In the mist of all the hype behind the upcoming release of Mass Effect 3 and the reveal of Assassin's Creed 3 on Monday, there's news about a game that's already one installment ahead - Doom 4.

Several shots of concept art from what could be Doom 4 have appeared on the internet, and id Software has issued a response to the leak.

Up until now fans weren't too sure what to expect from the sequel to Doom 3. There was news last year that the Doom 4 single player will run at 30 fps in order to have more enemies on screen. Then there were the low sales and review scores for RAGE, which was supposed to be a return to form for id Software. For a brief period of time it was even rumored that Doom 4 had been postponed as a result of the low scores RAGE received. This was later denied by id creative director Matt Hooper, though it still left fans of the series scratching their heads. All of these ups and downs have lead people to believe that id Software might make some major changes in the upcoming title.

These new screenshots that were leaked have sparked new interest in Doom 4 and raises one important question, "Is this what the final game will look like?" Check the screenshots below:

[gallery columns="2"]

The pictures depict a much different environment than in Doom 3 — much brighter. It looks as if the game might take place on a post-apocalyptic Earth, almost reminiscent of scenes in the Half-Life series. In fact the environments look similar to those found in RAGE.

On Twitter, Matt Hooper responded to news of the leaked screenshots by saying:

"Those images have nothing to do with what you're gonna see in Doom 4."

Likely very true since these look more like concept art - and nothing really close to a final product. Hooper continued on to say, "When we officially show things, fans will be happy." This is reminiscent of what Hooper stated early last year about how fans of the Doom franchise will be pleased with Doom 4.

It's very possible that the final version of Doom 4 could look nothing like these screenshots. We'll just have to wait until we hear an official announcement.

-

Follow me on Twitter @Dwayne236

Source: Evil Source Gaming, Twitter (via Eurogamer)