DOOM: THE DARK AGES

Eternal was all about acrobatics, this wants you to stand and fight

- Phil Savage

There are two key things to take away from Doom: The Dark Ages' showing at the recent Xbox Developer Direct. The first: a release date. id Software's prequel to 2016's Doom revival will be with us in just a few months, on May 15. The second: a mission statement. "In Doom Eternal, you felt like a fighter jet. In Doom: The Dark Ages, you'll be an iron tank," says game director Hugo Martin.

Since the 2016 reboot of Doom, players have been challenged to jump around arenas in a constant acrobatic showcase - always moving, often jumping, always cycling through a tool suite designed to replenish resources and keep you in the fight, constantly on the attack. In Doom Eternal this combat loop was taken to the extreme. For some this was a natural progression. For others it was all just a bit too much.

The Dark Ages, then, promises to be more grounded - not necessarily slower, but less reliant on acrobatics. In the showcase, id shouts out the original Doom games - throughout what's shown, the Doom Slayer is boots on the ground, circle-strafing to dodge projectiles with not a jump pad in sight.

MIGHTY SHIELD

The new Shield Saw is emblematic of this shift. It's a shield, letting you block, parry and deflect attacks, giving you scope to mitigate damage instead of being forced to avoid it. It's also a chainsaw that you can throw Captain America-style at a pack of demons. "With your shield and the parrying capabilities, you kind of push forward into these combat encounters where you're getting mano a mano with a heavy demon - something badass," says executive producer Marty Stratton in a Q&A session with press ahead of the Developer Direct showcase. "It's launching attacks at you, you're parrying them away. It really does have this stand-and-fight, melee, use your guns as additional ways to burn him down. And then you push forward to the next one... it feels totally fresh and new."