Type: Game
Genre: FirstPersonShooter
Rating: M
Console: PC
So in my long absence from The Digger, I've been playing lots and lots of DOOM. I'm a big fan of the series. Two of my top five videogame scares happened while playing Doom and Doom 2, respectively (though one had less to do with the game and more to do with what happened while I was playing it). I love the desolation, the mind-bending layouts of the later levels, the pixellated graphics, the multitudes of hidden tricks and traps to scare the player, and running through Mars and Hell with nothing but my favorite weapons- including my trusty shotgun, my chaingun, and, of course, the chainsaw. RIP AND TEAR, BABY!
So when I saw that not only were the original Doom and Doom 2 in the Steam store, but so was FinalDOOM, Doom3, and its expansion pack in the Steam store, and they were stupidly cheap if you bought the entire pack... Well, I squee'd and made an impulse buy. I hadn't yet played either FD or D3, and this was my chance to get the two originals working again!
To say I was disappointed with Doom3, though... hoo boy.
All right, id Software. Let's talk. I have a list full of dumb and a head full of frustrated, so here are my complaints...
First off, let's cover the fact that this is Doom 3, but tells the exact same story as Doom 1 with shinier graphics. That, right off, is a big pile of stupid. If you were just going to reboot the series, call it Doom. Secondly? This is the future. There's no reason why a supposedly-badass space marine can't carry his pistol in one hand and his flashlight in the other. That's ridiculous beyond belief. I'll believe that most other guns, being larger, can take up two hands, but the pistol should only take ONE. Furthermore, you scare me more by letting me see what's trying to kill me instead of depriving me of light entirely. Not being able to see just annoys me. And makes me waste ammunition. Thank God for modders, which built flashlights into every gun. Yes, I cheated. Deal with it.
SPEAKING OF NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE: When an enemy melee attacks me, painting the screen red, plastering claw marks in front of my face, and causing my character to jerk to the side is horrible. That doesn't scare me. It disorients me and makes me wonder why modern FPS's have a hard-on for screwing with the player's vision. Seriously? Why would you do this to us, id?
Next up on my list of complaints: Machine gun. Pointless. Doom 1 and Doom 2 had a machine gun. It was called the "Chaingun", and it did a very good job of tearing everything to shreds. BUT WAIT, YOU KNEW THIS, so you added it into Doom3 as well-
Wait... what?
Having both a machine gun and the Chaingun in the same game makes almost no sense. The only difference I can see is that the Machine Gun has piss-poor damage output and is therefore nearly-useless, while the Chaingun has a slight wind-up time and RIP AND TEARs through everything, doing the same job three times more effectively than the gun that I've somehow accumulated over 1000 rounds for because I HATE USING IT.
...Oh, I guess the machine gun's a bit more accurate, too. Whatever. CHAINGUN STILL DOES THE SAME FREAKIN' THING.
The graphics are pretty (even when the creatures aren't), but the simple problem is this: The game is laid out like a giant haunted house. There's nothing "scary" in it I haven't seen a dozen times before. Enemies teleporting in from nowhere? Half-Life did it better. Monsters crawling on the floor to leap at my face? Let me count the times. Lights turning out? Every horror movie ever. Flesh overtaking the walls? Let me see... Silent Hill 3 did that too, right? Gigantic thing bursting through the door to bite my face off?
...Well, okay, that one is legitimately unnerving, but only because I know it's going to take a lot of ammo to bring it down while it rapidly moves towards me like some kind of fleshy tank. I've still seen it before.
I guess if I wanted to put it simply, Doom3 feels half-assed. Sure, it looks nice, and tells a story fairly well by not making it too intrusive. A lot of bad choices were made for the gameplay, though, as well as a lot of cheap predictable tricks. It cheapens the experience... which is sad, honestly. I want to like this one. Despite my complaining, it's not a bad game. It's just not Doom.
Pass/Fail: Passes as a shooter. Fails as a DOOM title. Take that how you will.
Score: 6/10
Genre: FirstPersonShooter
Rating: M
Console: PC
So in my long absence from The Digger, I've been playing lots and lots of DOOM. I'm a big fan of the series. Two of my top five videogame scares happened while playing Doom and Doom 2, respectively (though one had less to do with the game and more to do with what happened while I was playing it). I love the desolation, the mind-bending layouts of the later levels, the pixellated graphics, the multitudes of hidden tricks and traps to scare the player, and running through Mars and Hell with nothing but my favorite weapons- including my trusty shotgun, my chaingun, and, of course, the chainsaw. RIP AND TEAR, BABY!
 |
| "...Allow me to communicate my desire to have your guns. C'MERE, BOYS!" |
To say I was disappointed with Doom3, though... hoo boy.
All right, id Software. Let's talk. I have a list full of dumb and a head full of frustrated, so here are my complaints...
First off, let's cover the fact that this is Doom 3, but tells the exact same story as Doom 1 with shinier graphics. That, right off, is a big pile of stupid. If you were just going to reboot the series, call it Doom. Secondly? This is the future. There's no reason why a supposedly-badass space marine can't carry his pistol in one hand and his flashlight in the other. That's ridiculous beyond belief. I'll believe that most other guns, being larger, can take up two hands, but the pistol should only take ONE. Furthermore, you scare me more by letting me see what's trying to kill me instead of depriving me of light entirely. Not being able to see just annoys me. And makes me waste ammunition. Thank God for modders, which built flashlights into every gun. Yes, I cheated. Deal with it.
SPEAKING OF NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE: When an enemy melee attacks me, painting the screen red, plastering claw marks in front of my face, and causing my character to jerk to the side is horrible. That doesn't scare me. It disorients me and makes me wonder why modern FPS's have a hard-on for screwing with the player's vision. Seriously? Why would you do this to us, id?
Next up on my list of complaints: Machine gun. Pointless. Doom 1 and Doom 2 had a machine gun. It was called the "Chaingun", and it did a very good job of tearing everything to shreds. BUT WAIT, YOU KNEW THIS, so you added it into Doom3 as well-
Wait... what?
Having both a machine gun and the Chaingun in the same game makes almost no sense. The only difference I can see is that the Machine Gun has piss-poor damage output and is therefore nearly-useless, while the Chaingun has a slight wind-up time and RIP AND TEARs through everything, doing the same job three times more effectively than the gun that I've somehow accumulated over 1000 rounds for because I HATE USING IT.
...Oh, I guess the machine gun's a bit more accurate, too. Whatever. CHAINGUN STILL DOES THE SAME FREAKIN' THING.
The graphics are pretty (even when the creatures aren't), but the simple problem is this: The game is laid out like a giant haunted house. There's nothing "scary" in it I haven't seen a dozen times before. Enemies teleporting in from nowhere? Half-Life did it better. Monsters crawling on the floor to leap at my face? Let me count the times. Lights turning out? Every horror movie ever. Flesh overtaking the walls? Let me see... Silent Hill 3 did that too, right? Gigantic thing bursting through the door to bite my face off?
...Well, okay, that one is legitimately unnerving, but only because I know it's going to take a lot of ammo to bring it down while it rapidly moves towards me like some kind of fleshy tank. I've still seen it before.
I guess if I wanted to put it simply, Doom3 feels half-assed. Sure, it looks nice, and tells a story fairly well by not making it too intrusive. A lot of bad choices were made for the gameplay, though, as well as a lot of cheap predictable tricks. It cheapens the experience... which is sad, honestly. I want to like this one. Despite my complaining, it's not a bad game. It's just not Doom.
Pass/Fail: Passes as a shooter. Fails as a DOOM title. Take that how you will.
Score: 6/10
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