How to play the DOOM games in order: Release and story timeline

Our hero is an unnamed marine (lovingly nicknamed “doomguy” by fans and later retconned to the much cooler Doom Slayer) who navigates maps, uncovers secrets, and kills just about everything in his way.

Since the '90s, Doom has spawned countless spin-offs, knock-offs, and remakes including a poorly received 2005 adaptation starring Rosamund Pike, Karl Urban, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

But with the reboot returning in May 2025, which order should the games be played in?

Here is our guide to playing Doom.

How to play the DOOM games in release date order

Here's how to play the DOOM games in release date order. You can use the links to learn more about each of the games.

• Doom (1993)
• Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994)
• The Ultimate Doom (1995) (includes added level “Thy Flesh Consumed”)
• Master Levels for Doom II (1995)
• Final Doom (1996)
• Doom 64 (1997)
• Doom 3 (2004)
• Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil (2005)
• Doom Ressurection (2009)
• No Rest for the Living (2010) (expansion pack)
• Doom (2016)
• Sigil (2019) (unofficial)
• Doom Eternal (2020)
• Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part I (2020)
• Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part II (2021)
• Sigil 2 (2023) (unofficial)
• Mighty Doom (2023)
• Legacy of Rust (2024) (expansion pack)
• The Lost Levels: Doom 64 (2024)
• Doom: The Dark Ages (2025)

How to play the DOOM games in chronological story order

If you want to play the DOOM games in 'story order', there are two main timelines that you need to know about. We've got all the info for you below.

Original timeline:

• Doom (1993)
• The Ultimate Doom (1995) (includes added level Thy Flesh Consumed)
• Sigil (2019) (unofficial)
• Sigil 2 (2023) (unofficial)
• Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994)
• No Rest for the Living (2010) (expansion pack)
• Legacy of Rust (2024) (expansion pack)
• Final Doom (1996)
• Doom 64 (1997)
• The Lost Levels: Doom 64 (2024)
• Doom: The Dark Ages (2025)
• Doom (2016)
• Doom Eternal (2020)
• Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part I (2020)
• Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part II (2021)

Alternative timeline:

• Doom 3 (2004)
• Doom Ressurection (2009)
• Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil (2005)

For the completionists out there, here are almost every Doom-related release from the past 32 years.

All Doom games story explained

Doom (1993)

With story details given in short written messages, the original Doom is a light-on-plot heavy-on-violence first-person shooter video game.

Playing as an unnamed space marine, later referred to as Doom Slayer, players discover a portal into Hell on one of Mars’s moons. Slaying his way through hordes of demons and zombified scientists, Doom Slayer descents into Hell and blasts his way back to Earth.

Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994)

After returning to Earth, Doom Slayer discovers his planet has been invaded by Hell.

With society in ruins, Earth’s leaders hope to evacuate survivors into space. There’s one problem: the Starport, their only hope for escape, is infested by demons. Doom Slayer shoots and slices his way through the starport, allowing humanity to escape.

But as he waits for death, those who’ve stayed behind discover the root of the invasion: Doom Slayer’s hometown. Doom Slayer must return home, kill the hellspawn, enter into Hell, and seal the portal to save the world.

The Ultimate Doom (1995)

A remake of the original, The Ultimate Doom adds a fourth nine-level episode set after the events of Doom. Entitled Thy Flesh Consumed, the episode takes place after Doom Slayer has returned to Earth but before Doom II.

Discovering his pet rabbit dead, and his city under invasion by hellspawn, Doom Slayer must combat the hideous creatures in a corrupted cityscape.

Master Levels for Doom II (1995)

Master Levels is an official expansion pack for Doom II. It's an eclectic collection of levels without a connecting plot, but hey, if you want more of the original’s fun, have at it.

Final Doom (1996)

Far from the last entry in the franchise, Final Doom expands on the original duology and combines two extra episodes: TNT: Evilution and The Plutonia Experiment.

When humans establish an experimental base on Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, Hell once again bleeds into our reality as demons invade.

Guess what? Doom Slayer slays them.

Doom 64 (1997)

Years after Hell’s thwarted invasion, another creature has escaped onto Mars and begins resurrecting demons. Our gun-totting marine is called out of retirement to destroy the threat and kill the Mother Demon.

Burdened by his trauma, Doom Slayer decides to remain in Hell to ensure no demon ever escapes again. This marks the end of the original run.

Doom 3 (2004)

Slower paced and horror-themed, Doom 3 is a reimagining of the original which expands on the narrative.

