It's been nearly 10 long years since the first DOOM game appeared on the PC. DOOM was one of the first FPS games on the PC, right after Wolfenstein and Catacomb Abyss, and it quickly became a classic. DOOM made its way onto almost every gamers' PC and became the standing foundation for future FPS games. It introduced the classic run'n'gun gameplay that is so simple, but yet has become a major part of most games. Before we get started with the details of this new sequel, we would like to point out a caution message on the keyboard reference card that's in the game box:
"A NOTE OF CAUTION: DOOM 3 is a terrifying SCI-FI horror game experience. It is not recommended for the cowardly or the faint of heart. However, for those who dare to face DOOM 3 as it was intended; lock your door, turn off the lights, and turn up your sound."
We couldn't have said it any better ourselves. Now, on to the details. DOOM 3 is essentially a remake of the original games. So it doesn't take place after the events of either DOOM or DOOM 2 . For those of you who wish to play the game and find out the mysteries of the story by yourselves then skip the next three paragraphs, as they contain many spoilers for the storyline. It's not often that we come across a shooter from id Software that contains a great storyline. So, we've decided to spill out all the details of the story into the next three paragraphs.
The Story
The year is 2145. Earth is being depleted of its resources, so other worlds must be found for us to live on. Obviously, the first choice would be Mars. The UAC (Union Aerospace Corporation), a former military organization with unlimited funds, has created huge research outposts on Mars. Their facility has been there for many years and certain parts stretch far below the surfaceof Mars. The UAC's main goal on Mars is to develop machinery and new technology that is capable of turning the Mars wasteland deserts into a livable environment for humans. Everything seems to be going according to plan: they are experimenting with new technology to transform the chemicals that make up the Mars atmosphere into water and air. With experiments running on these new machines and technology, things are starting to look fortunate for the future as humans will soon be able to call Mars home.
Unfortunately something else is going on behind the scenes. The UAC seems to have stumbled upon some ancient ruins below the surface of Mars. These ruins contain plaques that tell a story of war between the ancient race that lived there and some unworldly beings. Also found there is something called the "Soul Cube". This handheld device was used as a weapon to drive back these mysterious creatures. The writings on the plaques tell a story of demons coming out of hell and destroying this ancient civilization. Their strongest warrior stood up against these demons and with the help of the Soul Cube, drove them off and closed the gateway to hell. These ancient people were even more advanced then we are in the year 2145. They had the technology of teleportation and most of their kind teleported off of Mars and onto another planet. The planet isn't specified in the writings, but UAC researchers believe it to be Earth. Which would mean that humans originated from Mars, and at some point Mars and Earth were both livable planets. Obviously the demons destroyed the Mars environment making it unlivable.
Upon discovering these writings the UAC has more-or-less found the blueprints for the teleportation technology that was used by the ancient people. The UAC creates some experimental teleporters and starts running tests on them. After running some simple tests they actually teleport to a destination that isn't like anything anyone has ever seen before. At this point, scientists are disappearing in this strange world that they have found, and fatal, unexplainable accidents are happening around the Mars facilities. As a result, many spooked employees are going insane or requesting transfers away from Mars. For some unknown reason, the lead scientist at the UAC facility on Mars takes the Soul Cube into this unknown world with the hopes of releasing these demons on Mars once again and leaving the only weapon that's capable of stopping them in hell's grasp.
You start the game as an unnamed marine being transferred to the UAC facility on Mars for duty. After a quick stroll through some parts of the facility you're to report directly to the Command HQ to receive orders for your first mission. Your first mission is pretty routine and just requires you to simply find a scientist that has gone missing. After a period of searching around the base you finally find him in a communications room. He's freaking out and it seems as if he's trying to send a communication to Earth. At this point all hell breaks loose, literally. Looking at the security monitors you can see marines and personal being turned into zombies and demons roaming about the facility. For some strange reason you weren't turned into a zombie so now it's your mission to find out what started all of this and to put an end to it all.
It's surprising to see a nice story like this being incorporated into id Software's usual run'n'gun first person shooters. The story doesn't take away from any of the gameplay, and you'll find yourself wanting to learn more about the story as you progress through the game.
