Story
Unlike Doom 1 or 2, the third game is a retelling of the events of the first one. You play a lone marine, who’s just recently arrived on Mars as a replacement for another marine that died or was transferred (it’s never really explained). Right away, the marine can tell that something isn’t right, as he comes across a meeting between 3 of the primary characters, UAC (Union Aerospace Corporation) members Elliott Swann and Jack Campbell, as well as the Mars base’s head scientist, Dr. Malcolm Betruger (the obvious main villain). Swann and Campbell have come to investigate the numerous accidents, deaths, and transfers that have been happening all over the base, and Mr. Swann claims that Betruger knows more that what he’s telling the two. After a few minutes, it’s safe to say that Betruger has shit thrown against the fan, and causes the base’s main portal to go haywire, and the worst of hell spreads all over, killing just about everybody and begins to fold the base into itself.
While a little bare bones, it’s still nice to see the story of Doom fleshed out. In the original Doom, we’re given next to nothing as far as the story is concerned. With Doom 3, we’re given a clear bad guy, an anonymous good guy, and two characters that make the player question where their loyalties lie. On top of that, the player is stuck on perhaps one of the most desolate environments in the universe: a base on the surface of Mars, overrun will all manners of demons, beasts, and secrets that are better left in the shadows.
Setting
Much like the first Doom, Doom 3 takes place within the Mars Base, as well as a trip through the underworld of Hell, which is perhaps the most visually appealing of the places you explore. The graphics really make these environments alive, and add to the game’s personality. Before Hell arrives, the Mars Base is a clean & efficient complex, with the various workers, scientists, and marines moving around & doing their duties. However, there’s just some underlining feeling of corruption, as if the demons have already invaded, but decided to not reveal themselves until the time is right.
When Hell has broken loose, things change dramatically. Gone is any sense of control & order, as the forces of chaos & death have completely taken over, leaving behind a tiny group of survivors for the player to come across, wondering if they’ll make it or not. There’s a constant feeling of dread as you move throughout the base, as many areas have broken down due to demonic activity. The evidence of their terror is seen everywhere, with blood splattered all over, and bodies (Intact and in pieces) strewn throughout the base.
Hell itself is a place in and of itself. I can’t say how it looks & feels, but I will say that it is one of the most surreal levels in gaming history. From the moment you step into Hell, it is a place that you’ll never forget.
Much like the story of the original Doom, the setting has been greatly improved in D3. The original game is still atmospheric (I still get creeped out when I first encountered the Hell Knights), but Doom 3 fleshes things out to a higher degree. In addition to making things look better, the D3 engine also happens to make things seem believable, despite it’s few flaws (More on this in a bit).
Characters
Unfortunately, this is one of the big weaknesses of Doom 3. Granted, there are plenty of characters in this game, many of which you can interact with. Problem is, just about all of them die, and the few that are left behind serve little to no purpose (The few that do serve a purpose just lead you to items, but there’s at least a fraction of the tiny few that do progress the story along). Luckily, we do have 3 characters that we can talk about.
Dr. Malcolm Betruger is the first character I’ll talk about. From the moment you meet him, you can tell that he’s the bad guy, and he’s going to cause the base to go to Hell...so to speak. What makes him such a great villain is just how sinister he is: as you traverse the Mars Base, and the bowels of hell, his presence can be felt throughout the journey. When something breaks, his laughter can sometimes be heard, mocking the player’s actions. If the situation requires him, his haunted mug appears on screen, giving a speech about how doomed the player is (Pardon the pun).
Elliott Swann and Jack Campbell are the next characters I’ll talk about. Unlike Betruger, these two are far more mysterious, and aren’t quite as obvious. Although their purpose & allegiance are eventually revealed, the player isn’t quite certain as to why they are on Mars, nor is does the player know what their purposes are. There’s times where they apparently do good things, but at the same time they do things that make them look like the bad guys (Not as bad as Betruger, but still bad). They really add to the mystery of Doom 3's story, and they contribute to the game’s atmosphere quite nicely.
Gameplay
First and foremost, Doom 3 is a balls-to-the-wall action game. You got a arsenal of guns (Most of which are old, and some are new), there’s an assortment of monsters of kill with said guns (Like the guns, most of the monsters are old, but there’s a few new ones to spice things up), and you move through atmospheric level after atmospheric level. Despite this familiar setup, there’s been a few changes.
For starters, there’s the guns. You still have your fists and the chainsaw, as well as the pistol, shotgun (The double-barrel makes an appearance in the mission pack), chaingun, rocket launcher, plasma rifle, and the iconic BFG9000, but we also have the introduction of the machine gun, grenades, and the alien Soul Cube. The original guns feel very welcome in the game, and for the most part, the new weapons are welcome as well (The grenades are the strangest of the new weapons. Don’t get me wrong, they’re deadly, but considering the tightness of some of the levels, they can backfire if you’re not careful). There’s one other weapon that’s been added to Doom 3, but it has a more sordid place in the game, and it’s...
