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| From: Activision
List Price: $39.99
Buy Used: $4.50
You Save: $35.49 (89%)
New (10) Used (35) from $4.50
Rating:  570 reviews
Sales Rank: 2165
Platforms: Windows 2000, Windows Xp
Genre: shooter_action_games
ESRB: Mature
Media: CD-ROM
Edition: Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Age: 17 - 20 years
Operating System: Windows 2000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 1.2
MPN: 047875323773
Model: 32377
UPC: 047875323773
EAN: 0047875323773
ASIN: B00006C2HA
Release Date: August 3, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 11-15 of 570
 Great Game August 4, 2004
Kotoski (Texas)
29 out of 31 found this review helpful
Id Software revealed Doom 3 in 1999 to both fanfare and criticism. Id Software promised a thrilling single-player game, some rudimentary multiplayer and of course, a brand new engine from Carmack and Co. I've waited impatiently, and while (without counting the presentation) Doom 3 doesn't break new ground, it follows the norm very well.
Id Software has crafted Doom 3 with a rather engaging story, for a first person shooter at least. It is the year 2145 and the people at Earth are running out of natural resources. What can be done? Well, various corporations, including the Union Aerospace Corporation have built facilities on Mars that will allow Earth to gain natural resources from the red planet. When you begin the game, you are armed with absolutely nothing and have the task of finding a scientist and completing other basic tasks. As you progress, and it doesn't take long, you begin to realize that something is clearly not right and then, well, all hell breaks loose. For fans of the classic Doom games, it is important to note that Doom 3 is id Software's retelling of the original Doom not a continuation of the story line.
Although there is an emphasis on story, it never brings down the pace of the game too much. Most of it is told through cutscenes and the rest you'll learn from your trusty PDA, a new addition for the series. The PDA allows you to receive email, audio messages, codes and other useful information. Some of this is meant to help you understand the story (so you can know exactly why all hell broke loose), while other information is meant to help you advance through the game. Even other messages (including the spam messages) are meant to add humor to the otherwise cold game.
Let's be honest, the reason that many of us have been waiting for Doom 3 is because of its rendering engine. John Carmack and the others at id Software have continually raised the bar for graphics with each successive engine. Id Software pushed the PC to the limit with the original Doom, then brought true 3D with Quake and has now created the most technically impressive game I have ever seen. Even up against recent heavyweights like Painkiller and Far Cry, Doom 3's visuals are a notch above. Using pretty much every graphical technique available like normal mapping, self-shadowing, per-pixel lighting and others that my frail brain cannot understand, the Doom 3 engine is sight to behold. Some games that use normal mapping appear too "shiny" or have a "plastic" look, but Doom 3 does not. All of the indoor environments are meticulously designed with working computer monitors and what not. Furthermore, these environments are incredibly interactive and you'll often have enemies creating their own doors from walls and stairs. A fully functional physics engine lets you toss around boxes and soda cans, and the enemies as well. The animation system is simply breath-taking, and is enhanced by the shadowing system in the game. The weapon effects are plentiful, as well. Everything casts realistic shadows and further enhances id Software's view of Mars.
Of course, to get the full splendor, you'll need quite a powerful system to run. On the my best, I was able to play at 1024x768 on high settings and get playable framerates. Just for giggles, I played the game on a 2GHz processor, 512MB RAM PC with a nVidia Geforce FX 5200 and found that was able to play at 640x480 low. Even at this resolution the game looks wonderful. HardOCP has a full and detailed article regarding Doom 3 hardware which is recommended reading. Click here to take a look at it.
While a lot of the presentation relies on the kick-ass graphics, the audio in the game completes the atmosphere. Sure, you can run the game with stereo speakers, but to get the full experience, you'll want to hook up the 5.1 speakers. Id Software has used surround sound to a great degree, and you'll be able to hear enemies coming before you can see, adding to the realism. Otherwise, the sound effects and voices are crisp and solid, as expected.
