Doom 3
What is it?
The original Doom went down in history as the game that put 3D games on the map. Doom 3 may well go down in history as the first 3D game that actually looked good. For lets face it: during the first decade after Doom, most 3D games sucked in this department.
The main problem have been the actors. By the late 90s, scenery could be rendered fairly decently, even outside scenes (walking around in Carnivores 2 was pretty impressive), but the actors still looked clunky and unnatural. This was still the case with Morrowind, for example: while the faces were alright (especially if you replaced the default ones with fan mades), the bodies looked anything but realistic.
Well, Doom 3 changed that. There is, of course, still room for improvement, but in general, when you look at the actors of Doom 3, you get the feeling you are looking at people or monsters, not at polygons with textures slapped on them.
Even more than the original Doom, Doom 3 was created for hardware that did not even exist at the time it was released. Ultra Quality mode practically requires a 512MB video card. It should be noted however that some players have reported good experiences with equipment matching the minimum requirements.
In general, it is advisable to have a very fast computer not only by 2004, but by 2006 standards, best an Athlon 64 with PCIe. Nvidia cards (GeForce 6800) in general fared better at the benchmarks than ATI cards, though the Radeon X800 series should do well too.
Specular and diffuse lighting, bump mapping, shadows, an advanced particle system, and volumetric fog all go a long ways to making this game the gorgeous piece of work that it is. Some things stood out in particular. In one scene, a creature referred to aspinkyrams a steel door in an attempt to get at you. Perhaps too large to fit through the door even if it did give, you watch the whole wall bend and bow under the force of the huge techno-beast. It is quite amazing.
bestjust got a little bit better, John
StarfuryMathews is convinced, still:
Doom fans will relish in the fact that all of their old friends are back: weapons. From the chainsaw to the BFG, you will enjoy each of them for their destructive abilities. However, this is where I find myself having an issue with the game. The weapons are almost exactly the same as in Doom. There are no secondary fire modes that players come to expect in current shooters. Also, there are no optics on the more advanced weapons, even the ones that show them on the weapon model. There isn’t even an accessory rail on any of the weapons, forcing you to use a hand-held flashlight. I thought this was supposed to be 2145, not 1945. Havingde-poweredweapons does add to the sense of futility, though. That must be adesign featurethat hopefully someone will modify soon. I also hope someone adds flares or light-sticks.
After some four years in development, calling the latest technological tour-de-force from id Softwarehighly anticipatedis sort of like saying Michael Moore probably likes to eat.
THE DARK MOD is a total conversion for Doom 3, turning it into a dark and moody stealth game inspired by the Thief series by Looking Glass Studios. We have a talented development team of about 15 regulars, including concept artists, modelers, texture artists and programmers. Our plan is to completely revamp the gameplay, AI, graphics, HUD and weapon set to fit our best view of a gothic steampunk universe as conceived by fans of the Thief genre. Our project has two main stages: first, to release a complete series of tools allowing fans to make their own stealth missions, and second, to create a unique campaign using those tools.
The Macintosh version came out a year after the original release. Official requirements were an 1.5GHz G4, with a 2GHz G5 recommended. But on any Macintosh equipment available at the time, the framerates lagged far behind what could be achieved on a PC.
If your looking for a futuristic, Sci-Fi Horror, First Person Shooter with a solo story this has to be it. Because of the environment and monsters, some gamers will think Doom 3's solo story is the best thing since sliced bread. It's good, but it's a standard horror escape story, and I did not walk away savoring the experience. Level after level of dark hostile facilities to explore with monsters coming at you from all sides, is an excitingly tense, but fatiguing experience. I loved the monsters and the ambushes. The attention to environmental detail, machinery, and architectural layout gave the Reseach Station a very authentic feeling, but dozens of dark levels took some of the fun away. However I did fight the really big boss to finish the game. D3 falls short regarding an interactive environment and human animation. But it's still worth a trip to Hell.
Now if you weren't already reeling from the sheer beauty and dedication to level design, Id designers have added an incredible level of cinematic moments to have you flinching at the controls. Panels that will fly up from the ground, steam that shoots out from random walls, and amazing animations that we just can't reveal, all add to the terror level in this possessed video game.
Graphically, this is easily the most advanced game I've ever played, and probably the most impressive, but it's not the coolest looking. I've made the case before that it's more important graphics look cool than real. Games such as Tron 2.0 and XIII don't look real, but they're done in a manner that I found more appealing visually than Doom 3. For an even better example, see the film Sin City when it's released on April 1st. There's nothing at all realistic looking about this movie, but by God it sure is striking.
The game’s creepy atmosphere has one big downside: all this running around in the dark will eventually infuriate you. Apparently there's no duct tape on Mars, because our intrepid marine never figures out how to keep his flashlight fixed to whatever weapon he has handy. As a result, you can either see the thing trying to kill you or shoot at it. But you can't do both.
