Doom: The Dark Ages Is Near, and Here's How to Play the Other Games in the Series

CNET

10-05-2025

Doom is one of the most influential games of all time, and it is one of the few game franchises that can get me to buy a new console in order to play. When Bethesda released Doom (2016), that was when I finally bought an Xbox One -- three years after its initial release. And Bethesda will release the latest entry in the sci-fi horror series, Doom: The Dark Ages, on less than a week on May 15.
That means you might want to play the other Doom games to freshen up your glory kill and strafing skills. And if you're a newcomer to the series, you might want to play some of the earlier games to familiarize yourself with the super shotgun, cacodemons and overall feel of the games.
The story of all the Doom games is fairly straightforward: demons from Hell have traveled through a portal to this universe, and it's up to you to stop them. The gameplay is fast and brutal, with hordes of enemies to dispatch, and you have an arsenal of weapons to use, including a chainsaw.
Many of the games in the series focus on this fast-paced gameplay over story. So you don't have to play the games in any specific order to understand what's happening. The newer entries in the series, like Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal, weave more lore into the games, but all you need to understand for most of the games is that you're the Doomguy/Doom Slayer and your mission is to kill demons.
There are a lot of expansions for Doom games, but for our purposes, we're going to stick with the mainline Doom games. Many of these games are on services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, but it can be difficult to decide which game to play first. If you want to play the games in the order they were released, here's your list.
How you can play the Doom series
Here are the main Doom titles in chronological order by release date:
Doom (1993)
Doom 2
Doom 64
Doom 3
Doom (2016)
Doom Eternal
All of these games are also included in the Doom Anthology bundle on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and Steam. You can play the entire Doom series on both Xbox Game Pass Ultimate ($20 a month) or PlayStation Plus Premium ($18 a month).
Watch this: Hands-On: Doom The Dark Ages
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However, you don't have to play the games in this order. Some people consider Doom 3 to be more of a survival horror game and an outlier to the core Doom games. And there's debate about whether this game and other Doom games take place in the same universe. For those reasons, I'll still talk about Doom 3, but I'll include it near the end.
And don't forget Doom: The Dark Ages comes out on in less than a week on May 15.
The classic Doom games
These games are the original entries in the Doom franchise, which are light on story but heavy on gameplay. If you just want to mow down pixelated enemies without much story, check these out.
Doom (1993)
Beloved shooter Doom is playable on pretty much everything.
ID Software
Doom started it all, and is a foundational game in the FPS genre. It doesn't have much of an in-game story, but it remains one of the most influential games in history. It was revolutionary in its level design, and it helped spark the rise of online multiplayer games -- there's even an entire subgenre of games called "Doom clones." The original Doom is important enough that it was one of 15 games included in the Library of Congress's Game Canon.
What we know about the story is from the game's instruction manual, which used to come in a game's packaging. (I wish more modern games still had these.) You're an unnamed marine who was sent to Mars after disobeying and punching your commanding officer after they ordered you to shoot civilians. Once on Mars, the Union Aerospace Corporation opens a dimensional rift and demons start pouring out, so you've got to stop them. That's all the story you get, and that's all the story you really need.
Otherwise, this game is basically all combat, all the time as you fight demons on Mars and in Hell. You do have to find the occasional key to access certain areas in the labyrinthine levels, but the main objective is to take out as many enemies as you can and get to the end.
Combat is a little slower in Doom (1993) compared with the modern Doom games, and you can't jump, which is a bummer, but it's still a fun, classic game.
Even if you don't beat Doom, you should still play it at some point. Do it for Daisy.
You can play this game on the Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus services. You can also buy the game for Xbox, PlayStation, Switch or on Steam.
Doom II: Hell on Earth
Bethesda
The second Doom game is set immediately after the events of Doom (1993), but this time the demons are on, you guessed it, Earth. And they're emerging from your hometown!
This game and Doom (1993) are usually packaged together now since both have similar gameplay mechanics and graphics. The levels of Doom 2 are larger than those in the original, but the level designs are alike.
Doom II introduces some iconic enemies -- like the hell knight and the revenant -- as well as the classic super shotgun weapon, which makes an appearance in almost every Doom game moving forward.
Some newer versions of Doom II also include the episodes TNT: Evilution 2 and the Plutonia Experiment, which were combined and sold as Final Doom in 1996. There has been debate about whether these are considered canon in the Doom universe, with some people arguing that later Doom installments could disqualify Final Doom from being included in the canon.
Overall, Doom II is more or less Doom (1993) but with larger levels, as well as more enemies and weapons. So if you like the original, you can't go wrong with the sequel.
You can play this game on the Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus services. You can also buy the game for Xbox, PlayStation, Switch or on Steam.
Doom 64
Bethesda
Doom 64 is a tricky entry on this list because it could be considered another spin-off, like Final Doom, since it wasn't developed by Doom's original developers. It was developed under their supervision, though. But without it, we might not have gotten Doom: The Dark Ages since your character stays in Hell near the end of Doom 64.
