Lights off! glow from a t.v. screen, scary sounds can make some creepy moments but can it save this shooter from DOOM!
Here we are with ID's iconic horror franchise Doom with Doom 1&2 being great classics I can not say so much for the third installment. We find our self on a research facility on mars not to long after being there you start your search for a missing scientist and then things just start to go wrong as your killing zombie soldiers and other demons from hell the game does have it's moments of creepy elements that can make you feel uneasy especially played in the dark with just the glow from your t.v. screen, but that can't save the game from a ton of problems which is unfortunate to say the least.
PRESENTATION & GRAPHICS
Doom 3 looks great for a game that is 7 years old the improved lighting adds more depth and atmosphere to a game that was full of it when first launched. What would have been nice is some type of AA because the game is full of jaggies there is also frequent screen tear as well so some sort of v-sync would have been nice as well. The game maps all look the same so they do start to tire on your eyes after awhile. Doom 3 supports 3D and is good if your into the whole 3D gaming which I am myself.
4/7
GAMEPLAY & PERFORMANCE
This where Doom 3 really starts to show it's issues the gameplay is just blah. Guns feel under powered they don't have any sort impact or feel like they have weight to them the controls feel loose and clunky I usually have to turn my camera sensitivity up in my fps games here I had to turn it down and it was not even that high to begin with. Doom 3 likes to get a lot of scares by attacking you from behind quite a bit at first this seems not to bad but as you progress you start to feel like this is just a cheap tactic to get a free hit or two on you so this becomes more annoying then a scare tactic. Also the games maps are mostly narrow paths with very little room to move then they throw enemy's at you from all angles well they shoot, throw fire/lighting blast at you and claw at you which would be fine but with little to no room most of the time it makes strafing impossible and your left to be hit with nothing you can do about it. I guess ID thought it would be more scary if you could barely move but all it really does is get annoying and frustrating. Another thing that bothers me is when you have enemies charge at you to scratch you or bite you and you can't hit them with your gun that is stupid I know you can switch to fist but that takes a second and in that time you get hit because some enemies jump right at you really quickly. The game also seems to stutter for a second when loading the levels, check point system is okay they are few and far between and when you do get to one the game pauses for a few seconds which feels like an eternity especially when your listening to someone speak or if your on a role and kicking hells ass. I also found the reload button not very responsive sometimes I would have have to press it two or three times not very fun in the heat of things.
2.5/7
SOUND
Not much to say about the sound for the most part it's weak. The guns sound like pea shooters they have no real bang to them. Enemies can sound creepy at times voice acting is a mixed bag from sounding okay to just cheesy. Atmospheric sounds in the background are nice they do add tension and fear like steam pipes and electrical boxes and overall ambience sounds in the game. Doom 3 is available in 5.1 surround for your enjoyment.
3/7
CONCLUSION
I hate to say this but this game is doomed! Doom 3 is a mess and I could not recommend this to no one not even Doom fans your better off to just get Doom 1&2 of PSN or XBLA as those games are still fun to play to this day and you can pick them both up for ten dollars.
Final mark is the average of the three marks plus the final percentage.
3.2/7 = 46%