My Initial Impressions of Doom3
Category / Games
The original Doom was a revolution as a video game based virtual reality experience. And while Half Life may have raised the bar along the lines of immersive fiction, Doom3 takes it to a whole new level. Doom fans of old will love it.
Here are a few of my initial feelings about the game.
And part 2 is available here.
Visual
The visual experience is incredible. You've never seen a game look as good as this. I'm running at 800x600 at medium level quality and it's just amazing. Bump mapping and specular highlights are used heavily and the addition of real time lighting effects brings the whole world to life.
Metal grids look like grids, machines are bumpy, not just box shapes with textures. Walls and Panels have levers and switches that look like you can reach out and grab them. Metal is shiny; shine your torch on surfaces and they glint and reflect the torch beam.
The quality of the screens and assorted machine controls are very detailed when you stand close. Some of the screens are interactive and they're all as clear as the in-game menus.
Audio
Now I know the money spend on my Zalman surround sound headphones was worth it! Most games you play the environmental sounds come from everywhere around you as a general audio background. In Doom3 you can actually pin point which machine is going "ping", which pipe is clanging. You can stand next to a wall and hear voices behind it. The directional qualities blow me away.
In the toilet in the administration block, if you go to the disabled toilet right at the back you can hear a spooky whispering coming from the corner of the ceiling. Lights buzz, computers bleep and tanks rumble. Sometimes it's damn freeky! There are things scrambling in the pipes, moaning things in the shadows, sometimes there are things banging behind walls or people screaming, both trying to get out...
Gameplay
OK this is Doom right? So it plays like a Doom game. Remember the 'get keys, open doors, shoot monsters to get out' formula? Well it's not changed much (from what I've seen). Replace keys with PDAs and codes and add Lockers and it's pretty much the same.
Except that there's an actually story building here. While the original Doom laid out a general scenario; you're the last marine alive, the base is over run my Hell's minions, try to get out; this Doom has a story running that you piece to gether by reading, listening and watching the log entries of base personnel.
This adds a lot of texture to the Doom 3 experience. You are thrust into the middle of some hellish nightmare and are slowly finding out what was going on here and just what went wrong. Of course, along the way, there are still a lot of lockers and doors to open and hellish minions to blow brains (and other entrails) out of, so it's all good.
Cinematic Quality
The creamiest layers of the Doom 3 cake are the cinematic touches during gameplay. Walk up to a window and you'll suddenly hear a hiss and see something crawl across the top of the window and into the shadows of the ceiling space.
It quite literally gives me the heebie jeebies. When something like that happens your tension rises because you now have to worry about where the hell that thing just went. You know it's getting ready to leap out at you around the next corner, or the next...
The original Doom made people jump out of their chairs or try to look around their monitors. Some have suggested that this was because the graphics engine prevented you from looking up or down, but it was really because you were hesitant to meet what ever it was around the corner face to face.
This Doom is even scarier. There was a moment when I walked into a shadowy room and heard an eerie wail build up to a loud shriek, mixed with a human screaming in pain in the far shadow filled corner. There was a flash of light coming from that direction and perhaps the brief spectre of a flaming skull, followed by the sudden materialisation of a former-human, moaning as it crawled out of a ventilation duct. As the wailing increased I jumped and was actually looking around the room I was sitting in before I realised it was something happening on screen!
Final Thoughts
I just know this is going to be a game I'll be sad to finish. Like a good book you just don't want it to end.
Can't write any more, have to get back to the game!
- Read on to part 2...
- Read my impressions of multiplayer Doom3...
Comments
Get a clue,compare some screenshots, or better yet
PLAY THE DAMN game before you make a stupid claim that Farcry's graphics look better...give me a damn break. Doom III's graphics BLOW farcry out of the water and the engine is 10x more scalable than Crytek, meaning it runs better and looks better. Not to mention the thriving id mod community who is going to eat this game up and make some pretty amazing mods..Farcry has NO community. So take your Farcry fanboy t-shirt off and get a reality check. The only thing Farcry has on Doom III is the AI and outdoor environments (which the Doom III engine is FULLY capable of).
