10 Video Games Cancelled For The WORST Reasons
9. DOOM 4 (Bethesda Softworks)
What do you think of when you hear the name, "DOOM"?
If you said "that old videogame that people keep trying to code so it'll play on scientific calculators and weaving looms", then you're right, but not the type of right that's pertinent to my point. If you said "action-horror where you play as an unstoppable force of nature, a human transcending his limits through use of anger alone", then you're closer.
If you said, "a military shooter, just like Call of Duty", then DING DING DING, you've got it exactly right!
Wait, you... you don't think DOOM should be like Call of Duty?! Oh. Well, neither did playtesters, it seems. DOOM 4's vertical slice appeared to play remarkably close to other military shooters released at the time, with one remarking "I've played this game before. A lot."
It seems the intention was to make the new DOOM play with a sense of familiarity, yet it took it too far and lost its unique identity.
The strangest thing was, instead of reworking it, it was simply cancelled outright. Yet you could argue this was for the better - starting from scratch and releasing DOOM (2016) just a few years later (to critical acclaim for its fresh gameplay and adherence to the subject matter) seemed to wash the plain boiled potato-bland taste out of critics' mouths, replacing it with a spicy habanero kick in the gonads.
With a chainsaw boot.