DOOM: The Dark Ages creative director Hugo Martin talks about combat, demons, and the chainsaw shield.

DOOM: The Dark Ages creative director Hugo Martin has revealed that the game was designed as more of a direct successor to the original DOOM, rather than as a sequel to DOOM Eternal. In an interview with GamesRadar, Martin spoke about how playing DOOM: The Dark Age will be quite different from its direct predecessor.

One of the key factors when it comes to taking on demons in DOOM: The Dark Ages is the fact that the upcoming shooter places a larger emphasis on avoiding enemy projectiles than previous games, bringing it closer in spirit to the original DOOM. This means that enemy projectiles move slow, allowing players time to avoid getting hit as they try and close the distance.

“I noticed right away how slow those projectiles move – it just dawned on me that that is the maze,” said Martin, talking about how playing the original DOOM helped the studio design DOOM: The Dark Ages. “The movement is more horizontal as you weave your way between the projectiles, and every projectile mattered in the original DOOM.”

Martin went on to talk about how, while DOOM Eternal had an emphasis on verticality, DOOM: The Dark Ages will instead focus on giving players more enemies to kill in larger arenas. He likens the difference between playing the two games to switching from being an F22 fighter jet to an Abrams tank.

“If you were an F22 fighter jet in DOOM Eternal, this time around we wanted you to feel like an Abrams tank,” said Martin. “It means you’re more powerful and grounded. The combat system for new players – those who only got into DOOM with the reboot – I think with they are going to feel like this is a reimagined combat system. But for long-time fans of the series, people who played the original DOOM, you’ll see it’s really a return to form.”

Martin elaborated that players will find that they’re much slower and more grounded in DOOM: The Dark Ages, while at the same time also being heavier and more powerful. The studio will be emphasising more ground-based movement by having players strafe to aim more finely.

“You’re heavier, more powerful, and grounded,” said Martin. “We’re making strafing-to-aim a thing again. You’ll be weaving between projectiles, just like you did in the original DOOM, to deliver that Super Shotgun blast to the chest… It almost creates this three-dimensional ‘shoot ’em up’ puzzle that you’re weaving your way through.”

Martin went on to talk about how DOOM: The Dark Ages will have players fight more demons than they’ve ever fought before, thanks to larger flat arenas that will be more densely populated by enemies for players to rip and tear their way through.

“We have more demons than we ever have before,” he said. “There’s a shot where the Slayer turns a corner and he’s killing so many of them. Using that spread shotgun and doing all that damage, with all the gore bits coming off, and the feedback that we can achieve now in games is just incredible It’s so exciting to be able to provide that for players.”

“The tech is really allowing us to do some of the biggest spaces and biggest AI, and the weapons feel like the most powerful you’ve ever held in a DOOM game.”

The large number of enemies for players to fight also comes from the fact that id Software has managed to optimise the AI in its game to incredible levels. Martin even says that he doesn’t think there’s a real limit to the number of monsters that can be in a fight anymore.

“I think the number of AI on screen is… I don’t even think there’s a limit at this point, it’s crazy,” he said. “I keep waiting to hear ‘no’ from the programmers, and they haven’t said it this time around. It feels like, tech wise across the board, we’ve been empowered to make our best game. The last two rebooted DOOM games have built to this – we certainly had limitations in the past, and they just don’t really feel like they’re there right now. But with each game we try to build of the success of the last one, and learn the right lessons.”

Capping things off, Martin talked about some of the weapons in DOOM: The Dark Ages, and how they are going to be a big change from what players were used to with DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal. The Shield Saw in particular, which we saw quite a bit of in the game’s reveal trailer, will be a big part of DOOM: The Dark Ages.

“You will have that shield in your hand at all times – you’re basically dual-wielding,” said Martin. “I want players to feel like Aragorn, or Leonidas at the hot gates of 300. You’re the hero of a massive battle in an FPS, in a DOOM game no less. It just felt like it would be a really fun challenge for the team to take on, and I think we delivered it.”

“There’s a lot of stuff you can do with the shield. You can block attacks, you can parry projectiles, there are melee weapons you can combo attacks with – you use it to solve problems. You basically exploit weaknesses with the shield in your left hand, and then you hurt things with the guns in your right. It’s pretty simple.”

DOOM: The Dark Ages was announced over the weekend. It will be coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in 2025.