DOOM, the modern three
The reboot and its two follow-ups. Health from finishing wounded enemies, so the whole design punishes retreating — and then a prequel that takes the double jump away.
Recommended first play
What to play first, and in what order, if you are starting cold.
A curator’s claim, and here it comes out the same as release order. That is the answer, not a placeholder: sometimes the order they shipped in is the order to play them in.
The recommended order is simply the release order, which is worth saying plainly rather than dressing up: each game is built assuming the movement vocabulary of the one before it, so the prequel is the last one to play even though it is the first one that happens.
- 1DOOM
2016 · id Software
Where the modern form starts. Teaches the one habit the other two assume: walk toward the thing that is hurting you, because that is where the health is.
Entry point - 2DOOM Eternal
2020 · id Software
The same idea turned into a resource puzzle — chainsaw for ammo, flame for armour, glory kill for health — played at speed. Latest in the story and the hardest to arrive at cold.
- 3Doom: The Dark Ages
2025 · id Software
A prequel that grounds you: a shield instead of a dash, parrying instead of dodging. First in the story, and it reads as a deliberate inversion only if you already have the other two in your hands.
