On March 2, video game archivist The Gman's Archive (opens in new tab) published a video on Twitter purportedly of a 2012 build of Doom 4. The video was taken from id Software video editor and media artist Danny Keys' Artstation page, although the original Artstation post has since been removed (opens in new tab).

Despite the negativity surrounding Doom 3, the slower-paced, more horror-focused game has an undeniable appeal. Still, id clearly struggled with what direction to take the series after its 2004 release, as outlined in a 2016 Noclip documentary (opens in new tab). in addition to the Noclip documentary, scattered leaks (opens in new tab ) and reports over the years all clearly paint a picture of a late 00's/early 10's cinematic shooter. Lovingly animated faces, brown and gray colors, urban surroundings, and a man with a backpack on his back who skulks before jumping over a table .......

The content of this new sizzle reel from Keys is curiously perfectly in line with what we know about the Doom 4 to Doom (2016) development timeline. In another Noclip video released last year (opens in new tab), Doom (2016)'s glowing Terminator skeleton slowly emerges from Doom 4's flesh as time passes, and Call of Doom's murky brown color and slow movements are replaced by the familiar look of the released shooter's The transformation into its outline can be clearly seen.

The 2012 trailer is darker and less colorful than the final game, and the demons look more like the body horror beasts of Doom 3 than today's (still somewhat gruesome) goofball demons. The animations for the shotgun, rage fist, and chainsaw glory kills are nearly identical to those that appeared in 2016, as are the shotgun and chainsaw models. The majority of the trailer appears to be set on Earth, but halfway through the trailer transitions to a sterile interior that looks like it belongs in a UAC Mars facility.

This new video is another interesting look at one of the most iconic shooters of the last generation before "Doom" came together. One of the things I've always found interesting about "Doom 4" is that it doesn't seem to garner the same wistful longing as other games that have been cut, canceled, or reworked. [It's hard not to yearn for the possibility of Troika's Fallout 3/Fallout-inspired prototype (opens in new tab) before Bethesda bought the license and Black Isle's successor studio went under. Nevertheless, what we've got on "Doom" is so good, and its initial direction so off the mark, that we can have normal contact with the leaked "Doom 4" material.