When Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations, the upcoming campaign DLC for last year’s excellent modern-Doom prequel, was first announced at the Xbox Showcase last month, one thing jumped out at me: the classic Doom 2 map visible for a few seconds in the trailer. As a huge fan of the legendary original pair of Doom first-person shooters long before I fell in love with the more recent trilogy, my interest in this DLC suddenly skyrocketed. So when I got a presentation showing more Revelations gameplay from Doom director Hugo Martin and got to ask him questions afterward, I immediately asked about that moment in the trailer.
“[Revelations] is a celebration of the Doom games,” Martin said. “We’ve always treated all of the Doom games as canon. We have never had the chance to explore who he was as the Slayer. Before he was the Slayer he was a marine, his name was Flynn Taggart. [So in Revelations] we go back in the Nightmare levels and tell some of the Flynn Taggart story.”
“These are modernized versions,” co-studio head Marty Stratton added, speaking about the look of the classic levels specifically. “History with the graphics turned up.”
My Doom superfan mind was being blown in real time. I’ve read all four of the Doom paperback novels from back in the day. That’s where “Doom Guy” first got fleshed out as a character, including his name: Flynn “Fly” Taggart. I felt like Marty McFly first seeing the DeLorean in Back to the Future.
Wait a minute, Hugo, are you telling me that Flynn Taggart – the guy from the 1993 original and 1994 sequel – and the Doom Slayer from Doom (2016), Doom Eternal, and Doom: The Dark Ages, are the same guy?
“We don’t consider the novels as part of the modern Doom series – the games, yes, save for Doom 3,” Martin told me. “Doom 3 was always kind of an outlier fictionally to us but from the start of Doom (2016), we wanted to pull together all the games and their fiction. We took the most popular elements from the novels and comics: his name and his famous lines.”
Martin went on to describe the classic levels featured in Revelations: “They’re playable. They’re short but meaningful, playable experiences. Part of the theme/narrative approach is to feel it and not watch it. You’ll play through his memories.”
So they’re being selective about the canon, as is their right, but I find this oddly satisfying as a fan of the old Doom games – and those somewhat obscure novels. But here’s what else I learned during my Revelations presentation: namely, that fellow fans of Doom Eternal are probably going to love this DLC.
That’s because the new weapon, the Chain Spear, has a grappling hook ability that can be used for a ton of aerial maneuvers, a la the brilliant middle game in the modern Doom trio. One of them specifically lets you circle around in the air with the chain plunged into your foe while you attack. And furthermore, Martin confirmed that the Chain Spear will have unique glory kills, and more importantly, that it will be absolutely required to survive in the endgame content that makes up roughly 40% of this 10-12-hour DLC. Master Arenas, Martin said, will be especially key places to make smart use of the spear.
You can also expect plenty of new enemy variants, plus some returning friends. The Archvile was specifically mentioned – though here he’ll summon demons but won’t resurrect demons, unlike in the original Doom 2. Oh, and id Software says that the Ripatorium – the customizable endless arena mode – will get a major update for Revelations.
And Martin recommends you complete the base Dark Ages campaign before jumping into Revelations, as it has a higher base difficulty than the core campaign. It has six levels total – five plus the Purgatory hub – that you’ll do plenty of backtracking through. But it won’t be for nothing; these spaces are designed metroidvania-style, so you’ll be able to access new areas within them as you earn and upgrade abilities during the course of play.
All in all, Martin told us that Revelations “kind of plays like the culmination of 35 years of Doom.” Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations drops on July 7 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our semi-retired interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
