Developer id Software released its seventh mainline entry, so we've got an updated Doom games in order list with release, chronological, and recommended orders.
Tom West
Published
Though it is one of the iconic FPS series, Bethesda's shooter series has added horror, sci-fi, and even medieval vibes in the case of Doom: The Dark Ages. However, the newest entry is also a prequel to the most recent releases, starting with Doom (2016), which, in turn, was (kind of) set in a different universe than the 1993 original, Doom II, and Doom 64.
The point is, Doom's lore is complex yet loose enough that you can have fun with it. Mostly, it's about shooting things! So, we've put together two recommended playing methods for the modern and completionist gamers alongside the traditional release and chronological orders. Let's jump in!
- Doom games in release order
- Doom games in chronological order
- Doom
- Doom II: Hell on Earth
- Final Doom
- Doom 64
- Doom: The Dark Ages
- Doom (2016)
- Doom Eternal
- The Old Gods DLC
- Doom 3
- Doom games in recommended orders
- Completionist
- The modern gamer
Doom games in release order
Doom release order
These are all the mainline entries from the Doom series available on Xbox consoles. In the case of the older games, we've got collections and updated Xbox Series X|S versions. These bundle various Doom level packs, expansions, and spin-offs, though they originally released on MS-DOS, Mac OS, and other retro platforms.
So, here are all 7 of the mainline Doom games in release order.
- Doom (1993)
- Doom II (1994)
- Doom 64 (1997)
- Doom 3 (2004)
- Doom (2016)
- Doom Eternal (2020)
- Doom: The Dark Ages (2025)
On other systems, there are more spin-off entries. Doom VFR was on virtual reality units, Resurrection was an iOS game, and two RPG entries haven't been included since they aren't accessible on Xbox. The canon surrounding some of the games (not to mention major mods and level packs) makes my head start to spin.
Doom games in chronological order
Let's rip and tear, because now we are in the territory of breaking down the Doom chronology, which involves two timelines and a spin-off universe! Included here is every mainline game as well as a minor breakdown of some of the relevant expansion packs, level add-ons, and DLC.Doom
- Check out the Doom + Doom II achievements for the classic Doom stack
- Gameplay Style: Retro first person shooter
- Doom kickstarts the original timeline
Everything begins with Knee-Deep in the Dead, which sees our unnamed hero begin an assault on Phobos (one of Mars' moons) to eradicate demons and possessed humans from the military and radioactive waste facilities the United Aerospace Corporation (UAC) controls there.
The second episode, The Shores of Hell, then takes the marine to Deimos, another of Mars' moons, to battle through corrupted research facilities. If things on Deimos weren't bad enough, the marine soon learns that the moon is dangling above the fires of Hell itself.
With a bout of courage, the marine rappels into the depths of Hell for the suitably named third episode, Inferno. Filled with hordes of foul creatures, our brave marine battles through countless enemies to come face-to-face with a cybernetic spider-demon, opening a portal back to Earth.
While the game initially launched with just the three episodes, a fourth level was later added. The fourth episode, Thy Flesh Consumed, acts as a bridge between the first and second games and sees the marine begin his assault against Hell's forces on Earth.
Doom II: Hell on Earth
- Check out the Doom + Doom II achievements for the Doom II: Hell on Earth stack
- Gameplay Style: Retro first-person shooter
- Doom II directly follows the events of the first game
In this entry, Doomguy helps the surviving humans escape Earth on massive spaceships, assaulting the planet's spaceport to lower a demonic force field so the survivors can find safety in space. Soon after the ships depart, they send Doomguy a transmission, revealing that the demonic hordes appear to have a base in his hometown.
It turns out that it's not quite a base, but another portal to Hell. Unable to close it from Earth, Doomguy once again returns to the fiery pit to face his biggest threat yet, the Idol of Sin, and destroy Hell itself.
Two expansion packs offer even more story beats to explore as well, although they don't affect the timeline. No Rest for the Living introduced nine more levels, following Doomguy's clean-up on Earth after destroying Hell. The Legacy of Rust DLC added two more levels, which were crafted using unused and cut content from the main game.
Final Doom
Not developed by id Software, Final Doom is technically the next game in the series and is included as a bonus downloadable for the Doom and Doom II collection. Though it fits into the canon, the jury is still out whether it can be considered official. Ultimately, it's just two mapsets with some lore written in instruction booklets and isn't going to shift your perspective on your time with the series — great fun though!
Doom 64
- Here are the Doom 64 achievements
- Gameplay Style: Retro first-person shooter
- Doom 64 launches the original storyline into the future
Doomguy is once again sent to investigate the demonic threat, and unsurprisingly finds himself lured back into the depths of Hell. It is here that he comes face-to-face with the Mother Demon and uses the power of the Unmakyr weapon to obliterate her. The main game ends with Doomguy accepting that he can't return to a normal life after his continued battles and decides to stay in Hell to stop any future uprisings.
With that said, the 2020 remaster we can play on Xbox adds a new ending called the Lost Levels, which sees Doomguy banished to a UAC base after he meets the Mother Demon's sister, Resurrector, bridging the gap between the original storyline and the reboots.
Doom: The Dark Ages
- Stand and fight for the DOOM: The Dark Ages achievements
- Gameplay Style: Modern FPS
- The Dark Ages loosely slots between the Doom 64 and Doom (2016) storylines as a bridge
According to the lore, Doomguy is found after the events of Doom 64 by the Maykrs. They bestow the unnamed marine with superhuman powers, and so create the Slayer we know and love today. This entry is set in the world of Argent D'Nur. It is reminiscent of Earth's Dark Ages, but it's an entirely different dimension.
