When we arrived at the Richardson, Texas headquarters of id Software last December, I thought we accidentally walked into the wrong office. Id’s familiar logo is painted on the wall, but the lobby doesn’t reflect the history or vibe the studio is known for.

Intense white lights shine down on colorful architecture and décor, creating an environment that is warm, inviting, and unlike anything I would expect from the creators of Doom. The office is modern in design, embracing orange and white hues wherever it can, and is under the watchful eye of the extraordinarily upbeat Ms. Donna, id’s office manager who has been with the studio for decades, and is called “id mom” by the development team.

In the deepest southern accent I’ve heard outside of actors overemphasizing it in films, Ms. Donna offers me a breath mint, and tells me in a polite way that I better have a good time playing the game. She winks at me and I am immediately at a loss for words. A security guard in full police attire (gold badge and all) sits to her right, smiling pleasantly as he soaks in my awkward exchanges with Ms. Donna.

Marty Stratton, id Software’s game director and executive producer, bounds down the hall, and whether he knows it or not, comes to my rescue at just the right time. I can’t tell if he’s smiling because he knows we just met Ms. Donna, or he’s eager to show us what he and his team have been working on over the last few years.

He gives us a quick tour of the studio, showing us the locations of the art team, programmers, and his desk, which is tucked away in a sea of cubicles that overlooks a multiplayer testing area – a cleared out section of the office featuring 12 monitors and chairs (six on each wall). He says he loves sitting out here to hear how people are reacting to the game. The one thing he doesn’t highlight are the remnants of id’s past, like the original sketch of Doom’s cover art framed on a wall, sitting out in the middle of nowhere. We also walk past life-size statues from Quake, demonic beasts from Doom on display in glass cases, and an entire wall that has been transformed into a glass display case to show off the studio’s awards and prized relics.

Our tour eventually leads to a conference room transformed into a gamer’s dream. The meeting table is barely visible, as 20-inch monitors are lined up along both sides of it with keyboards, headphones, and Xbox One controllers sitting in front of them. The conference room’s chairs have been replaced with tall, red and black DX Racer gaming chairs. This is id Software I expected to see – a conference room transformed into what appears to be a LAN party.

A nervous energy hangs over Stratton. He knows we are in the studio for the entire day, but already feels pressed for time. “We made a big game, and we want to show you as much of it as we can,” he says. “It’s one of the things I’m most proud of about this game. So often [ideas] fall off of the table when you get crunched for schedules, money, time, and resources. I’m so proud of us for not having to do that.”

Although Doom is slated to release on an unspecified day this spring, the first thing Stratton shows me is a gray-boxed development area that the team calls the Movement Map. “When we started to put together our general gameplay, we created this map,” he says. “We continue to come back to it because it’s an addictive map to play. We refer to our arenas in single player as skate parks, and this map was more or less the first skate park we built.”

In this instance, Stratton uses the map to show me Doom’s basic gameplay mechanics, as I wouldn’t be given the chance to play through the game’s introductory level where the tutorial resides. After a brief but bloody demonstration in this white-walled test room, I’m given the chance to play the game myself.

Before I jump in, I ask Stratton if the development team favors the controller or keyboard, as both options are in front of me. At last year’s QuakeCon, where Doom’s multiplayer debuted, players were mocked if they reached for the controller – it was primarily a PC crowd in attendance. I’m shocked when Stratton says “controller.” He says they mostly favor the dual analog sticks, but he’s quick to clarify that some people on the team favor mouse and keyboard. As I grab the controller, I shoot Stratton a quick look to make sure he wasn't joking, and proceed into the game.

The level I enter is called Resource Operations, which is the second level of the single-player campaign. I’m suited up as the iconic space marine moments after he awakens in an underground UAC bunker. Before moving, he eyes the quality of his helmet. The visor is pristine, but the metal exterior is a little ragged for wear. F-90 is written in large text on the backside of the helmet.

Although the bunker’s lighting is subdued and ominous, the complex is mostly in working order, with various pipes, wires, and consoles with illuminated screens lining the walls. The sensation of entering a legitimate science-fiction setting is established in this instance. The only sound I hear is the ambience of the facility. It’s surprisingly quiet.

The marine’s mission is to find answers pertaining to the demon invasion, which I assume he became well acquainted with in the game’s introductory level.