Welcome to World Zero - Reviews for the hardcore gamer

This is where Doom3 actually places you in the game. It's actually quite brilliant. You arrive at UAC, you go through boring security checks, you get the sense of a routine operation. You run a few errands, watch a few training videos, and get accustomed to maneuvering around a very dark and confined industrial complex. Tension slowly builds as you are eventually given a flashlight and are told to find a tardy employee in the overly dark confines of the lower levels. When your destination is finally reached, your heart pounding from the anxiety of knowing that, sooner or latter, demons are going to be thrown into the mix, you conveniently end up isolated from the main staff and close to a viewable monitor exhibiting said staff. Through the monitor, you see and hear strange things. The ground shakes below your feet and you hear the sound of demonic screams. Eyes fixated on the monitor, lost souls appear and posses the workers. Demons materialize, and that employee you were supposed to find, he’s slowly lumbering towards you from a dark corner of the room.

The brilliance of all of this is that it happens in real time. Now, I don’t mean that it’s just devoid of pre-rendered cut-scenes. I mean it all happens while you have full control over your character. You actually have to walk up to that video monitor to view the massacre going on two floors above you. The game doesn’t switch to a separate screen; you are watching it as if you are actually in the game, while the game world continues around you. As you are absorbed into the Blair Witch-like video feed, the ground simultaneously shakes below your feet and the moaning of the recently possessed is heard from the corner of your speaker. Take your eyes off that monitor, marine. There’s a demon right behind you. Literally.

Let’s be honest here, that fear factor wouldn’t be as remotely prevalent without the help of those insanely beautiful graphics. This is, without question, the best looking video game I have ever laid eyes on. The craziest thing is that I’m not even viewing it at its full potential. According to designer John Carmack, there isn’t a rig available to the public yet that can fully display Doom 3 in all its glory. Unfortunately, this means you are going need a pretty up-to date computer to enjoy the game. The minimum requirements aren’t very steep, but if that’s all you got, you’ll be missing out on a little bit of detail and a lot of frames-per-second.

The game itself is long. Too long, in fact. You’ll be blasting away demons for approximately 25 hours. The lengthy game time means the scare factor is probably going to diminish long before you finish the game. Doom 3 rides on its own hellish tension, and when that’s gone, you are left with only a decent first person shooter sporting amazing graphics. Had the game ended at least 10 hours before its conclusion, you would have been left with an anxiety-filled, claustrophobic, and terrifying horror experience. In the end, you are instead left with a memory of that experience in a game that has long overstayed its welcome.

This brings us to the gameplay itself. While you are running franticly from room to room, back pressed against the wall, checking those dark corners with your flashlight, and jerking your perspective from left to right (and occasionally to the ceiling), all in anticipation of that next creature to jump down on top of you, the game is an absolute blast. Once the scare factor wears off (and it will--you won’t fall for the same jump scares for 20-plus hours straight), you are left with a relatively typical first person shooter. There are times, however, where the game harkens back to its roots. Ahead of you lies a very long and very suspicious hallway. At the end of said hallway is the massive chain-gun you’ve been waiting to get your hands on. You check the corners and ceiling with your flashlight, and once behind you for good measure. The coast is clear. You nervously make your way down the long, empty hallway to your deserved prize. As soon as you pick it up, the walls of the aforementioned suspicious hallway open up and a flood of demons come charging at you from the darkness. Times like these perfectly recreate the same feel of the intricately-simple yet maddeningly frantic play mechanics of the original Doom games. Unfortunately, they are few and far between.

All being said, Doom 3 is one hell of a ride. However, I think the game should have been cut short, leaving us wanting more instead of playing itself out. The tension rode high on my first playthrough for a good 15 out of 25 hours. That in itself is damn impressive. I just wish when the game was over I could have felt the need to finally catch my breath. Instead, I was left with the feeling that I was just going though the motions. Despite this glaring flaw, Doom 3 is an experience not to be missed. It accomplishes so much and is, quite frankly, entertainment in its purest form.

Rating	The rating scale in detail
10	++ Hands down, the best looking game available. It doesn’t get any better than this
9.0	++ Voice acting is extremely well done. + The ambient sounds are great. Very immersive and very scary. + The game, for the most part, lacks a soundtrack. This heightens the drama to such an extent, that in-game music could have quite possibly been a huge mistake. Very good decision on id’s part.
7.0	+ Survival horror meets first person shooter that actually works. - The game is far too long, and once the scare factor is gone, you are left with an above average FPS.
8.5	+ Great presentation. Complete immersion on every level. + The demons are fantastic, it’s a shame you don’t really get a good look at most of them amidst the frantic gameplay. - The main character design is as generic as they come.
6.0	-- The appeal wears out long before the game is over. - The game won’t even be remotely close to the same experience on multiple play-throughs. + Online multiplayer. - No co-op, but this has been remedied by player-created mods.
8.0	+ A great ride. One you definitely won’t soon forget.

	Doom 3
	Platform: PC • Developer: id Software • Genre: First Person Shooter • ESRB Rating: M • Words: S-Hiryu