Prequel vs. Sequel

By now, it should be known, but for those confused about its placement in the timeline, DOOM: The Dark Ages occurs before DOOM (2016). DOOM Eternal is a sequel to the latter and sees the Slayer returning to Earth to fend off the invasion by demonic forces. The Dark Ages, on the other hand, explores his time with the Night Sentinels, became the Slayer of legend, and waged war against Hell.

id Tech Engine improvements

The Dark Ages very much retains the macabre and metal art direction of previous titles albeit with a medieval fantasy twist. However, it’s also pushing for more fidelity, implementing ray-traced global illumination, which meshes better with the physics-driven objects, and ray-traced reflections, which were also seen in Eternal. Of course, the larger scale, LODs, and higher enemy counts are nothing to scoff at.

Tank vs. Fighter Jet

Ask anyone what the biggest change from DOOM (2016) to Eternal was, and they’ll probably answer, “Mobility.” The Super Shotgun’s grappling hook enabled all kinds of air strafing tech and fed into the loop of seamlessly transitioning from kill to kill to kill. By comparison, the Slayer in The Dark Ages is tankier and heavier, with his footsteps literally thumping on the ground as he walks. That doesn’t mean he can’t dash or charge at blinding speeds with his Shield Saw to bash a demon’s brain in, but the overall flow is more grounded than Eternal.

Parrying vs. Grappling Around

Adding to this is a heavier focus on blocking damage and parrying with the new Shield Saw in The Dark Ages, especially when dealing with certain enemy projectiles. It’s a pretty distinct shift compared to all the flying around from Eternal, but thus far, there’s been nothing but praise over the parrying mechanics and slamming monsters in the face.

Weapon Changes

Several weapons carry over from DOOM (2016) and Eternal to The Dark Ages, including the Shotgun, Super Shotgun (though you can’t zip around, grappling demons) and Rocket Launcher. However, there are plenty of new tools to make life miserable for the forces of Hell, including the Railspike and Skullcrusher. The Heavy Rifle, unfortunately, didn’t make the jump, but what about the revamped guns? Instead of the Plasma Rifle, there’s the Accelerator, which is more of an SMG with a quick fire rate and less range.

Piloting an Atlan Mech

The Atlan mech, existing as merely a prop in previous titles, is now fully playable in The Dark Ages. Honestly, that should be a selling point on its own, but the fact that it also gets a massive Chaingun, which seemingly has its own separate crew? Magnifique.

New Enemies

Remember the Marauder? Of course, you do. This elite foe created a divide among players in Eternal – some considered it too punishing, while others felt it was the right amount of challenge. The Dark Ages has its own Marauder-tier foe called the Agadon Hunter, who has a double-bladed staff and shield but requires parrying in Sekiro-like fashion when he busts out the combos. Among other threats are the Titans, and while they technically appeared in previous games, this is the first time players will fight them in the Atlan mech.

Shield Saw vs. Chainsaw

Sadly, the chainsaw is not in The Dark Ages, instead replaced by the new Shield Saw. While the former is great for obtaining ammo from slain enemies, the latter offers a wider degree of functionality, like bouncing off of multiple enemies. If you toss it at a heavier enemy, the Shield Saw will embed itself and briefly stun it for more brutal damage.

New Melee Options

Between the Chainsaw, Crucible, and Blood Punch (not including the Sentinel Hammer from the DLC), DOOM Eternal had a pretty healthy number of melee options. The Dark Ages is no slouch – alongside the Shield, you can slam enemies with a mace, flail or gauntlet, each with its own uses. However, to refill their uses, you need to parry enemies. It’s a similar resource gathering loop to Eternal but with different steps.

Glory Kill Changes

Glory Kills remain one of the cooler additions to the franchise – there’s nothing quite like executing a weakened enemy in excessively brutal ways, especially for that invincibility window. However, in The Dark Ages, Glory Kills are now unsynced and won’t lock you into an animation, allowing for a different kind of flow.

More Open Levels

DOOM: The Dark Ages offers much bigger levels than any title in the franchise. Siege, recently revealed in various previews, is a perfect example, unfolding over a battlefield with various objectives and enemy camps. And while DOOM Eternal is full of secrets, The Dark Ages’ “hour or so” time per level can become even longer if you’re scouring for collectibles, upgrades and whatnot.

Multiplayer vs. No Multiplayer

Previous DOOMs dabbled with multiplayer in different ways, often to a mixed response. Eternal was meant to have Invasion-style mechanics but eventually settled for the asymmetric BattleMode where two players, controlling demons, fought against one playing as the Slayer. The Dark Ages doesn’t feature any multiplayer, with id Software focusing on the campaign and implementing mechanics like the Atlan mech and mount instead.

Customizable Difficulty

I’m Too Young to Die. Hurt Me Plenty. Ultra-Violence. And Nightmare. These are the key ingredients that make up the difficulty spectrum in DOOM (2016) and Eternal. With The Dark Ages, id is going for something much more granular. You can adjust damage received, damage dealt, enemy aggression, targetting assist, parry window – even the overall speed of the game and the number of resources dropped. There are still presets, but being able to fine-tune the mechanics like this is a much-welcome addition.

More Cutscenes

Eternal had its share of cutscenes, but DOOM: The Dark Ages is ramping up its usage and story-telling focus much more. One of the more promising results of this approach is id taking the narrative into the cutscenes, as director Hugo Martin describes. And considering how confusing the lore of the DOOM timeline is, we’re likely in for a treat.

