Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
View
Trending
  • Prime Day Deals
  • Superman
  • Donkey Kong Bananza
  • Switch 2 stock
Recommended reading
a gun that fires a metal ball attached to a chain for recall
FPS Games Id says Doom: The Dark Ages is "the best Doom game we've ever made" as it reveals we're leaving Hell for the Lovecraftian Cosmic Realm and getting a gun that shoots a mace on a chain
The Doom Slayer shooting the Skull Crusher at a demon during the Doom: The Dark Ages trailer.
FPS Games Doom: The Dark Ages has a new official trailer, and at this point id Software and Bethesda are just holding me down and pouring Doom lore over my head
The Elder Scrolls' Oblivion's most annoying fan holds a torch
The Elder Scrolls Why wait? Oblivion fans have already made their own remaster in Doom, and it features one too many adoring fans for my liking
Quake
Games FPS legend John Romero says it's a "huge honor" for Quake to join the World Video Game Hall of Fame alongside GoldenEye, the inescapable Tamagotchi, and an iconic '80s arcade classic
The Doom Slayer shooting the Skull Crusher at a demon during the Doom: The Dark Ages trailer.
FPS Games Doom: The Dark Ages FAQ warns that barrel-stuffing demons might not work as "expected," suggests you try stuffing bigger demons instead
Doom: The Dark Ages key art featuring the slayer on top a pile of bodies with the ruins of hell behind them
FPS Games Every Doom The Dark Ages guide you'll need and more
The Witcher 4 screenshot with Ciri using sword and sorcery to fight an ancient monster
The Witcher The Witcher 4 first look - State of Unreal 2025 Live Coverage
  1. Games
  2. Action
  3. Doom

Take a look at the Doom 4 you nearly won in 2012

News
By Leon Hurley published 19 May 2015

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

This, from the previously canceled version of Doom 4, looks like it was in-game. There are references to art titled 'before hell wave', which I'm guessing is that bad looking red thing on the way.

Page 1 of 7
Page 1 of 7

The trailer, and previously leaked shots, tie into the idea that hell had unleashed Doom's creatures on Earth. More specifically, New York according to some art asset names.

Page 2 of 7
Page 2 of 7

There was talk of this earlier Doom 4 being more cinematic, as shown by this group of almost Terminator-style resistance fighters.

Page 3 of 7
Page 3 of 7

The earlier version of Doom 4 featured a much more generic take on the world thanks to its real world settings.

Page 4 of 7
Page 4 of 7

Pay attention to this guy who appears in the new leaked 2012 Doom video, because...

Page 5 of 7
Page 5 of 7

...here he is in the art that previously leaked in 2012. He appears to be named Ancira, according to the image file names.

Page 6 of 7
Page 6 of 7

This character can also be seen in the new footage. This is another image from the 2012 Doom 4 leak. He's apparently called Augustus.

Page 7 of 7
Page 7 of 7
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming PS4 Xbox One Platforms PlayStation Xbox
Leon Hurley
Leon Hurley
Social Links Navigation
Managing editor for guides

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides, which means I run GamesRadar's guides and tips content. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website. 

Yesterday we had a brief Doom 4 E3 teaser lasting seconds, today a previously canned version of the game has resurfaced. This time with video showing a post-apocalyptic take on the idea, with a human resistance fighting back against the forces of hell.

It looks like this:

It's actually been edited out of the showreel of writer/director Mark Bristol where it appears in bits, scattered amongst all his other work. How can we be sure it's an earlier attempt at a Doom sequel? Well Mark has it all over his Linkedin page with credits as "Art Director on Doom 4" with responsibility to "develop and write the story of Doom 4" and as "Lead Writer/Cinematic Director on Doom 4". Those date between 2008 and 2012. It also matches exactly previously leaked artwork from 2012. That came from Thao Le, who's currently a senior environmental artist at id Software and has been since 2008.

You may like
  • a gun that fires a metal ball attached to a chain for recall Id says Doom: The Dark Ages is "the best Doom game we've ever made" as it reveals we're leaving Hell for the Lovecraftian Cosmic Realm and getting a gun that shoots a mace on a chain
  • The Doom Slayer shooting the Skull Crusher at a demon during the Doom: The Dark Ages trailer. Doom: The Dark Ages has a new official trailer, and at this point id Software and Bethesda are just holding me down and pouring Doom lore over my head
  • The Elder Scrolls' Oblivion's most annoying fan holds a torch Why wait? Oblivion fans have already made their own remaster in Doom, and it features one too many adoring fans for my liking

From Le's leaked art asset names we know that the character with the back pack is called Ancira, while the worried looking bearded man with the hat is called Augustus. There's also characters called Stove and Holmes. Two files with the prefix 'ny' suggest New York as a setting, while two street shots are labelled 'before Hell Wave'. That, presumably, is the red wave seen bursting out in the video, and was previously taken to suggest the game was a remake of, or set before, Doom 2. Elsewhere the guns, locations and more all match with the video.

