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Set in the future on a far off planet infested with demons, zombies, and no easy way out. I'm sure you've heard it before, as is the setting with many of the FPS, including the last 2 Doom games from the franchise as well as Quake(surprisingly from the same developer, gasp!). While it's not exactly anything new, creative, or innovative, the developers at id sure did have their hands full with turning the Doom platform next generation. Surely enough, I'd say they did a fine job. Transforming one of the most popular first-person shooters into a immense full 3D next-generation video game were huge shoes to fill, as I'm sure all gamers anticipation upped the ante vastly.

In terms of gameplay, it's a FPS, and in terms of first-person shooters there was nothing done to really innovate the experience. There were even some step backs, we've seen melee moves in Call of Duty, why hasn't this been implemented into the new Doom engine? Limiting melee to a “fists” weapon made close quarter combats with many adversary's much more difficult, and although a bit more intense and exhilarating, a bit of a pain in the ass many a time. At many point in the game the common enemies, Inferatus, pounce on you and create a very close quarter combat and the only remedy is to shoot blindly or try and back up and regain focus. Though I'm sure a physics system wouldn't have done much justice to the game in terms of gameplay, the Silent Hill environments don't take well to physics, it just ruins the “shit-my-pants scary” tone.

I have to say, it is quite an addicting and fun game, though a bit repetitive later in once the adrenaline dies down in the blood. My first experience with the game left me 5 hours into the night non-stop, which hasn't happened to me since one of those crazy “Final” Fantasy games(not the gay ones, see IX, X, X-2). The next day after the 5 hour game night the exhilaration dissipated, the game got boring, quick. It was driveling garbage, the same thing over and over with my commander barking new orders into my ear and the same enemies in different environments. Every so often the game picks up but overall it's a bit of a drag in the middle or so. The peak points in the story cannot make up for the hours spent in between drudging through the station.

As much as it's easy to put down after the pinnacle point, I'd pick the title back up just as quickly. After beating the game every month or so I pop the disk back in and play through a few hours from the start, just because it's that stimulating of a experience. Though I never beat the game, I sure as hell love going back to the beginning and kicking major zombie ass with my array of weaponry. The fact that there isn't any hard-coded “replay worth” material is what surprises about the replay-value of this game. The developers didn't even have to try to get me to pick this game up again, and that is an accomplishment.

Sure the story from it's core seems like drivel but it can be quite riveting with an actual first-hand experience of the story with the environments. There's no real character development, or any “side stories” that ensnare the player, but the story is rock-solid enough to understand and play through for most gamers. What really sets the story off are the in-game scenes, seeing the actual rituals and a demonic organic growth in the room with faint whispers of the afterlife turns that driveling shit to crisp polished shit. Improvement? Yeah, so so.

The greatest leap in terms of development in the Doom series is the much needed graphical upgrade. Sure, 2D sprites in that “3D” environments was cool way back when, but the standards have drastically changed, and for the most part have been met. The game graphics are just short of stunning, though I'm still getting a almost cartoon-ish feeling to the characters and monsters. And while that's great in terms of style, I expected something different from a horror. Though the style doesn't conflict much with the actual “scare-factor” of the creatures, humans(not zombies) are a bit of a drag and I'm left expecting a bit more. Overall it's a giant leap forward, and though a small step from perfect, the game delivers.

With all the hype surrounding the title I was a bit reluctant to say, but after delving into the fast-paced, heart stopping Doom experience I can say I've come out with a new perspective on the franchise as well as a feeling of satisfaction. I truly have to give Doom 3 a 9 out of 10, a sequel to a monumental cult classic that's lived up to it's predecessors.