Doom 3 Review (PC)

  Almost equal part survival horror game and shooter, Doom 3 is a departure from the original classics. Blaring MIDI metal and full speed circle strafing gives way to silence and methodically checking every corner for monsters. The story is surprisingly lengthy and involved, taking inspiration from the Alien films with a demonic Starship Troopers B-movie vibe. It was somewhat divisive when it originally released; the slower pace and heavy reliance on light management wasn't helped by the concurrent rise of the vocal, entitled, forum-dwelling “gamer” that was adverse to change of any kind. This backlash quickly led to a popular “flashlight mod” for the game; a cheat that bypassed the need to switch from your weapon to your light source and completely changed the nature of play. Once this “fix” was in circulation and accepted as a superior way to play the game, subsequent releases (the BFG Edition) used it as a new standard with no option to experience the game as originally intended. A decade later, it's pretty clear those people were wrong. The BFG Edition of Doom 3 is a fairly forgettable corridor shooter. This true version of Doom 3 is still fantastic and is much more influential than anyone seems to give it credit for.

  Lighting is a central mechanic to Doom 3. While some of the character models and textures are starting to show their age, the lighting effects and art direction are still incredibly impressive. You use the “F” key to switch to your flashlight frequently; much of the game is filled with moody shadows and often complete pitch blackness. It's not uncommon to have to make a choice to either aim for a demon's glowing red eyes or lure it toward a more helpful light source, hoping you don't back into a trap in the process. It's ballsy how willing Doom 3 is to engulf the player in darkness, knowing their choice is to either be able to see or defend themselves. You can't do both. Walking through hostile environments armed with only a flashlight is it's own genre now; Outlast, Slender Man, Alien: Isolation... that disempowerment was a cornerstone of Doom 3.

  Most of the weapons and enemies from the previous games return: the possessed soldiers, the standard Imps, floating Cacodemons, dead-raising Revenants, towering Hellknights, and the big bad Cyberdemon. A few new ones make their appearances, notably the weak but swarming spiders and creepy winged baby things. Then there are standard zombies, which aren't much of a threat on their own but have a habit of trapping you in corners if you're not careful. They're also great chainsaw fodder. Weapons include the all-around handy shotgun, the hammering chaingun, plasma gun, a new standard if generic assault rifle, and the legendary BFG. Ammo conservation and choosing the right tool for the right situation seems more vital than ever, as weapons have a pretty clear rock-paper-scissors relationship to most monsters. And the monsters can be right aggressive bastards, relentlessly chasing you down and teleporting toward or behind you. Some attacks and scripted “jump scares” seem almost impossible to avoid damage from, causing health and ammo rationing to ratchet up to true survival horror levels. Also new (though introduced late in the game) is the Soul Cube, an alien artifact that charges up by killing five enemies, which can then be thrown for massive damage and health regeneration. It's an odd weapon, but it does add an additional layer of strategy as you prioritize low ranking demons for the charge to obliterate the tougher foes.

  A gripping narrative and the Doom name doesn't exactly go hand-in-hand, but a surprising amount of care went into building the game's lore and the pacing is actually spot on. You play The Marine, a voiceless guy who shows up on a Mars base in the future. Almost immediately shit hits the fan and the base's personnel gets a bad case of the Satans and demons start coming through portals. There's a mad scientist intent on helping the demons (or something), and the demons want to ultimately conquer Earth because they're actually an ancient race that humans have descended from. It's real campy schlock, but it's very self aware and dips into outright comedy at times, then presents truly dark and disturbing imagery in the next beat. I'd describe the tone as The Evil Dead meets Aliens.

  You interact with the environments in a number of ways to solve puzzles; many of the computers can be cursored over in order to raise bridges, move machinery, or access camera or communication feeds. It's quite an impressive level of detail, mechanics that predated modern games like SOMA, Dead Space, and Alien: Isolation (again...). In addition to the standard finding of keycards and badges to raise your security clearance and unlock doors, Doom 3 features another form of storytelling collectible that has become prolific enough to become a cliché: audio logs and e-mails. Now, this certainly isn't the first video game to have the player sift through characters' personal files, but the game came out well before the method had overstayed it's welcome and is still some of the best implementation I've come across. Some of the exchanges between staff are genuinely funny, and the Martian Buddy spam is a forgotten classic. Even the video discs have a distinct style and personality, and even if some of this fluff can be criticized for slowing the game down, it's optional and I enjoyed diving into every last one. It can't be understated how great (and often tense) it is to be able to listen to audio logs as you explore and fight; something other games still screw up to this day.

  Doom 3 holds up better than just about any other game of it's vintage I can think of. It remains super tense and oppressive, and I found myself leaning toward the screen as I played with baited breath. With a good pair of headphones and a darkened room it's just as effective (if not more so) than most modern horror games. When the bullets and fireballs start flying it's still definitely classic Doom, but the new emphasis on narrative and lore-building allow the masterfully crafted, cramped hellish battlefields to legitimately scare the crap out of you. It plays silky smooth while still feeling brutal and visceral. Doom 3 may be a different breed of Doom, but now when it kicks ass you might just shit yourself in the process.