Incredibly looking game with some unforgettably terrifying gameplay, read the review. Real Score: 89.4%
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA" - Malcolm Betruger....(Don't ask me why I didn't put some other quote... you just get to hear this very often in Doom 3)
So, you're... Marine, or the name you chose for your 'Marine' in the menu. You have been called down to Mars to replace some other Marines that disappeared for some reasons. After you have arrived, you make your way to Sergeant Kelly while hearing the complaints of the workers that were spooked by the stuff happening on Mars and people disappearing. Sergeant Kelly orders you to find some missing scientist that is messing around in Mars' Base. As you are on your way to the spot the scientists resides, you get your first weapon, your first walk on Mars and you meet some other people. You finally find the scientists, he tells you that you don't "understand nor comprehend" ... after which he dies and so this is how Doom 3 starts. The zombies and demons fill the base and you start mashing brains with your pistol.
STORY:
The Good:
1. Pretty intriguing to find the continuation of Doom and Doom 2, some interesting twists.
2. Somewhat interesting audio logs...(not a big factor...)
The Bad:
1. You have probably already heard the good old argument of - "Why is it 22th century and the military could not install the flashlights to the gun?" ... or ... "Why all other marines were so easily zombified and you are here with so much health and armor... and able to carry so much ammo while crushing Hellknight's brain?" ... It doesn't make sense... I agree.
2. Some people try to communicate with you... to meet up with them and stuff. Well, that's nice... but it never happens, they die just by the time you arrive. It may create some let down feeling but meh, It's Doom3... so it won't be much of a factor.
The Story in Doom3 isn't much of a 'good book'. As the game continues, you will easily predict what's going to happen next and that most of the things that you wish would happen apparently will not. There are some moments that make you choose between two sides in a 'Yes or No' question, since that will not make much difference in the game - I will not put it as 'The Good'... but it is still interesting. Nevertheless, the Story is good enough to keep you interesting at times, not too bad.
THE SOUND:
The Good:
1. Distinctive and Scary sounds of different monsters are really good and are even scarier in the dark.
2. Audio Logs and the Communications keep the mood tense with it's screams, recordings of scared workers and more...
The Bad:
1. Alright... so you're now like 6 hours deep in the game, you hear an Imp appear behind you with a big crack and Betruger laugh in madly voice. Yes, the sounds do fall into repetitiveness, and the more they try to scare you with the same sounds... the more pitiful it gets and the easier it is to destroy an imp that actually tried to backstab you.
2. Weapons sound a bit weak, but I think it was created on purpose to not deafen the sounds of the monsters... not a big factor.
Overall, the sounds are great in Doom 3... they are scary and with the lights going off it is even more intense. The sounds infact do fall into repetitiveness which makes em a bit more useless as time progresses and it's not as tense as it was when you started the game. The Audio Logs are interesting for some time but again, it falls into repetitiveness and you want the thing just to give you the code for the locker and shut up, you cannot fight and listen to the log at the same time because you aren't gonna hear anything through the gunfight. Weapons projectile sounds are a bit weak but I think it was created on purpose to not deafen the sounds of the incoming monsters.
Even though I said alot of bad things about the Sound, but it mostly depends on how scared of a person you are and it is not as bad as you think it is after reading the writing above, the Audio Logs will not appear too often and the scary sounds are still good for a long time(depending on your 'Fear Factor'). Myself, I am not easily scared and there was only one thing in Doom 3 that made me jump, others just created a tense feeling, that it's it.
GAMEPLAY:
The Good:
1. Fear Factor, dark rooms, scary zombies, intimidating demons. That is what Doom 3 is about - to scare you to death. And it does a pretty good Job, you will be walking backwards, mashing the quick-save button and having the Plasma Gun ready to fire... I am impressed.
2. Storage Lockers, a very interesting part of the game which I liked. It is always intriguing and fun to open a locked box and find what kind of treasure awaits you inside, but you're going to have to do some research before opening them - you will have to find a code. Some Lockers make you think outside the box, which is awesome... one of the puzzles made me think for a long time. But don't always trust the lockers... not always.
3. Longer than average game longevity. I finish games pretty quickly though... 13 hours on Veteran difficulty.
4. An OK multiplayer. Not a big factor.
The Bad:
1. Re-pe-ti-ti-ve-ne-ss, yes... you will get only 3 kind of environments in Doom 3 - Claustraphobic Mars Base, Mars' Surface and Hell. Mars Base being the most often, you will surely notice how repetitive it gets and I am sure you will be happy to go to Hell(Ahem, Hell being in Doom 3 of course).
2. Too much ammo, I mean this is 'kinda' a survival game, I get almost unlimited ammo on each weapon, coulda created a scarier feeling if you ran out of shotgun shells.(Not a big factor, 'The True Survival' Mod takes care of it).
The Gameplay in Doom 3 is Very Good hands down. Although if it had used some different environment than scary Mars Base, I would've been glad... but I think it was inevitable. As you see, Scary Games like Doom 3 should keep their atmosphere up... so if you change the claustraphobic rooms into an alley on a sunny day, the game will lose it's purpose. Storage Lockers was a great idea to keep me busy a little and to fulfill my curiosity of 'What is inside?' And the longevity of the game makes it even better because Doom3 does make you want more. It was a bit odd that the game had too much Ammo in it, I carried unrealistically a lot of ammo in my shotgun, but some mods take care of this business. The multiplayer of Doom 3 is a bit unbalanced in some places, while having a variety of weapons - The Rocket Launcher is a bit overpowered over others and it is a bit hard to get a good weapon before getting killed. Running away is hard too, but it is not too bad. The Multiplayer is OK and may add a bit of replay value.
What am I to say? Doom 3's Gameplay is great, the AI is a bit weak but it is all good with so much scripted events and different kinds of monsters.
GRAPHICS:
The Good:
1. Graphics couldn't get any better, the detail, the textures, the shadows are all great.
2. Great designed monsters, Commando is by me, named the best looking monster of 2004... it looks just as cool as it is scary... great!
3. The best Graphics of 2004, on the same level with Half-life 2.
The Bad:
1. Probably took a good PC to handle the thing in 2004, but now... it ain't a problem.
Graphics are just perfect in Doom 3. Any game that will scare you - it will be Doom 3, even your own shadow scares you at times. Marvelously designed Monsters will bring Doom 3 to life and the really satisfying gore of your chainsaw will make you want to kill more. No need to say more, the graphics look good even today.
OVERALL:
Doom 3 is a great game with good gameplay, sound and groundbreaking Graphics. As said by many people - 'Killing zombies will never get old,' and it won't. Doom 3 will satisfy your bloodthirstiest dreams of a monster and ways to kill it. While Doom 3 may fall a bit in it's repetitiveness due to lack of variety of the environments in the game, it still stays scary and tense. If you're looking for some scary action or Old-school gameplay, this game is for you.
SCORE:
STORY ---- 8, SOUND ---- 8.75, GAMEPLAY --- 9,
GRAPHICS ----- 10.
OVERALL SCORE: 89.4% = 90%