I had bought this game several months ago. I got bored of it pretty quick (halfway through the alpha labs) and quit playing. Last weekend, I told myself I should cringe my teeth and play the whole thing through just for the sake of justifying my purchase, and to find out if the game got any more interresting later on.

I've been a hardcore gamer all the way from the early Megaman games on the NES. My first venture into PC games was the original Doom - a true masterpiece of it's time.



Gameplay

When I first started playing Doom 3, my first disapointment was that little of the action-packed gameplay that made the original Doom so great had been carried over. Instead, ID created what was little more than another boring Quake clone with a slightly spookier edge. Instead of the adrenaline-pumping action of it's predecessor, in Doom 3, you start off shooting lone, slow moving zombies that pop out of corners or through floor grates. At first, the effect is impressive, but after having turned five thousand hallway corners only to have a secret wall open up behind you to reveal another zombie, the concept gets very annoying and repetitive. Fortunately, the game eventually moves on and shifts toward more action-oriented gameplay, but not after having gone through hours of cheap peek-a-boo tricks.

Otherwise, the gameplay in Doom 3 consists of running through a seemingly endless series of look-alike maps, pressing a couple of switches here and there, unlocking little bits of story through voice recordings (I must applaud ID software for this - it is unusual for their games to have stories at all) and blasting everything that moves between you and the exit. The game offers practically no puzzles to solve, and the levels feel even more linear than in the original. While this concept might have been attractive ten years ago, video games have develloped enormousely since then, and as such, newer games are expected to meet a certain standard in innovation. The fact that nearly all of Doom 3's levels look and feel exactly the same doesn't help, and to make matters worse, most of the game is drowned in near-complete darkness. Your only source of light is your flashlight, which you can't hold at the same time as your gun (apparently, duct tape is banned on Mars).

Graphics

One of Doom 3's redeeming qualities is it's amazing graphics engine. Advanced bumpmapping techniques add incredible levels of depth to textures. Realistic effects like steam bursts, sparks, flames and smoke greatly enhance the game's already dark and intense atmosphere. On top of that, characters and ennemies are very smoothly and realisticly animated. However, the game's best feature is also it's downfall. While the graphics engine is obviousely capable of great things, you very rarely get to experience it to it's full potential. Nearly 95% of the game's levels look exactly the same - using the same textures pasted on the same architecture, decorated with the same meshes, drowned in the same complete lack of lighting.

Sound

Obviousely, sound has never been one of ID software's strongest points, but Doom 3's awful audio brings this standard down to a new low. The game features no music other than the main menu theme song (which is never used during gameplay). Many sound effects are recycled from previous Quake games. Some sounds have very unbalanced volumes when compared to one another. Some guns sound very quiet while others (mainly the machinegun) are excessively loud and annoying. Most of the weapons have very basic, generic and sometimes muffled firing sounds. The ear-piercingly loud and pitchy sound effect used for teleporters made the experience nothing short of unpleasant. As if that wasn't enough, the game frequently forces you to endure cheesy and downright idiotic voice overs as the game's lead villain attempts to taunt you with the vocabulary of a 5 year old. "hahaha! you'll never find me!" "you're going to suffer... in hell! muahahahahaha" The voice-overs were so horrible that I felt as though I was losing IQ points every time I heard them.

Ratings

Graphics: 7/10 (I would have given a 9 for the technical capabilities of the engine, but due to repetitive use of art and poor lighting, I feel that anything above 7 would be too generous)
Sound: 4/10 (below average at best)
Gameplay: 7/10 (honestly, it wasn't all that bad, but the game could've been a million times better if it wasn't so repetitive)

total: 6/10

I'd reccomend this game if you're just looking for a good time killer, but don't bother if you're the kind of person who appreciates any kind of intelligence out of video games.