Doom 3 Impressions

[Andrew Mallon]

I didn't think Doom 3 was supposed to be out for the Xbox until later this week, but a Blockbuster near me had it available for rent last night. I wasn't planning on buying the game, but I jumped at the opportunity to rent it to see what all the fuss was about. I'll post more detailed impressions later, but after a few hours of play I have to agree with the concensus for the PC version: good looking game that doesn't bring much new to the table.

My laptop couldn't handle the PC version, but I did play a little bit with the PC demo. Verdict: the game looked much better on my smaller laptop screen than it does on a large screen TV. Graphics look to be the PC version on low detail. Frame rate has been good so far.

One funny thing I noticed just from toying with the demo is that large environments have been removed from the Xbox version. I believe in the first game the player is dropped off in a largish hangar with a ship taking off. The XBox version has a pre-rendered cut scene that shows you briefly walking through the hangar and the game actually starts in a small corridor.

That doesn't bode well for the Xbox port. I think the PC version was criticized for having too many small non-descript corridors. If they actually had to remove or downsize some of the larger rooms for the port, the Xbox version is going to feel even more confining.

[Reed]

Wow, thanks for the notice. May have to hop over to the local Blockbuster and see if they have it.

I wasn't initially interested in the Xbox version, but the early reviews are looking much better than expected. 1UP saying that it feels like its real home is on the Xbox.

[depward]

Speaking of which - I could have sworn this game was coming out next week but a local game shop had it available to purchase yesterday.

No impressions, but I am confirming that I guess the "street date" has been broken here as well.

[Knightshade Dragon]

I didn't think Doom 3 was supposed to be out for the Xbox until later this week

That is correct.  I was playing with the guys at Id and Activision last night (Man I got owned...like 10 to 1 owned) and some kid joins our game.   Guess a lot of places are breaking the street date.  Those places are going to be facing some fines...

[disarm]

One funny thing I noticed just from toying with the demo is that large environments have been removed from the Xbox version. I believe in the first game the player is dropped off in a largish hangar with a ship taking off. The XBox version has a pre-rendered cut scene that shows you briefly walking through the hangar and the game actually starts in a small corridor.

That doesn't bode well for the Xbox port. I think the PC version was criticized for having too many small non-descript corridors. If they actually had to remove or downsize some of the larger rooms for the port, the Xbox version is going to feel even more confining.

the developers have already admitted as much...they had to shrink areas and have more frequent loads in order to fit the game within the confines of the xbox's 64mb of RAM.  hopefully, the game won't suffer too much for it though...

unlike a lot of people, i actually thought Doom 3 on pc was a pretty good game.

[mytocles]

i may have to go get it tomorrow, if it's at EB - i have a gift card burning a hole in my wallet.  the last time i played a Doom/ Quake type game was on the N64, whose analog stick i just hated.  i can't wait to get a shot at the XB version with dual analogs.  and i don't have any PC versions to compare it to - i can't play PC games - and neither can my computer! :lol:

[Chaz]

Shouldn't be at EB until Monday (Mytocles, definitely wait until Monday ).  Got a report of the Blockbuster near me renting it last night.  I blew the whistle on them with Activision.    I feel like such a narc.

[mytocles]

yeah, i thought that might be the case!  i have no problem with that though - i'm a real "rule-follower" type - well, when i remember what the rules are anyway...

i'll see you Monday, Chaz  and thanks for saving me the extra trip on Sunday - especially with that losing-an-hour-of-sleep jazz tonight!   :shock:

[Jumangi]

The last paragraph in the 1UP.com review is one of the dumbest things I've ever read in a gaming review.

[Calvin]

The last paragraph in the 1UP.com review is one of the dumbest things I've ever read in a gaming review.

Alright you made me interested enough to go read the last paragraph, and it is one of the most laughably insulting attempts to make people think that the control scheme on the console is somehow more appropriate for this game than PC controls. Whoever wrote that is a jackass.

[mikeg]

For those who are remotely considering this, is Collector's version worth it?  I mean a tin means zilch to me and the old Doom games are somewhat interesting, but after playing through years of gargantuanly better graphics can we really get much out of it for more than a few moments just to see have a moment of deja vu?  I can see playing those for 20 minutes and that's that.  Other than those two things, is that it?  

As for the controls, ofcourse they can't possibly be better than a pc, but I think they will good enough to get it done for sure.  I mean in a 3 foot wide corridor filled with some hulking demon you don't need real good controls to hit something.  Not like they can jump much from side to side or dodge much.  Now in multi that might make a difference.  For Doom 3 lovers like me, this game has surely gotta be tempting to try coop.  That is the draw for me for sure.

[The Rocketman]

The last paragraph in the 1UP.com review is one of the dumbest things I've ever read in a gaming review.

Alright you made me interested enough to go read the last paragraph, and it is one of the most laughably insulting attempts to make people think that the control scheme on the console is somehow more appropriate for this game than PC controls. Whoever wrote that is a jackass.