As good as the story is, there are still some holes in it. For example, why didn't you turn into a zombie like most of the other personel on the base? Or if these creatures really are demons, then why are they only on Mars? Couldn't they just attack Earth at anytime? Questions like these remain open throughout the game and really never get answered. Even though the story does contain some unexplained elements it still proves to be quite a good and interesting story that will keep you going throughout the course of the game.
Weaponry
So now you're on a huge Mars base, it's extremely dark, and almost everyone else is either dead or walking around the hallways as a zombie. So what do you do? Why, you break out the classic guns and go on a demon-killing rampage of course. And when we say classic guns we really do mean classics. You'd think in the year 2145 we'd have something a bit more advanced than a handgun or shotgun.
The weapons that you first start out with include your normal handgun, flashlight, and your own fists. That's right, you can actually use your flashlight as a weapon by hitting your enemies over the head with it. It's good that you can do this considering the fact that you can't have a gun and flashlight out at the same time. So throughout the game you'll find yourself quickly switching back and forth between your flashlight and guns. This is a great method of gameplay that makes the environment more terrifying, but once again, isn't this the year 2145? Where is the night vision or flashlights that are mounted on the guns? Looks like the UAC really doesn't have unlimited funds after all.
Among the other weapons that you will receive are the traditional guns seen in the majority of FPS games. The list includes a shotgun, assault rifle, rocket launcher, chain gun, grenades, chainsaw, plasma gun, and the all famous BFG. Later in the game you'll also receive the previously mentioned Soul Cube which can suck the life out of your enemies and transfer it to you. The weapon that you'll be using the most, however, is the shotgun. You'll find that you'll use this weapon the most, because one shot will usually kill most opponents you go up against. It's the ideal weapon for close quarters combat and that's what the environments in DOOM 3 are all about. It's all about small corridors and 'in your face' combat.
Environments and Creatures
Speaking of environments, this is where DOOM 3 truly shines. Almost every area in the game is in some way covered with darkness. You'll find yourself just waiting for something to pop out of the shadows. The hallways are covered with blood splattered walls and swaying lights that are making the shadows dance about. All of this makes for one frightening experience. Especially the one memorable moment when all the power goes out and you are stuck with a scientist who only has a lantern. You must follow him in pitch black darkness through a few hallways where some demons hide in the dark...
But what good are creepy environments without some hideous and scary creatures? That's why DOOM 3 comes packed with a load of demonic hordes that are guaranteed to scare the hell out of you. The most obvious enemies are the zombies. There are quite a few different zombies that you'll encounter. There are normal zombies that just mindlessly roam the facilities looking for food, zombies that run straight at you with a chainsaw in hand, and then there are the zombies that were former marines and use guns against you. The latter are the smartest of the group.
Another enemy that you'll encounter quite often are the Imps. These are two-legged creatures with 10 eyes that have the ability to throw fireballs at you. Occasionally they'll also get down on all fours and leap towards you. The most annoying would have to be the Lost Souls. These creatures are just simply floating heads that are on fire and scream when coming towards you. My personal favorite would have to be the Hellknight. This two-legged beast is perhaps one of the most difficult to destroy. It'll slowly walk towards you, and with only a few slashes from its large claws you're dead.
Throughout the game you'll gradually come across new enemies that you haven't seen before. Usually when coming across a new enemy or boss fight, a cinematic video is triggered to show what your new opponent looks like. One of the best encounters is when you first see the Pinky demon. This is a large four-legged creature that has two robotic hind legs. It just simply charges towards you and eats at your flesh to bring you down. But when you first encounter this beast it'll try and barge through a door to get to you. After a few tries it gives up and decides to bash straight through a large window. Truly a memorable moment.
There are still many scary creatures you will encounter that we didn't mention here, some of which include a few boss fights against some very large creatures. The Guardian is an enormous four-legged beast that guards the Soul Cube. This is the largest enemy you'll go up against, and is perhaps the most frightening as well. At the end of the game you will go up against the famous Cyber demon in an attempt to destroy the Hell gate, and thus stop the demons invading Mars.
