Doom 3: a late review (Part 3)

This is the third and last part of my Doom 3 review, where I cover the Gameplay and even manage to reach a conclusion. Part 1 was an intro and part 2 was about the story, graphics and sound.

Gameplay

I wonder if you can dragon punch that turkey.

D3 is very much your regular corridor crawler from the mid 90s. You run around in corridors carrying different weapons and shoot monsters that often ambush you in the dark, leaving your human underwear stained for the rest of your adventure. Gone are the distractions – some call them innovations – introduced by other FPS games since the original DOOM, such as alternate fire modes for your weapons, zooming in with a scope and leaning left or right. Who needs to peek around corners anyway? The enemies mostly attack you from behind.

Everything about D3 is good, clean, straightforward fun. The things that would prove a distraction to running and gunning have been discarded. When I pressed the right mouse button for the first time, expecting an amazing alternate attack from my shotgun, all I managed to do was make the marine jump. Lack of special attacks would have been a deal-breaker for most FPS games in 200X, but not for this one. Don’t worry, though; you can crouch and jump all you want.

Notable, however, is the absence of a fully implemented physics model. Halo had already done physics properly back in 2001 and Half-Life 2 stunned me with Havok in November 2004, only a few months after the August release of Doom 3. D3 only makes limited use of its physics model. You can pick up and throw cans, the enemies will be thrown back when shot with powerful weapons, etc, but the overall feel of the objects is much more rigid than in other contemporary FPS games. Whereas, for example, in HL2 you could interact with many objects in the world, most things in D3 are bolted down and refuse to move, even when shot with a BFG. Again, not having full-blown physics [I'm so good at puns, aren't I?] is consistent with the way the action is designed in this game, but if leaning left and right doesn’t add much to the gameplay in this context, physics could have.

A fat zombie behind glass stained with brain juice. So sexy.

A common complaint at the time of the game’s release was that the gameplay was spartan, anachronistic even. While certainly not untrue, neither of these traits is necessarily a drawback. D3 is a nod to a different kind of FPS (refer to the first part of this review for more on that) where fast, satisfying action nullifies the need for complex puzzles, an interesting and detailed script, or even intricate game mechanics. D3 is the descendant of a long line of amazing FPS games and, much like Final Fantasy IX or a rogue-like for the DS, offers an experience that’s both classic and pure – but never crude. And old recipe, but a delicious one.

The weapons are what you will find in your standard FPS armory. You have your fists and a chainsaw (easily the most enjoyable weapon to use and in fact quite powerful), a standard security guard’s pistol, a marine’s rifle, some heavier stuff, such as grenades, a shotgun, a plasma rifle, a chain gun and even some exotic pieces of equipment, such as a rocket launcher and the legendary BFG. An addition to these is the Soul Cube, an all-powerful sentient artifact of alien origin that not only deals insane amounts of damage, but also replenishes your health while at it. The Cube has to be charged after each use by absorbing the souls of the monsters you kill. An interesting addition. You also wear a security armour, which you can power up to full effectiveness with pick-ups.

Gone are the red, blue and yellow keycards (and skull cards!) of the DOOM era. What you get instead is a combination of security cards and security clearances in the form of PDA updates. The game leads you through the different areas much like DOOM did; you explore one part of the level, then obtain the means to bypass an obstacle (usually a security door) and finally proceed to the next part of the level, where you face a similar situation. Your PDA serves as a glorified security key. By transferring the data from the PDAs of other employees you update your security clearance accordingly and gain access to the next part of the level. This works in a toned-down way when compared to DOOM, where without keycards you were constrained to a very small part of the level. Obstacles in D3 usually occur at the end of the levels or before important plot events (e.g. you need to update your clearance to enter central processing).

The controversial PDA.

Another important use for the PDA is for opening storage cabinets. These cabinets, scattered throughout the levels, contain ammo, weapons, armour and health and are crucial to your survival. The codes can be found in the emails and audio logs you transfer from other PDAs to your device. So in a sense you are forced to read every last email and listen to all those audio logs to find the codes needed to open the cabinets.

