ID Software made an announcment today about the next installment of their Doom series. Apparently they are going to be hiring people and starting development of the fourth release of this hell fueled horror FPS. Hopefully it won't suck as much as the third one did.

They said "DOOM is part of the ID Software DNA and demands the greatest talent and brightest minds in the industry to bring the next installment of our flagship franchise to Earth,” said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software. “It’s critical for ID Software to have the best creative minds in-house to develop games that meet the standards synonymous with our titles.”

Doom 3 was a pretty horrible misstep in the franchise that Doom 2 defined. In two there are levels with swarms of demons and massive battles. I particularly remember the level where the walls raise up and you are in a giant room containing about 75 demons. Doom 3 on the other hand took the game to a place where only four or five enemies ever appear simultaneously. The settings were all the same, pitch black, and you could not use the flashlight at the same time as the gun so you KNEW nothing was really going to happen. I mean, it's not like they could require you to shoot accurately without seeing so you knew for sure if you had to have your flashlight out you were virtually "safe."

Another thing with Three was the whole "pda" mechanic which was not at all fun. I hated every time I found one and refused to listen to anything they contained, which really didn't matter because it was all pointless drivel anyways. Hopefully these "brilliant minds" they hire for four will be able to bring us back to the glory days. I love two enough to give this series endless mulligans either way.