Summary
- Doom: The Dark Ages will not have multiplayer in order to focus on a larger campaign packed with unique features.
- The decision to prioritize single-player content allows for the addition of new gameplay elements like riding a dragon.
- The game's advanced specs indicate that developers have pushed the limits to deliver an immersive experience.
Fans know more than ever about Doom: The Dark Ages after Xbox Developer Direct, including why the game won't include a multiplayer mode. The upcoming prequel to Doom and Doom Eternal will take the series in new directions in several ways, including with its single-player-only focus. While some may be disappointed at the break from tradition, the team behind Doom: The Dark Ages has a reasonable explanation behind the decision.
Many say the original Doom was the first shooter with online multiplayer, or at least the first game to bring it into the mainstream. Considering that legacy, it may strike some as a surprise that id Software is choosing to focus solely on the campaign in their latest entry. As dramatic a departure as it may be, though, it could let the game reach heights the series hasn't been able to in previous titles.
Doom: The Dark Ages Will Need to Justify Going in the Opposite Direction as Eternal
It is clear that Doom: The Dark Ages is slowing things down compared to the twitchy gameplay of Eternal, meaning one area of gameplay needs to shine.
In a Q&A at Xbox's Developer Direct reported by Eurogamer, executive producer Marty Stratton announced Doom: The Dark Ages will be campaign-only and cited the story mode's sheer size as the reason why. Doom: The Dark Ages is reportedly the biggest and most in-depth campaign in the Doom series yet, which was made possible by developers focusing all their resources on the campaign rather than diverting time to multiplayer functionality. Players may fight alongside allies in Doom: The Dark Ages for the first time, but their teammates will be NPCs. In that regard at least, the Doom Slayer is still slaughtering waves of demons all on his own.
Doom: The Dark Ages' Lack of Multiplayer Means the Campaign Can Be Bigger Than Ever
Game director Hugo Martin expanded on how focusing on solo experiences helped push the campaign to new heights. Doom: The Dark Ages gives players a dragon to ride and a giant mech to pilot, and according to Martin, those are both elements id Software had wanted to include in previous titles but weren't able to partially because of resources going to multiplayer. Removing the need to include multiplayer gives the developers more time and resources to work on the dragon and the mech — a fair trade-off, since Doom: The Dark Ages is now poised to bring never-before-seen features to the series.
If the specs are any indication, the effort to push the game to its limits has paid off. The Developer Direct also revealed that at a minimum, Doom: The Dark Ages requires a ray-tracing capable GPU on PC, as well as an 8-core CPU and 16 GB of RAM. It's certainly the biggest, most demanding Doom title to date, even without multiplayer options to consider.
Source: Eurogamer
DOOM: The Dark Ages
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 86 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
- Released
- May 15, 2025
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
- Developer(s)
- id Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- id Tech
- Franchise
- DOOM
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- FPS, Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
