The more things change, the more that stays the same. That is: old style corridor romping with modern graphics.
Graphics 10
Sounds 7
Value 9
Tilt 8
Actual score: 8.3
Doom happens to be one of the most successful names in the realms of PC gaming. Since the release of Doom back in 1993 the world was stunned of what this marvel can produce. Being one of the biggest selling games it touched every soul; even the big cheese himself Bill Gates used Doom to sell Windows 95.
Even though I remembered the ‘Doom Fever’, I really didn’t get into Doom until the release of the motion picture Doom in 2005. To many, this probably is an insult to the Doom name however I enjoyed the movie so I decided to play the original Doom in 2006. Bearing in mind also the massive hype of Doom 3 (and rightfully so), it became the battle of the finest FPS ever made. During the production of Doom 3, UT 2004 and Half Life 2 showed its face to the every-so crowded FPS market to grab that top dog status. Nevertheless, four years in the making with plenty of hype and setbacks, Doom 3 finally made it in 2004.
The story of Doom 3 followed that ‘nameless hero’ working for the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) in Mars 2145. Just arrived on the planet and being attached with plenty of cliché plots, in time all hell breaks loose and it’s up to you to find the source of this dilemma. So it’s back to this ‘one man’ defense force against all odds being the fiends from hell.
One noticeable difference in Doom 3 is the style of game play. Doom 1 and 2 used that ‘blow up everything that moves’ modus operandi whilst Doom 3 was a more slower type FPS horror; the style of ‘things that goes bump in the night’. And there are plenty of dark, gloomy corridors in addition to abnormal shrieks throughout the complex. I was impressed and quite startled when I first met the zombie, slowing groaning towards me in a barely lit room and soon after that, that sudden jump and attack method; however later it started to get a tad predicable as all the fiends from hell have a very bad habit of running directly into my shotgun.
Doom 3 is unquestionably atmospheric. This was the driving force of the game and what needs to take full credit was the muscle power of the new Doom engine. For me, the Unreal engine was indeed the cream of the crop as it’s the best and most versatile gaming engine to date. I never really experience the Doom engine however after playing Doom 3, I must admit I was very impressed. The graphics looks clean and crisp; details are immaculate and the enemies themselves are impressive. That said, it will take a beefy PC to see this engine in its fullest glory.
However there is a downside to this marvelous piece of programming; the engine cannot render outdoor environments effectively. You will notice in the game the small amounts of time you spend on the Martian land is quite short yet cleverly, the developers designed that you will run out of oxygen quite fast if you don’t seek the safety of the adjoining complex so there is very little time for sight seeing. You can however peer out of the very few windows the complex have to check out the ‘tourist attractions’.
That said, the overall lighting effects for Doom 3 are hands down the best by far from any PC game. The lights rending are not awkward yet has a realistic cone of vision so expect dark corners and plenty of shadows. Yet you have probably read the endless jokes about the flashlight and not one weapon has a mounted light source considering the concept of teleportation exists. It can be a real pain in the neck to swap your weapon to the flashlight and back again yet you’ll eventually get used to the idea. But to those who feels that pressing just one key is too much to do (or too frightened) can download the many flashlight mods floating on the net. I personally didn’t use it as I feel it will spoil the fun.
The narration of the story is presented in all the PDAs you will collect throughout the complex. I thought this was a great way to break the ice of the monotonous killing of monsters as the voice acting of the various scientists, technicians and the likes are quite impressive. You can hear the tones of boredom, excitement, fear and other associated human emotions that can turn a bland story into something else. Other sounds like the screams throughout the corridors, the humming of power generators and the occasional sparks of wires short-circuiting brings tension in the air and draws you into this demonic world. There are very little of any musical scores as the majority of the melodies are to create atmosphere which has done exceptionally well. In spite of this, expect though a great deal of silence (and howls).
Considering it took four years to make Doom 3, equally it will take some serious time to finish off this game. Lengthy games are my forte as long it does keep my interest. Doom 3 can be quite repetitive and boring if it wasn’t for the PDA (believe it or not) that you’ll collect throughout the complex. I’m not sure what is the recommended time to complete this game however it took me well over 40 hours (mind you I did spend some time listening to and reading all the emails and movies presented in each PDAs I have located). To date, it’s the longest FPS game I have ever played.
Once completed the game, I was pondering is it worth waiting for four years since the first announcement was made to the public (actually it took me eight years). Similar to Unreal II, Doom 3 game play style is a great deal different to its previous games. Instead of running and blasting away to a great musical beat, Doom 3 is a great deal slower with limited ambience sounds to create tension and scare. That said, it did loose many of the horror effects by having pretty lame AI as they really don’t try to ambush you other than teleporting suddenly, screaming and then scurrying (or thumping) towards you. This, for me unfortunately lost this horror effect and becoming more of a nuisance as to many-a-time the spawning happens directly underneath me (as you can see the room suddenly dim so naturally you start to backtrack) hence I elevated somewhat of the ground. Graphically though, the Doom engine is undeniably impressive. Nice looking effects especially the lighting, brought back this horror game play style and did save face for a game that could have been the game-of-the-year but didn’t.