Is it time for Video Game Deadpool? Yet another studio joins the troubled list

[Aya Reiko]

After EA's and SquareEnix's CEOs got ousted, looks like another studio is in the hot seat.

This time, it's id Software.

Rage 2 is dead, and Doom 4 has turned into a quagmire.  And Zenimax is losing patience with id's brass

From Kotaku:

Doom 4 is in trouble, and has been for quite some time now, according to multiple sources. Though publisher Bethesda tells Kotaku they still plan to release the highly-anticipated first-person shooter, 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.

Rumors of Doom 4?s troubled development have been floating around for quite some time now, but over the past few months, we?ve learned a great deal more than what has circulated so far. I?ve talked to four people with connections to the Id Software-developed game, and they?ve described a studio plagued by mismanagement and lack of communication that has frustrated staff both at Id and Id?s parent company, ZeniMax (whose main branch Bethesda is the publisher of Doom 4 and a number of other games, including The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim).

[...]

?People referenced Call of Duty,? said the source. ?There were jokes like, ?Oh, it?s Call of Doom.? They referenced it because of the amount it was scripted?there were a lot of scripted set pieces. There was kind of the recognition that in order to be a big shooter these days, you have to have some amount of the big, bombastic movie experience that people get pulled through.?

Another source criticized this approach, telling me that it all felt rather mediocre: ?The coolest part... were the horror and shock elements, unfortunately bookended by somewhat pointless and contrived shooting galleries of hoards of uninteresting enemies.?

One sequence was described to me as ?the obligatory vehicle scene? in which players would take the gunner?s seat of a car and shoot demons as the computer drove. If you think that sounds rather generic, you?re not alone. But a source assured me that there were some imaginative ideas in there too.

[...]

Two sources told me that earlier this year, frustrated with the lack of progress on Doom 4, ZeniMax came to Id with an ultimatum: make something happen, or else. The specifics of the threat are unclear, but there are plenty of rumors floating around Dallas, Texas, where Id is based.

One rumor is that ZeniMax threatened to shut down Id if they don?t finish the game within the next year, but two people told me that seems unlikely.

What?s more likely, sources told me, is that if Id can?t get Doom 4 together, ZeniMax could clean house and refocus the company to work on tech like the Id Tech 5 engine, which is currently being used for multiple projects at studios owned by ZeniMax.

Source: http://kotaku.com/five-years-and-nothing-to-show-how-doom-4-got-off-trac-468097062

[Stuffman]

?People referenced Call of Duty,? said the source. ?There were jokes like, ?Oh, it?s Call of Doom.? They referenced it because of the amount it was scripted?there were a lot of scripted set pieces. There was kind of the recognition that in order to be a big shooter these days, you have to have some amount of the big, bombastic movie experience that people get pulled through.?

Another source criticized this approach, telling me that it all felt rather mediocre: ?The coolest part... were the horror and shock elements, unfortunately bookended by somewhat pointless and contrived shooting galleries of hoards of uninteresting enemies.?

One sequence was described to me as ?the obligatory vehicle scene? in which players would take the gunner?s seat of a car and shoot demons as the computer drove. If you think that sounds rather generic, you?re not alone. But a source assured me that there were some imaginative ideas in there too.

Sounds like we're not missing out on much.

How can they do this to DOOM, of all things? I mean, fuck, the original game, which is something like 20 years old now, still has an active fanbase that is STILL making content. They don't need to go mainstream to sell it.

[NekoNekoRex]

I thought for sure this topic would be about LucasArts. They got shut down today too.

[Third Eye Lem]

I thought for sure this topic would be about LucasArts. They got shut down today too.

I never played many of their games, but I enjoyed what I did play (Yoda Stories, Star Wars Ep 1: Racer, the various Lego Star Wars titles). Disney looks pretty cold-hearted for shutting them down like that. Makes me wonder what'll happen to Marvel...  :ohdear:

[Zerviscos]

Sounds like we're not missing out on much.

How can they do this to DOOM, of all things? I mean, fuck, the original game, which is something like 20 years old now, still has an active fanbase that is STILL making content. They don't need to go mainstream to sell it.

As it said.."There was kind of the recognition that in order to be a big shooter these days, you have to have some amount of the big, bombastic movie experience that people get pulled through.“"
It pretty much liked what happened to Duke Nuk'em Forever.

Since there's a lot of shooters these days, and most of people who play are CoD fanboys, it's hard to appease the audience. I remember watching a video on why DNF failed, and this was also THE big reason why.

[Aya Reiko]

I never played many of their games, but I enjoyed what I did play (Yoda Stories, Star Wars Ep 1: Racer, the various Lego Star Wars titles). Disney looks pretty cold-hearted for shutting them down like that. Makes me wonder what'll happen to Marvel...  :ohdear:

Nothing to be afraid of.

LucasArts post-Grim Fandango was little more than a licensing house for the Star Wars franchise.  What Disney did dispatch of the middleman to do something they can do themselves.

[Ghaleon]

I never even knew doom4 was a thing. I did some research about it a few years back and heard nothing, forgot about it since.
But yeah, Doom3 wasn't very much like dooms1 and 2 but I still liked it and would enjoy doom4 to be like it too. I only ask that they try to keep it scary without resorting to stuffing imps in these weird useless walls that magically open up to a room that's literally 1 foot deep and 4 feet across where the imp was seemingly standing there forever doing nothing but somehow avoiding suffocation.

A larger variety of enemies wouldn't hurt either I guess.

[Reddyne]

I never played many of their games, but I enjoyed what I did play (Yoda Stories, Star Wars Ep 1: Racer, the various Lego Star Wars titles). Disney looks pretty cold-hearted for shutting them down like that. Makes me wonder what'll happen to Marvel...  :ohdear:

On the subject of LucasArts, I seriously recommend picking up Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast if you get the chance. Aged as it may be, it's so much fun to use such a wide array of force powers. Kyle Katarn is easily my favorite EU character (are there others?) and force-pushing some vile, cackling Sith into an abyss never gets old. The next installment is a bit weaker, but still fun.
 
Doom 3 might not have aged well, and much of what went into it has become a pile of dead tropes, but it hit a lot of high notes when it first came out. People will site it alongside games like Half-Life 2, Far Cry, and F.E.A.R. as some of the first major upper-eschelon game released in the middle of last decade. If any of that report holds true, they've come down with a serious case of the derivatives. I always thought they could do well by making you feel alone and helpless despite being a walking arsenal, and letting hell twist and corrupt the surroundings. Doom 3 only worked somewhat, but being clever with the foundation of the series could make it something real engaging. Doesn't seem like they went that route.
 
Then again, RAGE was supposed to be a big thing and it wasn't. Svelt-looking as it may have been, it was Borderlands without the style, weapons, or multiplayer, which is why people play BL instead. Maybe it really is the way they're geared now.