Review: Doom 3
Doom 3 is a masterpiece when it comes to graphics and presentation. But it drops the ball on the gameplay.
Well, it’s expected from iD Software. As with their Quake games they have shown how they can spend years on developing excellent game engines, but the gameplay has never been much of a factor.
Doom 3 is set on a space station on mars, where they perform all sorts of experiments and research. Then something goes terribly wrong, as it often does. People have become overtaken by some evil power. They become zombies and other foul demons appear. Thus begins the survival horror game.
The graphics are top notch. Doom 3 is all about the lighting. It creates a very eerie mood, with flickering lights, and dimly lit hallways. Using your flashlight creates a very realistic effect. The sound is also very good. In most of the first half of the game, you get chatter from other soldiers screaming in fright, which adds to the atmosphere. Some of the weapon sounds are a little light. But for the most part the sound is good.
The gameplay is where Doom 3 loses. Once you get over the surprise scare tactics they use. You are able to predict where the next monster will suddenly appear. At that point the game gets dull. The AI is almost non-existant. Standard zombies just walk straight at you slowly, while the other monsters just charge straight at you. Other than the occassional soldier that uses cover, they pretty much move in a straight line straight for you. The gameplay is a simple formula. Enter a dark room, look around until something pops out to scare you, kill it, move to the next room. When I say dark room, I really mean it. Some rooms are completely dark. Most of the time you cannot see anything without your flashlight. Which means you will have it out most of the time, and switch to a weapon when you have to shoot something. They made it so you can’t have a flashlight out and a weapon at the same time. There may be reasons for this. If you had light and gun, the game would be very easy, and very boring. But instead you ending up firing into the dark hoping you hit the enemy and switch back to the light to confirm. There isn’t really any puzzle solving. Besides your standard weapons and flashlight, you have a PDA. The PDA allows you to download information from consoles and other people’s PDA, which gives you access to some voice logs and email. Most of the plot is in the voice logs, I imagine most people don’t listen to it, in which case, most people don’t get much plot out of the game. Which I think is a good thing, some people don’t want all that stuff, and it’s an option for those that want it. When you check other people’s email you sometimes get key codes to open certain doors. Some emails link you to an internet website which you sometimes get additional codes to open more stuff. Example www.martianbuddy.com. But in general, the PDA is to download access to doors that are locked. This usually is not a difficult task since the game is pretty linear. The game gets boring after a while. I hear it picks up a bit when you finally reach that certain hellish place. I just don’t know if I can get there. It’s just too repetitive. But if you really like the creepy look and getting a scare here and there, maybe you will enjoy the whole thing.
There is a multiplayer mode, but it’s nothing special. It’s playable as a quick fun deathmatch, but there are many games that are much more superior when it comes to online play.
If Doom 3 is just a game to showcase a new engine, it makes me wonder. How many people will be sold on licensing an engine that doesn’t show any sort of intelligent AI or physics? The Medal of Honor series has used id’s Quake 3 engine for their games. Will the next versions use the Doom 3 engine? Doom 3 shows great use of darkness and lighting, but not all games are going to be like that. Maybe the engine is great, it’s just hard to tell from the game. But so far it looks like Half-Life 2′s engine is superior. It has shown it has intelligent AI, excellent physics, and what appears to be better facial animation.
Doom 3 is not a bad game. It’s worth playing just to experience it. This is a case where graphics and presentation do make the game. And I will recommend it even if the gameplay sucks.
drea Said:
on August 19, 2004 at 3:01 pm
good review Viet
i haven’t played the game since i don’t play 1st person shooter games, but from what i’ve seen from the game (i have a bunch of guy friends who play this) i’m not exactly impressed. wasn’t even as scary as i thought it would be =/
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