Id Software’s vision for Doom 3 was far from what we finally experienced in 2016.

It was a decade before Doom 3 was followed by DOOM. It is a valid example of development hell. While Bethesda (which by then had absorbed the studio) was hyping Rage’s megatexture technology, id Software was behind the scenes on Doom 4, a project that ended up in the graveyard in 2013 because it was (for example) too similar to Call of Duty. It was not for nothing that it was derided as Call of Doom.

For years, all we could see was a CG trailer expressing the war-torn world, which resulted from a leak. Gameplay? That was out of the question. It turned up in NoClip’s documentary about the 2016 DOOM and the bumpy road to completion. In it, a short, corridor-style gameplay sequence emerges, in which our hero first attacks the human-like demon with a shotgun and then kills it in melee combat.

NoClip published this gameplay segment (it’s from 01:18 in the video below!) because of their ongoing game preservation mission. We also get to see some animations from the 2016 DOOM development (e.g. the glory kills), so we can examine the interface used during development, as it’s also a stark departure from the final “retail” version that ended up pleasant on the eye.

id Software’s position is that, while Doom 4 would have been a game that fans would have enjoyed, their efforts were better shown in a game that followed the formula of the original instalments: hellish, fast-paced, and consisting of a one-person army. It fits for 2016’s DOOM, where Doom Slayer went all out and tore apart anyone who got in its way.

If Doom 4 had been released, DOOM Eternal wouldn’t have been released either. Who knows what would have happened to the id Tech engine.

Source: PCGamer