Gameplay
The gameplay is perhaps the weakest point in DOOM 3. DOOM 3 doesn't bring anything new to the genre in terms of gameplay mechanics. This is probably something that most gamers will be disappointed about. With all the hype from the past four years most gamers are probably expecting a game that brings some new ideas to the table. However, you won't find it here.
DOOM 3 utilizes the traditional run'n'gun gameplay that has been so overused in first person shooters through the past years. This type of gameplay is the simplest and perhaps the most boring type of gameplay used nowadays. With that said, it actually works very well in DOOM 3.
We've seen previous FPS games such as Contract J.A.C.K. and the Soldier of Fortune series turn into very boring games because they lived off this type of gameplay. But where these type of games failed, DOOM 3 succeeds in bringing back this tiring old style of gameplay, and does it better than ever.
Your PDA is carried with you everywhere you go. It is constantly updated with new mission objectives and other information that may help you out along the way. You'll receive new e-mails, videos, and audio logs from other PDAs that you pickup along your wanderings. As mentioned before, these PDAs can also open up locked doors, since some contain higher security level access. Most of the time you'll need to search around for someone's PDA in order to access a specific area. You can also download new info from PCs.
DOOM 3 is basically built upon linearity. The game is extremely linear, but without this, DOOM 3 would not be as scary. A game like Call of Duty incorporated some of the most intense battle scenes ever seen in a game, and it accomplished this by being a very linear game. DOOM 3 needs to act the same way in order to terrify you. Sure this does take away from the replay value of the game, but isn't 23 hours of getting the crap scared out of you long enough? Compare that to the seven or so hours of Call of Duty and you'll see that DOOM 3 provides a very long linear experience.
However there is a small part where the game is not linear. At one point you'll make it to the communications building and will have the choice of either sending out a distress signal to Earth or not. Your commander tells you to send the signal, but a corporate individual tells you not to send the signal because you must first isolate this demonic threat or they could spread to Earth when the reinforcements come. Depending on which option you choose it really doesn't change the course of the game at all. All it does is change some small things that are said to you later on in the game by your commander and the corporate person.
You can choose between four difficulty levels. The levels are Recruit, Marine, Veteran, and Nightmare. The Recruit level of difficulty is a little too easy so gamers who have been playing FPS games for along time should play on Veteran for more of a challenge. The Nightmare difficulty level is not unlocked until you first beat the game on one of the other difficulty levels. The Nightmare level is truly a nightmare, as your health gets lower even when you're not being attacked!
After you get tired of the 23 hours of single-player gameplay you can give the new multiplayer feature a try. Multiplayer seems to have been a last minute add-on since there are only five maps and support for only four players. The different game modes include the traditional DeathMatch, Team DeathMatch, Last Man Standing, and Tourney. Occasionally lag can be a problem, but isn't really noticeable when the game is hosted on a faster PC. The maps themselves are relatively small but live up to the same creepy designs of the single-player levels. This will probably be fixed by the mod community, as DOOM 3 has a built-in menu for mods. Some small mods have already been created to alter such things as the number of people allowed in a multiplayer game and attaching a flashlight to your weapon. We're sure that some new levels are also in the works.
Many people believe that graphics are the only important thing about a game. That's normally not true as a good game is made of many elements, such as a good storyline and gameplay. But in the case of DOOM 3, it's all about the graphics. This game would not be as good as it is if it didn't have its jaw dropping visuals. In fact it has the best graphics ever seen in a game to date! What is even more impressive is how smooth and solid the graphics look on even the slowest PCs. You can not select a lot of the graphic and sound options manually. Instead there are four settings that you can choose from. This makes it easier for the less technically inclined to get the most out of DOOM 3.
The four settings you can choose from are Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. As we said before, DOOM 3 looks good at even the Low setting. We played the game on our P4 3.2GHz Prescott processor with 1GB of DDR RAM and a GeForce FX 5900 128MB video card. We managed to get the game running perfectly at a resolution of 1024x768, at the High setting, and with 2x Antialiasing and 2x Anistropic Filtering turned on. Just for fun we decided to try the Ultra settings. These settings are said to require a 512MB video card because of it taking up 500MBs of texture memory. However, at this setting we were able to maintain playable framerates with only a few slowdowns here or there. But it never slowed down to the point where it was impossible to play anymore. That just goes to show you how four years of development can produce such a stable game. My only gripe is that a few of the textures can look a little plain and they could have clearly added more detail to them.
