Summary
- The iconic imp design in Doom: The Dark Ages will be named the Imp Stalker, a common hellspawn variant.
- Modern Doom games have adeptly adapted classic monster designs, with Doom: The Dark Ages faithfully recreating the Imp Stalker.
- The upcoming game blends more classic Doom gameplay with modern mechanics and storytelling and diverse enemy types.
The classic imp design previously confirmed to be coming in Doom: The Dark Ages has been revealed to have a unique name in the upcoming title, presumably to set it apart from another imp variant teased in some trailers. The Imp Stalker, as it is now being called, appears to be one of the more common types of hellspawn that players will be slaying in Doom: The Dark Ages, and represents the return of the original Doom‘s iconic imp design for the first time in decades.
Many of Doom‘s vast assortment of monster designs have always been widely recognized, even beyond the gaming space. The legendary history of the franchise and its monster designs doesn’t stop id Software from further evolving and iterating on them over 30 years later, though, and the modern era of Doom games have excelled in adapting these classic monsters, both mechanically and aesthetically. Just about every classic Doom enemy has returned in the newer games in one form or another, whether it’s the cannon-fodder imps or the miniboss-like barons of hell.
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Not every monster from the Doom series has returned with a totally new design, however, with Doom Eternal especially taking many favorite sprites from the 90’s and bringing them back as faithfully reconstructed, high-resolution 3D models. Previous trailers for Doom: The Dark Ages gave fans a look at many of the enemy types they’ll be facing when the game releases in May, including the classic imp variant as seen in the original games, which has recently been confirmed to be named the Imp Stalker. Gameplay footage shown so far highlights how faithful this demon design is to the original, from the spiked shoulders and glowing mouth right down to its animations and attack behavior.
Doom: The Dark Ages Will Continue to Blend The Old With The New
Doom: The Dark Ages is certainly shaping up to be a real treat for fans of the classic games, with gameplay shifting away from Eternal‘s emphasis on aerial movement and resource cycling and further towards something resembling the classics. Players should expect rooms packed with enemies that can be torn through in moments and a movement style that rewards strafing to aim. That said, it would be a mistake to view Doom: The Dark Ages as simply a high-resolution classic Doom game. Just like every new entry to the series, Doom: The Dark Ages isn’t hesitant about evolving the formula, and will be packed full of mechanics, weapons, and monsters unlike any seen before in the franchise – all while featuring a more direct focus on storytelling, unlike its predecessors.
Although Doom: The Dark Ages aims to diverge from its predecessor, interestingly, it seems like the game will feature a few different types of imps, which perhaps necessitates the more specific naming convention. In addition to the Imp Stalker, some of the game’s trailer footage features another type of imp which more strongly resembles the imps seen in Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal.
- Released
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May 15, 2025
- ESRB
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m
- Publisher(s)
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Bethesda Softworks