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Alongside the usual preset difficulty options, DOOM: The Dark Ages will give players the option to modify the game to their own liking.
Not just an accessibility tool, the new difficulty sliders allow players to change game speed, projectile damage and much more to craft a custom experience for everyone. While the mechanic has been criticised by online grifters, game director Hugo Martin has defended the mechanic’s inclusion.
DOOM difficulty sliders are for everyone
Speaking in a recent video, Martin discussed the backlash that the addition of difficulty sliders is simply to make the game easier. However, the game director countered that their true purpose is for players to create an experience they prefer if the preset options don’t appeal to them.
“Really, when you think about options like the sliders, the policy was ‘it has to be good for the white belts and the black belts’,” Martin said. “If we’re gonna allow you to slow the game down, we have to enable you to speed the game up. And that was a really good policy for everything.”
Alongside being able to make the game “super hard or super easy”, the sliders allow players to change the flow of the game to their liking. Martin explained that players who want a more “Classic DOOM” feel in The Dark Ages can slow down projectiles and increase their damage to be more of that retro 3D shmup.
“What we see with the sliders from our best players in the office is that they do a lot of surprising things,” they said. “You would think it’s just crank[ing] everything up, but that’s actually not the case. Our players Mikey and Travis slow down the projectiles but then make them lethal.
“It really enhances that three-dimensional shmup, you know, that bullet hell experience that Classic DOOM is. Classic DOOM is a three-dimensional bullet hell, you know, weaving between those slow moving projectiles that hit really hard. And that’s what creates the maze, and that’s what encourages the player to move is really the projectiles. And that’s what we focused on for this game.”
Martin explained that the addition of sliders for your own specific difficulty is “sort of like messing with an equaliser on a radio”. Id Software has crafted their own difficulty settings for players who don’t want to play with the sliders, but for those who do want them, they’re there for them to play with.
For more DOOM coverage, read about the reason why this prequel will have an open ending. Oh, it also won’t end with the beginning of the 2016 game – sorry if you wanted that.
Doom: The Dark Ages releases May 15, 2025 on Xbox Series consoles, PlayStation 5, and PC. The game will also be available in Xbox Game Pass.
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