Why Was Doom 4 Called Doom?

On 6/24/2019 at 10:23 AM, Maes said:

Why was "Rocky VI" called Rocky Balboa? Why was "Rambo IV" called "Rambo"/"John Rambo"?

At least here in Brazil, we call it Rambo 4. (it's the official title here)

Simple reason: Doom is old. Your target audience doesn't know 1 and 2, most of them were wearing diapers when D3 came out. If it was part 4, you'd have them confused, not sure if they'll get into it without knowing previous games. Would you start, for example, watching Rambo from Rambo 3? That's why there are subtitles or reused names. You still have your name recognition while appealing to a younger audience.

On 9/21/2019 at 6:19 PM, Gez said:

It makes sense, Half-Life is basically "Doom, but with aliens instead of demons", so it's only natural that newfangled Doom would be "Half-Life, but with demons instead of aliens".

 

"In a secret military-industrial facility, an experiment with teleportation technology opens dimensional rifts that allows monsters to invade, ravaging the Earth and causing the near-extinction of humankind." Is that the plot of Half-Life or that of Doom?

It's Bioshock plot m8.

2 hours ago, jamondemarnatural said:

It's Bioshock plot m8.

What the hell are you talking about?

On 9/5/2019 at 1:08 PM, famicommander said:

Ninja Gaiden (arcade)

Ninja Gaiden (NES)

Ninja Gaiden (Game Gear)
Ninja Gaiden (SEGA Master System)

Ninja Gaiden (unreleased SEGA Genesis prototype).

Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)

 

All entirely different games, same exact title.

 

So it could be worse.

You forgot Japan: Ninja Ryukenden.

It's like how the newest Samurai Shodown game is named "Samurai Shodown." No 7 on it, just that.

On 6/18/2019 at 4:15 AM, The Strife Commando said:

It's a mistake to try to make people forget about the original entries. You don't bring down classic Doom.

What? this statment absolute makes no sense,

we get it you don't like Don't like Doom 2016 but making statements like this just makes you seem desperate.

Id is smart enough to know that no one will forget about Classic Doom...

17 hours ago, jazzmaster9 said:

What? this statment absolute makes no sense,

we get it you don't like Don't like Doom 2016 but making statements like this just makes you seem desperate.

 

Id is smart enough to know that no one will forget about Classic Doom...

I never said I didn't like Doom 4.

Same thing happened to Mortal Kombat. The trend of renaming reboots in long established the franchises base name is annoying and unhelpful. How about DOOM: Resurrection? That would have been perfect.

15 minutes ago, MrGlide said:

How about DOOM: Resurrection? That would have been perfect.

That's what I thought too. :)

On 6/18/2019 at 6:15 AM, The Strife Commando said:

It's a mistake to try to make people forget about the original entries. You don't bring down classic Doom.

You have it all wrong.

They called it Doom because they want you to think of classic Doom. Hell, the game is full of Easter Eggs begging you to remember the classics.

Personally I like Doom 2016 being named Doom. Giving it a sub name for the first installment of the new series makes it confusing.

On 1/12/2020 at 8:11 PM, MrGlide said:

How about DOOM: Resurrection? That would have been perfect.

Because they already used that one.

On lundi 17 juin 2019 at 9:20 PM, seed said:

But they might have wanted people to forget about classic Doom as well, as strange as it might be.

Then why put all the Easter eggs, including recreated areas of the original levels?

I'm curious to know the reason as well.  Even if DOOM (4) turns out to be a reboot, plenty of video games and even movies use numbering schemes that don't match the chronological order of the story being told.  And there are even examples where creators have gone back and forth.

Netherrealm Studios tried to do this with Mortal Kombat (9) in 2011.  They even insisted that Mortal Kombat X was not Mortal Kombat 10.  And yet, the next game in the series was titled Mortal Kombat 11.  Also, for the record, there is no Mortal Kombat 8.  The 8th game in the series is considered to be Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe.  Moreover, fans have no idea where it takes place, chronologically.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift was the third film in the Fast and Furious series but it actually takes place after the sixth film, chronologically.  The fourth film was called Fast & Furious to eschew a numbering scheme but they reversed that decision with Fast Five and decided to forego creative naming entirely with The Fast and the Furious 6.

Lastly, id already has a track record of doing this with all of their franchises.  DOOM is no different.

