Playing in the dark is scary...but ALL the time?
First off, I liked Doom 3 (so hold off on the pitch forks and torches). The graphics are great no doubt, the gameplay is solid, very true, but as I've said earlier, it's just too damn dark. Not only is it dark, but its claustrophobic and repetitive in map layout. Some would argue that it's those two qualities that make this game good, but I say it's just too annoying, almost a cheap way out from a developers point of view, kinda like the use of Fog. Often times I kept hoping I'd get some light other than a computer monitor or the flash of my gun...never happens. Something else that annoyed me was the cheap way that demons spawned and leaped out of ready made closets as you passed by. Just when you thought you cleared the room, you'd be ambushed by another baddie from some stupid hole in the wall behind you. Like most magazine reviews noted: "What the heck are these guys doing in there while waiting for you to come along?!" True that!
As anyone should know, the biggest clincher for any great game is variety, and sadly there really isn't any of it going on. Things got dull fast since every turn just lead to yet another dark corridor, computer room, engineering room, sleeping quarters and if your lucky the occasional bleak and musty outdoor romp on Mars' dusty surface. And to be honest, those things get old and just don't do it for me after a few hours in. Look at the movie Aliens, sure it's one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, but could you imagine watching it for 12+ hours to see it thru til the end? I submit that you cannot, it will get old. Speaking of getting old, the whole premise/plot of D3 can be found in just about any medium you pull from the genre (movie and game alike). So there wasn't anything revolutionary going on.
Okay, that was the bad (still reading?). Despite all that, I still liked Doom 3. Why? Because even in all it's gratuitous darkness and been-there-done-that hallways/rooms your still made to be apprehensive and scared to make your next move (cram all D3's creepiness into 90 minutes and it'd be Aliens). And despite it being a fantasy world, there seems to be a true sense of realism, you can almost smell the sweat and blood, pipes really seem to hiss with pressure, yells from afar and what little light seems to make us feel safe. Was this a bad game...no, was it revolutionary in gaming terms...not at all...but did it scare the crap out of me from time to time...you bet ya!Read full review