Sometimes, in games that are meant to be terrifying it's not what you see, but what you hear that can scare you. Even if you can't see your enemy, hearing them can be even more terrifying. That's been taken to heart by id Software as DOOM 3 consists of some of the most detailed and creepy sound effects ever heard. You'll be able to hear whispering through the hallways, the clanking noise of the Pinky demon's hind robotic legs, and the moaning from countless zombies. Combine this with a great 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system and you have yourself one heck of a frightening experience. Surround sound is a must for DOOM 3 as you'll be able to clearly hear all of your dark surroundings around you. Besides the graphics, the sound effects in DOOM 3 are one of the strongest points of the game.
Obviously in a game where you're only fighting against mindless creatures, smart AI isn't a must. Which is why DOOM 3 doesn't contain any challenging AI. Your enemies in DOOM 3 will, for the most part, just charge right towards you and do all they can to kill you. The only exception are the marine zombies that use the guns against you. These guys will sometimes roll out of the way when being fired upon and will usually take cover behind an object. Besides that, the AI in DOOM 3 is nothing spectacular, and when you look at the type of enemies you're facing, you'll soon realize that the AI doesn't need to be intelligent.
Conclusion
When all is said and done, DOOM 3 was well worth the four year wait. Sure, it can be repetitive at times and not offer much replay value, but the 23 hours of terrifying gameplay make up for it all. The multiplayer does add some more play time, but it is lacking in a few areas. However, DOOM 3 is one stable game that'll keep you playing for hours on end. If you buy any PC game this year, DOOM 3 should definitely be on your list. See you in hell...
"A NOTE OF CAUTION: DOOM 3 is a terrifying SCI-FI horror game experience. It is not recommended for the cowardly or the faint of heart. However, for those who dare to face DOOM 3 as it was intended; lock your door, turn off the lights, and turn up your sound."
We couldn't have said it any better ourselves. Now, on to the details. DOOM 3 is essentially a remake of the original games. So it doesn't take place after the events of either DOOM or DOOM 2 . For those of you who wish to play the game and find out the mysteries of the story by yourselves then skip the next three paragraphs, as they contain many spoilers for the storyline. It's not often that we come across a shooter from id Software that contains a great storyline. So, we've decided to spill out all the details of the story into the next three paragraphs.
The Story
The year is 2145. Earth is being depleted of its resources, so other worlds must be found for us to live on. Obviously, the first choice would be Mars. The UAC (Union Aerospace Corporation), a former military organization with unlimited funds, has created huge research outposts on Mars. Their facility has been there for many years and certain parts stretch far below the surfaceof Mars. The UAC's main goal on Mars is to develop machinery and new technology that is capable of turning the Mars wasteland deserts into a livable environment for humans. Everything seems to be going according to plan: they are experimenting with new technology to transform the chemicals that make up the Mars atmosphere into water and air. With experiments running on these new machines and technology, things are starting to look fortunate for the future as humans will soon be able to call Mars home.
Unfortunately something else is going on behind the scenes. The UAC seems to have stumbled upon some ancient ruins below the surface of Mars. These ruins contain plaques that tell a story of war between the ancient race that lived there and some unworldly beings. Also found there is something called the "Soul Cube". This handheld device was used as a weapon to drive back these mysterious creatures. The writings on the plaques tell a story of demons coming out of hell and destroying this ancient civilization. Their strongest warrior stood up against these demons and with the help of the Soul Cube, drove them off and closed the gateway to hell. These ancient people were even more advanced then we are in the year 2145. They had the technology of teleportation and most of their kind teleported off of Mars and onto another planet. The planet isn't specified in the writings, but UAC researchers believe it to be Earth. Which would mean that humans originated from Mars, and at some point Mars and Earth were both livable planets. Obviously the demons destroyed the Mars environment making it unlivable.
