DOOM: The Dark Ages - Hand-On Preview with 4K 60 FPS RTX 5080 Gameplay

This is DOOM: The Dark Ages, the highly anticipated prequel follow-up to 2020's excellent DOOM Eternal and the third game in the modern DOOM re-imagining from id Software. With its release around the corner for PC and consoles, thanks to Bethesda, we had the chance to go hands-on with a pre-release build of the game and play close to four hours of the intense medieval dark fantasy sci-fi action running in 4K on a GeForce RTX 5080 rig.

As game director Hugo Martin describes, DOOM: The Dark Ages presents a different experience from Eternal's "run and gun" arena-style action to a more grounded "stand and fight" approach. This sees the Slayer move around like an iron tank with a speed boost as he wields a Shield Saw, Flail, Super Shotgun, and arsenal of weaponry. Unlike Eternal, you can feel the weight of each step, adding to the prequel's focus on the Slayer being this ultimate weapon - an unstoppable demon-slaying force.

We immediately noticed this when playing through the game's introductory sequence, which sees the Slayer transported into the midst of a massive battle from an orbiting battle station by some pretty incredible-looking aliens. The art direction and character design are next-level, and the well-directed cinematics present much more DOOM story and lore than we're used to.

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Outside of the greater focus on story and in-game cinematics bookending each mission and key moment, this massive battle is where you get your first taste of what "stand and fight" means in DOOM: The Dark Ages.

Movement is still fast, but with limited verticality (there's no double-jump or swinging around with a grappling hook), there's a definite nod to the bullet-hell action of the original Doom from 1993. Albeit filtered through the modern DOOM lens that made DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal (2020) so much fun to play. The shield you start with has a dash attack that sees the Slayer teleport great distances to turn groups of wounded demons or packs of trash mobs into a cloud of red mist and glowing pick-ups.

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Yes, the "combat puzzle" returns. Pure melee weapons like the Flail and Gauntlet double as a way to regain ammo while finishing moves (aka Glory Kills) are no longer scripted animations and happen in real-time, offering much-needed health. And once you obtain the Shield Saw upgrade, it can stunlock demons or even cut through enemy shields, turning them into the green glowy armor pick-ups that DOOM fans know so well. What's cool about this is that shields and demon armor heat up with each projectile hit, so when they turn all nice and red and molten, that's the perfect time to dispatch the Shield Saw to cut through it all like butter.

DOOM Eternal had a very different combat dance in play, one that had the Slayer use a shoulder-mounted flamethrower to melt enemy armor into armor pick-ups, so DOOM: The Dark Ages feels both fresh and familiar - different enough that it doesn't feel like more of the same or an extension of what has come before.

The Slayer can now use his shield to block, parry, and deflect projectiles. Although the visuals and art direction capture this brilliant balance of dark and gothic fantasy with comic sci-fi, a videogame still sits at the core of DOOM: The Dark Ages.

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Red projectiles must be dodged or avoided, while green can be sent home with a well-timed shield block. It's reminiscent of old-school Link using his shield to deflect projectiles in The Legend of Zelda - and it adds to the different feel of the latest DOOM. Playing for four hours, including sections where you can mount and fly a battle dragon and jump into a giant Titan, it's a lot to take in. Especially when the sense of speed and nail-biting action hasn't been softened.

You can also see why id Software has included deep gameplay customization options for players to tune the experience. You not only have control over enemy health and the damage you deal or take, but you can also adjust the game's speed, projectile speed, and much more. And it's not simply a means to make the action more palatable for those of us with reaction times that are no longer at the level we enjoyed during the height of online Quake. One example would be to slow the projectile speed but make them infinitely more deadly to create an actual bullet-hell-like experience reminiscent of arcade games from the early 1990s.

While sticking to the ground and not jumping and zipping might sound small or more contained, everything about DOOM: The Dark Ages is bigger and bolder - from the vast background detail you see in the game's stunning environments to larger maps and levels that offer multiple paths, "side quests," secrets, and puzzles. Our playtime (and most of the gameplay you see here) comes from one of the game's new open-area missions that offer multiple objectives that can be tackled in any order. How this worked was pretty simple: close a bunch of different gates scattered around a battlefield with temples, caves, and a forest while also exploring to find items that can be used to upgrade abilities and weapons.

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Exploration in a DOOM game might sound strange, but adding more intricate puzzles and pathways lets you take regular breaks from the relentless pace of the action. Upgrading gear is also simple; this isn't DOOM: the RPG, as upgrade shrines or completing side activities (which are mainly killing demons) can provide buffs to armor or ammo capacity.

The fact that this section of our hands-on time with the game was the most fun, open, and varied shows that DOOM: The Dark Ages hasn't lost anything when presenting a combat sandbox to cause mayhem in. The sections that felt the weakest were the ones where you get to fly a dragon or pilo a large Titan (see: mech) due to them feeling more scripted and linear, with mechanics that didn't offer anything different to the more open dodge, parry, dash, and shoot gameplay of being in direct control of the Slayer.

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Overall, DOOM: The Dark Ages is shaping up to be a worthy and impressive follow-up to DOOM Eternal, a game that switches things up while feeling a lot closer to the bullet-hell origins of the first games in the franchise. Also, seeing the latest version of id Tech in action running on a GeForce RTX 5080 was just as impressive as getting to play the game. Running at a smooth 4K 60 FPS (capped for video capture) with the latest version of DLSS, the environments, animation, effects, and detail are all stunningly brought to life.

The only bugs or glitches we experienced were things you expect from a pre-release build, like sound effects not triggering correctly. Performance and image fidelity-wise, everything was rock solid. And with the game set to launch with Full Ray Tracing modes, we're expecting this to be one of the best-looking and best-performing PC releases of 2025. Bring on May 15.