THE BEGINNING

The pre-order box grew to bug me. While at first glance it had looked great, looking back, I couldn’t help but cringe at the hell-knight they had put on the cover; it was loaded with giant, three-foot polygons all over the place, covered with a low-res skin that was brutally stretched in places. Altogether, not the best picture to represent all that is Doom. When I finally got my hands on the finished game, I was pleased to see that they had put up a better picture of the gargantuan monster that had become the Doom postermonster (lame, I know, but bear with me). This was, of course, with some post-editing, but it really does look that good in-game when it’s moving about and roaring. Great as the box is, the contents are just as nice, with an atmospheric manual, and a cool little piece of paper with a warning that Doom 3 might be too scary for some, a nice touch, I thought. But what made me really happy was the fact that the game didn’t come in CD sleeves, which are the third worst computer-related invention ever (with web spam and AOL taking first and second place).

The game treats you to a few old screenshots while installing, all before allowing you to dive into one of the most immersive games ever made.

Many people have whined about Doom 3’s story. “Oh no, scientists open portal and demons come out, how lame.” I hate to break it to these people that, if you’re going to make a shooter game (which, by definition, is a game where you go around shooting stuff), you have to have something threatening you or humanity, and it just so happens in this case that it’s the very forces of hell we’re talking about. You need some excuse to shoot stuff. Thankfully, it’s not aliens, which is a really overrun concept. The only hell-based shooter other than Doom that I can think of is Painkiller. The story is no mind-warping, alternate-reality-based plot that gives you headaches, but it does get interesting later on in the game, certainly above what it seems for a while at the beginning, so hang in there. Don’t get your hopes too high in that area, though.

Doom 3 has got to have the most refined, awesome, and thought-out intro to a game I have ever played. It does resemble Half-Life in many aspects, but it is even more fine-tuned (the folks at id did this part of the game last because they wanted to be familiar with the tools, since they considered it the most important part of the game), with an amazing graphics engine to boot. As you wander around the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) Mars facility, you too will feel that this game is supremely tangible. No longer do game developers have to work their way around design elements: anything is possible. As you wander around, you overhear conversations, and can’t help but notice a certain suspicious-looking character named Malcolm Betruger, who happens to look a lot like Hannibal Lecter (another reason to watch out for this guy).

From there, and some of the encounters that follow, it becomes evident that this game is on a whole new level, a new plane of technology. This was the first game where, as I was wandering about and wandered into an area where two marines were lounging and having a drink, I felt as if I wasn’t looking at NPCs, but rather, real people. Like actors in a movie. They feel real. Off to one side, a TV is working, under which is a bartender. Off to another side is an arcade game, which you will just have to see for yourself. I’d recommend walking around and talking to as many people as you can, it really helps build up the uneasy and mysterious edgy feeling that is running amok across the entire Mars facility. Everything feels believable, something which is in large part due to the amazing voice acting.

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I felt as if I wasn’t looking at NPCs, but rather, real people. Like actors in a movie.

Yes, Doom 3 is the first game that didn’t make me cringe at horrible lines or horrible execution of lines. Many good games suffered from this viral disease, from Halo (with its infamous ‘I’m a cowardly fool!’, among others) to Far Cry (don’t even get me started on this one…). I actually enjoyed listen to people talk. Lip-sync isn’t as good as it could be, something that surprised me knowing that Fred Nilsson, who did this kind of stuff for Shrek, is responsible for these animations. Stand a fair distance back, however, and it all comes out good. You can walk around for quite a while and talk with a lot of people, which you might as well do, because you’ll be reprimanded by the Sergeant anyway. But this is a Doom game, so as the story unfolds, the urge to walk around and blow stuff up, and all around just kick ass, grows strong. The game teases you a little. Soon enough, you’re sent on a simple mission.

And that is when shit and fan collide.

    Introduction
    Graphics
    The beginning
    Hell invades!
    Multiplayer
    Mishaps that you shoot
    Mishaps that you shoot (cont)
    Odd, ends and a verdict