Doom 3: A late review (Part 1)

Introduction

Doom 3. What a good-looking game, right? That’s what everyone seemed to think back in 2004, shortly after its release. That game looked so marvelous, the presentation was impeccable and the atmosphere so rich, that that’s what we all remember nowadays. In fact, it’s what most reviewers thought was the crucial element that made the game deserve its place in history. The reviews usually comprised of a lengthy first part detailing the visuals and just how awesome they were and some paragraphs at the end where the editor would say how, despite its old-school gameplay, lackluster action and lack of innovation, the game is still an amazing achievement.

I copy these words from an old post of mine on this blog: “The only relatively new FPS game I had lying around was DOOM 3. So I installed that and spent a few good hours playing it. But innovative as it may have been at the time it was released, Doom 3 is not that great a game. It has one of the best graphics engines around, but lacks something in terms of level design and action. It is also a dark, dark, dark game (Duct tape mod, anyone?).”

I then proceed to say how I didn’t really like Quake IV and how Prey was a pleasant surprise. My initial evaluation of Quake IV and Prey hasn’t changed, but that take on Doom 3 was simplistic, a bit ignorant and, well, kind of idiotic. This my retrospective review of Doom 3 and through it I will attempt to explain why I was an idiot back then and what my recent play-through of Doom 3 (D3 from now on) allowed me to learn about this game and FPS games in general.

History

As most gamers know, D3 was the much anticipated (?) sequel to two of the most important PC games of all time, DOOM and DOOM II (plus a few sets of extra levels and expansion packs). Released about a billion years ago – that’s in the early to mid 90s – they revolutionised the FPS genre and spawned countless clones. So huge was their influence that FPS games were called Doom clones for many years afterwards. DOOM itself has been ported to just about any electronic device you can think of. I’m playing DOOM right now on my microwave oven. (Editor’s recommendation: If you haven’t played those games, go play them! They hold up amazingly well, which says much about their quality of art and design.)

About a decade after the release of the first DOOM, which was in 1993, id released D3 (in 2004), a retelling of the that game’s story and therefore not a sequel to DOOM II story-wise. But what happened in that decade? Had FPS games remained Doom clones, or did they manage to expand beyond the confines set by that ancient game where you battled demons as a space marine? Well, of course they had evolved, otherwise they would have perished, much like adventure games have.

What I consider the next big step after DOOM – and this is a purely subjective evaluation – is Half-Life. Keep in mind that you may disagree with this and that there probably were other FPS games, even greater or more important than HL, but, as I said, this is my way of making up for my past ignorance, so it’s my opinion you’re reading, So, HL was to me the next big thing and a decisive step forward in the genre. If DOOM had set the ground rules for FPS games in general, then HL was the culmination of the sub-genre of the story-driven FPS. In DOOM you were a random space marine shooting things from hell. There was a story but it was not what the game was about. DOOM was about shooting things in huge maze-like levels. HL, on the other hand, had a story you were supposed to play through to the end to enjoy the complete experience. It was the story that made this game special and what this game was all about. Shooting was just part of it.

An example that I hope demonstrates this fundamental difference between the two games: It is fun to play a random level of DOOM again and again in different difficulty settings, with or without cheats, using just one weapon or the other, or doing whatever you want. But the same cannot be said for HL. Playing one chapter of that game again and again is not a completely different experience. In fact, it’s not an experience at all. It’s a fragment of a bigger game that makes little to no sense on its own. Whereas in DOOM, any level captures the spirit of the game intact. That is because DOOM is about pure action and HL is about scripted events that form an amazing and detailed story that should be experienced as a whole.

A big misunderstanding

What happened to most gamers upon D3’s release was that they slammed D3 for being old-school. People didn’t approve of the fact that it, much like its predecessors, was a corridor crawler. A straightforward game with emphasis on action rather than on story was a game design faux pas in a time when Half-Life 2 was the next big thing. The verdict was that D3 was too simple for its own good, essentially an old game in a brand-new and glossy exterior. This anachronism would not be tolerated.

That was my opinion as well. Until earlier this year, that is, when I reinstalled and played Doom 3. In the next part of this article I will review the game and explain why I now consider it a masterpiece and a one of the most important FPS games of this century.

[continue to Part 2]