The legendary documentary channel, NoClip, has released never-before-seen and uncut footage from the Doom 4 project, which was canceled in 2011 after several delays and setbacks. The clips show the game in all its glory and shed light on how far the developers at id Software and Panic Button Games have come.
Those who remember the Doom 4 project know it was commonly referred to as "Call of Doom" since it looked heavily similar to the game Call of Duty. With the health regeneration mechanics, the weapon choices, and the imp fighting, it kind of gives off the COD: Zombies vibe.
Intervention by the publishers at Bethesda Softworks and parent company ZeniMax Media led to a complete overhaul in internal development, which paved the way for the company's reorganization. This was when the game was rerolled completely, and the companies decided on a new concept in 2013 that would become the final version of DOOM.
"You can probably close your eyes and imagine a 'Call of Doom' or a 'BattleDoom' game, where it starts to feel way too much like: 'Wait, this doesn't feel like Doom, it feels like we're playing some other franchise with a Doom skin on it... It wasn't fast enough... The way that the demons worked. The visceralness (sic) of the combat... The combat was more disconnected, you almost found yourself taking cover at times and using things from other FPSes, which might be fine for them, but for Doom it just doesn't feel right."
―Pete Hines, senior Vice President of global marketing & communications at Bethesda Softworks
Some of the footage in the almost twelve-minute video was showcased initially during NoClips 2016 documentary, DOOM Documentary: Part 1 - To Hell & Back. What's more, the documentary covers all of what would have been lost after id Software completely scrapped the idea before the final version, which shows us the very beginning of how the glory kill system was created.
The footage in the documentary shows the inner workings of how both DOOM (2016) and Doom Eternal came to be. Though it had a complete rework done, it sheds light on the process the developers and publishers went through to develop the polished and play-ready version players have today.
Id Software took what would have been the Doom 4 project and created something similar to the original 1993 version of Doom, which made it more enjoyable and nostalgic to long-time fans. Though it does resemble the original in some ways, the intense violence and battles players would face were turned up about 20 notches. This not only added a fresh take on the original but led to plenty of gruesome and blood-soaked scenes players couldn't get enough of.
Those who would like to learn more about the history and development of Doom 2016 can do so on the NoClip Youtube Channel, where they have an entire series dedicated to the game.