• DOOM was originally released with three episodes that take place chronologically.  A fourth episode was added in The Ultimate DOOM.
• DOOM II is a direct sequel to Ultimate DOOM. 
• Final DOOM, DOOM 64, and No Rest for the Living are sequels to DOOM 2.  It's unclear when the events of Evilution, Plutonia, 64, and NRFL take place or even if they all take place in the same universe.
• DOOM 3 is a reboot of DOOM 1.  DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil is a direct sequel to DOOM 3.  DOOM 3: The Lost Mission is a side-story that takes place during the events of DOOM 3.
• DOOM: Resurrection is a remake of DOOM 3 for mobile platforms.  Some of its story elements were later used in DOOM 3: The Lost Mission.
• DOOM RPG is a reboot of DOOM 1 / DOOM 3 with light RPG mechanics.  DOOM II RPG is its sequel, and Wolfenstein RPG is a prequel to both.
• DOOM: Eternal may or may not be a sequel to DOOM (4).  Doom (4) may or may not be a sequel to past DOOM games.  DOOM (4): VFR is a side-story that takes place during the events of DOOM (4).
   

Plus, we all know id will jump at the opportunity to make a 666 joke whenever the next, main game in the series comes out.  Either that or DOOM 64 will be considered the sixth game, and they'll just jump straight to DOOM Seven.

Edit: Also, for the record, I just refer to the game as DOOM 4.  It's easier and less confusing.

5 hours ago, Gez said:

Then why put all the Easter eggs, including recreated areas of the original levels?

I dunno, that's the impression I got at the time.

This post hasn't aged too well :v .

The way I see it, its all about marketing. While the title may be annoying to people who have been playing the franchise for many many years, its actually a good way to market that the game is a reboot, rather than a sequel. It lets potential buyers know that they don't need to play every other game in the franchise to "get" this one. And while this may be a silly notion to most who are familiar with the franchises near lack of story (up until the modern entries anyway), most people looking to play a new, fun shooter aren't as well versed in the trappings and tropes of a nearly 3 decade old franchise. So picking up this new game may come with a lot more baggage than its worth if the title has a 4 behind it. 

If they had called it Doom 4 (or some other name), no one would be posting a thread asking "Why didn't they call it just 'Doom'?" (And if someone did, they'd basically have this very thread dumped on their head and be laughed out of the forum.)

Instead, we live in a world where this game basically has three different names and makes it harder to talk about it or do searches relating to it. People trying to stream Doom have their streams listed as Doom because the 1993 game and 2016 game have the same name. Most people call it "Doom 2016" rather than its actual name, which itself seems like quite a marketing failure. I still prefer to call it "Doom 4".

And if they wanted to bury the memory of the COD-like "Doom 4" from 2012, there'd be no better way than to name the crowd-pleaser "Doom 4": make the aborted game harder to search for and people have to use intricate language just to refer to it. Instead, they inflicted such damnatio-memoriae on the original Doom, the very game Doom 4 is such a love letter for!

On the other hand, WADs have probably taken all the good names already. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Even "Doom Eternal" conflates a bit with "Eternal Doom".

Peripherally related: the Final Fantasy VII Remake coming out is not a "reboot" or "reimagining" or otherwise "let's pretend the original release never happened and yet rely on it for popularity" -- it's a straight remake, so it has a much stronger case for reusing the original title verbatim; and yet they have the honesty of putting "Remake" in the official title. Go figure.

On 6/17/2019 at 2:51 PM, The Strife Commando said:

Hello. I'm wondering, why did id name this entry Doom and not have 4 in it? My mind is saying that they probably wanted fans to forget about the original game, but I don't believe it. Doom 1 is called Ultimate Doom, so it removes the confusion, but searching up Doom on browsers may not just bring someone to the original game.

i just call it doom 4, cause i can't stand calling it DOOM 2016.

Well, I guess the next iteration will more minimally be called "D" or "'ooM" or "DM".

On 1/26/2020 at 8:37 PM, Rainne said:

If they had called it Doom 4 (or some other name), no one would be posting a thread asking "Why didn't they call it just 'Doom'?" (And if someone did, they'd basically have this very thread dumped on their head and be laughed out of the forum.)

