All Doom Games in Order, by Release and Timeline

Lining up all the Doom games in order sounds simple until you notice that the 2016 reboot stars the same marine from 1993, The Dark Ages slots in between them, and Doom 3 lives in its own universe. Doom has been around since 1993, and id Software has spent three decades remixing its own Doom timeline. This page puts every main entry and the bigger spin-offs of the Doom series in release order, then shows where each one sits in the story.

You'll find nine games below, each with its developer, release date, platforms, and my short verdict on whether it's worth your time today. If you want to grab a few of them cheaply, our Doom games collection covers the classics, the reboot trilogy, and Doom VFR.

Want the Doom story order instead? Play Doom, Doom II, Final Doom, and Doom 64 first, then Doom: The Dark Ages, then Doom (2016) with Doom VFR alongside it, and finish with Doom Eternal and its two-part The Ancient Gods expansion. Doom 3 sits outside that line, so you can slot it anywhere.

1. Doom (1993)

The original Doom sends an unnamed marine to the moons of Mars, where the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) has been running teleportation experiments that tear a hole into Hell. You fight across Phobos and Deimos and then into Hell itself, over three episodes of eight main levels each. id Software gave away the first episode as shareware, so millions of players tried it for free, and the 1995 retail version, The Ultimate Doom, added a fourth episode called Thy Flesh Consumed.

People still call Doom the father of the first-person shooter, and it earned the title. The maps hold up thirty years later, full of keycard hunts, hidden rooms, and fireballs you can sidestep as long as you keep moving. The easiest way to play it today is the 2024 DOOM + DOOM II release on Steam and consoles. It adds cross-platform online co-op and deathmatch for up to 16 players, mod support, and John Romero's Sigil episode.

My Verdict: Still the cleanest shooter id ever made. Play it in the DOOM + DOOM II package, where it runs smoothly on modern hardware and comes with online co-op.

2. Doom II (1994)

Doom II: Hell on Earth picks up right after the first game, with the demons now on Earth. Doomguy shuts down a barrier over a spaceport so the survivors can leave the planet. Then he finds out the invasion is coming from his own hometown and goes into Hell to kill the Icon of Sin and close the portal. It drops the episode structure for 32 levels, two of them secret, grouped loosely into outpost, city,y and Hell sections.

The headline addition is the Super Shotgun, still one of the most satisfying guns in the genre. It also doubled the number of regular monster types, adding favorites such as the Arch-vile, the Revenant and the Mancubus, and turned the first game's bosses into regular enemies. It became the top-selling US software product of 1994.

My Verdict: The best of the classic games if you only have time for one. The bigger bestiary and the Super Shotgun make almost every fight more interesting than in the original.

3. Final Doom (1996)

Final Doom packs two full megawads into one standalone release: TNT: Evilution, made by the hobbyist group TeamTNT, and The Plutonia Experiment, which brothers Dario and Milo Casali built at id's request. Each runs 32 levels on Doom II, and both pick up the story after Doom II with fresh demon outbreaks at UAC facilities. Critics at the time knocked it for adding no new weapons or monsters, so the whole appeal comes down to 64 fresh maps.

TNT: Evilution feels like the gentler half, with sprawling bases and a heavier tech look. Plutonia is famous for brutal ambushes and Arch-viles parked exactly where you don't want them, so it's the classic Doom fans name when someone asks for a real challenge. Both episodes come bundled in DOOM + DOOM II, so you don't need to hunt down the old release.

My Verdict: Skip it as a newcomer, but play Plutonia once Doom II feels easy. It's among the hardest official classic content and a great bridge into community megawads.

4. Doom 64 (1997)

Doom 64 continues the story after Doom II and Final Doom, this time as a Nintendo 64 exclusive with all-new sprites, darker lighting, and an ambient soundtrack in place of the metal riffs. A signal shows that something has resurrected the demons, and the Marine goes in alone to stop it. The big addition is the Unmaker, a demonic laser weapon you can upgrade with three hidden artifacts, which later returned in Doom Eternal.

So why did so few players know it? For years, Doom 64 was stuck on a cartridge. Nightdive Studios fixed that with a 2020 re-release on PC and consoles, which also added The Lost Levels, a short expansion built to connect old Doom to new Doom. The main game ends with the marine choosing to stay in Hell, the cleanest bridge to the Doom Slayer story that follows.

My Verdict: The most underrated Doom game. Its slower, eerie mood makes a great change of pace after Doom II, and the remaster plays like a brand-new release.

5. Doom 3 (2004)

Doom 3 reimagines the first game as a survival horror shooter set in 2145 at the UAC's Mars City research base. A teleportation experiment goes wrong, the base fills with demons, and you creep through pitch-black corridors where imps ambush you from the shadows. The original version made you pick between holding the flashlight and holding a gun, and players still argue about that choice. It sold over 3.5 million copies by early 2007, id's best result at the time.

