Every Brutal DOOM: The Dark Ages Weapon Announced (So Far)

was announced recently at the Xbox Games Showcase, accompanied by a crunchy trailer that introduces many new and outrageous weapons to the Slayer’s arsenal. As the title suggests, the theme this time around is everything medieval, though ’s interpretation predictably has more in common with dark fantasy and metal album covers than it does with smallpox and Chaucer. Considering all the vicious weapons on display, from rail-guns and chainsaw shields to skull-spitting miniguns, hell’s demons will likely have a poorer life expectancy than even the sickliest tenth-century peasant once the player shows up.

is expected to ramp up the power of its weapons in order to iterate on its predecessors, and it seems that the new title will be returning to the dark ages in every respect but firepower. The latest entries' gameplay will be inspired by the original from 1993 – but it’s clear from the sci-fi-Gothic design of the weapons that will be an aesthetic throwback, too.

The super shotgun is the most iconic weapon in the series. So iconic, in fact, that it’s shown up in loads of other old-school shooters, from to more recent games like. The trusty double-barrel has been blasting apart imps and carrying playthroughs since the 90s, so there will be no prizes for predicting its appearance in.

Harder to predict is the manner of the weapon’s return. Forged from dark metal and adorned with spikes, the super shotgun looks meaner than ever. From the trailer, it seems that functionally the gun remains the same, putting craters in everything from zombies to towering Mancubi. This is for the best. Like the wheel, or sharp tools, the super shotgun is one of those early inventions that needs no improvement. It’s about as important to the development of first-person shooters as fire was to human civilization. It ain’t broke, and id Software knows better than to fix it.

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