This year has been packed full of incredible new games, with one extremely successful instant classic beingDOOM: The Dark Ages.This is an essential follow-up entry in the ongoing saga of the DOOM Slayer, and as with any great DOOM game, players have already figured out how to speed run it in record time.
As part ofIGN’s"Dev’s React To Speedruns" segment,developers from the team at id Software sat down and watched an amazing 42-minute speedrun ofDOOM: The Dark Ages.They were completely blown away by just how creative players are at finding new ways to get through the game as quickly as possible.
How Long Does DOOM: The Dark Ages Take To Beat?
DOOM Games Aren’t Incredibly Long, But 42 Minutes Is Ridiculously Fast
If you’re looking at the 42-minute speedrun andwondering why this is such a big deal, youprobably haven’t playedDOOM: The Dark Agesyet. The game isn’t incredibly long, but beating it in under an hour is absolutely ridiculous, and there’s a good reason for developers to be impressed.
The main story inDOOM: The Dark Ageswilltake the average player around 14 hours to complete(perHow Long To Beat), with side content that can take a completionist up to 24 full hours. Obviously, a speedrunner is going to stick to the bare minimum, but in this particular instance, the player utilized some unexpected shortcuts.
As the speedrunner, who goes by “Secret TV,” takes the not-so-scenic routeunderneath the level to quickly traverse the map, one developer said,“This is like when you’re having guests over to your house and they go into your bedroom closet where you stuck all the crap before they came over.”
The world-record speedrun ismade possible by taking advantage of particular exploitsin the game that allow players to basically skip entire sections of the map without traversing them, though developers admit they’re astounded by how players even figure these things out, stating of Secret TV that"he should be a dev"if he’s able to figure these sorts of tricks out.
Impressing Developers Is A Real Feat
Devs For Dark Ages Learned More About Their Own Game By Watching This
Developers forDOOM: The Dark Agesareblown away by this speedrun recordof their new game, but more so for how the player can exploit their designs more than anything.
Figuring out these shortcuts and how to bypass entire areas is a skill in and of itself thatnot all players are willing or capable of doing.It likely takes a joint effort among data miners to figure out exactly how to skip entire sections of the map with the mere click of a button.
Overall, impressing developers by beating their own game in record time is a significant accomplishment, and it’s not an easy feat for even the most experienced gamers. Fortunately for Secret TV, they mentioned in the video that they’re unlikely to patch these exploits out after watching the video as this probably would not sit well with the speedrun community forDOOM: The Dark Ages.