FarCry is a great game, that's a given, but it can't touch DooM3, guy.. as mentioned by Burn, why not play the game first before serving your own slice of commentary. Or, are you one of the many losers who DL'd the game from the net because they're too cheap to purchase their own? People who truly appreciated and enjoyed the first DooM will love this game, those who haven't, well, it's time to pull yer heads out of FarCry and UT's ass and get a clue. Have you even played the original DooM/2, and if so, did you play it without cheating? My guess is no, on both accounts.
" 10x more scalable than Crytek, meaning it runs better and looks better."
Evidence, please.
I really like doom3, but I think farcry is also very good. Just leave it at that, guys.
i think he meant scalable as in doom3 runs on a much broader range of system configurations than farcry could ever hope to. with farcry you need a pretty up to date system to run it playably, whereas doom3 runs on anything from 2 year old video cards and up.
I agree with Parasite. I'm glad I got Doom3 on sale at Fry's for $44. It's definitely not worth full admission price. I ALSO think Fry Cry's graphics are better, except for skin texture. It is your basic shoot-em-up zombie FPS with really dumb AI.
you would..
Ive played Doom 3 and being an astout id fanboy, i have to say the game is a little bit dissapointing. It has very groovy graphics and all that, but it just seems that something of the original formula is missing. Perhaps its the scare tactics that are getting really annoying right about now, i mean they are ok in the beginning but imps teleporting in everytime i pick up an armor....comon. Its getting old really fast. The game is also quite dark. While this is great in some places, in others it just doesnt make sense. Why would administrative offices be totaly devoid of light?? One other thing thats pissing me off too. The Bfg has been totaly screwed up. Its nowhere near as cool or as effective as the one in the original Doom and Doom 2. Otherwise its a great game, theyve got a solid story and immersive gameplay. Its a shame that they had to reduce the gorefest to a slow paced Resident Evil type game.
Ok i just found the chainsaw :)))
The game is that much better now :)
Guys please. For almost half the price tag, Far Cry betters Doom 3 on almost all levels except indoor graphics. Some levels had rooms that were on par with Doom 3, but overall Far Cry was much more interesting. Doom 3 only has 2 areas, indoor tech and hell (gothic) style.
I have both games and have to say I am also a bit disappointed with Doom 3.
I agree the indoor levels blow Farcry away, so do most of the monsters. However, for reasons I can't explain I stopped playing doom after 1-2h or so, whereas I was using every free minute to play and finish Farcry. (And yes, I was an avid Doom, Doom 2 player)
I think I have the most up to date system money can buy (no joke), playing both games with 1600 resolution, top details, very smooth, etc... and yes, I buy all the games I play...
Some (subjective) gripes about Doom 3:
- Too dark, flashlight sucks, too noisy/animated environment (whats the point of listening for creepy sounds if theres always a machine spamming you with ambient noise or moving, blinking, ...)
- Cheap poly count on monsters, especially the blocky heads/outlines look ridiculous and ruin the cut scenes for me
- No outdoor levels
- The Assault rifle/gun using zombies really destroy the atmosphere. I mean if I have a zombie it has to move about DawnoftheDead-like and be slow and stupid. Hell creatures can be as fast as the designers like, but gun using smart Zombies just suck imho.
..as said, cant put my finger into it, but currently I am not motivated to continue playing
Of course if it doesn't grab you , it doesn't grab you and no amount of arguing by anyone else will change that. But I'll respond subjectively to your gripes.
- too dark and too noisy: Well I think that's the point, it increases tension in a way similar to the Aliens movie. Some won't enjoy that kind of tension though.
- Cheap poly count. Actually I think The Carmack has mentioned this is one of the things he hates about his Doom3 engine
- gunning zombies: well they're actually former-soldiers so they are armed, it's also classic Doom stuff so you coldn't have a game without them. The dumber zombies are all sorts of maintenance personel or scientists etc...
