Doom: The Dark Ages Dev Lead Defends New Difficulty Settings

Doom: The Dark Ages development director Hugo Martin has commented on player concerns surrounding the introduction of difficulty modifiers to the hotly anticipated shooter.

Image source: Bethesda Softworks

Let’s remember that, along with traditional difficulty levels, Doom: The Dark Ages will have the ability to adjust a number of gameplay elements (like game speed), which can make the game either more difficult or significantly easier.

Fans worry that id Software is leaving the gameplay calibration up to players instead of balancing the difficulty levels themselves, but Martin disagrees.

According to the manager, the team worked on each of the difficulty levels to make them fun to play, and added gameplay modifiers for those interested in a more personalized experience.

According to the developers’ idea, gameplay modifiers should be useful for both casual and hardcore gamers. In other words, the game can be made both very easy and extremely difficult.

Martin also mentioned that by slowing down the speed and increasing the lethality of enemy projectiles, Doom: The Dark Ages could feel closer to classic Doom, where the player weaved between slow rockets and clots of plasma.

Doom: The Dark Ages will be released on May 15 on PC (Steam, Microsoft Store), PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and Game Pass. In a recent interview, Martin also admitted that it is possible to complete the game without using firearms, but it will not be easy.