And then there's the actual game portion of Doom 3. As I said above, Doom 3 doesn't really differ from the standard FPS action of shooting things that move. Most of the time you'll move around the claustrophobic areas in the levels, shooting one of the game's many disturbing enemies. Thankfully, it isn't all run and gun and there are numerous times when I actually jumped back because a monster popped out of nowhere. A friendly looking set of stairs can tear apart, and you'll have a monster ready to feast on you. A lot of what makes Doom 3 different is the atmosphere, which includes plentiful amounts of gore and blood, and the dark, creepy environments. The fear is heightened because you can't use your flashlight and a gun at the same time. This forces you to rethink your strategy since you'll need the flashlight to see otherwise pitch black areas, but you don't want to be caught off guard.
The game's weapons should be familiar to FPS fans but work very well, given Doom 3's gameplay. At the beginning of the game, you'll only have your fists! Thankfully, before any real action starts, you'll have the flashlight, a pistol and a bit later the shotgun. The pistol is a decent weapon but only if you run out of the powerful shotgun shells. Later in the game you'll receive a machine gun, which is rather accurate and fast, a plasma gun, which is basically a sci-fi machine gun and a chaingun, which is much faster but less accurate. You'll also find grenades, the fan-favorite rocket launcher (which looks awesome), and the devastating BFG (Big F'ing Gun) 9000, which will wipe out the enemies in the current screen. There's also a mysterious Soul Cube, which is quite powerful and beneficial. Ammo is rarely scarce in the game, allowing you to have fun looking at the pretty weapon effects.
You'll find the typical Doom enemies in Doom 3, albeit with a 2004 makeover. These monsters include an assortment of demons, zombies, flying skulls, spiders, imps and the lovable pinky. Many of these will shoot at you, forcing you to take them out quickly. The larger enemies in the game take quite a few shells to take down, but they aren't very smart. They'll just keep coming at you while you shoot them. This is a little disappointing and takes a bit away from the horror. Of course, you'll be plenty scared when they break through something or come out of a shadow.
Multiplayer in Doom 3 is limited to four players, although id Software has made it clear that future mods may support more players. A basic interface lets you join or create a game and works well. There are five maps, including Edge 2, a remake of the much-loved Edge map and four game modes. The most interesting mode is Tournament where you battle an opponent directly. Once they die (or you die) another player, who is waiting, gets a turn. The other game modes are Deathmatch, Team Deathmach and Last Man Standing, all of which are exactly what they sound like.
Although multiplayer is simple in the nature, the graphics engine adds to the experience. For instance, Doom 3 features per pixel hit detection, so it is possible to shoot between someone's torso and arm. The lighting and shadowing provide areas to hide and forces you to be smart about using your flashlight.
To be honest, when Doom 3 was announced, I didn't expect anything more than a technology demo to prove how powerful the engine was. While I wasn't entirely incorrect in this statement, Doom 3's gameplay (for which the single-player mode alone is fifteen hours plus) offers enough thrills to warrant the $54.99 purchase. And thanks to id Software's support of the modding community, we'll see some kick-ass mods in the near future.
Technically Revolutionary but Gameplay is August 2, 2004
Penny (San Jose, CA)
25 out of 36 found this review helpful
This game has been heavily hyped for last couple of years and it is a dissapointment gameplay wise but it is worth the purchase to see ID's new 3D Engine.
Single Player
I played single player for about 15 hours and it was fun for the first 10 hours then it just got tedious. The basic single player gameplay is "find the key and open the door". There are a lot scripted sequences that add to the ambience of the game. For example monsters busting down door, people getting slaughtered by demons, and demons tearing apart doors. But it is nothing new. I personally think Call Of Duty and System Shock 2 have much better single players games compared to Doom 3.
Multiplayer
This is the most dissapointing part of Doom 3 since there are no new gameplay modes and multiplayer supports only 4 players MAX!
Graphics
The graphics are truly cutting edge. I'd compare it to PIXAR like graphics. The facial animantions are life like. You can see the skin on a characters face stretch as they talk. Also the texturing is very realistic. For example on floors and walls you can see that they are not flat but are rough.Shadows also ineract realistically with the enviroment. For example you can see the shadows from a strobe light move around the room.
