While Doom may not have been the first first-person shooter, it certainly helped both define and popularize the genre, and the next title in the series – also called Doom – promises to be a return to the shooter’s roots.

“It’s quintessential Doom,” executive producer Marty Stratton told reporters on this year’s E3 showfloor. “I don’t know if that means it’s a reboot. You look out there and see how active the community is – there are still people playing it and making mods. Doom has this kind of timeless quality – the action works really well in the modern space,” Stratton said.

The original Doom was released in 1993 by Dallas-based game studio Id Software, which also created Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, and Quake. While Doom stirred some controversy due to its violence and occult imagery, it was also praised for its high speed gameplay and imaginative level design. The game was also a technical achievement thanks to several design innovations created by Id co-founder John Carmack, who is now the CTO of Oculus VR.

Stratton promises that the new Doom will stay true to the original with fast, relentless combat.

“It’s a skill-based experience, it’s challenging,” Stratton said. “The way you use your weapons, the way you manage your resources… it’s a game.”

More recent shooters like the Battlefield or Call of Duty franchises have moved away from health packs and non-stop combat, focusing instead on regenerating health and cover mechanics. Any time players enter a room in a modern shooter that is filled with waist-high walls to hide behind, they know a fight is about to break out. Stratton explained that players in the new Doom will have no such luxuries.

“People comment on the speed of the game,” he said. “There’s no hiding, no taking cover or stopping to let your health regenerate. There are enemies all around you – but you move faster than everything else on the screen.”

Doom is still produced by Id Software out of the North Dallas suburb of Richardson, but the company is now owned by ZeniMax Media Inc., the parent company that also owns Bethesda Game Studios (Fallout 4, Skyrim), Arkane Studios (Dishonored), and others. The new Doom is scheduled to release in the first half of 2016.

Screenshot via Bethesda | YouTube