Doom 3 ships

After years of development and months of increasing hype, Doom 3 has finally and officially shipped to stores. Activision and id Software made the announcement today, officially ending the PC shooter's long road to release. The game is rated "M" for Mature and retails for $54.99. An Xbox version, developed by Vicarious Visions, is due out within the next few months, possibly by the end of the year.

Next to Half-Life 2, Doom 3 was the most anticipated PC game of 2004...and 2003. The game was repeatedly pushed back on Activision's release schedules, although id's official release date was always "when it's done." Now that it's finished, the game has caused a frenzy among PC gamers, including a wave of piracy.

Doom 3 is essentially a remake of the first Doom game, which saw a hardy space marine assigned to guard a top secret laboratory on Mars. Too bad for him, then, that an experiment in the lab opened up a portal to Hell, releasing all manner of demons, imps, and hellknights. The new Doom has already received widespread acclaim for its tense atmosphere, which GameSpot recently sampled hands-on. However, the game has impressed most with its cutting-edge graphics, which can be seen in action via GameSpot's extensive library of gameplay footage and screenshots.

Check back later in the week for GameSpot's full review of Doom 3.