Talk at the time from people like John Romero and actors involved in mo-cap pitched this 2012 version of Doom as war drama, and a more cinematic experience. In comparison the new footage, as brief as it is, suggests a more stylised take on the original's hellish overtones - there's a brief glimpse of a body/head on a stick for example, and while the buildings are blurred in background they lack that 'modern day New York' vibe, and have more of Bloodborne's Yarnham feel to them.

See more PC Gaming News
Read more
a gun that fires a metal ball attached to a chain for recall
Id says Doom: The Dark Ages is "the best Doom game we've ever made" as it reveals we're leaving Hell for the Lovecraftian Cosmic Realm and getting a gun that shoots a mace on a chain
The Doom Slayer shooting the Skull Crusher at a demon during the Doom: The Dark Ages trailer.
Doom: The Dark Ages has a new official trailer, and at this point id Software and Bethesda are just holding me down and pouring Doom lore over my head
The Elder Scrolls' Oblivion's most annoying fan holds a torch
Why wait? Oblivion fans have already made their own remaster in Doom, and it features one too many adoring fans for my liking
Quake
FPS legend John Romero says it's a "huge honor" for Quake to join the World Video Game Hall of Fame alongside GoldenEye, the inescapable Tamagotchi, and an iconic '80s arcade classic
The Doom Slayer shooting the Skull Crusher at a demon during the Doom: The Dark Ages trailer.
Doom: The Dark Ages FAQ warns that barrel-stuffing demons might not work as "expected," suggests you try stuffing bigger demons instead
Doom: The Dark Ages key art featuring the slayer on top a pile of bodies with the ruins of hell behind them
Every Doom The Dark Ages guide you'll need and more
Latest in Action
GTA Online Alien War
GTA 6 rumor suggests GTA Online server player capacity could double, even triple, and it's making me want to lock my doors and stockpile guns like I'm in a doomsday bunker
The Last of Us 2
The Last of Us Online lead and Uncharted veteran is opening a new studio in Japan after 10 years at PlayStation's Naughty Dog
Ghost of Yotei lead Atsu in straw hat
Dragon Age and Ghost of Yotei star is probably more excited for today's State of Play than you are – the actor's logged 80 hours to 100% Ghost of Tsushima
Dollman hangs out with Sam in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Death Stranding 2's Dollman has divided fans in a way that only an animatronic puppet with strings pulled by Hideo Kojima could: "Please just keep your observations to yourself"
Marvel's Blade's first trailer
An Arkane Studios AAA game entered production at the end of 2024, meaning Marvel's Blade might not be as far along as we all hoped
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle screenshot of Indiana
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle being a first-person only game "was a given" from the start because "if you're going to be Indiana Jones, you need to look through his eyes"
Latest in News
Death Stranding 2 prologue Sam standing on a mountain with lou strapped to his chest
I thought Kojima filmed Death Stranding 2's opening sequence in my Arizona backyard, and now that people are confusing pictures of a real-life desert for screenshots, I know I haven't lost my marbles
Ghost of Yotei
Gorgeous limited edition Ghost of Yotei PS5 consoles and controllers draw inspiration from traditional Japanese art and "one of the core aspects within the game"
A screenshot shows Ghost of Yotei protagonist wielding a bow and arrow
Reducing the "burden" of open-world games, Ghost of Yotei replaces Ghost of Tsushima’s journal menu with a "wolf pack" of important characters that meet you under the stars: "The game comes to you"
Ghost of Yotei
Sucker Punch says "the best way to play" Ghost of Yotei is to "find something interesting on the horizon and enjoy the ride," and thankfully since Breath of the Wild that's the only way I play open-world games
Ghost of Yotei mask in bloodied snow
Ghost of Yotei "isn't going to rush you through anything" and "focuses on player freedom more than any game Sucker Punch has ever made," with clues and activities for all play styles
Jason Momoa as Ka'iana in Chief of War
Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa goes hardcore with historical action in the new trailer for Apple TV+ passion project Chief of War
  1. A Gundam style mech in Mecha Break
    1
    Mecha Break review: "This mech battler makes up for lacking customization with a varied roster that lets me live out my Evangelion fantasy"
  2. 2
    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
  3. 3
    Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic"
  4. 4
    Tron: Catalyst review: "Disc slinging is a thrill in this gorgeous rendition of the series, but I'm let down by a time-loop story that falls flat"
  5. 5
    FBC: Firebreak review: "A disappointingly bland multiplayer FPS that's missing far too much of what made Control special"
  1. David Corenswet as Superman inside the Fortress of Solitude in James Gunn's Superman.
    1
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  2. 2
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  3. 3
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  4. 4
    28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy”
  5. 5
    Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation"
  1. Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
    1
    Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever"
  2. 2
    Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
  3. 3
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
  4. 4
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling"
  5. 5
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...