– id Software’s Marty Stratton, speaking to Noclip about why the studio shelved what might have been “Doom 4.”
Doom (the fourth one) had a surprisingly successful launch earlier this year, but it isn’t at all what developer id Software originally conceived when it first confirmed (in 2008!) that it was developing Doom 4.
That game, the game that might have been Doom 4, was very different — and in a new video (embedded above) published by video game documentary outfit Noclip, a few of id’s staffers share some interesting insight into the Doom game they spent years making, and why they eventually gave up on it.
“It was more realistic, it was more about the global impact of a hellish invasion,” said id’s Hugo Martin. “It sacrificed — to tell a bigger story, it sacrified the Doomslayer. And Doom is about one guy involved in big things. And Doom 4 Classic was more about the big things.”
The project was eventually rebooted — according to Doom creative director Marty Stratton, it went through a series of “rolling reboots” between 2011-2013 — and now, years later, it’s been released to significant critical acclaim. For more thoughts from id devs about how the company pulled it off (and where it goes from here) check out the full Noclip video, the first part of what’s promised to be a series on Doom.