 

Instead, we live in a world where this game basically has three different names and makes it harder to talk about it or do searches relating to it. People trying to stream Doom have their streams listed as Doom because the 1993 game and 2016 game have the same name. Most people call it "Doom 2016" rather than its actual name, which itself seems like quite a marketing failure. I still prefer to call it "Doom 4".

 

And if they wanted to bury the memory of the COD-like "Doom 4" from 2012, there'd be no better way than to name the crowd-pleaser "Doom 4": make the aborted game harder to search for and people have to use intricate language just to refer to it. Instead, they inflicted such damnatio-memoriae on the original Doom, the very game Doom 4 is such a love letter for!

 

On the other hand, WADs have probably taken all the good names already. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Even "Doom Eternal" conflates a bit with "Eternal Doom".

 

Peripherally related: the Final Fantasy VII Remake coming out is not a "reboot" or "reimagining" or otherwise "let's pretend the original release never happened and yet rely on it for popularity" -- it's a straight remake, so it has a much stronger case for reusing the original title verbatim; and yet they have the honesty of putting "Remake" in the official title. Go figure.

Before, I tried looking for a specific video on classic Doom, but end up with videos of Doom 4.

On 1/27/2020 at 9:37 AM, Rainne said:

If they had called it Doom 4 (or some other name), no one would be posting a thread asking "Why didn't they call it just 'Doom'?" (And if someone did, they'd basically have this very thread dumped on their head and be laughed out of the forum.)

 

Instead, we live in a world where this game basically has three different names and makes it harder to talk about it or do searches relating to it. People trying to stream Doom have their streams listed as Doom because the 1993 game and 2016 game have the same name. Most people call it "Doom 2016" rather than its actual name, which itself seems like quite a marketing failure. I still prefer to call it "Doom 4".

But with what we got, it would make Zero sense for it to be Called 'Doom 4'.

I still scratch my head why Doom 3 was called 'Doom 3' when its a reboot 

iD made the right call by not making it seem like another "sequel" but what it actually is, Doom.

9 hours ago, jazzmaster9 said:

But with what we got, it would make Zero sense for it to be Called 'Doom 4'.

 

I still scratch my head why Doom 3 was called 'Doom 3' when its a reboot 

iD made the right call by not making it seem like another "sequel" but what it actually is, Doom.

🤦🏻‍♀️ Doom, Doom 3, and Doom 4 are not the same thing (they all have their own levels, weapons, enemies, and basic design philosophies), and need to be distinguished within the gaming world for the purposes of:

• player preferences
• tags, hashtags, search keywords for videos, livestreams, writeups, etc
• speedrun categories, leaderboards; not to mention techniques
• user content compatibility (WAD / PK4 / Snapmap)
• subforum names for Doomworld
• memes

If they officially have the same name, then "official name" becomes meaningless because no one will use it (because there's still a need to distinguish these games) and it therefore deprives the developers of the power to give it a name at all.

And I know you already agree with me because you still refer to Doom Eternal by that name without protest, rather than saying that it should've been named "Doom II: Hell on Earth".

13 minutes ago, Rainne said:

 

🤦🏻‍♀️ Doom, Doom 3, and Doom 4 are not the same thing (they all have their own levels, weapons, enemies, and basic design philosophies), and need to be distinguished within the gaming world for the purposes of:

• player preferences
• tags, hashtags, search keywords for videos, livestreams, writeups, etc
• speedrun categories, leaderboards; not to mention techniques
• user content compatibility (WAD / PK4 / Snapmap)
• subforum names for Doomworld
• memes

Would it be better for all three to have the same name just because they want to be treated as ripoffs of the original rather than as sequels? If they officially have the same name, then "official name" becomes meaningless because no one will use it and it therefore deprives the developers of the power to give it a name at all. How many people do you know, who are familiar with both the 1993 and 2016 games, who actually call the latter game just "Doom"?

 

And I know you already agree with me because you still refer to Doom Eternal by that name without protest, rather than saying that it should've been named "Doom II: Hell on Earth".

I know Doom, Doom 3 and Doom 4 are not the samething, they arent even in the same continuity. Nice try acting smart though

No i actually dont agree with you because if it was called Doom 2: Hell on Earth i would just call it as such With a prefix.

Nice try being clever though.

Again if the have A Sequel named Doom 2

It would not make sense for them to have a non-sequel be numbered. Sorry to tell you.

Given that Doom 2016 starts with your character waking up from a sarcophagus, they should have called it Doom: Resurrection. Unfortunately, the name was already taken. Twice.