Upon discovering these writings the UAC has more-or-less found the blueprints for the teleportation technology that was used by the ancient people. The UAC creates some experimental teleporters and starts running tests on them. After running some simple tests they actually teleport to a destination that isn't like anything anyone has ever seen before. At this point, scientists are disappearing in this strange world that they have found, and fatal, unexplainable accidents are happening around the Mars facilities. As a result, many spooked employees are going insane or requesting transfers away from Mars. For some unknown reason, the lead scientist at the UAC facility on Mars takes the Soul Cube into this unknown world with the hopes of releasing these demons on Mars once again and leaving the only weapon that's capable of stopping them in hell's grasp.
You start the game as an unnamed marine being transferred to the UAC facility on Mars for duty. After a quick stroll through some parts of the facility you're to report directly to the Command HQ to receive orders for your first mission. Your first mission is pretty routine and just requires you to simply find a scientist that has gone missing. After a period of searching around the base you finally find him in a communications room. He's freaking out and it seems as if he's trying to send a communication to Earth. At this point all hell breaks loose, literally. Looking at the security monitors you can see marines and personal being turned into zombies and demons roaming about the facility. For some strange reason you weren't turned into a zombie so now it's your mission to find out what started all of this and to put an end to it all.
It's surprising to see a nice story like this being incorporated into id Software's usual run'n'gun first person shooters. The story doesn't take away from any of the gameplay, and you'll find yourself wanting to learn more about the story as you progress through the game.
As good as the story is, there are still some holes in it. For example, why didn't you turn into a zombie like most of the other personel on the base? Or if these creatures really are demons, then why are they only on Mars? Couldn't they just attack Earth at anytime? Questions like these remain open throughout the game and really never get answered. Even though the story does contain some unexplained elements it still proves to be quite a good and interesting story that will keep you going throughout the course of the game.
Weaponry
So now you're on a huge Mars base, it's extremely dark, and almost everyone else is either dead or walking around the hallways as a zombie. So what do you do? Why, you break out the classic guns and go on a demon-killing rampage of course. And when we say classic guns we really do mean classics. You'd think in the year 2145 we'd have something a bit more advanced than a handgun or shotgun.
The weapons that you first start out with include your normal handgun, flashlight, and your own fists. That's right, you can actually use your flashlight as a weapon by hitting your enemies over the head with it. It's good that you can do this considering the fact that you can't have a gun and flashlight out at the same time. So throughout the game you'll find yourself quickly switching back and forth between your flashlight and guns. This is a great method of gameplay that makes the environment more terrifying, but once again, isn't this the year 2145? Where is the night vision or flashlights that are mounted on the guns? Looks like the UAC really doesn't have unlimited funds after all.
Among the other weapons that you will receive are the traditional guns seen in the majority of FPS games. The list includes a shotgun, assault rifle, rocket launcher, chain gun, grenades, chainsaw, plasma gun, and the all famous BFG. Later in the game you'll also receive the previously mentioned Soul Cube which can suck the life out of your enemies and transfer it to you. The weapon that you'll be using the most, however, is the shotgun. You'll find that you'll use this weapon the most, because one shot will usually kill most opponents you go up against. It's the ideal weapon for close quarters combat and that's what the environments in DOOM 3 are all about. It's all about small corridors and 'in your face' combat.
Environments and Creatures
Speaking of environments, this is where DOOM 3 truly shines. Almost every area in the game is in some way covered with darkness. You'll find yourself just waiting for something to pop out of the shadows. The hallways are covered with blood splattered walls and swaying lights that are making the shadows dance about. All of this makes for one frightening experience. Especially the one memorable moment when all the power goes out and you are stuck with a scientist who only has a lantern. You must follow him in pitch black darkness through a few hallways where some demons hide in the dark...
But what good are creepy environments without some hideous and scary creatures? That's why DOOM 3 comes packed with a load of demonic hordes that are guaranteed to scare the hell out of you. The most obvious enemies are the zombies. There are quite a few different zombies that you'll encounter. There are normal zombies that just mindlessly roam the facilities looking for food, zombies that run straight at you with a chainsaw in hand, and then there are the zombies that were former marines and use guns against you. The latter are the smartest of the group.
