Creepy yet unpretentiously boring, with a bouquet of bugginess.
Written: Jun 17 '05 (Updated Jun 18 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: Ranks high on creepiness.
Cons: Program crashes even with the updates; artificial intelligence is weak; too repetitive and predictable.
The Bottom Line: This game will appeal to younger gamers who are into non-stop action with minimal thinking. Older gamers would probably appreciate HL2 or FarCry more for strategy.
kfong99's Full Review: Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil for Windows
This review is for the single-player portion of Doom 3 for Windows.
I purchased Doom 3 because I was bored. It was resold after a week.
Doom 3 is definitely a step ahead of its earlier versions, complete with improved graphics, 'movies', 3D sound, and enhanced multiplayer capabilities. But given what video games are capable of today in the mid-2000's, Doom 3 is a bit behind the times. Compared with some of its contemporaries, "Far Cry" and "Half Life 2", Doom 3 ranks way behind in terms of overall production, storyline, artifical intelligence (AI), and graphical robustness. Also, it is laden with bugs that causes the program to quit, even with the updates. BTW, I rank "Far Cry" higher than "HL2". Doom 3 ranks better in terms of creepiness; however, because of limited AI, your enemies are very predictable, much like the plot of a B horror movie.
GRAPHICS/PROCESSING: Yes, lots of excellently rendered detail and environmental effects to add to the realism. I still rank HL2 and FarCry higher. A lot of the scenes are dark and you will need to adjust contrast and brightness upward. You will need at least a Pentium 4 (1.5GHz or better) and a powerful video card (see box for details). I have a feeling its memory management is sloppy because everytime I exited the Doom3 program, my Windows OS kept complaining about running out of virtual memory. HL2 and FarCry do a better job of handling multiple intelligent characters in a single area than Doom3. With Doom3, it gets sloppy when there are multiple people in the area. With HL2, you can actually work alongside allies. In Doom3 and FarCry, allies work alongside you in 'movie' form only (i.e. no actual interaction during gameplay); however, you can 'talk' to allies in non-fighting situations...but they usually do not give you information that is helpful.
GAMEPLAY
Game Progression: The basic workflow of Doom3 is to make it to different levels by getting an assignment from your squad leader (you have been separated from your Marine group). Along the way, you need to find PDAs to know the codes to various doors and storage compartments. Sometimes, this is a pain because you have to search through e-mail, or listen to an entire voice-memo, where they only give the code after their long-winded memo. (Of course, the clever players would have downloaded these codes in advance from a fan site...or use some sort of 'Give All' command...but that's cheating.) While you are doing all of this, there are other things to do like dispose hazardous materials, set up comm links, open access bridges...sounds complicated, but all these tasks are accomplished simply by the same monotonous way: find the computer terminal and push the button. Oh yes, and you have to kill all the enemies that get in your way. The gameflow is very linear (unlike FarCry, which prides itself in being very non-linear...where you can reach an objective through many paths.) Because Doom3 is linear, you do not need to worry about missing something in an earlier level, or making a wrong turn...the design keeps you on track, and it is easy to stay 'on the path' by looking at the floor gratings. You will want to venture off the path occasionally to pick up hidden ammunition, armor, or health. You can save your progress at any point in the game, which is very handy. There are over 25 levels to complete...I would estimate at 2 hours of play per day, you can complete the game in about a week. By the 10th level, you may be bored because of the repetition.
Enemies (Artificial Intelligence): Definitely the creepiest over HL2 and FarCry, but also the least intelligent. Enemies are situated like a 'video game' where they exist only to fight you. In HL2 or FarCry, the enemies are more realistic because you stumble upon enemies as they are doing their own business (guarding, search for you, goofing off, etc.) In Doom3, the enemies are waiting for you behind hidden panels that slide up when you walk close to them (who realistically would build this in a facility?) Also, stronger enemies can teleport in when you walk past a certain point. As I have seen with most FPS games, enemies will pursue you up to a point (e.g. will not go into a crawl space with you.) In HL2 or FarCry, the enemies will actually employ strategies to kill you (flush you out, search patterns, throw grenades, etc.)...and you can listen in on their conversations for FarCry. In Doom3, they just go after you with guns blazing...not very intelligent, and there are no conversations to listen in on. The 'dying' sound of some of the enemy soldiers in Doom3 is quite wimpy.
Weapons: A number of weapons are available similar to the earlier Doom series, not as extensive a collection as with FarCry and HL2. Reloading is slow, and there are no "alternate" firings for each weapon as with FarCry and HL2 (e.g. assault gun does not have an alternate grenade launcher...a standard for most FPS games!) Also, none of the weapons have built-in flashlights, so you need to toggle between your light and weapon constantly...a real pain. And unless I am missing something, there are no sniper type weapons. The 'Z' key offers some zoom capability, but its use is limited. But then again, there are almost no situations in this game where a sniper weapon would be useful. Weapons include: your fists, flashlight, handgun, shotgun, automatic rifle, grenades, chainsaw, and several more advanced weapons, which can wipe out larger enemies or wipe out several smaller ones in a single blast. Unlike FarCry, you can carry an unlimited amount of weapons and ammunition. With HL2 and FarCry, weapons handling 'felt' very slick...with Doom3, it seemed a bit sluggish.
Movement: Pretty standard for most FPS games...smooth. I did not get motion sickness. (BTW, I experienced motion sickness with HL2 and Hitman...a little less with FarCry.) Not as many moves as with FarCry and HL2 (cannot kneel or crawl, but 'C' can be used to crouch to a lower position.) You are pretty much on foot most of the time, but once in a while, you can drive an alternate vehicle...but these alternate vehicles are not as impressive as HL2 or FarCry (FarCry gives you opportunities to use a hang glider!)
Audio: Pretty crisp. The 3D sound is helpful in determining which direction an enemy is coming from. The audio is also effective in adding 'creepiness' to the game...especially the evil laugh. Sounds definitely make the game very predictable (e.g. after a while, you expect certain sounds to announce the arrival of an enemy, vs. HL2 or FarCry, where enemies can sneak up on you!) There is also a music soundtrack but I don't remember if it plays while you are playing.
Warnings: There are some disturbing images in the game, much more than HL2 or FarCry (e.g. person struggling inside a cocoon, babies made into flying enemies, lab workers being transformed into monsters, victims hanging from ceilings, etc.) If you have children that are prone to nightmares, spare them from this game...I don't think those images can be turned off as an option. Other than that, there is no (at least I did not hear or see any) profanity or nudity. FarCry, though just as violent, seems to be a 'cleaner' game with less disturbing imagery. HL2 also has some disturbing scenes, but not as much as Doom3.
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