I actually agree with that paragraph. Bear in mind, I'm an avid 3d shooter fan on pc and on xbox. Xbox games only work well when the controller scheme is perfect. It has to be absolutely spot-on, or a shooter will not work. However, when they've got it right (Halo (2), Brother in Arms), I think it's better than on pc.

You feel your controller rumbling, you ARE actually pulling a trigger, you can't aim as precisely as with a mouse. Some would call that a negative, but I think it's absurd you can double jump, and shoot your rockets into the left eye of your opponent...

Just my opinion off course, but I'm an absolute fan of 3d shooters on console, when they're done right! Wolfenstein or Medal of Honor on xbox , for example, were absolutely horrible because it didn't 'feel' good. It's pretty difficult I think, to implement some sort of aiming assistance without having the player actually notice it too much...

[TheMissingLink]

Soooo, Doom 3 is just a game on the pc, but a "world-class piece of equipment" when you're using the xbox controller?  It makes that much of a leap?  That's silly.  I can see how the reviewer can feel more involved when he's playing on his living-room television as opposed to a pc monitor, but bringing up the controllers?  Give me a mouse and keyboard over a controller anyday.

That said I played Doom 3 about two hours, got to a really scary part (I'm a huuuuuge wuss, remember this), and haven't played it again

[The Rocketman]

No no no, indeed I agree there. I'm only saying that perhaps Doom 3 works just as well with a controller, maybe even better (you'd be more scared if you can't aim as well I'd reckon)... But it won't change the entire game no.

[EddieA]

It sounds crazy to me since I can't play FPS games on consoles to save my life, but I know people who actually prefer console controllers to the mouse and keyboard setup.

[markus]

I'm actually one of the people who prefer console fps because I'm just WAY too uncoordinated to press the right movement keys while I'm trying to use the mouse.  I do much better (although I still stink!) with a console controller...

[stiffler]

I can't even get off the ship in Halo 2.  I just can't figure out the control setup.  I walk like a drunk baby deer, all wobbly and banging off walls.  Of course I am probably just an uncoordinated mess.

[Andrew Mallon]

Put in a few more hours into Doom 3 last night after finishing a different game and I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would. I'm playing on the 'hard' difficulty (‘Veteran’ I think it’s called?) and the game has a nice balance between difficulty and pacing. I’m dying just enough to keep me on my toes but not enough to ruin the sense of progress.

One nice touch is the ability to put down the PDA and continue with the game while an audio log is playing. There’s a wonderful sense of creepiness about listening to someone describe all of these sinister events that have been happening while moving through a dark and foreboding corridor. It really ups the tension quit a bit.

[Calvin]

I might rent this one just to check out how it looks.

[mytocles]

well, all i can say is that i'm glad it's not nightime right now, and that our new surround sound system is still sitting there in it's box! :shock:  the last Doom i played was on the N64 - and this one isn't your Momma's Doom!  it's scary and creepy... and, well... scary and creepy!  i can't compare it to recent computer versions, but if you're a console gamer who's never played Doom 3, and you like scary FPS's - then i can highly recommend it!  at the start, at least, it feels like you have to stop to catch your breath, now and again.

also, Stiffler -

I can't even get off the ship in Halo 2. I just can't figure out the control setup. I walk like a drunk baby deer

- that's hysterical, and exactly the way i looked when i first played Halo.   i'd never played a first person shooter - i only played the n64 Doom pretty recently - and had to teach myself how to use the analog sticks simultaneously.  i'd heard so much about Halo that i forced myself to keep going, and now i'm "not bad to pretty good" at shooters, as long as i can invert the vertical look.  i'm back to drunken-deer status if i can't play inverted, though! :roll:

[Thin_J]

i'm back to drunken-deer status if i can't play inverted, though! :roll:

Only weirdos play consoles shooters with uninverted contrtols anyway

[DiamondDecision]

...but after a few hours of play I have to agree with the concensus for the PC version: good looking game that doesn't bring much new to the table.

Let's face it, id is a 1980's gaming company that never evolved.  They're still creating the same games they did years ago and that just doesn't cut it anymore.

Even with a genius like Carmack, a great rendering engine just doesn't equate to a great game anymore.  Those days are gone.  id doesn't get that.  

All id games nowadays are just a showcase of their current rendering engine.  If you're willing to accept that, purchase their games.

I, for one, am saving my money.

Games like Far Cry, Morrowind, etc., show us the future, id games bomb us back to the Stone Ages.

[markus]

i'm back to drunken-deer status if i can't play inverted, though! :roll:

Only weirdos play consoles shooters with uninverted contrtols anyway

I guess I am a weirdo (I always knew that anyway!) because I just can't do the inverted controls for a FPS (except for Crimson Skies which is basically a FPS in planes).  Just seems more intuitive to me to press up to look up and down to look down...

[Starshifter]

i'm back to drunken-deer status if i can't play inverted, though! :roll:

Only weirdos play consoles shooters with uninverted contrtols anyway

I guess I am a weirdo (I always knew that anyway!) because I just can't do the inverted controls for a FPS (except for Crimson Skies which is basically a FPS in planes).  Just seems more intuitive to me to press up to look up and down to look down...

