Alright bitches, this is my 1st post here.
DOOM3 REVIEW
Ok, first of all, read this very closely : this game sucks.
The production of Doom3 was announced like 4 years ago. Everybody was waiting for this game. Because it was the sequel to games that just created the most played video game genre (Doom-like), and also because all the previews seemed more and more crazy.
The previews were right. The game is fucking beautiful. Lights effects are extremely well rendered, the animation is perfect (the lips of the characters are moving, all their muscles seem in action), and the textures are smooth as fuck. Just zoom on a monster's face. You'll see. Absolutely beautiful. But not a revolution. Because of one other game : FarCry. The graphics were just as stunning. But it was about light, while Doom3 is a lot more about shadows. So, yeah it's beautiful, but i've already seen that quality somewhere.
The story? Well, have you played the others Doom? Yeah? It's the fucking same old story. A constant labyrinth in a Mars army base, labs, and in hell. Labyrinth where you alwas have to find colored keycards to open some doors. There's big bad demons everywhere. Doom3 is the same, except the labyrinths are bigger, and the keycards are PDAs.You're a random Space Marine, around 2145, you're sent to just save some guy stuck in some place in a military bas on Mars. And then it fucks up. Big time (this moment reminded me a lot of Half-Life, by the way). There's weird shit appearing around you, pentagrams, zombie marines, demons... This game is cyberpunk black metal. So you wander all around the base, killing everything you see. You get closer and closer from the badass hell master, and he sents you in hell, to beat up some other demons and walk in some more labyrinths. Boring, boring. I'll stop there for the story, i won't tell you the end. Cause I don't know it yet. But I sure hope it will be worth finishing this damn game. Doom3 is just Doom 1, with a lot more advanced graphics.
Its also like Doom 1 in a matter of gameplay. Linear as fuck. You just go forward all the time, sometimes you take some elevators, you complete the numerous objectives (opening doors, mostly), wiping out a lot of monsters. Not much freedom of action. Again, FarCry was better. Its magnificent islands were huge. You could go everywhere. And with just 1 loading, you could play easily 1h30. Doom3 has a lots of levels, but they're a lot smaller. I know, it's in a military base. But still. The guns are also the same as Doom 1. The chainsaw is fun for 5 minutes, but it gets quickly ridiculous and useless. And as usual, this good ol' shotgun is the more efficient weapon. And it's a shame when in a 2004 FPS game, you don't have secondary fires.
The few short and breath-taking trips you take on the surface of Mars are great, but there's just not enough of them. Too bad... But it's part of the game's atmosphere though.
The game's atmosphere is awesome. Freaky as hell. Weird devilish artifacts, loud and scary voices, noise everywhere. The most part of the creatures get you in the back, from the exact place where you'd have never thought they'd be. Creepy. Maybe even more creepy than a Resident Evil or a Silent Hill. I had 5 heart-attacks playing it. ID's programmers have done a really good job here. But there's a flaw in this extremely dark ambient atmosphere. The flaw is that it is extremely dark. Sometimes, you're even entirely in the dark. So you always have to carry a flashlight. Ha. This fucking flashlight. I mean, do you really think that it is possible that in 2145, you can't find some goddamn scotch tape? Knowing that most military weapons of today are equiped with flashlights. Stupid. This flashlight is really annoying. But it's part of the gameplay, and it participates a lot in freaking the fuck out of you. Bad move here.
OK, i wrote a shitload of words here.
Time for a conclusion.
Doom3 is beautiful. Awesome graphics. Really. But... déjà-vu. As i said before, FarCry is better. Better story, graphics just as good, and more fun, less dull. I had a lot more pleasure playing FarCry. But still, Doom3 has a lot of great moments for you, thanks to its incredibly dark atmosphere. But don't let you trick by that, or by the graphics. It's boring. A lot. Oldass, therefore annoying gameplay.
I was thinking about how Half-Life² will be. It wont be as amazing as it would have been in 2003. Cause it was due to be released already a year ago, and since that, Doom3, FarCry and PainKiller got out. And they are serious challengers. Graphicly speaking. I'm still waiting a lot for it. Cause Doom3 disappointed me. I'll say it's worth downloading. Don't buy it.
Doom fans will love Doom3. If they only have played Doom their whole life.
GRAPHICS 9/10
SCENARIO 6/10
GAMEPLAY 4/10
SOUND 8/10
I hope you'll read that.