You can play Doom 3 at any point without missing story, since id has never tied it into the Doom Slayer's timeline. Nerve Software's Resurrection of Evil expansion (2005) added a 12-level campaign and three new weapons. I'd go for the 2012 BFG Edition, with an armor-mounted flashlight, checkpoint saves, and a new chapter called The Lost Mission. The 2019 console ports build on it, minus online multiplayer.

My Verdict: The odd one out, and I like it more for that. If you enjoy horror, play the BFG Edition on a dark evening and treat it as a standalone side story.

6. Doom (2016)

Doom (2016) rebooted the series, and the later games tie its hero back to the classic marine. The Doom Slayer wakes up chained inside a sarcophagus on Mars in 2149, where the UAC is mining energy from Hell, and spends the game tearing through both. The story stays out of the way, with the Slayer shoving screens aside and smashing consoles whenever anyone tries to explain things to him. Most of your time goes to fast arena fights, double jumps, and ledge climbs.

Its big idea is Glory Kills, melee finishers on staggered demons that drop health, and chainsaw kills that refill ammo. Together they push you to stay aggressive instead of hiding behind cover. Weapons never need reloading, and Mick Gordon's metal soundtrack helped the game win Best Music/Sound Design at The Game Awards 2016. Critics praised the campaign, but the multiplayer, co-developed with outside studios, got a cooler reception.

My Verdict: The best starting point for modern Doom. It's shorter and simpler than Eternal, and it teaches the push-forward combat every later game builds on.

7. Doom VFR (2017)

Doom VFR is a virtual reality spin-off set on the same Mars base during the events of Doom (2016). You play Dr. Peters, a UAC scientist and one of the last survivors of the invasion, who gets killed by a demon and wakes up as a digital mind inside a combat chassis. His job is to keep the facility running and push the demons back through UAC labs, a BFG research division, and a stretch of Hell, using the reboot's weapons rebuilt for motion controllers.

Movement relies on teleportation and jet-strafe dashes, a setup built to keep VR motion sickness in check. It changes how fights feel: instead of circle-strafing, you blink around arenas and line up shots between teleports. It works as a short side story for Doom (2016) fans with a headset, and it's the only official way to walk the reboot's Mars base in VR.

My Verdict: Optional, and only worth it if you already own a VR headset. Fun for a weekend, but it adds little to the main Doom timeline.

8. Doom Eternal (2020)

Doom Eternal jumps to 2163, fourteen years after the Mars incident. Demons have overrun Earth and killed about 60% of the population, and the Slayer hunts the Hell Priests serving the Khan Maykr, who plans to sacrifice humanity. The story gets far more space than in 2016, with the Fortress of Doom as your hub and plenty of lore about the Slayer's past. Its two-part expansion, The Ancient Gods, wraps up the story arc that started in Doom (2016).

Combat gets faster and much more demanding. The dash and the Super Shotgun's Meat Hook turn arenas into jungle gyms. Chainsaw kills drop ammo, setting demons on fire drops armor, and Glory Kills drop health, so you're always juggling all three. Critics loved the combat and level design but pushed back on the platforming sections and the heavier story. It still had the franchise's biggest opening weekend at the time, and a Doom Eternal Steam key gets you the series at its most demanding.

My Verdict: The best shooter in the series once it clicks. Play it after Doom (2016), since it throws far more systems at you from the first hour.

9. Doom: The Dark Ages (2025)

Doom: The Dark Ages is a prequel to Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal, set during the Slayer's years in the medieval-style world of Argent D'Nur. He fights a demonic invasion there alongside the Night Sentinels, long before anyone wakes him up on Mars. It swapped Eternal's acrobatics for a heavier, grounded style built around the Shield Saw, which blocks, parries, and flies at enemies when you throw it. It's also the first Doom with vehicles you can pilot, a cybernetic dragon and a 30-story Atlan mech.

It launched on Xbox Game Pass on day one, a first for the series, and passed 3 million players in its first week, its biggest launch. The Revelations expansion followed on July 7, 2026, with six new campaign levels, a frozen-over Hell, a Chain Spear weapon, and new enemies, including the Archvile.

My Verdict: The most approachable modern Doom. Slower fights and the parry system make it a good first pick if Eternal's speed sounds exhausting.

FAQs About Doom Games

Final Words

Doom is one of the rare series where the oldest games still feel quick on their feet. Each entry tweaks the pace, from the 1993 run-and-gun to Doom 3's horror crawl and The Dark Ages' shield-first brawls, but the core loop of hunting demons through maze-like levels never changed. That's why a newcomer can jump in at almost any point on this list and still have a good time.

Pace decides which one to pick. Doom (2016) is the cleanest introduction, Doom Eternal rewards players who love learning deep systems, and The Dark Ages suits anyone who wants to stand their ground and parry. Doom 64 and Final Doom are the hidden gems, and both suit players who have already finished the classics.

As for what comes next, id Software hasn't officially announced a new Doom game. The Verge's Tom Warren reported in July 2026 that the studio is in the early stages of one, but id hasn't shown anything, and nobody outside the studio knows when it might appear. Until then, The Dark Ages and its Revelations expansion are the newest places to fight demons.

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