How long is Doom: The Dark Ages? Devs tease “biggest” game yet

Doom: The Dark Ages is set to be the biggest entry in the franchise with sprawling open sandboxes to explore. But just how long will a playthrough take? Here’s what we know thanks to some early developer comments.

Nine years on from Doom’s beloved reboot, the series is now harkening back to The Dark Ages for its next installment. Taking a trip back in time, the upcoming release focuses on the origins of the mysterious Doom Slayer as he journeys through violent new worlds.

Of course, fans can expect a riveting single-player thrill ride once again, but there’s more to this new entry than first meets the eye. Developers at id Software have teased how the new release is expanding the scope of the iconic FPS in all-new ways, making for the “biggest” Doom experience yet.

Here’s what we know about just how big the game will be, thanks to some of those early dev comments.

Doom: The Dark Ages is the series’ “biggest” entry yet

While The Dark Ages is certainly not an open-world game by any stretch, it is set to feature the “largest playspace ever in a Doom game.”

Here you’ll be able to “control the pace of the game,” as Game Director Hugo Martin explained. “Where you go, who you fight, and the objectives you pursue,” it’s all down to your personal preference.

That means non-linear exploration, tracking down hidden items and upgrades, even taking on optional fights on your travels. But don’t get it twisted. While there’s this one huge area, the rest of the experience is still funneling you through from one area to the next.

As Martin stressed in a Q&A Dexerto attended, it’s the “Biggest Doom game yet, but we don’t want it to be too long.”

So as for a rough hour count, given it’s set to be bigger than both Doom 2016 (roughly 10-15 hours) and Doom Eternal (roughly 15-20 hours), we’re certainly looking at more than 15 hours of game at an absolute minimum.

Assuming you take your time to plow through all the additional side content, expect it to take well above 20 hours. And for true completionists out there looking to find every Codex entry and really get your money’s worth, you could be in store for around 30 hours of action.

Of course, we’ll be sure to update you here once we’ve played through the full game ourselves to give a clearer understanding of the game’s length. But for right now, just expect a considerably larger experience no matter how you play.

While devs have confirmed there’s no multiplayer component this time around, we do know there’s more on the way to keep fans busy after rolling credits on The Dark Ages. There’s Campaign DLC in the works, and you can expect a fair few extra hours of content when the time comes.