DOOM: The Dark Ages - How the Doom Series Defined FPS and Is Reclaiming the Throne

DOOM: The Dark Ages is upon us. It’s shaping up to become yet another classic addition to an extraordinary series of first-person shooters, one that pretty much single-handedly defined the genre and shaped it for years to come. Today, we’ll take a look at its history. Ladies and gentlemen, this is DOOM.

Cue 1992. There’s a major disagreement in id Software’s ranks as to which game the studio should make next. Another dark and violent FPS in the vein of Wolfenstein 3D or maybe a new cutesy platformer like Commander Keen? Ultimately, the former idea prevailed, especially now that John Carmack created the now legendary DOOM engine (later renamed to id Tech 1), which served as the basis for the game. After months of work, the first DOOM game was finally released on December 10, 1993.

The first time the demons got their butts kicked by Doomguy

The premise is quite simple. The military conducts top-secret experiments with teleportation. These go awry, of course, so soon there are demons on Mars and its moons. Our protagonist, a nameless marine, has to clean up all this mess using all sorts of weapons and ordnance available to him: pistols, shotguns, plasma rifles, the famed BFG 9000, heck, even a chainsaw. Whatever it takes, right? There’s very little plot and a lot of action, coupled with clever and iconic level designs, various power-ups which you can use to gain an upper hand over the demons, and occasional searching for keycards and such.

The first DOOM was initially released in episodic format, with the first episode available for free via the shareware version. Its immense popularity defined the first-person shooter genre, leading to pretty much every game of this type released afterwards being dubbed a "DOOM clone."

DOOM (1993) also features a multiplayer component consisting of two modes. You can team up with up to four players to complete the campaigns or duke it out with up to four players in the deathmatch mode. Your goal is simple: score the most frags.

All in all, what we’re dealing with here is a major piece of gaming history, one of the finest and most influential titles ever released, especially in the FPS genre. DOOM not only molded first-person shooters in its image, but also spawned sprawling modding and speedrunning communities, not to mention all the controversy stemming from its violence and goriness.

Plus, there are still efforts to port the game to the weirdest platforms possible, such as pianos, smart thermostats, 3D printers, barcode scanners, etc. – you get the idea. Crazy.

The demons return for a second serving of butt-kicking

1994 saw the release of DOOM II: Hell on Earth, the first game in the series sold via stores rather than mail order. It’s basically more of the same, but better wherever it can be.

Doomguy, emerging victorious from the final battle in the first DOOM, discovers that the demons have opened a portal to Earth, invaded it, and slaughtered billions of people. Now, it’s up to him to save the surviving populace and get rid of the demonic infestation once and for all.

As stated above, DOOM II doesn’t do anything to revolutionize the formula, but it does one-up the predecessor wherever it can. So, what we’ve got here are bigger levels, a new weapon – the double-barreled Super Shotgun, plenty of new enemies, including those modelled after the bosses from DOOM, multiplayer service improvements, and so on.

The true revolution begins

We’ve had to wait a decade for drastic changes in the DOOM formula. Released in 2004, DOOM 3 serves as the first reboot in the series and feels like a completely different game altogether.

The premise remained the same: you’re an unnamed Space Marine who serves on a Mars facility where all sorts of scientific experiments are conducted. They’re not necessarily moral, either. Of course, things go awry at one point, and what we’ve got to deal with is a full-on demonic invasion.

This is where the familiar territory ends, though. DOOM 3 essentially shifts from an action-heavy shooter to something more in line with survival horror. So, there’s more story, including NPCs, horror ambience in the background, and levels drenched in darkness. The latter comes with a pretty controversial gameplay design decision: there’s no way you can use your weapon and flashlight at the same time (except, of course, if you download the "duct tape mod"). No worries, though, the game is still primarily about blasting zombies, flying fire skulls, revenants, and more with all sorts of futuristic weaponry, so it’s a great FPS fix for you.

DOOM 3 was pretty much a showcase for id Tech 4, a super advanced graphics engine at the time, whose features include impressive and realistic-looking lighting and shadows and stuff. Unfortunately, not many games used it afterwards, as Unreal Engine 2 and 3 were way more popular at the time. This was primarily due to the fact that id Software was unwilling to license their creation before the release of DOOM 3, and the game saw numerous delays. Additionally, it wasn’t as scalable as its competitor, which meant it was far more taxing for hardware.

Ultimately, as good as it was, DOOM 3 was less impactful than its direct competitors at the time, such as Half-Life 2 and Far Cry, though it was a critical and commercial success, which sparked gamers’ interest in the franchise anew. DOOM 4 ultimately never saw the light of day – at least not in the original form – but there were some interesting mobile spin-offs: DOOM RPG and DOOM II RPG, released in 2005 and 2009, respectively, as well as DOOM Resurrection, a survival horror game published in 2009.

A major new installment wouldn’t come until 2016.

The DOOM Slayer is back!

DOOM 4’s development got reset at one point, as people thought it was just Call of Duty wrapped in familiar packaging, not exactly the game they’re waiting for. Negative response to early builds led developers to scrap the project and go back to the drawing board to try again.

Several years later, we finally got the chance to play the new DOOM game. The 2016 DOOM is another reboot of the series, which refreshes the original gameplay and brings back the insane tempo and action-heavy style, coupled with outstanding visuals and an iconic soundtrack by Mick Gordon. Iconic weapons are back, the baddies are meaner than ever, and the DOOM Slayer is ready to put the former to good use, that is, slaughtering the latter.

A sequel, DOOM Eternal, came four years later, in 2020. Just like DOOM II almost two decades before, this one took the gameplay model of the predecessor, refined it, and made it even better. Combat here is somewhat more tactical, as various enemies need different approaches, and it’s up to you to figure out which weapon is the best remedy and how you can use your surroundings to your advantage. There’s more platforming here, too. DOOM Eternal received a two-part standalone expansion, The Ancient Gods.

The DOOM Slayer’s gonna get medieval on them demonic butts

This year (2025), we’re getting yet another DOOM game, this time a prequel detailing the origin of the DOOM Slayer. Set in a dark fantasy, techno-medieval-style world, DOOM: The Dark Ages will emphasize brutal melee combat and let you pilot vehicles for the first time in the series. Yeah, you’ll get to ride a cybernetic dragon and a 30-story Atlan mech. If you’re a fan of storytelling, you’ll be pleased to learn that this time around, there’s going to be even more of that in DOOM: The Dark Ages. Multiplayer? Looks like this time we’re not getting that mode, but this means that the developers, with their solely single-player focus, will make sure the campaign is mind-blowingly good.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is out now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

If you want to prepare for the next chapter in the story of DOOM, be sure to check out other installments of the series on G2A.COM. You’ll find great deals on these there!