It's been 10 years since Doom spawned brown, stinky pants throughout the world, and this time around, guess what, the stains are bigger and stinkier. Is Doom 3 all that it promised to be? The obvious answer is "Hell yes!!!"
Doom 3 does exactly what its predecessors did, they stuck you in the shoes of a lone marine on mars, fighting off an invasion from hell, and that's not really a bad thing, concidering this time around id Software threw in a unique storyline and some extremely impressive technology feuling it all.
GRAPHICS - Anyone can tell at first glance that the graphics in Doom 3 are easily the best of any video game to date. Real-time lighting and shadowing is a great trick that blends in character with environment to create some fantastic (and downright spooky) effects. Characters can hide in darkness, becoming completely invisible and just leap out at you when you least expect. This technology really takes gaming to a new level. - 10/10
SOUND - equally as impressive as the graphics is the sound, which is ground-breaking as well. The sound system of Doom 3 is designed to deliver 5.1 or 6.1 surround sound unlike anything you've ever experienced in video games, IF you're the lucky owner of one of these sound systems. Sound effects are simply mind boddling, and on the new surround sound technology, some extremely disturbing effects are made possible. You can pin-point the location of a womans voice saying "over here" or hear a sadistic low-pitched laughter echo from the dark and gloomy hallway you're staring down. The ambience is breath-taking. Doom 3 doesn't have any in-game music but the sound effects created by hidden enemies and nearby machinery blended with the surround-sound technology behind the engine, its not a big deal. In fact, creating massive tension is much more important than having heavy metal blasting through the speakers at all times. - 10/10
GAMEPLAY - The gameplay here is unlike anything gamers have experienced. Insane level design, outrageous graphics, mind-boddling sound effects and demons from hell in a dark corridor crawl is enough to get the adrenaline permanently running as long as the game is on. This game is extremely scary, and I don't mean the "monsters leaping at your face" type scary (which does happen occasionally), but an atmospheric type scary. A level without demons can still scare the piss right out of you. Anyone who has seen "The Ring" knows what I'm talking about. Nothing ever jumps out and yells, but the atmosphere, the mood set causes extreme fear and discomfort. Same applies with Doom 3, except it's infinitely times more frightening because you're in control. Another great aspect of Doom 3 is the way it's executed. Rather than having something new just pop up in your face, the game stops the onslaught with a little cutscene that introduces the new enemy you will face from then on. The scene with the Pinky Demon is truly unforgetable. Also, the gameplay doesn't stay the same. The game starts out with you inside the facility on a normal day, walking around talking to people (Half-Life style), then suddenly, as you probably expected, all hell breaks loose... literally. The place goes dark and you are in the middle. You move slowly and carefully, your fear doesn't let you run and gun like you do in most FPS games. It moves extremely slowly, then as the game progresses, things get faster, the gameplay picks up speed. The game shifts from "find that key or hit that panel" to "f*cking shoot everything that moves!!!" and soon it goes back to the original "find the key or hit the panel" type gameplay. This process never really ends until you finish the game. Over 25 loooong hours of joy packed into this baby. - 10/10
UNFORGETABLE MOMENT - I slowly walked down a long and dark hallway and came across a small dimly lit room with two doors. Imps teleported in and a massive firefight began. After it was all over, dead silence filled the room. I moved toward the door on the right and a womans voice appeared. "Over here" is what it said. I immediately realized it was coming through the other door (thanks to the all new surround sound system). I followed it. The door opened, revealing a hallway pointed to the left. The voice appeared again, it said "Follow me" and disappeared into an echo. It echoed through the hallway. As I slowly went in and turned left, I saw a dead end. Shortly afterward, the loud screaming of a woman being tortured filled every corner of the place and the soft whisper of the same woman who lured me there said "They took my baby." It echoed away and dead silence filled the place and left me a nervous ruin. Nothing ever happened on screen.
CONS - Of course, no game is perfect. Doom 3 features many massive corridor-like levels, one hardly any different from the other. It gets repetitive in the first few levels but once in a while something new is thrown in, something that gives the gameplay a big change. Such things show up extremely rarely, and repetition moves in fairly quickly after the change. The game hardly seems to progress. A few un-realistic details about the engine exist too, to my great surprise. Your footsteps sound the same, regardless of where you step and the blobby vision caused by explosions (which is an insane effect when used right) can be detected through thick walls even. Also, the game is pretty static and the rag dolls seem a little bit "out of place." Hardly any things bounce around when you shoot them but most stuff doesn't. Still, these few things aren't enough to bring the score down by much.
MACHINE SPECS - I played on a hefty system (P4 3.0 GHz with Hyper-Threading, 2 GB of RAM, GeForceFX 5200 128 MB (with ForceWare 61.77 and DirectX 9.0b drivers installed), 120 GB Hard Drive, and a 5.1 surround sound system) and it was begging for mercy at medium detail 800x600 resolution and no AA or AF. Average frame-rates oozed down to the lower 20s and sometimes went to 15 and below. For some odd reason, I had the same lousy rates at 800x600 ultra detail. I suppose it's got something to do with my configuration rather than the game.
CONCLUSION - Revolutionary. No other word can describe this masterpiece. Doom 3 creates an aura of fear and discomfort that gets adrenaline pumping, even if nothing ever happens on screen. It effects you, and everyone in your surroundings, playing it or not.
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