The flashlight! Of all the items that’s generated the most controversy, it’s the flashlight. Serving more as a tool, it can be used as a melee weapon when there’s no choice. The biggest complaint about the flashlight is that it took the place of a weapon (Most players demanded that there was a flashlight attached to the gun, and with the BFG Edition of Doom 3 released not to long ago, Id caved into the demands), and when you were in a fight, you had to switch it out for a gun. I don’t completely agree with this, as I think that having to switch between tool & weapon adds to the tension of the game, but it is a little irritating when you come across some of the larger enemies.
The next component of the gameplay are the monsters. Let me say that the new incarnations of the classic monsters (Imps, Lost Souls, etc) are some of the creepiest things I’ve ever seen. The Imps are no longer these brown-skinned, spiked cannon fodder, but have become these grey-black skinned terrors, with some of the most blood-red eyes I’ve ever seen. The Lost Souls have transformed from horned skulls wreathed in flame, to a more human looking head that trails fire when it moves. The new monsters are fearsome as well: we have these spider creatures with upside-down human heads with compound eyes for their own heads, and these corrupted cherubs with the upper body of a baby, with the lower body & wings of a fly. Totally gruesome, if you asked me.
An interesting aspect of Doom 3 is the PDA, or Personal Data Assistant. This basically acts as a information holder, holding onto other PDA information, video disks, and e-mails from terminals you come across. This feature changes the pace of the game somewhat, but doesn’t greatly slow things down. At the same time though, some of the PDAs you come across don’t have anything useful to them, as they’re filled with poor attempts at humor (perhaps the one that got the most attention was a e-mail from Betruger about how to perform the proper human sacrifice, and it falls short somewhat).
The last thing I’ll talk about is the horror component of Doom 3. If there was one aspect that caused the most controversy, it was the scares it generated, citing “Monster Closets” as the main thing that ruined to scares. For those who don’t know the term, Monster Closets are small enclosed spaces, in which monsters are contained for the player to pass by, and get scared by them. I can somewhat understand why people complained about this: when it was the first few times, it was genuinely scary. After about halfway/three-fourths through the game, these kinds of scares don’t quite have as much oomph to them, but there’s still a little bit of fear within them.
Even with the Monster Closets, Doom 3 is a scary game. Relying a lot on physical scares (copious amounts of blood & bodies, monsters feasting on corpses, etc), the game does the best it can to make you shit your pants. Despite playing Doom 3 a bunch of times (and I do mean a bunch of times), I still get scared by what I see & hear. Speaking of what I’ve seen & heard...
Graphics & Sound
Despite coming on 10 years (The game came out on August 3, 2004), Doom 3 still looks rather good. The only problems it has are a few dated textures (Some look okay, while others look a little grainy when you get up close to them), and the NPCs can appear a little rough around the edges (For some odd reasons, the hands look especially blocky, and not all of the fingers move), but over and all, the engine manages to give D3 some depth and personality. Again, the limits of the engine are pushed when the player enters Hell, and again while I won’t say anything about the dimension, I can say that some of the more mesmerizing effects created by the game’s engine can be found in the fiery domain.
The sounds within Doom 3 are some of the most crystal clear effects I’ve ever heard. The guns feel like they have more weight after you’ve heard them go off the first time. Even the pistol sounds like a stronger weapon when you compare it to the original (I will say that despite sounding puny by today’s standards, the original Doom pistol sound is memorable). The monsters have had life breathed into them with sounds they make. The imps aren’t the ape sounding creatures you once knew once you hear their shrikes & howls, and the lost souls scream like banshees when they charge right at you. The levels themselves also have atmosphere as well, Hissing steam coming from pipes, glass shattering after a demon crashes through, doors rising up and down when you go through them, and a host of other audio effects that add to the ambiance.
Overall & Rating
At least for me, Doom 3 is a horror masterpiece. Sure it has a lot of Monster Closets, and the graphics have some small problems, but there’s still plenty of scares to come across. The settings are scary, the monsters are scary, and the sounds are scary. It’s a very atmospheric games that’s been somewhat bashed by gamers, some of which have used wrong reasons in their attacks. Until the day I die, I’ll always consider Doom 3 to be a fun game, as well as a game that deserves to live on the mountain of horror.
Doom 3 gets a 8 out of 10.
See you all next week, when I'll review one of the wackiest animes in the world. Until then, stay Otaku!
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I know I said that I went back to 1 review (and other things) a week, but Hurricane Sandy is coming, and I'm putting this up before any possible electrical outage comes my way. Batten down the hatches!
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