The details for the latest Doom have leaked over the weekend.
As reported by Windows Central, the next game’s full title is Doom: The Dark Ages, and it is planned for release on Xbox, Windows, and PlayStation.
Windows Central’s Jez Corden corroborated rumors from Insider Gaming and Nate the Hate with their own sources. This title was also to be revealed at the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase. As always, it’s exciting to get news for new titles like this, but it is also a shame that id didn’t get to make this reveal on their own terms.
Speaking of id, Jez brought up id director Hugo Martin’s comments that if Doom Eternal was like driving a race car, the next Doom would be like driving a monster truck. That lines up with the rumor that Doom: The Dark Ages will be in a medieval setting, and as Jez pointed out, that may mean this game may have some connection with the Night Sentinels.
What’s implied by all this is that Doom: The Dark Ages will feature a different power set for the Doomslayer, as they won’t have the modern weaponry that they have been using in the previous games. The Night Sentinels did have guns, but if this their origin story, the player may have to invent the Ballista that they get to use as they like.
Some fans see this as some broken promise by Microsoft, but that doesn’t line up with that the company said. As far back as the regulation investigation over the Microsoft, Activision deal, Phil Spencer revealed that Microsoft does have certain criteria to decide if some games were to be multiplatform or not.
Doom is a legacy IP, not only PlayStation, but PC and even Nintendo platforms have been getting Doom games for decades. It also goes against their best interests to make this title console exclusive, because it would invite regulators to at least intimidate them with pricey investigations, even if Microsoft is likely to win.
On a personal note, a bigger question here is why id hasn’t reexplored another legacy franchise they have that is remarkably similar in description. The Heretic / Hexen series only had four games, and literally only ran for four years. id found a way to justify returning to their Rage franchise, but somehow hasn’t seen fit to come back to their own dark fantasy.
But perhaps I am being too hasty in judging here. Maybe id came up with a scenario that makes the Heretic / Hexen games part of the Doom canon. Could the Serpent Riders have something to do with Hell? Maybe that’s hoping for too much, but who knows if this is exactly what the twisted minds at id were thinking too?
