"You are a Marine, one of Earth's toughest..."

It's been well over two years since I last wrote a review of a game here on Epinions. Why? You may well ask. Well, there are a number of personal factors, including graduation, work and social life etc., the details of which are irrelevant. Time has been a factor, in the sense that I haven't really had any. But the biggest factor of all - not to mention the most important - is the fact that in those two years, there have been no games worth looking at. Sure, we may have had Far Cry, Halo, Call of Duty, Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004 and even (the somewhat disappointing) Unreal II. Yes, a lot has happened in those two years. The Matrix Trilogy has reached its conclusion, as has The Lord of the Rings, I've acquired no less that two new games consoles, the gaming public has endured more than it's fair share of bad games, and we've even seen the source code to Half-Life 2 STOLEN! ! !

Yes, a lot has happened. But for me, the games player, the most important thing to have happened, was the release of quite possibly the scariest, most immersive experience ever - DooM 3. It's true, I may have gotten two new consoles (GameCube and X-Box) over the past two years, but there's something that keeps pulling me back to my PC. For a while, I couldn't figure it out. I would find myself buying new hardware (most recently my graphics card), and deep in my heart, I knew there was a reason for it, but I couldn't for the life of me figure it out. However, early last month, the truth hit me like an imp-thrown fireball right in the face.

THIS is what I had been waiting for. This was the reason for the constant upgrades. This was the reason my X-shaped Box got the kick. DooM 3 had arrived, and it was more exciting than I could've imagined.

After the quick installation, I started the game. Fiddled with the settings, until I finally decided on High Quality at 1024 x 768. I listened for a minute, to the rather excellent theme music (which I later discovered was by Tweaker), before ploughing straight in at the deep end, hitting "New Game" and "Veteran" for my difficulty setting.

I was treated to a cutscene (that's right, a proper cutscene, in an id Software game) which gave some basic background information about the company you work for, as well as introducing some characters: Eliot Swann, Jack Campbell, Dr. Malcom Betruger and YOU, the silent hero, the hard as nails marine, the knight in shining body armour. There was some talking, which slowly revealed what was going on here on Mars, where most of the game takes place. I had, however, to go back and listen to this again, as the first time I watched it, all I could think was: "My Lord, it's beautiful."

I gained control of my character, and got started. The first thing I noticed (after the amazing graphics) was how much it reminded me of (a much cooler, better looking) Half-Life. I spent the first hour or so wandering about the UAC (Union Aerospace Corporation) facility looking at little details, listening to the terrified ramblings of some of the workers, in an attempt to better immerse me into the setting.

Finally it happened. I had already acquired my pistol, and was on the lookout for a missing scientist in the UAC Underground facility. I hadn't fired a shot yet, before I found the scientist and all was well again. Or so I thought. A cutscene triggered, showing camera footage of a laboratory, an explosion sounded, the lights went out, and all that could be heard were screams. The missing scientist stumbled towards me with a look in his eye, I look I had seen before (in Resident Evil); he was hungry, and I was his dinner. I let fly with my pistol, trying to ignore the beauty of my surroundings until the danger was disposed of. It was the greatest experience I'd ever had with a video game; DooM 3 was here, I knew, and it was about to rock my world.

For several minutes (about twenty minutes, actually) the screams of dying comrades could be heard over a radio. Closer at hand though, and in full 5.1 Surround Sound, the grunts and groans of whatever Hellspawn had just been released haunted my ever move. I was scared. It was late, dark, I was home alone, and I was absolutely terrified. More to the point, I was loving every minute of it.

"This is much better than Far Cry."

I had to tell someone how good it was. It was after 11:30PM but I HAD to tell someone. I phoned a fellow gamer; I knew he'd be awake, cos if he was any sort of real man, he'd have got DooM 3, and he'd be playing it in the dark. I phoned his cell phone. He knew it was me. Without so much as a "hello" we both screamed down the phone, "THIS IS AMAZING!" I played as I talked, killing Imps, zombies, Pinky Demons and other assorted Satan-spawn. I was in my element. Gaming had made a comeback, and the bitter taste of the past two years was quickly fading away.

DooM 3 isn't without it's faults, though. Despite being the scariest, most immersive, most graphically impressive piece of art, the gameplay is still very basic. It's still, run into a room, kill everything that moves, then look for some goodies. This is all dressed up though, with fancy mission objectives, audio files that give some helpful hints and background information, and a lovely user interface, the most simple but innovative piece of gear in the game. However, had it not been for these simple things, married with the immersion, scare factor and stunning graphics, DooM 3 would probably be written off (by me, anyway) as just another simple First Person Shooter.

The story isn't exactly an award winner either. It does the job, in that it explains the situation quite well, and to be fair, it is a vast improvement over id's usual "back of the box" storyline. It's helped along by some very cool characters (the aforementioned Campbell and Swann, but coolest of all, the evil Dr. Betruger).

However, the biggest disappointment is the multiplayer. Due to the high level of detail in DooM 3, it seems it was only practical for the guys at id to allow for 4 players maximum. There aren't any particularly innovative modes either. Compare to Return to Castle Wolfenstein, this is a failure. But there's enough to keep you going in the single player game, that it shouldn't really matter.

So, it's not innovative, it's story isn't exactly the best out there, and it requires a BEAST of a system to run, but everything else in DooM 3 is perfect. The graphics (most notably the lighting and shadow effects) are amazing, it's the scariest thing since the Cuban Missile Crisis, and it really draws you into the world of DooM. It's everything a gamer could ask for, plus a few extras thrown in for good measure.

Graphics:
Everybody knows that DooM 3 is the best looking game out there. Is there realy any need for me to tell you otherwise. A word of warning, it takes a motha of a system to get this running good. (see below for my system specs.)

Sound:
Again, the title's production values really show through here. Whether it be radio chatter, screaming Hellspawn, or the ambience and trademark grunts and groans of the series, it all does an excellent job of scaring and exciting you. A treat for the senses.

Gameplay:
Pretty basic. It's the original DooM game with knobs on. It's still fun and exciting to see some of your old friends from the first DooM game in full 3D. It's still the best game around at the moment, too, despite it's basic gameplay. Shame about the multiplayer though.

Replay Value:
Surprisingly, I played through it more than once, and was just as scared the second time. I had as much fun too. I still go back and play the best bits (id Software have listened to the fans, and had the game save at the start of every level).

DooM 3 requires a beast of a system to run. The game recommended I play it on Medium Detail, but I cranked it up to High Detail, at 1024 x 768 resolution, with V-Sync turned on, but no Anti-aliasing or anisotropic filtering. It looked great and ran even better. Here's my specs:

Intel Pentium IV 2.5 GHz
512 MB RAM
ATi 9800 Pro
5.1 Surround Sound (for added SCARE)

Those are the basics. Anything above that, and you'll be fine. Remember, there are two detail levels below the one I played on, so you can give yourself a little leeway if your specs are lower than mine. I'd say anything above a 2GHz Pentium IV and an ATi 9600 Pro, and you'll be fine.

P.S. Go and buy DooM 3 if you haven't already.

Games are making a comeback. DooM 3 is only the beginning.