Argent D'Nur and its human-like inhabitants, known as The Night Sentinels, are locked in a war called The Unholy Crusade with Hell. With Hell's legions slowly winning the brutal war, the Maykrs unleash the Slayer, who must carve a bloody path of gore through medieval battlefields, come face-to-face with an Eltritch being, and conquer the fires of Hell to stop Prince Ahzrak.
Doom (2016)
- Slaughter your way across Mars for the Doom (2016) achievements
- Gameplay Style: Modern FPS
- Doom (2016) is set eons after the events of The Dark Ages
Still set in a completely different dimension from the events in the original storyline, Doom's Mars is controlled by an alternate version of the UAC, which is attempting to harness raw Hell energy to solve an energy crisis on Earth. As you can imagine, things don't go to plan and the Slayer must end the legions of demons threatening humanity again.
With the aid of Dr. Samuel Hayden, the Slayer must quell the flood of demons invading Mars, no matter the cost.
Doom Eternal
- Thwart the Khan Maykr for the Doom Eternal achievements
- Gameplay Style: Modern FPS
- Doom Eternal is set 16 years after the events of 2016
In this entry, the Slayer heads to Earth to stop Hell from consuming the planet and to stop the Khan Maykr from exterminating humanity. With over 60% of Earth's population having already been wiped out and the UAC now acting like a demonic cult, the Slayer hunts down three Hell Priests who serve the Khan Maykr in an attempt to stop the hellish invasion.
Hell has wreaked havoc throughout this dimension, opening portals in several worlds to produce Argent energy using the mass sacrifice of humans to fuel the Maykr world of Urdak. Eternal once again sees the Slayer battle the Icon of Sin, but his victory over the titanic creature and the Khan Maykr isn't without cost.
As the legions of Hell have managed to dominate countless other dimensions and reinvade Earth. We get a taste of this chaos with The Ancient Gods Part 1 and Part 2 DLC.
The Old Gods DLC
We'll only touch on The Ancient Gods here, but it's a storyline played out over two separate expansions and continues directly after the events of Eternal's campaign. With demons running rampant through worlds and dimensions, the Slayer once again teams up with Dr Samuel Hayden and ARC scientists to retrieve The Father's 'Life Sphere.'
The storyline plays out over several new missions, giving us a chance to learn more about the Dark Lord and the Slayer's origins. We'll need to wait for another game to learn what happens next, if id Software doesn't decide to create a Dark Ages follow-up instead.
Doom 3
- Conquer another version of Mars for the Doom 3 achievements
- Gameplay Style: Survival horror first-person shooter
- Doom 3 is set in an alternate timeline within Hell's multiverse
In this timeline, the UAC has become the largest corporate entity in existence and has access to near-unlimited funds that it uses to research teleportation, biological research, and advanced weapons under the watch of Dr. Malcolm Betruger. Doomguy is sent to a facility on Mars alongside UAC board member Elliott Swann, quickly learning that the employees there are experiencing a host of strange ailments.
In Doom tradition, the pair are soon swarmed by demons and zombified personnel as Hell breaks loose on Mars. This plunges them into a war of attrition as they attempt to stop the hordes of Hell from washing into the facility.
Doom games in recommended orders
Doom in recommended order
So, you've got your traditional timeline and chronological order of the Doom games! Well, we have some additional suggestions for potential avenues you might want to try the FPS series. The first is the completionist method, where you play in a combination of orders. The second is for more modern gamers who may have an initial aversion to older games.
Completionist
For those of you who want every drop of Doom on offer, my recommendation is to combine the release and chronological order. This allows you to get a real retro first half, topped off by the chronological order of the modern games. Along the way, you can collect every achievement and get a real tip-to-tail experience of the series.- Doom (1993)
- Doom II
- Doom 64
- Doom 3
- Doom: The Dark Ages
- Doom (2016)
- Doom Eternal
In total, the Doom games will take completionists 90 hours for 7,125G.
The modern gamer
Are you a young gamer or inclined to avoid retro? Don't worry, I've got you covered here. This order prioritizes the new chronology and lets you gradually begin delving into the older games. It's a really good way to experiment with the series, and you can check out when you find an era that doesn't suit your tastes.- Doom: The Dark Ages
- Doom (2016)
- Doom Eternal
- Doom 3
- Doom (1993)
- Doom II
- Doom 64
For some, Doom Eternal is a touch weaker than Doom (2016), but still a great game. At this point, you'll be finishing up the modern games. Doom 3 is a great halfway house, offering much more survival horror energy in an aging graphical style. Given that it takes place in an alternate universe, you can skip it entirely if you aren't enjoying it or don't want to spend time on a side mission. For those who are interested, use it as a stepping stone into older games.
From there, it's all about the retro. Head to Doom + Doom II in Nightdive Studio's collection and follow it up with their work on Doom 64. If you don't like any of the games here, you can drop out nice and early and still pick up easy completions if you simply have to get the 1000G.
That is us! If you enjoyed this, make sure you get up to date on Gears of War in order, too. Do you have a favorite entry into the series? Let us know in the comments below, TrueAchievements slayers!
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Tom has been playing video games since he was old enough to hold a controller, experimenting with a number of systems until he eventually fell in love with Xbox. With a passion for the platform, he decided to make a career out of it, and now happily spends his days writing about that which he loves. If he’s not hunting for Xbox achievements, you’ll likely find him somewhere in The Elder Scrolls Online or fighting for survival in Battlefield.
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