)’s final boss fight against the Spider Mastermind is an amazing tribute to the original game, and not just for the obvious reasons- it also excels as an actual boss fight in more ways than one, from its visual design to the context surrounding this encounter to the actual mechanics of the fight itself.

The Spider Mastermind has a pretty big pool of health, which means that it takes a hell of a lot of shots from multiple weapons to bring it down. Switching out your weapons constantly and making smart use of the ammo at your disposal to attack its weak points is key. Meanwhile, the fight also requires players to keep moving around, thanks to the Spider Mastermind’s own mobility.

And it’s not just a bullet sponge- it has plenty of deadly attacks of its own that keep you on your toes. From being able to electrify the ground to sweeping at you with its legs, from launching deadly projectiles at you to firing off a barrage of lazers, from using spike bombs to raising up pillars from the ground, the Spider Mastermind has more than enough up its sleeve to give you a very quick and painful death if you’re not paying attention.

CYBERDEMON

One of the deadliest demons in the entire series, the Cyberdemon has been tormenting players since the very first DOOM, and appeared repeatedly over the course of the mainline series. With a behemoth’s body that can take a startling amount of punishment before going down, the Cyberdemon inspires fear in the hearts of people not only with its appearance, but also with its combat capabilities.