In terms of XBOX first person shooters, Halo has been at the top since the XBOX launch, and Halo 2 set pre-order records to establish Halo as the definitive XBOX franchise. Doom 3 was released for PC in the summer of 2004, and although it was in the works for several years, it failed to live up to its own hype and was comparatively inferior to the 2 other blockbuster shooters of the year, Halo 2 and Half-Life 2. Now Doom 3 is on the XBOX, and with the addition of the classic Doom games as an extras, it's at least worth a purchase.
The first thing to say about Doom 3 is that it looks totally amazing. While not as graphically detailed as the original PC version, it's still better looking than most XBOX games currently available. While the graphics are excellent in a technical sense, there really isn't much to say about Doom 3 artistically. Most of the game takes place in dimly lit corridors where lights go out and flicker while demons rush straight at you. Eventually you will get to hell, which is probably the most impressive looking area in the entire game. It's got a nightmarish dark red sky and backgrounds which serve as a greater terror than the feeling of being isolated in a marine base, a feeling that loses its novelty quite quickly.
All of the weapons and most of the enemies from the original Doom games are in Doom 3. Everything looks more impressive at surface level, but you'll soon find that Doom 3's gameplay almost always revolves around 1 or 2 monsters spawning behind you or leaping out of dark corners, which gets old quickly. The game isn't boring per se, it just doesn't have the same run and gun gameplay that made the old Doom games so great. The problem with this is that there's no huge difference between the levels. All you're really doing is getting security clearance to go to the next area over and over again. The game will occasionally throw a Half-Life-ish room at you where you have to manipulate certain objects to get up to a vent shaft or something like that, but unfortunately this doesn't happen very often. Also, the fact that monsters pop out of "monster closets" worked much better with the old games than with Doom 3, mostly because Doom 3 is so claustrophobic and the monsters usually spawn behind you, which is more unfair than scary. Doom 3 perfectly fits the description of a game that looks incredibly good but plays only satisfactorily.
Thankfully, id software included the original Ultimate Doom and Doom II games along with the collector's edition of Doom 3. Not only have these games aged very well, but in many cases they're actually more fun to play than Doom 3, though they're obviously not as good looking. You can also play Doom 3 or the classic Dooms cooperatively, which greatly increases the replay value overall. Doom 3's co-op campaign definitely feels shorter, but teaming up on enemies (or simply having a flashlight guy and a gun guy) provides a more entertaining experience than playing solo. If you're a fan of first person shooters, you'll definitely want to play this game. Just be warned that it looks and usually sounds better than it plays.
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