Ok.... I bought Doom 3 Last night. Got in a good 2.5 hours of Doom. I am out alot more then $55 to play this game. I had to upgrade my video card, $200. I had to buy another hard drive, $60. So i am up to $300 Plus to play this game.
I had to upgrade anyways, so thats not a big deal. I am an OG Wolfinstine, then Doom/2 player. Doom3 does rock. It is very creepy and makes me jump all the time, and the tension level is up. Which is how the OG Doom was. My only complaint is this. It is way too damn dark. The gore is awsome, but most of the time it is sooo dark I only catch glimpses of it. But it is still a great game. I have yet to play farcry so can not make a comparision.
Ok... I just found this web site. It is a mod to add a flashlight to your shotgun and machine gun. This should help with the darkness. I have not tried it yet, cause i am at work :(, so i don't know how effective it is.
http://ducttape.glenmurphy.com/
Happy gaming....
WOW, got home from work and tried the ducttape mod. It is alot better. I can actually see what i am shooting!!
Not worth cheating. Play it ALL the way through with no cheats, its so worth it :D I did, now Im up to veteran, and its harder.. very very well done id, its MEANT to be dark. Some people just criticise without trying to immerse themselves in the environment. Imagine you ARE the guy who just landed on Mars, turn your speakers up, turn out the lights. And be brave :p its only a game..
9.5/10. This game is THE shit. Awesome game, and I dont even really like horror movies (they arent interactive though so yeah)
Quake Guy- your an idiot. The game is too dark. "Duct Tape was downloaded over 80,000 times in the first 24 hours of its release (not including downloads from the mirrors at various mod sites)."
And probably because...YOU CANT FUCKING SEE A THING!! Anyone that finds running around in total darkness as being "FUN" is a moron. By the way....how is it cheating? Your still an idiot....
i wanna see a vote somewhere "is DOOM 3 too dark?"
i mean sure if you live in your moms basement and don't ever go out into the light, then no it's just fine for you, but for us normal people it is.. too danm dark, and actually i am glad they released a flashlight mod, now if they would release a ceiling light kinda mod, i'd be F'in real happy, call it cheating if you want, dork
Doom and Doom 2 were scary and suspenseful without being pitch black in 80% of the screen. I played through all 3 with no cheats, and this was disapointing. Dark is ok, shooting into pitch black is not scary, its annoying. Oh, and "get a clue" is a fairly weak argument. The most suspenseful game of all time is AVP 1, because no matter how many aliens you killed there were always more running around.
Agree with previous comments on lighting. What's the point in all this beautiful graphics if the goddamn game happens in a pitch-black environment 95% of the time?
My eyes hurt, ouch, if I need new glasses, I gonna send the bill to Carmack.
Plus, in such total blackness the overall color gamma cannot be anything but crippled.
Fire your scene designer, ID Software! Immediately!
Thanks for the mod, but couldn't you just assume that the marine might be able to fashion a headlamp as long as he's been put in a cave? That's what I would do. It might make it a bit easier, but much would still be preserved in that you can't look all ways at once, and most monsters generate on a trigger. There is a mod of this mod at (http://forums.glenmurphy.com/1/32?PHPSESSID=85ef125526a80afb3b3829b013cbe80f) where the light is on all weapons, but PLEASE put out a mod with the light either on or off with a simple toggle. With all the $$ that's being spent to play this game, you could easily charge $5 a pop and retire early. (You'd have made $400K by now.) But of course, preserving the sanctity of the game is much more important than that. (Hack-Hack!) NOT!
Of course, I've had this revulsion since I realized that the writer of solitaire had to go out of his way to write in a limit in the number of moves you can back up. Why? If it is important to the player, he will not do so, but why impose on the unwilling? Is it THAT important to make others play YOUR rules even if they BUY the dognabbed game? If so, you have some REAL power issues - seek help.
Once again, thanks for saving me from taking a hammer to this game CD, and for allowing me to put my gamma correction back to normal.
It's not worth the hype or the $55 + tx price tag.
It's graphics and gameplay isn't close to FarCry.
It's a loud (things beeping, screaming), dark (always need your flash light), indoor basic zombie shooter. B- max