Another enemy that you'll encounter quite often are the Imps. These are two-legged creatures with 10 eyes that have the ability to throw fireballs at you. Occasionally they'll also get down on all fours and leap towards you. The most annoying would have to be the Lost Souls. These creatures are just simply floating heads that are on fire and scream when coming towards you. My personal favorite would have to be the Hellknight. This two-legged beast is perhaps one of the most difficult to destroy. It'll slowly walk towards you, and with only a few slashes from its large claws you're dead.
Throughout the game you'll gradually come across new enemies that you haven't seen before. Usually when coming across a new enemy or boss fight, a cinematic video is triggered to show what your new opponent looks like. One of the best encounters is when you first see the Pinky demon. This is a large four-legged creature that has two robotic hind legs. It just simply charges towards you and eats at your flesh to bring you down. But when you first encounter this beast it'll try and barge through a door to get to you. After a few tries it gives up and decides to bash straight through a large window. Truly a memorable moment.
There are still many scary creatures you will encounter that we didn't mention here, some of which include a few boss fights against some very large creatures. The Guardian is an enormous four-legged beast that guards the Soul Cube. This is the largest enemy you'll go up against, and is perhaps the most frightening as well. At the end of the game you will go up against the famous Cyber demon in an attempt to destroy the Hell gate, and thus stop the demons invading Mars.
Gameplay
The gameplay is perhaps the weakest point in DOOM 3. DOOM 3 doesn't bring anything new to the genre in terms of gameplay mechanics. This is probably something that most gamers will be disappointed about. With all the hype from the past four years most gamers are probably expecting a game that brings some new ideas to the table. However, you won't find it here.
DOOM 3 utilizes the traditional run'n'gun gameplay that has been so overused in first person shooters through the past years. This type of gameplay is the simplest and perhaps the most boring type of gameplay used nowadays. With that said, it actually works very well in DOOM 3.
We've seen previous FPS games such as Contract J.A.C.K. and the Soldier of Fortune series turn into very boring games because they lived off this type of gameplay. But where these type of games failed, DOOM 3 succeeds in bringing back this tiring old style of gameplay, and does it better than ever.
Why has the run'n'gun style of gameplay failed in so many games, yet succeeds in DOOM 3? The answer to this question can be found in the terrifying environments that bring out the nature of DOOM 3. The dark, creepy environments are what change this style of gameplay for the better. The pace of the gameplay has been slowed down because of these scary environments. You'll find yourself slowly going around corridors and pacing yourself so that you don't run out of ammo, which turns DOOM 3 into a game that lasts about 23 hours. The interesting storyline is also something that helps you to overlook this ancient style of gameplay. It's nice to see that id Software has incorporated all the old gameplay features from the original DOOM games, such as the run'n'gun gameplay that we've been talking about, and opening locked doors by simply finding key cards laying about in the form of PDAs (Personal Data Assistants).
Your PDA is carried with you everywhere you go. It is constantly updated with new mission objectives and other information that may help you out along the way. You'll receive new e-mails, videos, and audio logs from other PDAs that you pickup along your wanderings. As mentioned before, these PDAs can also open up locked doors, since some contain higher security level access. Most of the time you'll need to search around for someone's PDA in order to access a specific area. You can also download new info from PCs.
DOOM 3 is basically built upon linearity. The game is extremely linear, but without this, DOOM 3 would not be as scary. A game like Call of Duty incorporated some of the most intense battle scenes ever seen in a game, and it accomplished this by being a very linear game. DOOM 3 needs to act the same way in order to terrify you. Sure this does take away from the replay value of the game, but isn't 23 hours of getting the crap scared out of you long enough? Compare that to the seven or so hours of Call of Duty and you'll see that DOOM 3 provides a very long linear experience.
However there is a small part where the game is not linear. At one point you'll make it to the communications building and will have the choice of either sending out a distress signal to Earth or not. Your commander tells you to send the signal, but a corporate individual tells you not to send the signal because you must first isolate this demonic threat or they could spread to Earth when the reinforcements come. Depending on which option you choose it really doesn't change the course of the game at all. All it does is change some small things that are said to you later on in the game by your commander and the corporate person.
