The path between the concept derided as Call of Doom and DOOM, released in 2016, is not so straightforward.

Doom 3 offered a different experience from the first two installments. We’re not just talking about Doomguy (whose name, as we wrote earlier, was Doom Guy…) crossing over into the third dimension, but rather the slower pace of the game and id Software’s more horror-oriented approach. There’s just too big a gap between 2004 and 2016, and so far, all we could take for granted was that id Software would have taken the IP in a different direction again, building on the success of Call of Duty.

Noclip has made several documentaries about the franchise’s somewhat bumpy history after Doom 3, and they mentioned how they didn’t know where to take one of the big names of the 90s. The Call of Doom-like Doom 4 concept was an authentic clichéd late 2000s, early 2010s military shooter with a grey, urban setting, but we have to say this: it’s not what we fell in love with three decades ago. And there’s a good chance id Software itself knew that.

Below we’ve embedded a 2012 trailer from the game, which is much darker and less colorful than the 2016 game but still has a Doom 3 style that leans toward horror. The shotgun, fist, and chainsaw are all similar to what we saw in the reboot nearly seven years ago, but most of the footage looks like it was shot on Earth before it switched to a more sterile environment (UAC Mars?). The video is from Danny Keys’ now deleted ArtStation profile. He is a media artist and video editor at id Software.

So this concept has left the Call of Duty imprint behind, but the 2016 style hasn’t fully emerged yet. Perhaps this middle ground could have been successful. It may also not have had a sequel.

Source: PCGamer