You Can Play ‘DOOM The Dark Ages’ as a Classic ‘DOOM’ Mod, Because of Course You Can

DOOM has to be the most ridiculous game of all time — but in the best way possible. Its die-hard community has been faithfully modding it for decades now. They’ve created some of the most mind-boggling iterations of the classic FPS franchise. Hell, they’ve even figured out how to play DOOM on calculators and hi-tech refrigerator screens. One modder, named duskredy, has been working on a project of their own. Called “DOOM Darkfall,” this mod implements both weapons and actual game mechanics from The Dark Ages into the classic FPS we know and love. And, yeah, it’s just as fun as it sounds.

Darkfall uses GZDoom, a 3D-accelerated DOOM source port, to function. It’s what enables modders to create new ways to experience the classic, like Brutal DOOM and Beautiful DOOM, as well as full-game conversions like Rise of the Triad. Selaco, a standalone FPS game we’ve discussed recently, was fully created in the GZDoom engine.

a couple trailers and a dream is all it takes to put ‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ in classic ‘DOOM’

With months away from the release of The Dark Ages, duskredy has managed to rip weapon animations from the available trailers we’ve seen and put them in classic DOOM. It looks hilarious and rad seeing The Dark Ages’ high-definition animations juxtaposed in DOOM‘s polygonal world. But it’s impressive, all the same, that they’ve created a working mod with so little source material to go by — we haven’t even seen all the guns in The Dark Ages yet!

Despite that, Darkfall still manages to imitate the gameplay we’ll come to expect in The Dark Ages. Giving players a functional Shield Saw with the ability to throw it, block attacks, and even perform classic DOOM-style glory kills. It’s bonkers, and I can’t wait to see how the mod develops in the future.

DOOM Darkfall isn’t duskredy’s only project, however. Hellfall, their other endeavor, is an attempt to bring the weapons and gameplay of DOOM Eternal into the mix. Using the same approach as Darkfall, this mod sees Doomguy with an all-new arsenal of weapons and agile movement abilities from the 2020 release.

This is why I love DOOM and why it will truly never die. Both mods are very much in alpha and pre-alpha stages. But, it’s always exciting to see new ideas the DOOM community creates to keep the game alive. You can grab Darkfall and Hellfall from duskredy’s official Discord server.