The Dark Ages comes to PC, PS5 and Xbox on May 15

Death: The Dark Ages It’s scheduled to be released on May 15 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series It is a single-player sandbox experience with a focus on exploration, bloodshed, and upgrading skill trees, introducing massive mech battles and a disposable cyber dragon that shoots fire on command.

Death: The Dark Ages It’s the biggest Doom game ID ever, but to be perfectly clear and perhaps alleviate some concerns, it’s not open world. In fact, the developer’s directive was to tweak everything — controls, levels, menus, upgrade paths — in order to emulate the interactive rush that made the original Doom games so addictive. According to executive producer Marty Stratton and game director Hugo Martin, Death: The Dark Ages It’s a classy and thoughtful return to the series’ classic, set in the medieval wastelands of Hell and starring the super-armored Doom Slayer.

in Dark AgesSlayer has three basic inputs: shield saw, melee, and shotgun. The shield saw is an important tool, allowing players to dodge and block incoming attacks, and also acts as a boomerang-shaped projectile that can embed itself into enemies to tear through their demonic flesh. Parrying is a huge factor in the new game, and is also one of the many aspects that players can customize in the difficulty settings. You’ll be able to change the size of the dodging window, adjust the actual game speed and adjust dozens of other factors to make every round feel just right.

The assassin has a choice of three melee weapons and only carries one at a time. There’s an iron torch, an electrified gauntlet, and a spiked mace, each of which can be upgraded as you make your way through Hell. The last major input is the trigger, which controls all the gruesome weapons. There’s an impressive array of gun-based brutality on display Dark Agesincluding the Skullcrusher, a gun that eats the bones of slain enemies and uses their fragments as ammunition.

Certain levels will support skyscraper-sized Atlan battles and allow the Slayer to ride on the back of a cybernetic dragon, spraying fire at the gathering demons. These abilities will no longer be available at will, and are instead contained in specific areas of the map. There are also swimming levels – which, speaking as someone with a phobia of deep water, is probably the scariest thing about the new game.

The killer is in Death: The Dark Ages fat. He’s thick, heavy, and armored, and as he stalks demons across the wastelands of medieval Hell, he’ll feel different from the assassins of 2016. death And its follow-up in 2020, Torment: eternal. In terms of development slogans death It was “run and gun” Eternity It was “jump and shoot”. Dark Ages It is “stand and fight”. Disturbing strafing and teleporting abilities are still on the menu, but this time the focus is on holding your ground and strategizing while shooting.

“What people didn’t like about 2016 is that it was too repetitive,” Martin said in a media Q&A before Thursday’s game. Xbox Live Developerwhere the ident showed new parts of the game. “And loyal EternitySome people said it was very difficult. I actually think it’s very complicated. I believe that the complexity of the control scheme led to unnecessary difficulties. You really want to fight demons, evil people, not your controls.

Martin and Stratton emphasized the importance of simplifying the basic loop Dark Ageswhile also building the biggest, most adventurous Doom game ever. There are more skill trees, currency and secrets to find than ever before, but there’s not a lot of filler – everything has a purpose and there’s no unnecessary frills in the actual mechanics of combat, resource gathering and upgrade paths.

“There’s a lot of exploration in this game, and it’s for strength,” Stratton said. “That’s one of the things that’s really important. You find resources and other things that allow you to improve yourself, upgrade your guns, upgrade your armor, your combat power. So it’s not just secrets, it’s just games, that kind of thing. It’s really an exploration of power.”

“I want to feel strong,” Martin added. It should have a fair amount of speed, exploration, and power, but I’m all for changing what that power fantasy is, especially if the change you make brings it back closer to classic Doom. I really like that.

Inspiration points for Death: The Dark Ages Includes Batman: Year OneFrank Miller dark knight, And the movie 300specifically that iconic shot of Leonidas beating and stabbing his way through the hordes of Persian warriors at the hot gates. Miller Dark Knight It was a particularly influential source for Martin.

“He drew an older, stronger, thicker Batman,” he said. “And I love this comic so much. And I’ve always thought it would be more interesting to just have it be a monster truck instead of a Ferrari. This is what we are working on, we have talked about it for years and years.

Death: The Dark Ages It is scheduled to go out Out May 15 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series