Some details of Dark Outlaw Games‘ canceled DOOM-inspired game have surfaced online thanks to a fantastic investigation by the content creator Glitching Queen.
The 22-minute video, posted on YouTube on November 5 by Glitching Queen, reveals previously unknown details about what PlayStation-owned Dark Outlaw Games was working on before the project was canceled earlier this year. It reveals that Dark Outlaw Games was developing a brand-new dark fantasy game with similarities to Call of Duty: Zombies.
Much of the information in the video leaves a lot to the imagination, which is expected given PlayStation’s notoriously strict NDAs.
That said, I have been sitting on a lot of information, including gigabytes of screenshots, footage, and documents about Dark Outlaw Games’ title since the project was canceled, for a book I am writing about canceled video games.
DOOM-Inspired Shooter
To cut to the chase, Dark Outlaw Games’ title, codenamed Ignite, was heavily inspired by the DOOM series, putting it more in line, gameplay and level-design-wise, with DOOM Eternal than what people would expect from Call of Duty Zombies given leadership’s past work on the game mode. The game would have had a linear, story-driven narrative across levels, with levels similar in scope and design to Call of Duty, featuring choreographed and cinematic events. The game would also have been playable in co-op.
One of the most interesting features in the game design documents was that gore was a main feature and key mechanic, with the player needing to inflict as much damage as possible on enemies to “feed off” them with an amulet that the character was wearing (think more damage given = more health, power, etc.). The gore feature was to implement different ‘layers’ to enemies, where skin, muscle, and bone could be destroyed progressively depending on what gun or melee attack the player inflicted to give a graphic and immersive experience.
In addition to the DOOM inspiration, though, the team also brought a lot of Call of Duty Zombies DNA to the game, including a Call of Duty Zombies-esque horde mode, plenty of Easter Eggs, mini games, and more.
As for why the game was canceled, internal emails provided to Insider Gaming reveal it wasn’t canceled because of anything particularly fascinating, but because PlayStation executives reprioritized its portfolio budget amid ongoing market challenges.
Watch Glitching Queen’s video below to see other tidbits she discovered about the game.
Do you think you would have enjoyed Dark Outlaw Games’ DOOM-inspired game? Leave your thoughts down in the comments, and join the official Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more from Insider Gaming, read about Fragmentary Order devs starting their ‘Prime Batch’ program. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
Tom Henderson is Insider Gaming’s Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief. When he’s not running one of the industry’s leading independent video game websites, he’s probably playing an FPS like Call of Duty,…
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