Doom launched by Bethesda at E3 2015, swiftly criticised for being too violent

Doom has been credited, or charged, with beginning the modern trend for realistic video game violence — and is likely to start the whole controversy over again

Fans cheer for Executive Producer for Id Software, Marty Stratton as he speaks about 'Doom' during the Bethesda E3 2015 press conference at the Dolby Theatre on June 14, 2015 in Los Angeles, California (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Doom is having its comeback — and it was announced in classic fashion, with heads being lopped off and people being sliced in half with a chainsaw.

The game has been causing huge controversy since it was first released in 1993. And at Bethesda's big E3 event last night, it unveiled the new version of the game, which is likely to cause its own scandal once again.

Bethesda launched the game last night with the first in-game footage, during an event that also saw the launch of Fallout 4 and Dishonored 2.

Doom is often credited with being one of the early pioneers of realistic video game violence. Though a number of studies have found no link between violent games and young people being violent in real life, games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty have continued to be criticised for glamourising such behaviour.

Social media users were quick to react as the new footage emerged, and while many fans of the series were celebrating its return, some questioned if the amount of violence in the footage was necessary as it quickly began trending online.

Twitter user Anita Sarkeesian, who runs the Feminist Frequency game criticism site and account, wrote: "This level of extreme violence shouldn't be considered normal. It's not an excuse to say it's expected because DOOM. That's the problem."

Many at the press conference cheered at the various kill moves seen on-screen.

Sam Connell wrote on Twitter: "If someone criticizes Doom for excessive violence ... I honestly don't know what to say. That's criticizing dogs for barking."

Fellow Twitter user super ellen galaxy added: "But violence in Doom is ... these creatures are fake. Their blood is fake. It is okay to want to kill fake things sometimes. Anger exists."

The new game is due to be released in spring next year.

Later today, other big video game makers including Microsoft and Sony will host their pre-E3 press conferences to announce their line-up of titles for the next 12 months.

Additional reporting by Press Association