by Jeremy Patton

Created on: January 07, 2010

Doom 3 for the PC is one of the best first-person shooters (FPS) I have ever played. Being an old-school fan of the Doom series, I hoped that Doom 3 would be a worthy sequel and I was not disappointed.

This review is limited to the single player experience, which is the main focus of Doom 3. I have not played Doom 3 in multiplayer, but that was not my interest when purchasing the game.

The plot is typical for Doom. The Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) has set up a research facility on Mars in the year 2145. The UAC conducts scientific research in weapons development, biology, space exploration and teleportation. A teleportation experiment goes horribly wrong and opens a portal to Hell. The entire Mars base is overrun with a wave of Hell’s minions and most UAC employees are transformed into zombies. As one of the few surviving mortals, you must fight through the facility and find a way to stop the invasion.

Released in 2004, Doom 3 was technologically advanced for its time. My computer would not run the game and it gathered dust on my shelf for several years until I bought a new computer. Doom 3 is beautifully designed and its graphics are still impressive even by today‘s standards.

This is the first video game that absolutely scares the shit out of me. It is like being  plunged into a horror film. I feel like the little girl who runs from the monster, but trips and falls, allowing the beast to close within killing range. The difference in Doom 3, however, is that you are a marine with big guns. You might flee screaming, but once you regain your composure you can blow the zombie’s face off with your shotgun or send the demon back to Hell with your rocket launcher.

Doom 3 is shrouded in darkness. You are provided with a flash light but cannot use it and a firearm simultaneously. So, when creatures lunge at you from the shadows, you are often caught unprepared. The only warning you might get is a hissing sound right before a zombie slashes you or a fireball smacks you up side the head. You rarely see them coming.

The sound effects are unnerving. There are frequent radio transmissions received through your character’s communications device. Sometimes you get orders from your commanding officer who is held up at some distant location in the UAC facility. Other times, you hear gun blasts, shrieking, crying and dying. There are further environmental sounds emanating from the Mars outpost, such as sudden, loud, mechanical noises, unexplained footsteps and whispering and echoing laughter from demonic antagonists.

You stumble upon a wide array of weapons, including a pistol, shotgun, machine gun, plasma gun, chain gun, rocket launcher, grenades, chainsaw and of course, the BFG. You can also punch and swing your flashlight, although such tactics are usually bad for your health.

This is not a game that you should buy, take home and expect to complete in one night. There are 27 levels in Doom 3 with tons of plot, characters, monsters and bosses. This game goes on and on. Just when you think you have completed it, you realize that you are only half way through. You really get your money’s worth.

If you have not played Doom 3, buy it now, turn up the volume and turn off the lights. It will make you jump out of your seat and twitch like a squirrel trapped in a haunted house. The only complaint I have about Doom 3 is that six long years have passed and id Software still has not developed Doom 4.

 

 

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