Campaign Length

According to HowLongToBeat, DOOM Eternal takes about 14.5 hours on average to complete the main story. It can go up to 28.5 hours for completionists, and the DLC adds another 13 hours or so if you try to find everything. While id Software hasn’t confirmed The Dark Ages’ playtime, it’s hyped as the longest campaign for the series yet. With a heavier emphasis on story-telling, this could be an FPS campaign for the ages.

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 following titles will be available at launch:

• Among Us
• Descenders
• Dishonored 2
• Doom Eternal
• Fable Anniversary
• Fallout 4
• Fallout 76
• Forza Horizon 4
• Gears 5
• Grounded
• Halo 5: Guardians
• Halo Wars 2
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Human Fall Flat
• Inside
• Ori and The Will of the Wisps
• Psychonauts 2
• State of Decay 2
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited

Note that the game library may vary by country. More titles will be announced before the service’s launch in September. New games will be added two to three times yearly, though how many at any given time is unknown. Those currently subscribed to Xbox Live Gold will automatically switch to the new plan with no change in pricing.

Games with Gold officially ends on September 1st. Any Xbox One games redeemed through it are still accessible if you subscribe to Game Pass Core or Game Pass Ultimate. Xbox 360 titles obtained through the same will remain in your library, even without a subscription.  Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

The update was announced by Steam Deck developer Pierre-Loup Griffais, who posted a screenshot of the Steam Deck running DOOM Eternal with ray tracing effects enabled. The performance overlay shows DOOM Eternal running at 35 frames per second with the hardware-intensive feature.

Griffais has also revealed that the team is working on enabling DirectX Raytracing on the Steam Deck for the future, but the feature will likely take more time to develop owing to the limited hardware on the system. DOOM Eternal was likely chosen for the ray tracing owing to how well-optimised the game generally is across a wide range of hardware.

What this means for other ray tracing games on the Steam Deck is currently unknown, but we’ll likely see future updates enable the feature for more games down the line.

SteamOS 3.4.6 Preview contains fixes for invalid rendering and performance improvements for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Also comes with Ray-Tracing support for DOOM Eternal! pic.twitter.com/EViKO0Y4kk

— Pierre-Loup Griffais (@Plagman2) March 3, 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

That is no longer the case. id Software recently took to Twitter via the official DOOM page to confirm that the appropriately designated update 6.66 has gone live for DOOM Eternal on the Nintendo Switch, finally bringing the Horde Mode and BATTLEMODE 2.0 to players on the platform. On top of that, the update also adds two new Arenas, new cosmetics to unlock, a playable Dread Knight, and three new Master Levels with Mars Core, Taras Nabad, and The World Spear.

DOOM Eternal is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Stadia. As for what id Software is working on next- the studio recently put out job listings in a bid to recruit a combat designer with “in-depth knowledge of DOOM“– take from that what you will.

Update 6.66 is now available as a free update for DOOM Eternal on Nintendo Switch!

Including: Horde Mode, BATTLEMODE 2.0, two new Arenas, new earnable cosmetics, new playable Demon: Dread Knight, as well as three new Master Levels: Taras Nabad, Mars Core, and The World Spear! pic.twitter.com/zC1nQJkpDL

— DOOM (@DOOM) March 1, 2022

The one with the shields

While it would make total sense for every enemy to take a guarding shield into battle, most starting-level enemies in games don’t carry them which opens up a ton of opportunities to defeat them. But when certain games do it right from the beginning, it becomes a rather annoying issue. These enemies will  block most frontal attacks, you get extremely restricted in your move set which in turn makes such enemy encounters highly repetitive.

Horde Mode levels are essentially broken up into five rounds with two Arenas having three waves, Blitz (which seems to be time-based), Traversal, Bonus waves (unlocked by slaying Bounty Demons) and the final Arena having four waves. Challenges also crop up which include slaying a certain number of enemies. There are three levels to choose from and various foes, like Spirits, Empowered Demons and more will appear.

BattleMode 2.0 offers a new playable Demon, the Dread Knight, along with a new Arena in the Stronghold. Streak-based matchmaking and ranking has also been added along with new cosmetics like weapon skins, demon skins and more. The World Spear and Mars Core are the two new Master Levels and judging by the short gameplay seen below, even the best players will break a sweat.

DOOM Eternal is currently available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Google Stadia.

Along with waves of familiar foes, from the Cyberdemon to the Marauder, players can collect different power-ups. One such power-up activates the Gold Score Multiplier and the top right of the screen displays the player’s high score. id Software’s Hugo Martin and Joshua Boyle will offer more details on Bethesda’s Twitch and YouTube channels at 7:30 PM ET so stay tuned in the meantime.

DOOM Eternal is currently available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, Google Stadia and Nintendo Switch. It’s received two expansion, The Ancient Gods – Part 1 and Part 2, since release. Check out our review for the base game here.

As announced at QuakeCon this year, the next update for Eternal will be 6.66 (skipping 6.61-6.65, but let’s not worry too much about all that). The update will bring the previously announced Horde Mode, which will be a single player mode focused on surviving multiple waves of enemies. It will also see an overhaul to Battlemode that seeks to improve matchmaking as well as a new arena called Stronghold and putting more emphasis on streaks. Finally, it will also include new Master Levels, World Spear and Mars Core. You can see the developers speaking on the update below.

DOOM Eternal is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, Switch and Stadia. No word yet on when update 6.66 will drop, only that it is planned soon.