DOOM: The Dark Ages is going to tackle a setting that the sci-fi-focused franchise has typically avoided: medieval fantasy. Speaking to Edge Magazine (via GamesRadar), director Hugo Martin has revealed that id Software went with medieval fantasy because it wanted to get darker and more sinister with what players could do.
Going with medieval fantasy means that DOOM: The Dark Ages will have some unique, new weapons that are seemingly inspired by classical torture devices. Examples of this are the Rail Spike, which has been described as “literally a hammer and a giant spike,” and a weapon that is used “to break bones with.”
“Part of the reason we chose the fantasy genre is that we could get more dark and sinister with the tool kit,” said Martin. “When you think medieval, dark fantasy, you think torture device, ropes, and chains, and spikes.”
In the same interview, Martin also spoke about the scope of the levels in DOOM: The Dark Ages. He described the spaces that players can explore and fight hordes of demon in as the “largest spaces” that id Software has made so far.
Despite the size of these levels, however, Martin pointed out that players wouldn’t enjoy wasting too much time by not fighting demons. He said that the sweet spot for players to spend time in an area would be around an hour. Completionists, however, can find a lot more to do if they want.
“I don’t know that you want to play a single Doom level for two hours,” said Martin. “You want them to be nice, contained experiences, so around an hour is about the sweet spot. But if you’re a completionist, you could certainly extend that.”
The size of these large areas also means that id Software got to experiment quite a bit with how it used the space. This means that players will get to experience a lot more variety in their time with DOOM: The Dark Ages.
“You might start in a dungeon-like space, then open up in the second half of the level into a more open-ended portion,” Martin explained. “We’re trying to make sure the player feels there’s a good amount of variety.”
Tying in with the idea that DOOM: The Dark Ages will allow players to get much darker and more sinister with how they deal with weapons, Martin had revealed last month that the Doom Slayer in the game was inspired by Frank Miller’s take on Batman through his The Dark Knight graphic novel.
“My all-time favorite comic, which, big surprise, I think it’s a favorite comic of many people, is Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight,” said Martin. “He showed a depiction of Batman that was huge. He was amazing. He was powerful. He looked like a tank[…] Everything about his arsenal is powerful. He just looked awesome, and it was like, ‘I’d love to make a slayer like that,’ like a heavier, powerful Slayer.”
DOOM: The Dark Ages is being developed for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and is coming out on May 15. For more details, here are 15 new things we’ve learned about the game.