I'm just like mytocles.  Inverted all the way.  My brother cannot fathom how I can play FPS games where up is down and down is up.  It goes against all logic he says.  Well, growing up playing PC flight simulators & the Wing Commander games got me so used to inverted that I can never go back.

My brother laughed his ass off the very first time I played Halo 1.  Remember in the beginning where you go through that little tutorial-like set up in game where you have to check your site movement?  He laughed so hard when I did it the second way (inverted) and I said out loud "Ahhhhhh - much better!".  He proceeded to call me an inverted, backwards dork.

All I know is this.  If I'm ever on a commercial plane and the pilots become incapacitated, I certainly don't want a passenger-gamer who plays FPS games with their controllers set up for un-inverted taking the controls to land us safely!!!
 :wink:

[phormio]

This may sound strange or silly (it does to me), buut I just had to get the Collector's Edition so I could play DOOM & DOOM II on my Xbox from the comfort of my sofa.

Don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to playing DOOM III, especially after reading the excellent review on the main page. But the major draw for me was that  Collector's Edition. Even though I swore off them things. :oops:

[Thin_J]

I still play shooters on the PC with up is up and down is down, because of the mouse control. Inverting that is just silly, but I know people that do that too.

But inverting the controls sticks on a control-pad for a console shooter makes it about a hundred times easier for me to use.

[Larraque]

The game has a few good moments early but the best is that giant rhino type thing trying to RAM the freaking door in. Holy crap!!!

[Andrew Mallon]

Finished Doom 3 this weekend and I think the thing that I was most struck with is how many millions of dollars and how many man-years were expended to create a game with models that look they were lifted from an emotionally-stunted adolescent’s sketch book. The art work, setting, and plot of this game is just hopelessly juvenile.

Not that’s necessarily a bad thing (or neccessairily different from many other games currently released), but no other similar game seems to take itself as seriously as Doom 3 does. This game needs a serious dose of Bruce Campbell to lighten things up a bit.

Having said that, I enjoyed the game in a mindless way, although the game is very repetitive and the formula gets old quickly. Things improve a little bit toward the end when there are a few set piece fights and, of course, using the chainsaw never, ever gets old.

If I was rating the game, I’ll agree with the crowd give it a C. It’s fun for a while, but the engine, rather than the game, is the real star, and there already titles like Riddick and Chaos Theory that equal or excel Doom 3 in graphics and are orders of magnitude better in the gameplay department.

[DiamondDecision]

It’s fun for a while, but the engine, rather than the game, is the real star

Congratulations, you've stumbled upon id's company motto. ;-)

[metallicorphan]

reading this page saddens me,where have half of these people gone?

anyway,i know its been *looks at date of last post*.....7 years,LOL,since this has been posted in

Doom III BFG Edition will be out October 16th 2012
TXB

We’re pleased to announce that DOOM® 3 BFG Edition is slated for release in North America on October 16, 2012 and throughout Europe on October 19, 2012. DOOM 3 BFG Edition will feature re-mastered versions of both DOOM® 3 and the Resurrection of Evil® add-on pack, as well seven new levels of content entitled ‘The Lost Mission.’ DOOM 3 BFG Edition will be available in North America on PC for $29.99 and on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $39.99.

Re-mastered for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, DOOM 3 and it’s expansion pack offer enhanced visuals further immersing you in the demonic world like never before. DOOM 3, Resurrection of Evil, and ‘The Lost Mission’ have been optimized in 3D, featuring 5.1 surround sound, Xbox 360 Achievements, PlayStation 3 trophies, improved rendering and lighting, and a new check point save system allowing for smoother progression through the game. id Software has fine-tuned the controls to bring the intensity of the DOOM single and multiplayer experience to the consoles, and DOOM 3 now features the new armor-mounted flashlight, allowing players to illuminate dark corners and blast enemies at the same time.

DOOM 3 BFG Edition will also include the original DOOM® and DOOM® II games, making it the definitive collection of the genre-defining games developed by id Software, the pioneers of the first-person shooter genre.

Video in the link

[Teggy]

What happened to Myto? Did she get lost in Forsaken World?

[CeeKay]

reading this page saddens me,where have half of these people gone?

yeah, what have you done with Mytocles?  did you kidnap her?

[metallicorphan]

reading this page saddens me,where have half of these people gone?

yeah, what have you done with Mytocles?  did you kidnap her?

It's as Teggy says
I tried to entice her out of those Forsaken Worlds with an email about Dragons Dogma being great,but it didn't work...i told her as long as she will be available for Borderlands 2 than that's fine,she said maybe we should wait for Borderlands 2 GOTY edition,LOL

[Kagath]

reading this page saddens me,where have half of these people gone?

Yeah, this place needs to work on getting some new blood in here. Small communities are fine until even they start losing people.

Anyways, I'll probably check this out when it arrives so I can relax on the couch instead of the PC like the first time.