Id Software can't beat DOOM on the toughest difficulty setting

How hard is DOOM? Its own creators can't beat it.

Id Software can't beat DOOM on the toughest difficulty setting

DOOM boasts a brand-new difficult setting called Ultra-Nightmare. Nightmare is familiar to series fans, so they know what to expect from having the dials turned up to 11 - but in Ultra-Nightmare, every death is final, so players will have to restart the whole campaign if they take a dive.

Sounds pretty tough, right? It sure is: id Software's Marty Stratton and Hugo Martin told IGN nobody in the office has managed to make it all the way through to the end.

It's not clear from the indirectly quoted comments whether anybody has beaten Ultra-Nightmare - only that none of id's staffers have. The shooter may well be being tested by an external QA team, either at Bethesda or beyond, and these long-suffering heroes may well have managed the feat. I find it hard to believe the shooter will ship with a difficulty nobody has ever managed to overcome - even though the broader general audience will almost certainly throw up plenty of skilled players who can manage it. Unbeatable games are generally frowned upon nowadays, y'see.

Bethesda gave us an extended look at DOOM's single-player campaign earlier this week, which was pretty rad - even if it didn't generate as much hype as this allegedly leaked and definitely awesome DOOM campaign trailer.

DOOM is just two weeks away, and will release on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.