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94%
PROS
Great graphics, interesting story lines, detailed maps, great sound.
LOWS
Can become somewhat repetitive, AI a bit quirky, multiplayer is standard.
OVERALL
Doom 3 is a straightforward shoot ‘em up masterpiece. If you can get past the basic FPS formula, you are in for one hell of a scare.
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The game stays interesting by varying the level consistency, opposition you fight, and giving you more advanced weaponry as you play on. But no matter which way you look at it, Doom 3 is a game you just play through. If you play it for an extended period of time, you will notice how it just keeps you going. There will always be a few different things it throws in, like operating lifts or following a robot. But deep down, Doom is just about killing things. The reason it is so good is because it's lots of fun to kill things. It's cool to get scared when a monster lunges out at you, when you are pinned against a wall from the combined fire of marines and monsters. But can you really take that much of it? This is where Doom's overall playing value begins to decline: when you get to the point of WHEN WILL I GET PAST THIS STUPID LEVEL.
As for monsters, Doom 3 is stacked with them. There is a huge variety, going from huge ramming bull things to tiny jumping spiders that you just want to kill. All have different attacks, so you will need to use different offensive and defensive skills to fight them. In one instance, I was exposed to the Martian surface, and my oxygen was running down. I was waiting for a lift to come so I could take it back up where there was free oxygen, but I had to stall. It would've been easy, but the spider hordes just had to decide to come out and molest me. In order to survive, it is imperative to continually back away from them, giving your shotgun enough time to reload. Some monsters throw fireballs at you, so you will need to try and dodge those. Frequently, you will come across marine soldiers turned crazy, and they will fire at you. Since they often have full suits of armor and fully equipped weapons, they will put up quite a fight. However in the midst of all the monsters, they make up a nice variety.
On a more specific note, Doom 3 does great on the more technical aspects of a game: sound, graphics, AI. If you have a surround sound system, get ready for intense mauling noises and gun fire. Of course you already know that Doom 3 sports some of the best graphics ever seen. And, well, it truly does.
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Textures look incredibly real; faces are detailed and have different expressions. The entire game world is just a site to see. Depending upon your difficulty level, AI can be superb or average. On the easier difficulty settings, enemies were alert, but not amazing. I could run up to a marine and he would just crouch right in front of me and shoot. On the higher difficulty settings, this bug is improved, but then the game becomes incredibly hard. You need to gauge your skills in order to determine what level you can start to play at.
Also available in Doom is a multiplayer mode. The most popular game type is Deathmatch, where you, well you know the rules. Skill is integral here, as with all multiplayer games, because there are people playing that are twice as good as you and can easily take your life. This is why you will need a lot of practice before you get to be really good in multiplayer. The maps to fight in are very detailed, just like the single player campaign, and will be fun for your multiplayer excursions. I was a little surprised at the lack of people playing multiplayer, but perhaps in a few weeks it will be a lot more. Doom 3 multiplayer isn't the best thing we've seen, but it exists, so that is good for something.
How can I sum Doom 3 up? It's a blast to play when its 2 am and you are alone. It's a lot of fun to look at the amazing graphics, lay waste to the mutant scum, and then of course jump out of your seat when a nice little creature pops in to say hello. As long as you are not too oriented towards using your brains with your shooting games, Doom 3 will surely fill you up.