1 hour ago, Gez said:

Given that Doom 2016 starts with your character waking up from a sarcophagus, they should have called it Doom: Resurrection. Unfortunately, the name was already taken. Twice.

That word is used far too often. What's wrong with "rebirth"?

If plotwise sequels should have sequential numbering, then consider the case of Doom 64. Arguably, it should have been named "Doom III" and deserves that name more than the 2004 game does.

Quake 64 and Hexen 64 for example are basically just "these games, but now on N64". Doom 64 follows the same naming scheme, and therefore, in N64 context, equivalent to naming it just "Doom". And for that reason, many people passed on it, assuming it was just a rehash of the same thing rather than the distinct, original Doom game it actually is. The developers accidentally their own game from the start; why is it a good idea to do that intentionally?

At least Doom 64 has a distinct identity now; people take the 64 as an inherent part of the name rather than just a platform tag. So if you do a search for "Doom 64", you don't get results for Doom 3 or Doom RPG or Doom Eternity because they're not the same fucking thing and their names, correctly, reflect that.

If Doom 3 is supposed to be a reboot of Doom, then wouldn't it be equally valid to say that Doom 4 is a reboot of Doom 3? And if it is, it's not a very good one because it takes a diametrically opposite design approach.

Also by your logic:

• Quake II is not a plotwise sequel to Quake or even set in the same universe. It is arguably a reboot and thus should be named simply "Quake". (And in fact arguably a much more effective reboot because it sets the standard that all subsequent "Quake" games follow; Q1 is obscure even within its namesake series.)
• Quake 4 is a direct sequel to Quake (meaning, the game we know as "Quake II"), and therefore should be called... Quake II.
• And we should apply this logic after the fact.

So in a world where your logic prevails, we wind up in a confusing situation where Quake II is its own sequel and everyone has to add a lot of boilerplate to everything they say just so everyone can even begin to hold a conversation about them. (Let alone do stuff like searching for Quake II speedruns and having to clarify which Quake II you mean.)

Not only is "Doom" not the right name, it's not even wrong. All that can be taken from the name is that it's part of the Doom series; within the Doom series, it doesn't actually have a name at all! That's why everyone has to refer to it in roundabout ways like "Doom 2016" or "Doom 4"; it's like trying to hit a ghost monster, since you can't target it directly, but you can try to place an AOE attack precisely enough that it encompasses what you're aiming for and nothing else. (After all, if there were multiple nameless Doom games in 2016, we'd have to be even more specific.)

"Doom 3" may be the wrong name, but at least it is a name; everyone calls it that and everyone agrees on what game the name refers to. Nobody calls the 2016 game just "Doom" without qualifiers; it is a sign that they do not accept the name it's been given, because it does not serve the purposes they need it to serve. So even as you argue otherwise...

2 hours ago, jazzmaster9 said:

if it was called Doom 2: Hell on Earth i would just call it as such With a prefix

...you don't truly accept it either.

21 minutes ago, Rainne said:

Quake 64 and Hexen 64 for example are basically just "these games, but now on N64". Doom 64 follows the same naming scheme, and therefore, in N64 context, equivalent to naming it just "Doom". And for that reason, many people passed on it, assuming it was just a rehash of the same thing rather than the distinct, original Doom game it actually is. The developers accidentally their own game from the start; why is it a good idea to do that intentionally?

Ironically, they wanted to call it with a distinct subtitle ("Doom: the Absolution") but I guess marketing thought "Doom 64" would work better, or perhaps Nintendo wanted all titles to be "Whatever 64". Then they decided to reuse it for the planned sequel (because "Doom 64 II" definitely wouldn't work) which would have been called "Doom Absolution", but was canceled early in production.

1 hour ago, Foebane72 said:

 

That word is used far too often. What's wrong with "rebirth"?

 

My memory's a bit fuzzy but wasn't DOOM: Rebirth the name of a Quake III Arena mod that was shut down by id?

In another example of the Doom community bullying id Software into compliance, in the Doom Eternal interview blitz they have universally referred to the last game as "Doom 2016" or even "2016".

5 hours ago, Rainne said:

 

...you don't truly accept it either.

Do i ? Because if i didn't i would call it Doom 5 and not Doom 2 (2020), But you can think i dont accept if it makes you feel better.