Rate Doom 3

[Gnarlo]

Give it an 7.5 - 8. Atmosphere and moodiness are awesome; I understand why they did the flashlight the way they did and have enjoyed the frantic switching back and forth between light and gun as I try to stay alive; it may be a cheap suspense tactic but it works ok. And I can always apply the flashlight mod to it.

I took off 2 points for not having a co-op mode; that was one of the major draws in the original DOOMs for my brothers and me; we wasted days of time running around playing Rainbow 6 style against the demons years before those type of games existed.

The other 1/2 point is for the brain-dead monster pop out of nowhere and attack you head on AI. I expected something a little more subtle and intelligent these days.

 

[Angcuru]

I give it a 10.

The engine is so unbelieveably efficient that even my old radeon 9200 ran it at 60 FPS at nearly full graphics. I just got my new top notch video card and am running it at the absolute highest settings I can without having to use a manifying glass to read the text. And absolutely no framerate droppage whatsoever.

The visuals are completely awesome, the monsters incredibly well designed, and the guns very, very fun.

The game itself is everything I thought it should be.

Storyline: You're a marine transferred to a research station on mars. This research station happens to be doing...well...research. One of these scientists doing research has gone missing for a few days. You go find him, and he's trying to sabotage a teleportation research project. But he fails, and a portal to hell is opened. The head research scientist gets possessed by some bad-ass demon and starts to wreak havoc. Your mission, close the portal, and kick demon ass.

Well executed, all it needed, nothing more. I mean c'mon. This is DOOM we're talking about. A game where you blow away demons and save the world. Tada! Fun!

I think D+1 is majorly overreacting. The game isn't nearly that dark. The vast majority of areas are lit enought so you can see where you're going, and then you have a flashlight to see specific stuff and into unlit areas. I mean c'mon, demons invade the base and you expect all the lights to still be on? Stuff breaks, especially light bulbs.

If you haven't played past the first level, you haven't even begun to experience the game. So don't pass judgement. If you want to solve puzzles, chat with NPCs and walk around the world looking for new towns and such (see: almost every game on the market), then you shouldn't play Doom 3.

If you want to blow away demons and possessed humans at point-blank range and see their flesh explode all over the place, then you should play Doom 3.

The only thing I would have really liked that's not present would have been a map function, that's it. The multiplayer may be lacking right now, but that's what updates are for.

 

[Wonko the Sane]

Personally, it just destroys any suspension of disbelief for me that anyone capable of space travel wouldn't have night vision goggles freely available to them. You could still make it spooky by having some demons invisible to night vision.

Just my 2 cents Canadian.

 

[2d6]

Make that a technology demo that has better atmosphere, story, and gameplay than most FPSes out there.

Yeah, but I feel like I'm playing Doom v3.01, they've gone back and added all the stuff that is missing from Doom SW circa '94 (ie mind-blowing graphics, scripted sequences, an attempt at a "real" story, etc) and repackaged it.

I don't think this is the best we will see from teh Doom3 engine, the best is yet too come.

 

[Goobermunch]

I think it blows. All this time building a brand new engine to zip off graphics so spiffy it will make your eyeballs bleed and they make it so dark you can't even SEE all the spiffy graphics, much less make out where it is you need to go in game. And that's even BEFORE the introduction is finished, "hell breaks loose" and all the lights go out. At this point I consider it one of the biggest wastes of my money ever even though I haven't even made it through the first level. It feels masochistic to even bother because the annoyance and frustration is so high.

A simple "gamma" slider like virtually every FPS has had since the dawn of time is all I'd need to make me happy. Oh, there's a "brightness" slider that does precisely squat. I consider it an insult to my backside. Wake me up if a patch ever fixes it. I certainly don't intend to play it until such time. The only thing keeping me from throwing it in the trash right NOW is the fact that I was stupid enough to pay the $55 for it rather than read a review or try to find an even modestly discounted price. I hold out a stupid hope that I MIGHT be able to get some value out of it later.

Yes, being able to SEE the enemy that's 10' in front of you in a FPS is that important. If Half Life 2 simply shows up on a shelf and installs without eating a hard drive it will almost certainly outsell this aborted coaster 20:1.

Rated it 3. I'm probably being generous. I think I may FORCE myself to play through in the hopes that it bloody damm well get better fast, but they lost my enthusiasm for the entire game in the first 5 minutes. I don't care how "scary" they think making everything impossible to see is. From my POV it just makes it infuriating. Shadows and Fog is one thing, but all I see here is Kingsford charcoal black, with just enough wan, gray wall or floor texture shown under a half-watt bulb to prove that my Radeon 9600 hasn't simply crapped on me.

You know, I felt the same way when I started. I went out grabbed the Duct Tape mod, and I think it's a million times better. The light on the guns is bright enough so you can see what's out there, but small enough that it doesn't reveal the entire area. It only adds to the suspense. I'm giving it a 7.

--G

 

[Inez Hull]

Man I love the suspense and darkness. As a FPS it probably isnt what a lot of people were hoping for but for teeth gritting tension it is AWESOME. Playing this game late at night with the lights out and surround sound on loud is a truly freaky experience.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Man I love the suspense and darkness. As a FPS it probably isnt what a lot of people were hoping for but for teeth gritting tension it is AWESOME. Playing this game late at night with the lights out and surround sound on loud is a truly freaky experience.

No kidding. I got especially creeped out when the disembodied voices whispered things in your ear. Spooky.

 

[Mythtify]

I am passing on Doom...Give Me Halo2! Nov. 9 can't get here soon enough!

 

[Calico_Jack73]

I took off 2 points for not having a co-op mode; that was one of the major draws in the original DOOMs for my brothers and me; we wasted days of time running around playing Rainbow 6 style against the demons years before those type of games existed.

Recently a post release co-op mod was put out for Far Cry so I am hoping that either ID or some enterprising modder will do the same for Doom 3.

 

[satori01]

Far Cry is a better game

Doom does get better latter on, but even with the mission type atmosphere it does feel tired and done before. The graphics are great but the art design is the standard ID dark and flashing red, been there done that.

Far Cry, looks nearly as good, and has gigantic outdoor environments that look awesome. The tension level of Far Cry is also higher than in Doom 3. Far Cry relies on the AI of its monsters to outwit and challenge you, Doom 2 relies on spawning things on you to challenge you.

I give Doom 3 a 7 out of 10, worthwhile but not mind blowing.