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Doom and its immediate sequel (the imaginatively named "Doom 2") are probably two of the best known games to have appeared on the PC. They were great pioneers in many areas such as adult game content, distribution by shareware (i.e. you got the first few levels free as a trial and had to pay for the rest), online multiplayer gaming and the best examples at the time of what was a new genre of gaming ? first person shooters (FPS).

id were the first real pioneers of the FPS genre with their Doom games (and the associated game engine that went along with it) and then with the first real 3D game engine with Quake. In fact, such was their skill and popularity, that it was quite a few years until someone else produced a 3D game engine that was capable of matching id's.

Arguably, they never really got to grips with designing games. Yes, their 3D systems were above criticism, but the games, while above average, were hardly outstanding examples compared to Sim City, Half Life (which uses a modified version of id's Quake engine), Deus Ex etc. It could be said that their 'best' game was Quake 3 Arena which was no more than a flashy multiplayer game without any of the trappings of a plot or the need to build up atmosphere etc.

So now we get onto Doom 3, one of the most eagerly awaited games of recent years along with Half-Life 2 and Duke Nukem 4. id are renowned for producing games that really test your PC's hardware. In fact, it was the release of Quake (the first proper 3D game) that prompted a huge rush of sales of dedicated 3D graphics cards. Doom 3 is no different and the recommended specifications to run are at least a 1.5 GHz CPU, over 2GB of hard drive space, 384 MB RAM and a 100% DirectX 9.0b compatible graphics card (if you are thinking of buying this game, you must investigate whether your graphics card is compatible with this game!).

There's not much of an introduction, but you are an anonymous sol dier of some description who's just arrived on Mars for a tour of duty at a research station sometime during the latter half of 2145. Your travelling companions are on Mars to investigate what appears to have been a series of bizarre events and accidents. However, just as you're thinking of getting settled in, you're called out on your first mission. As the new guy, you've drawn the short straw and have to go find a scientist who has gone missing.

After a bit of faffing about, you eventually come across the stupid man who's ranting on about letting someone know about something

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