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Introduction
id Software is the grandfather of the First Person Shooter genre. They're
also the pioneers of PC 3D graphics, always pushing the envelope of what
the home computer is capable of in terms of increasingly realistic computer
graphics. The Doom games hold a very special place in the hearts of gamers
around the world who were around for the early days of PC gaming, when
you had to know how to tweak the memory usage of DOS to squeeze out that
extra 5K needed to load a game. These games transported us into a new
world, one filled with evil demons that needed to be introduced to the
business end of a double barrel shotgun. We were seeing graphics and exploring
worlds that had previously been left to geeks in large machine rooms with
access to really sophisticated simulation software and very powerful computers.
Doom spawned Quake 1,2 and 3, the games whose engines launched a thousand
other titles... and whose violence launched a thousand angry protests
and attempts to make laws controlling video games. There's no doubt regarding
the influence Doom and id have had over computer gaming. Now, after four
years of development we have the next game from id, Doom 3, a retelling
of the original Doom story (well, there never was really a story to begin
with aside from "Demons are invading Mars, you are the ONLY one who
can stop them... here's a pistol and a armor vest, have fun") and
a brand new 3D engine for developers to drool over and purchase licenses
for to develop new games with. (I'm sorry, while the Quake 3 engine was
great, I'm tired of seeing games using it, I want newer visuals). But
the question is, is the game a stinker or a winner?
First Impressions
Doubtless by now you've seen the flood of screenshots, previews,
first impressions and wild speculation pieces that have been appearing
all over the 'net in the past few weeks, at least since the release
date was officially announced. And now that the official release
is but a day away (with many stores accidentally selling copies
a few days ahead of schedule we're seeing a flood of screenshots
and forum posts about the game. Doom 3 is being hailed as the savior
of the PC games market by some, ridiculed by others for just being
another uninspired shooter, but one thing everyone agrees on is
the fact that this is the most advanced graphics tech we've seen
in a game yet. Every screenshot and demo movie released has blown
viewers away. Even the early alpha build leaked to the net over
a year ago looked damn good (despite the fact that it wasn't optimized
and ran very slow on everything but the best of systems). So, after
four long years of waiting, what has id given us? Have they delivered
on their promises by giving us a scary, immersion singleplayer experience
that is reminiscent of a good horror movie, or is this merely a
tech demo for the new engine?
After playing the game until the wee hours of the morning, and
then again when I woke up after a mere 3 hours of sleep, what I've
seen so far definitely shows that what we have on our hands is an
actual game from id, and not just a demo for their new engine like
the previous Quake games seemed to be. What we have here is a fully
modeled and intricately detailed Mars base with everything from
mechanics working on broken pipes, to employees lounging in common
areas, to video units showing everything from company PR pieces
to full news broadcasts. Staff members go about their duties regardless
of whether or not you're there to watch, and there's a good chance
you won't see half of them in the introduction level as they may
just keep moving a few rooms ahead of you. Add in emails, video
discs and PDAs you pick information up from over the course of the
game, and you find yourself in a very believable world... it's a
damn shame that everything has to go to hell in a hand basket so
quickly. I wanted to explore more of the complex in peace and quiet
first. |
Yes, the environments look that good, no image trickery
here
Source: Official Doom 3 Website
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This guy scared the CRAP out of me the first time
I encountered him in game... I was so scared I forgot to shoot for
a second or two... It almost chewed me to death
Source: Official Doom 3 Website
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Word has it that id hired a professional
Sci-Fi writer to craft the story and dialogue spread liberally throughout
the game. It paid off in spades as we're given a narrative that
is woven into the game environment itself, only forcing you out
to watch pre scripted story moments on rare occasion, keeping you
immersed in the experience as much as possible. Add to the high
quality script the fact that the voice acting is also top-notch,
with a bad guy who has perhaps the creepiest voice I've ever heard
in a video game (he's the guy responsible for everything going to
hell... literally.. he's just crazy that way and the glass eye definitely
adds to the whole creepy factor). Combine this with the visually
detailed world and you've got a compelling, engrossing environment
that makes you want to just keep playing.
This brings me to scripted events. Normally, we look down on developers
that statically script events, saying it's a weakness in good AI
and creativity. We want games that react to us intelligently to
our actions, changing as we change our tactics. Having an enemy
come from the same direction at the same time every time you play
through a particular part of a level tends to bore us now. So you
would think the fact that EVERYTHING in Doom 3 is scripted and tightly
directed from enemy attacks to when and where you can go in the
game would be a major detractor. It's not. In the same way that
HalfLife captured us with its cinematic experience from the opening
tram ride into Black Mesa to the very end. The same holds true for
Doom 3. This game is seriously like taking part in a good sci-fi
horror film, where you're the lone hero running with gun in hand
to save the world from the minions of hell itself. (Think Aliens
meets Event Horizon). The events are well timed, and some of them
will make you jump out of your chair. This is a game that needs
to be played late at night with all the lights off for the full
effect.
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Graphics, sound, scripting, and writing come together to offer
us a game experience like we haven't seen before. In terms of game
mechanics, it's a FPS, no doubt about it and it doesn't do much
to revolutionize the genre at its core, but then again id Software
hasn't bothered with that for a while now, their talent comes in
further refining the expertly crafted formula they developed over
a decade ago. While it's a FPS, it's not a run and gun fight hordes
of enemies game like others on the market. The experience is more
tightly controlled and you rarely face off gainst more than a few
monsters at a time. This works well though as I'm sure even the
beefiest of machines would buckle under the load of a screen full
of moving demons in addition to all the environmental effects present
in every room of the game.
Now, it's not all roses and puppies, the game has some hefty requirements
and it can force even the best gaming rigs to choke at times. Initial
level load times can be long and drawn-out if your hard drive is
at all fragmented or if you're running on a slower speed drive.
You have to be very careful with visual settings depending on your
video card and system memory. While the game is built to run well
on lower end systems, you lose a lot of the eye candy that makes
this game stand out so much. I strongly suggest everyone looking
to buy the game checks out [H]ardOCPs Doom 3 Hardware guide to get
an idea of what thier PC will be able to handle. This is another
one of those games that will send gamers scrambling to upgrade some
of their aging hardware, and in this case you'll be well rewarded
for your decision.
Doom 3 is a solid game in all respects, it offers a tight experience
that is expertly crafted and shows immense production values. The
engine does things we've never seen in real-time on a PC, and promises
great things once other developers start to license the engine for
their own games. Can you imagine a Jedi Knight game with Doom 3's
visual splendor? It makes me weak in the knees just thinking about
it...
-Z
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For anyone who's wondering how it ran on my rig, here are my
specs and my thoughts on how it ran. I don't have specific framerate
numbers to share though..
Dell XPS Gen 2
Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz HT
1GB RAM
AT Radeon 9800XT 256MB
SB Audigy 2
I ran at high quality, 1024x768 res. Full AF, no AA, all the
other goodies turned on. On a few occassions I got a bit of stutter
when I was in a room that had windows viewing the outside landscape,
or if too much was moving on the screen at any given time. But those
moments were few and far between. Otherwise the experience was largely
smooth, I didn't notice any real performance problems, and even
the lack of AA didn't impact me much. I have what is considered
a mid-range setup for the game and I had a stellar experience and
was only excluded from using AA and the ultra-high detailed textures.
I may try upping the settings later to see how I fare.
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Obviously they don't have the Atkins Diet in Hell...
Maybe these demons are all misunderstood? Perhaps they're not here
to invade, they just came for their weekly Weight Watchers meeting
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