During the Xbox Developer Direct January 2025 live stream, Bethesda and id Software announced that DOOM The Dark Ages will launch for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Game Pass and PC on 15 May 2025.

In the presentation, the developer reveals that DOOM The Dark Ages will feature a new mecha mechanic (where players will be able to control a giant mech for combat). There will also be more difficulty options and modifiers.

The action in DOOM: The Dark Ages is a grounded experience focused on the sheer power that the Slayer wields – devastating melee abilities, and the return of strafing, a classic DOOM manoeuvre. The team puts it best: In DOOM Eternal, you felt like a fighter jet, but in DOOM: The Dark Ages you’ll be an iron tank, ready to stand and fight. A loadout of new melee weapons, plus a brand-new melee skill tree means you’ll be able to get up close and personal to your demons and deliver some serious damage.

During the show, we were introduced to the Shield Saw, packed with features to both block incoming fire, decapitate foes from afar, or traverse the environment. The segment also showed us a huge, spiked flail, an electric gauntlet built to pummel and paralyze incoming foes, and a fierce spiked mace; three new weapons that all come with their own combos and upgrade options.

It’s all about engagement; creating a loop or “dance” that’s intuitive, innovative and loaded with depth – fun on the outside smart on the inside,” Game Director Hugo Martin says. “An appealing power fantasy that’s new but familiar – who hasn’t wanted to feel like an iron tank in the middle of a medieval war against hell?”

Obviously, DOOM is also all about the guns, and that trademark top-shelf shooting is here in abundance too. We saw a handful of the ranged weapons in action – a hulking double-barrel shotgun packing a punch, a mean, energy-powered gun spewing paralysing shots, and, perhaps the most impressive – a preposterous-looking machine gun that fashions high-speed rounds by breaking down actual skulls. It’s an utterly menacing arsenal built to take on the biggest and baddest demons you’ve ever faced in a DOOM game.

Bigger demons mean bigger battles, and mech fans, rejoice – you’re in for an absolute treat. In DOOM: The Dark Ages, you’ll be able to pilot your own gigantic Atlan, a mech of gargantuan proportion built to take on baddies on a colossal scale. One clip in the segment looks like a kaiju movie, showing the Atlan throwing annihilating hits at a demon the size of a building – it’s Doom’s epic, brutal combat moments on a literally next-level scale.

If that wasn’t enough, the team has also leaned more into the fantasy flair with another new weapon – a giant cybernetic dragon complete with mounted Gatling guns, able to swoop in from above and absolutely drill through anything standing in its way – letting you hop on and take the fight to the skies. While DOOM: The Dark Ages’ internal motto has been ‘Stand and Fight,’ this piece of equipment lets us mix it up with some fantasy-style airborne combat, which looks extremely fun, Both the dragon and the Atlan come with their own suite of upgrades too, so as you use them, they’ll actually get even more impressive and effective than they already are.

DOOM The Dark Ages is the prequel to the critically acclaimed DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal and the third instalment of the modern DOOM series. Developed by id Software on the latest idTech engine, DOOM: The Dark Ages is a single-player action FPS that tells the epic cinematic origin story of the DOOM Slayer’s rage.

You are the DOOM Slayer, the legendary demon-killing warrior and the super weapon in this never-before-seen dark and sinister medieval war against Hell.

Check out the trailers below: