It appears that a new combat encounter animation pre-visualization has surfaced for the canceled version of Doom 4. This video shows what the id Software devs were trying to create before canceling this particular version of Doom 4.
The first leak for this canceled Doom 4 game happened back in 2015. Back then, numerous screenshots surfaced from a behind-the-scenes trailer. Then, in 2020, new footage surfaced from that old version of Doom 4 (that video is no longer available). Afterward, in 2022, we got three new screenshots from it. And finally, in March 2023, we got some multiplayer footage from it.
Doom 4 would originally take place on Earth and feature gameplay mechanics similar to those of the Call of Duty games. However, during development, id Software felt that this was the wrong direction and decided to cancel it.
This new animation video shows exactly why most Doom fans are glad this game was canceled. Almost every gameplay idea in it looks bad. A cover system like Call of Duty or Gears of War in a Doom game? Really? It’s clear the developers didn’t understand what Doom was supposed to be. I honestly don’t know why they made those changes.
And look, I know that Doom 3 was different from Doom 1 and 2. However, you should keep in mind that the first Doom games were considered horror games when they came out. Today, they might seem a bit silly and more like action games. But back then, they were intense horror-action titles. With the new tech John Carmack developed, the team wanted to return to those horror roots. Because of its high hardware requirements, though, the game couldn’t have many enemies on screen. In a way, this limitation is similar to what we saw in Doom 2016, which also had far fewer enemies on screen compared to the classic Doom games or Doom: The Dark Ages.
To be honest, I’m glad id Software decided to cancel this crossover between Call of Duty and Doom. They made the right decision. Doom 2016 was a flawed but great game. It was a commercial success. It also felt like a Doom game, and not like something that was trying to capitalize on the latest trend.
Anyway, if you are curious about this Doom 4 version, you can go ahead and watch the video. Since this is a pre-visualization, it has a lot of placeholder graphics. So, don’t expect it to look great. Still, it can give you an idea of what id Software was aiming to create!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
Contact: Email