You can choose between four difficulty levels. The levels are Recruit, Marine, Veteran, and Nightmare. The Recruit level of difficulty is a little too easy so gamers who have been playing FPS games for along time should play on Veteran for more of a challenge. The Nightmare difficulty level is not unlocked until you first beat the game on one of the other difficulty levels. The Nightmare level is truly a nightmare, as your health gets lower even when you're not being attacked!
After you get tired of the 23 hours of single-player gameplay you can give the new multiplayer feature a try. Multiplayer seems to have been a last minute add-on since there are only five maps and support for only four players. The different game modes include the traditional DeathMatch, Team DeathMatch, Last Man Standing, and Tourney. Occasionally lag can be a problem, but isn't really noticeable when the game is hosted on a faster PC. The maps themselves are relatively small but live up to the same creepy designs of the single-player levels. This will probably be fixed by the mod community, as DOOM 3 has a built-in menu for mods. Some small mods have already been created to alter such things as the number of people allowed in a multiplayer game and attaching a flashlight to your weapon. We're sure that some new levels are also in the works.
Many people believe that graphics are the only important thing about a game. That's normally not true as a good game is made of many elements, such as a good storyline and gameplay. But in the case of DOOM 3, it's all about the graphics. This game would not be as good as it is if it didn't have its jaw dropping visuals. In fact it has the best graphics ever seen in a game to date! What is even more impressive is how smooth and solid the graphics look on even the slowest PCs. You can not select a lot of the graphic and sound options manually. Instead there are four settings that you can choose from. This makes it easier for the less technically inclined to get the most out of DOOM 3.
The four settings you can choose from are Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. As we said before, DOOM 3 looks good at even the Low setting. We played the game on our P4 3.2GHz Prescott processor with 1GB of DDR RAM and a GeForce FX 5900 128MB video card. We managed to get the game running perfectly at a resolution of 1024x768, at the High setting, and with 2x Antialiasing and 2x Anistropic Filtering turned on. Just for fun we decided to try the Ultra settings. These settings are said to require a 512MB video card because of it taking up 500MBs of texture memory. However, at this setting we were able to maintain playable framerates with only a few slowdowns here or there. But it never slowed down to the point where it was impossible to play anymore. That just goes to show you how four years of development can produce such a stable game. My only gripe is that a few of the textures can look a little plain and they could have clearly added more detail to them.
Sometimes, in games that are meant to be terrifying it's not what you see, but what you hear that can scare you. Even if you can't see your enemy, hearing them can be even more terrifying. That's been taken to heart by id Software as DOOM 3 consists of some of the most detailed and creepy sound effects ever heard. You'll be able to hear whispering through the hallways, the clanking noise of the Pinky demon's hind robotic legs, and the moaning from countless zombies. Combine this with a great 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system and you have yourself one heck of a frightening experience. Surround sound is a must for DOOM 3 as you'll be able to clearly hear all of your dark surroundings around you. Besides the graphics, the sound effects in DOOM 3 are one of the strongest points of the game.
Obviously in a game where you're only fighting against mindless creatures, smart AI isn't a must. Which is why DOOM 3 doesn't contain any challenging AI. Your enemies in DOOM 3 will, for the most part, just charge right towards you and do all they can to kill you. The only exception are the marine zombies that use the guns against you. These guys will sometimes roll out of the way when being fired upon and will usually take cover behind an object. Besides that, the AI in DOOM 3 is nothing spectacular, and when you look at the type of enemies you're facing, you'll soon realize that the AI doesn't need to be intelligent.
Conclusion
When all is said and done, DOOM 3 was well worth the four year wait. Sure, it can be repetitive at times and not offer much replay value, but the 23 hours of terrifying gameplay make up for it all. The multiplayer does add some more play time, but it is lacking in a few areas. However, DOOM 3 is one stable game that'll keep you playing for hours on end. If you buy any PC game this year, DOOM 3 should definitely be on your list. See you in hell...
