You can complete Doom: The Dark Ages in just over an hour

Doom games usually take hours to finish, and the recently released Doom: The Dark Ages is no exception. However, a speedrunner managed to crush it in just 70 minutes.

Most Doom: The Dark Ages players spend about 12 to 13 hours completing the main story. This is if they focus only on the primary objectives. Completionists aiming for 100% gather all items, secrets, and challenges, and their standard run takes between 20 to 22 hours. Some hardcore fans spend up to 30 hours exploring every corner and replaying missed sections.

But a speedrunner has been smashing records since launch. Their first run was 2 hours and 29 minutes. Then they shaved it down to 1 hour 56 minutes. Next, 1 hour 30. Then 1 hour 16. Now, they’ve broken the game with a lightning-fast 70-minute run.

The tricks behind the fastest Doom: The Dark Ages run

How exactly did someone speedrun a 30-hour game in just over one hour? Two key tricks made it possible.

First, Daravae exploited the Slayers’ and Atlan mech’s fast movement. They clipped out of bounds by slipping through tiny gaps in the maps’ architecture. This allowed them to teleport past most level geometry to the mission ends.

Second, the in-game map screen was used cleverly. The Slayer’s icon is a small yellow triangle. By dragging this icon while paused, Daravae relocated their character instantly to new spots upon resuming the game.

Doom: The Dark Ages also includes a speed slider from 50% to 150% game speed. Cranking it up speeds both player and enemies, creating wild, intense gameplay. At 150%, the game becomes ridiculously fast, especially paired with rapid-fire weapons. This slider lets players tweak difficulty and pace, fueling crazy runs like Daravae’s.

Doom: The Dark Ages launched to strong acclaim. It earned an 86% rating on OpenCritic, ranking in the top 10% of games. Metacritic shows generally favorable reviews.

The official speedrun leaderboards are not live yet, but when they are, expect even crazier times to surface. Daravae’s 70-minute run hints at the new speed frontier for Doom: The Dark Ages.