I picked up Doom The Dark Ages last month on launch day, fully expecting to blast through the campaign in a single weekend like I did with the 2016 Doom reboot. Boy, was I wrong. I ended up sinking far more time than I planned into hidden collectibles, secret levels, and the surprisingly fun horde mode, and I kept getting questions from my friends about exactly how long the game actually is. If you’re trying to plan your next gaming session or decide if the title is worth the price tag, understanding doom the dark ages game length across different playstyles is key.
Core Doom The Dark Ages Game Length For Story-Only Playthroughs
If you only care about beating the main campaign and skipping all optional content, your playtime will depend almost entirely on the difficulty setting you choose. The main campaign has 15 linear story levels, each with a single clear path from start to finish if you ignore side rooms and hidden areas. I tested each difficulty setting for short runs to get an accurate average for casual players, and the numbers are pretty consistent across most playthrough reports I’ve seen from other players in the official community discord.
Casual difficulty, which lowers enemy damage and gives you extra ammo pickups, will take most players between 8 and 10 hours to beat. I finished my first casual run in 9 hours flat, and that included a handful of avoidable deaths to the first major boss, the Corrupted Knight of York. If you’re new to FPS games or just want to enjoy the over-the-top combat without frustration, this is the perfect setting to get through the story quickly.
Normal difficulty, the game’s default setting, runs between 10 and 12 hours for most players. Enemies hit harder, ammo is more scarce, and you’ll probably die a few times to tricky enemy ambushes or boss mechanics. This is the intended way to play the game, and the pacing feels perfectly balanced so you don’t feel rushed or dragged along.
Nightmare difficulty, the hardest official setting, will take 14 to 16 hours for even experienced FPS players. Enemies one-shot you if you’re not wearing heavy armor, resources are incredibly limited, and boss fights can take multiple tries to beat. I died at least 12 times to the final boss on my first Nightmare run, which added a full extra hour to my playtime that I definitely didn’t plan for. Only pick this if you love a serious challenge.
Playtime Breakdown For Completionist Runs
If you’re the type of player who likes to find every secret, unlock every upgrade, and collect every piece of lore, your playtime will be way longer than the base story run. The devs packed a ton of optional content into the game, and almost all of it is worth playing for the upgrades and story context it provides. I’m currently 70% through my 100% run on normal difficulty, and I’ve already clocked 21 hours of playtime, so I expect to hit right around 28 hours when I wrap up the last few secret levels.
100% completion runs include all of the following optional content, which adds 15 to 20 extra hours of playtime on top of the base story:
- 12 hidden rune collectibles that unlock permanent ability upgrades, each requiring a short puzzle or combat challenge to access
- 3 secret bonus levels inspired by classic Doom maps, each taking 45-90 minutes to beat depending on difficulty
- 27 side combat challenges that reward unique weapon skins and lore entries, ranging from 10 minute wave fights to 30 minute boss rushes
- 8 hidden lore terminals that flesh out the game’s alternate history Dark Ages setting, with no combat required but often tucked behind hidden walls
Secret bonus levels are easily the biggest time sink for completionists, and they’re also some of the most fun content in the game. One of the secret levels is a full remake of the first level from the original 1993 Doom, re-skinned with Dark Ages assets and enemy types. I spent almost an hour and a half on that level alone just because I kept stopping to admire all the little references to the classic game. The rune upgrades you get from optional content also make the final stretch of the main campaign much easier, so it’s worth taking the extra time to track them down even if you don’t care about 100% completion.
Multiplayer And Extra Mode Playtime Expectations
Doom The Dark Ages also has a handful of extra modes outside the single player campaign that add even more playtime if you’re interested. None of these modes are required to beat the main story, but they’re well worth checking out if you enjoy the game’s core combat loop. You can play all of these modes solo or with up to 3 friends in online co-op, which makes them even more fun.
Horde mode is the most popular extra mode by far, and it features 5 different maps each with 20 waves of increasingly difficult enemies. A full run of a single horde map takes between 30 and 45 minutes, depending on how good your team is. There are exclusive weapon skins and character cosmetics you can only unlock by beating horde mode on different difficulty settings, so you’ll probably sink at least 5 to 7 hours into this mode if you want to collect all the rewards. I’ve spent close to 10 hours on horde mode already just because it’s the perfect thing to play for a quick 30 minute session when I don’t have time to progress through the main story.
PvP team deathmatch is another option for players who like competing against other people. There are 6 PvP maps and 4 different game modes, plus a rank system for competitive players. You can unlock all PvP exclusive rewards in about 6 to 8 hours of casual play, but if you get into the ranked grind you can sink hundreds of hours into this mode easily. The PvP isn’t as balanced as dedicated competitive FPS games, but it’s still a lot of fun for casual matches with friends.
There’s also full mod support for the game, so players can make and share their own custom maps, campaigns, and game modes. Custom community maps add essentially unlimited playtime to the game, and there are already hundreds of high quality mods available in the official workshop just a few months after launch. I’ve already played a handful of user-made campaigns that are just as good as the official story content, each adding 4 to 6 hours of new playtime for free.
Factors That Can Extend Or Shorten Your Playtime
The numbers I listed above are averages, so your actual playtime might vary a lot depending on a few key factors. I’ve seen players beat the main story on casual in as little as 6 hours by speedrunning, and I’ve seen other players take over 40 hours to 100% the game because they like to take their time and explore every corner of every level. There’s no right or wrong way to play, but it’s good to know what will impact how long you spend with the game.
Prior FPS experience is the biggest factor that will change your playtime. If you’ve played a lot of fast-paced FPS games like Doom Eternal or Ultrakill, you’ll probably beat the campaign a couple hours faster than the average, even on higher difficulty settings. If you’re new to the genre, you might want to add 2 to 3 extra hours to the average playtime to account for learning the mechanics and dying more often. Don’t be afraid to drop the difficulty if you’re getting stuck on a boss, either—there’s no shame in making the game fun for you.
Exploration habits are another big factor. Even if you’re not going for 100% completion, if you like to check side rooms for extra ammo and health pickups, you’ll probably add 1 to 2 hours to your story playthrough. That’s not a bad thing, though, because the extra resources you find will make boss fights and tough ambushes a lot easier, so you might save time in the long run by not dying as much. I always make a point to check any side path I see, and it’s saved me from dying to surprise ambushes more times than I can count.
Playing co-op with friends can also change your playtime in both directions. If you and your friends are all focused on beating the story as fast as possible, you’ll probably beat it 1 to 2 hours faster than playing solo because you can split up to take out enemies faster. But if you’re playing with friends who like to mess around and explore every secret, you might end up adding a few extra hours to your run without even noticing. I played through the first half of the campaign with my roommate last week, and we spent an extra hour just fighting each other with the rocket launcher in the middle of a level for no reason.
At the end of the day, doom the dark ages game length is flexible enough to fit almost any player’s schedule. If you only have a week of casual evening play sessions, you can easily beat the main story without rushing. If you’re the type who loves to squeeze every last bit of content out of your games, you’ll have 30+ hours of official content to work through, plus endless community-made content to keep you busy long after you wrap up the main campaign. No matter what your playstyle is, you’ll get more than enough value for your money with this title, especially if you’re a fan of fast, brutal FPS combat with a unique historical twist.
