www.telefragged.com/reviews/doom3 -> www.telefragged.com/reviews/doom3/
id Software, have arguably done more for modern gaming than almost any other developer over the last decade - while they haven't developed a huge library of games, the technology has been revolutionary and the gameplay has mostly stood the test of time. Some think that id have been slipping over the years, with the successful but not-so-legendary Quake 3: Arena and downright disappointing expansion pack Q3 Team Arena. Now while id has promised a good single player experience before with their games, they've never been so serious as they are this time. DOOM 3 promises jaw-dropping visuals, moments that'll scare you right out of your seat, and intense close-combat action against evil that only the artists at id could have ever dreamed up. After years of massive hype, though, many games wind up being just plain not worth all that effort. I'm happy to say that DOOM 3 does not fall into this pile; it's an excellent game with a style that few can even rival. Some have been foretelling the fall of id Software along with DOOM 3 as their last failure, but after I played this game, I'm 100% sure that they are dead wrong. Technology - 93% DOOM 3 sports a brand spanking new game engine that's a marvel to see. The amount of special effects that master programmer John Carmack has whipped up show us environments that we've heard about but have never seen before.
Far Cry's massive outdoor scenery, but id has made an engine that specializes around the type of game they made: dark, scary, and intense. There are several outdoor areas (which at least prove the engine is capable of them), and they all worked great inside the game's pacing and story.
There are a ton of separate technologies going into DOOM 3's impressive visuals: normal mapping, bump mapping, specular mapping, you name it. Now I won't sit here and dissect how each one works and why they're so great for gaming, but what I will say is that no other game developer has delivered an indoor environment as beautiful as this. All of the special effects in this game have been seen in bits and pieces in other titles over the last year or so, but none have yet put them all together to this effect.
Chronicles of Riddick for the Xbox, but the Xbox platform is still quite limiting and the game simply pales in comparison to DOOM 3 The frame rates in DOOM 3 are certainly not the best in the world, but once you see how this game looks, you'll understand why.
ard|OCP's recent article can give you some better details on how the game runs on various hardware configurations, and I can say that on my computer - an Athlon XP 3200+, 1GB DDR memory, and a Radeon 9800 non-Pro 128MB - the game runs acceptably at high detail, 2x antialiasing, and 1024x768 resolution. Far Cry's frame rate was generally worse at the same settings. The thing is, a game can still be playable even with frame rates like that as long as the developers keep it in mind and adjust the action accordingly. id Software has done exactly this with the game: the frame rates look bad on paper, but the gaming experience goes surprisingly unharmed. id has also made sure that those who want to use quick save & load often aren't left out or frustrated with long access times. The game allows you to save as often as you want, and both the save and load functions are pretty fast. New levels load up in under a minute on my computer, and quick loads were half that or less. It's nice to see this after so many FPS games have taken away the option for players to save whenever they want - or left the load times excessively long.
Despite all this, I have no doubt that many will complain about this game's hefty system requirements. DOOM 3 made my computer decidedly average, but I still enjoyed the hell out of it. I tried the game out on a 1GHz Athlon with 384MB of PC133 memory and a GeForce 4 Ti4200 video card, and to my surprise, I actually got it to be almost playable - even under the minimum required specs. My Centrino-based laptop with a Radeon 9000 Mobility video card even got it running, although I'd personally consider it unplayable. For those who think you have to spend $600 upgrading your computer, I'd still suggest you grab the game first and see. You might find that the game runs fairly well with what you have. Interface - 92% id Software invented the first person shooter, and they've also been innovators in controls since Wolfenstein's release back in 1992. While DOOM 3's menus give us a nice, simplistic interface for some basic tweaks to get the game running at the right balance of speed and eye candy, id still supplies us with a command console for some serious fine-tuning. They've simply "hidden" the console by making you press Ctrl-Alt- rather than just the key. The controls themselves are slick and sharp, and everything you would expect to see in an id Software games' options screen is where it should be. DOOM 3 includes a PDA function that gives you info on your current mission, the weapons you're carrying, and more. You can listen to audio logs and other bits of briefings for what you're supposed to do, and this will help supply you with a good bit of the game's story. The nice part is that the PDA's interface is slick and looks great - it wasn't slapped together as an afterthought. The same goes for the computers that you'll interact with in-game, as you never leave the actual game interface to use a computer. Your crosshair simply becomes a cursor to use on a computer's touchscreen. It's a really nice touch that does a great job of keeping you immersed.
id Software's games have always been a bit on the simplistic side when it comes to controls, and I think the philosophy certainly holds merit. one example I can give is that there's a stamina bar along with a sprint key. The controls are still simple when compared to some of today's FPS titles, and I do enjoy the focus on just running up and filling a monster's face with some boomstick rather than trying to go prone or fumbling for the key to switch grenades. Graphics - 95% I'll get it out of the way right now: DOOM 3 is gorgeous.
Painkiller has, but this game just oozes style - or, should I say, bleeds it. This game is downright dingy, dirty, and evil, much like the subject matter it depicts. It's also one of the darkest games I've ever seen, so make sure to play it at night with the lights out for best effect.
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