This search for codes and the corresponding cabinets is a game in and of itself that might prove frustrating to some, especially considering how it clashes with the nature of D3 as a straightforward run and gun game. Many have accused this continuous need to check emails and listen to long audio logs of taking away from the experience and destroying much of the atmosphere the game manages to create. My opinion is that, while not optimal, the implementation of a second level of interaction with the game world beyond killing monsters certainly gives the game some (needed) added depth. Not only does the hunt for codes prolong the experience, it also helps develop a better connection between the game world and the player. And do not forget that this whole side of the game is optional. Things might be harder without the goodies found inside the cabinets, but the game is not impossible without them. So if you absolutely have to skip this because you want to spill more brains, you can go right ahead.

Finally, the PDA will play video discs you find as you run around the base. The videos range from instructional videos on how to use weapons to briefing on the facilities and videos on the alien civilization. Most of these can be found playing on monitors in the actual environment, but finding the disc allows you to watch them whenever you please. A nice touch that helps achieve immersion.

This base looks hospitable enough. But don’t let that fool you. They serve their burgers on magazines.

D3 might be a pretty good FPS, but it is also a horror game, one that relies on atmosphere as heavily as any other example of this genre. On the back of the keyboard controls reference card that came with the game, I found a message stating that Doom 3 is intended to be played with a locked door, the lights turned off and the sound turned up. Apparently, it’s also “not for the faint of heart”.

The graphics and sound cater to the nature of the game as a horror narrative. For more on these two aspects of the game, refer to the relevant sections of this review. What I’d like to examine separately, however, is perhaps the most controversial of all design choices, which is none other than the use of light and darkness as an element of the gameplay itself.

It is perhaps true that id decided to focus more on light – or absence thereof – to showcase their particularly impressive lighting system. What is certainly true is that this choice has been a source of debate among the players and an oft-cited reason for people to dislike the game. Story-wise, the enveloping darkness is justified by a power outage caused by the invasion of the forces of hell. Pretty logical, if you ask me.

Most levels are dimly lit. Standard light sources include computer screens, lights that have survived the outage, the occasional window and your flashlight. What this means is the player basically relies on their flashlight to provide illumination. The catch is that you can’t carry the flashlight and your gun at the same time. If you can see in the dark you can’t shoot and vice versa. Designing the action around this principle causes the player to be extremely cautious of their environment and so very scared of the dark. Immersion caused through apprehensiveness is one of the most important things a horror game must nurture and D3 succeeds at it marvelously.

Radioactivity: it’s in the air for you and me!

Another unsung benefit of this kind of micromanagement is that it helps set a very definitive pace for the action. Fighting is interspersed with moments of fumbling through the dark, pointing the flashlight on the walls, or the ceiling in search of possible threats. Every so often the threats do appear and you switch to your weapon. Once you fight them off, you’re alone in the dark again. This alternation between the action and the anticipation of action makes D3 more than just a corridor shooter. The horror elements are crucial to the formula, in that they provide much needed variety that prevents staleness and boredom.

Of course, as the player sets their own pace and learns how to manage switching from flashlight to weapon and back while exploring the environment and blowing enemies to bits, the feelings of anticipation and fear go away and one simply blasts through the levels at higher speeds. If there’s one complaint I have regarding D3 as a horror game, it’s that it doesn’t continue to surprise you throughout the course of the experience. To the designers’ credit, they’ve tried to think of creative ways to frighten the player, e.g. by manipulating expectations. There are some genuinely chilling moments early on, but after a few levels most scary moments seem the same, which of course makes them less effective.

In spite of the minor complaints and because of its clever use of light, D3 can be genuinely frightening if you suspend your disbelief. Horror is elegantly complimented by pure, satisfying action and the result is dozens of hours of good fun.

Very Brief Summation and Conclusion

Doom 3 is an amazing sequel with a virtually perfect presentation and conservative but super-fun game mechanics. It sports a couple of controversial design choices but that shouldn’t keep you from playing it or enjoying it. A fan of the first two entries in the DOOM series should be extremely satisfied with this. I love this game and consider it absolutely essential for fans of the genre.

[bonus material]