The game explores the scientific research that led to opening a portal into Hell, this time on Mars itself. In it, Doom Slayer is once again an unnamed marine soldier sent to Mars after assaulting an officer and refusing to shoot civilians. The not-quite-sequel not-quite-remake focuses on the cosmic horror of the Doom universe.

Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil (2005)

With eight multiplayer modes and 12 new single-player levels, the Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil expansion pack acts as a sequel to Doom 3.

Two years after the events of Doom 3, a team is sent to investigate a strange signal from one of Mars’s satellites. An unnamed marine engineer discovers a mysterious Artifact and is tasked with bringing it back to Hell.

Doom Resurrection (2009)

This IOS mobile first-person shooter is a parallel story to Doom 3.

In it, an unnamed marine survivor on Mars joins forces with Sam, a flying robot, to reach a space port where the rest of the UAC facility plan to escape the planet.

On his way, the marine meets fellow survivors, learns about UAC’s corruption, and is transported to Hell where he closes the satanic portals. Demons are slain, Sam sacrifices himself, and the marine flies back to Earth with the data implicating UAC.

No Rest for the Living (2010)

Developed by Nerve Software for the Xbox release of Doom II, No Rest for the Living is a nine-level continuation of Doom II.

The short episode features Doom Slayer traveling to a pocket of Hell to stop a Cyberdemon from building up an army.

Doom (2016)

On Mars, UAC is harnessing Hell’s ressources to solve Earth’s energy crisis.

Heading the facility is scientist Samuel Hayden, who transfers his consciousness into a robot after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

When demons attack the facility, Samuel awakens Doom Slayer, who has been sealed in a sarcophagus for years, to combat the threat.

A VR version was released the following year.

Sigil (2019)

Created by one of Doom’s original designers, John Romero, Sigil is an unofficial episode set after Thy Soul Consumed and before Doom II. It has nine single-player levels.

When Doom Slayer steps through the portal back to Earth, he is instead transported by Baphomet to "even darker shores of Hell".

Doom Slayer fights his way through the twisted hellscape to defeat the satanic creatures and return to Earth.

Doom Eternal (2020)

After being exiled in Doom (2016), Doom Slayer returns to combat Khan Maykr, an angelic force intent on sacrificing humankind for the survival of his own species.

With Earth in the clutches of Hell, our marine must track down the angel’s guardians to reclaim the planet.

The Lost Levels – Doom 64 (2020)

Unlockable after either completing the original campaign or beating the secret level Heretic in Doom 64 (2020), The Lost Levels is a separate campaign that links the events of Doom 64 to Doom (2016).

In The Lost Levels, Doom Slayer is sent back to earth after defeating the Mother Demon by her sister, Resurrector. He fights his way back, slaughters Resurrector, and decides to stay in Hell (again).

Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part I & II (2020 and 2021)

Taking place immediately after Doom Eternal, this two-part campaign DLC has Doom Slayer travel into hell to collect the Father Life Spheres.

Instead, he resuscitates the Dark Lord in order to destroy demonkind once and for all. When he defeats the Dark Lord, the hellspawn die off and Doom Slayer is sealed into his Sarcophagus by the Makyrs.

Mighty Doom (2023)

Mighty Doom is a roguelike mobile app developed by Alpha Dog Games and released by Bethesda Softworks.

With cartoonish visuals and a Metal soundtrack, the shoot ‘em up game garnered mediocre reviews from fans and critics alike.

Sigil 2 (2023)

Another unofficial episode by John Romero, Sigil 2 takes places after the events of Sigil and before Doom II.

Even more unforgiving than its predecessor, the nine-level episode sees Doom Slayer sent to more hostile environments of hell as he strives to return home.

Legacy of Rust (2024)

With two episodes and 16 levels, Legacy of Rust is an expansion pack included in Doom + Doom II’s rerelease. When UAC’s base in hell is overrun by evil, Doom Slayer is sentin to reclaim the territory and preserve UAC’s legacy.

Doom Slayer rids the area of demons and destroys the portal between Earth and the corporation’s base, leaving UAC’s legacy to rust.

Doom: The Dark Ages (2025)

A prequel to Doom (2016), Doom: The Dark Ages follows Doom Slayer’s rise as he takes on a techno-medieval citadel in Hell.

Emphasising heavy weaponry, grounded combat mechanics, and slower advancement, the game places our marine as "an iron tank", plowing through demons in his ascent.

Doom: The Dark Ages will be released on 15th May 2025.

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