Overall the game is a dissapointment gameplay wise because it brings nothing new to the table. Single player gets tedious after a couple of hours and multiplayer is limiting with only 4 players and no new game modes. Technically DOOM 3 is head and shoulders above any game out there in the graphics and sound department.
Postivies
+ State of the art graphics
Negatives
- Tedious single player after a couple of hours
- Only 4 players max in multiplayer
- No new multiplayer game modes
 They missed the mark I'm afraid August 6, 2004
A Reader (CA, United States)
25 out of 32 found this review helpful
First let me say I have only played through the first few missions of the game. I don't think things change much going forward though from what others have written.
## Hardware: I have an Alienware P4 3.2Ghz PC with the nVidia GeForce FX 5950 Ultra video card. The game runs fine at 1024x768 and high detail (Ultra is the best). There is some slight texture draw but not bad. So basically if you have any computer from before Oct03 you'll be stuck at 800x600 and/or really low detail.
## Graphics/Environment: Well on the one hand the look is very good. The environment is full of lots of little details such as video screens and terminals that have cool animations, many of which you can interact with. Your PDA (which you use for email, audio clips, etc) is interesting and helps flesh out the story and give you clues to more goodies. But even with all that you are still running around what feels like an abandoned station with monsters chasing you.
The environment is annoyingly dark. This would be artistic and scary to a point but after awhile it is simply annoying and hard on the eyes. It also makes it hard to appreciate many of the cool graphics and gives the world a fake feel. Humans just don't live in the dark and in the future don't we have lights that don't need power? Also, how about some sort of night-vision equipment at least?
Even the sound is so, so. Environmental noises are good but the weapons have a weak sound and the monsters' screams are really not anything special either (I'm playing with a 5.1 sound system).
Compared to an environment like that in Far Cry, Doom3 feels a bit dated, fake, and boring even with all the new graphics tricks. Technically it is a better engine but the feel isn't there.
Story: So far the story is interesting although you need to take the time to go through the info on your PDA to really get the details. Many won't bother. The problem of course is that unless you've never heard of Doom before you already know what the story is about and what is basically going to happen. That leaves just the details and execution. Personally I found Half-Life and Far Cry far more interesting on the story front.
## Gameplay: Ok, so how does the game really PLAY? Well unfortunately it plays like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake. Nothing new. Monsters pop out and you shoot them. In between you reload and find med kits and bullets. That's about it. The problem goes back to the environment. Everything is so dark you often feel you are just in another dark hallway or room even when there is some really neat stuff going on around you (and there are some pretty nifty areas). But having to always sweep around with your flashlight and then switch to a weapon and shoot at stuff you can't see anymore just gets old real fast. A few levels like this would be ok but not for what seems like the whole game (as others have said).
The game is moderately scary and somewhat gruesome (probably not good for children under 15). Most of the scariness just comes from suspense and the old 'cat trick' of things popping out at you. After awhile you are not scared anymore you are just annoyed you can't see anything and that something just popped out of an area you just looked at and cleared. Getting shot in the head from something you can't see isn't all that exciting either.
The game is somewhat enjoyable and interesting but even with all the hype and all the advanced graphics it is still just an average first person shooter. I found Far Cry and Call of Duty to be much more interesting and enjoyable.
Stop reviewing this game you morons! July 24, 2004
James Heggie
24 out of 29 found this review helpful
What part of the phrase 'Not Yet Released' is confusing people?
You havn't played the game yet! If you have played the leaked alpha, shame on you, and don't judge it by that anyway. All the reviews so far have based on prejudice and an insatiable urge to post reviews. (Favourable and unfavourable reviews alike)
Just wait until the game is released. Why amazon don't block reviewing of unreleased products is beyond me.
 Lots of Hype, lets see it deliver.... October 31, 2003
22 out of 76 found this review helpful
Ok, im not doubting id, but lets see the game bfore we give it 100 5star reviews......
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