Remember "Doom"? If you grew up in the '90s and have not heard of the massively successful computer game or, more likely, trudged through its demon-filled dungeons yourself, consider us surprised. The game was so popular in the mid-'90s that Microsoft founder Bill Gates inserted himself in the game for an internal company presentation about gaming on its nascent Windows 95 operating system.
Here's Bill, shooting an undead marine:
Since then "Doom" has evolved a lot. There have been several games in the series, up to and including the divisive "Doom 3" in 2004.
In the past 11 years, many versions of the much anticipated next entry in the series have existed. "'Doom 4' has gone through at least one major reboot over the past few years, and sources say even today, five years after development started, the game is not even close to complete," Kotaku's Jason Schreier reported back in 2013.
And Monday, many years after development began, "Doom 4" was finally teased in an 11-second video:
Even more interesting, though, is a video that was leaked Monday night depicting what "Doom 4" looked like in a previous build — a post-apocalyptic city being overtaken by the iconic demons from previous games. The company that publishes the "Doom" franchise, Bethesda Softworks, got back to us to confirm the video is from a game that no longer exists.
"As we said several years ago, the development of 'Doom 4" was not up to the standards of Id or Bethesda," Bethesda's Pete Hines told Business Insider. "The game we are making is 'Doom,' and we look forward to showing everyone 'Doom' at our E3 showcase next month."
According to sources speaking with Kotaku, the footage is a combination of the game (as it existed in 2012) and CGI footage created for a trailer ("some elements are in-engine; others were part of a 2012 trailer"). More important, the footage looks pretty great, even if it's a few years old.
But perhaps words aren't enough to convince you. Here's a quick look at the demon apocalypse depicted in Monday evening's leaked footage:
"Doom 4" (known as just "Doom") will get the full reveal treatment in a few weeks at the annual game industry trade show E3.