After the events of Doom II, humanity is trying to rebuild Earth when a satellite sends a message saying demons are being resurrected. So it's time to kill more demons. However, near the end of this game, you decide to stay in Hell to keep on fighting demons. And this decision likely leads right into the events of the upcoming Doom game. That means Doom 64 could be integral to the story of the newer Doom games.
This entry uses 3D models, dynamic lighting and new sprites for monsters and weapons, although the gameplay is mostly the same as the earlier Doom games. In 1997, Electronic Gaming Monthly considered this the best-looking Doom game yet, but others feel like it's just a console port of Doom (1993).
Like its predecessors, Doom and Doom II, the stories in each Doom game are mostly secondary to the gameplay, but Doom 64 bridges the gap between the classic Doom games and the newer entries.
You can play this game on the Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus services. You can also buy the game for Xbox, PlayStation, Switch or on Steam.
The modern, lore-heavy entries
It's important to note that while Doom: The Dark Ages could be a sequel to Doom 64, it's definitely a prequel to the later series entries Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal. But you can still enjoy these games on their own, like every game on this list. Here's what to know about them.
Doom (2016)
Bethesda
If you want a modern Doom experience with more of a story and still maintains that fast-paced action, this is the game for you.
2016's Doom rebooted the series for modern consoles. It has more lore and story than earlier Doom games, so this is a good place to start if you appreciate more narrative with your ripping and tearing.
Doom (2016) drops you into the heat of the action on Mars as the demons have already overrun a UAC facility. You are pulled out of an ancient sarcophagus to stop the demons again.
The game features the trademark Doom gameplay, with frantic skirmishes and lots of enemies. With the new ability to jump -- you couldn't in earlier games -- it also has platforming elements that offer deeper level exploration.
The dialogue and story exposition set this game apart from most earlier entries. There are a lot of codex entries throughout the game that flesh out the world and give characters more depth than seen in earlier Doom games, but you don't need to read or understand these to have fun.
You can play this game on the Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus services. You can also buy the game for Xbox, PlayStation, Switch or on Steam.
Doom Eternal
Bethesda
This Doom game picks up where Doom (2016) left off and offers more story, more devastating enemies and more aerial acrobatics than a Cirque du Soleil show.
After the events of the previous game, the demons have made their way to Earth and are wreaking havoc. Countries have fallen, and most of the planet has been overrun by demonic presences. But you have a space fortress (kinda cool), a shotgun with a grappling hook (really cool), and you find out that Hell energy is basically human souls (creepy).
The combat is more frantic and fast-paced than the previous games, and thanks to the aforementioned shotgun-grappling hook, you can launch yourself into the air and essentially turn into an attack helicopter. The shotgun-grappling hook also opens up new avenues for level exploration and platforming mechanics, and is an integral part of a lot of gameplay and puzzle-solving outside of combat.
This is probably the most lore-heavy Doom game. There are info dumps throughout the game about how the Doom universe works, other forces fighting the demons of Hell and how you became this god-like killing machine. Much of the plot points back to events that might happen in Doom: The Dark Ages. So if you play the upcoming game and are confused by something, there might be a piece of lore in Doom Eternal that explains it.
You can play this game on the Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus services. You can also buy the game for Xbox, PlayStation, Switch or on Steam.
The horror entry
In every Doom game, you fight demons, but there aren't really jump scares like you might encounter in horror games or movies. But there is one Doom game that has more jump scares than the others combined.
Doom 3
Bethesda
This was my first experience with the Doom franchise, so I was confused when I went back and played other games in the series. This game is more storyline-focused than other Doom games and has more horror elements than other titles on this list.
Doom 3 follows a space marine -- not the original Doomguy -- as they try to stop a demonic invasion at the UAC facility on Mars. The premise is the same as the first Doom game, but this title has more dialogue and story than the original -- which isn't saying much. The shadows and lighting also give this game more of a horror feel.
One of the key game elements is your flashlight, and you can only hold that or a weapon; you couldn't hold both at the same time until later editions of the game, like Doom 3: BFG Edition. Holding the flashlight illuminated enemies, but you couldn't attack them so you'd have to switch to your weapon and fire into the dark where you last saw the enemy.
Having to switch to your gun in order to take enemies out made the whole experience tense, and makes this game feel more like a survival horror game than a classic Doom game. Also, the gameplay isn't as frantic, and you'll generally find yourself creeping through most levels instead of running through them.
Despite those differences, some people really like this Doom game, and maybe you will, too.
You can play Doom 3 on the Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus services. You can also buy the game for Xbox, PlayStation, Switch or on Steam.
For more on gaming services, here's what to know about Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus. You can also check out what to know about Doom: The Dark Ages.