Doom, Warhammer 40k, and WW1 unite in grimdark FPS you can play now

Doom conversions never cease to impress. The 1993 FPS game is still going strong to this day thanks to dedicated players and creatives that turn the id Software industry landmark into entirely new creations via total conversions, and today’s Doom mod is seriously, seriously impressive. It’s what happens when Doom, Warhammer 40k, and a depressingly grungy dieselpunk aesthetic meet, and I love it.

Called Trench Foot, you’re thrown into a WW1-looking warzone filled with cultists, demons, and a grimdark visual style that’s sure to impress, especially considering it’s a conversion of 1994’s Doom 2 no less.

TrenchWork is the team behind this total conversion, and they recently shared eight minutes of new footage that shows the opening of Trench Foot, and it looks disgustingly beautiful. Frenetic combat and demonic shrieks dominate gameplay, and while you can tell it’s based on the Doom framework, the lighting, colors, and visual style scream anything but.

With 15 original enemy types, 14 weapons, and an entire universe built around Trench Foot, it’s safe to say this is one we FPS fans should keep an eye on. Taking place in the world of Cretu, the people are under the thumb of the totalitarian Canonicate, and it’s either them, otherworldly demons from beyond, or rebellious cultists – no pressure.

You control a Master Templar Supersoldier, a conditioned killing machine under the Canonicate’s Exousian Church that needs to take on this ruthless cult as it wages a decades-long war that is pushing both sides, and everyone caught in the crossfire, to their absolute limit. If that sounds an awful lot like Warhammer 40k’s constantly at-war universe, the religious underpinnings of Blasphemous, or even the desolate atmosphere of Dark Souls to you, then you’re on the right track.

There are more modern fog, explosion, and smoke effects littered throughout Trench Foot, and the way all of this combines with the subtle green and red glows makes for a visual spectacle.

While there’s no release date for Trench Foot just yet, there is a demo you can try out for free with your copy of Doom 2 right now, alongside a survival horror prequel you can play that adopts a different approach. If the My House WAD was of interest to you (which Doom creator John Romero has actually played), Trench Foot is definitely something to keep your eye on. There are going to be more individual prequel episodes before the full release of the Doom conversion too, so keep an eye out for those.

If you want more classic shooters than just Doom, we’ve broken down all the best old games you can play right on your modern PC, alongside the essential horror games you should add to your library as well.