DOOM 3

PN Review continued... Original Doom vs Doom 3 So how does Doom 3 compare to its illustrious predecessor? The answer is quite simple: there is virtually no comparison. The two games are so utterly different that about the only thing linking them is the fact that both were created by id Software, they share the same name and contain a few similar monsters and plot points. Besides that they are totally separate entities - the latter doesn't even come across as a "homage" to the former. The UAC base has been radically revamped for Doom 3. Of course, a straight technological comparison would serve no purpose, since Doom 3 is clearly much more advanced. But when comparing things like gameplay, atmosphere and overall feel something interesting emerges: the original still holds its own very well and is in some respects still a better game than its modern "incarnation". This is my personal feeling, but I want to highlight two specific aspects to substantiate my contention: The one is the "scare factor" that's present in both games. At first glance, Doom 3 seems much more frightening than the original - it certainly has a more oppressive and pervasively evil mood. The original, however, somehow manages to still give me goosebumps in a way that Doom 3 doesn't. I'm guessing this might be a kind of primal fear reaction to the uniquely eerie sounds and jerky movements of demons as they approach the player, but there's also something subliminally disturbing about the whole design of the first Doom universe - the look & feel of its often brightly-lit environments, distinctive colour schemes and low-res monsters. The original Doom has a kind of abstract horror that seeps through everything in the game (and all its incarnations as user WADs, conversions and follow-up instalments). The horror in Doom 3 also pervades almost every aspect of its experience, but it's much more up-front and in-your-face: the shock-impact of things like blood-splattered walls, dense sound effects, headless zombies and dark corridors oozing with palpable menace just can't be described as "subtle". Both the old and new Doom are scary, but in markedly different ways. Classic Doom baddies reappear in modern guises. Secondly, as a "game" in the truest sense of the word, the original works better for me than Doom 3 with its emphasis on pseudo-interactive realism. Actual gaming fun often takes a back seat to the predetermined rollercoaster ride of action and tension the Doom 3 designers want to take you on. So, in the old Dooms the constant running around to find door keys while dealing with hordes of demons en route is the essential gist of it all - these simple rules of engagement are at the very heart of what actually comprises a "classic Doom" game, despite the many variations the basic recipe allows for. In Doom 3 the potential scope of the player experience has been opened up so dramatically that just having us open doors to kill more monsters seems a bit quaint and even anachronistic (if you actually pause to think about it in-game - which thankfully rarely happens). Doom 3 overwhelms with its audio-visual assault on the senses, but then falls a bit flat by not really allowing the player to do anything original. Doom 3 ultimately seems much closer in spirit to the single-player Quake series of games than its namesake: both have true-3D models rather than sprites, no automap, similar architecture and sense of scale, similar player controls and plot progression... If Doom 3 hadn't based its story and some of the monster designs on the original Doom, this could very well have been passed off as Quake 4 (which is actually being produced as I write, using - you've guessed it - the Doom 3 graphics engine). Next Page >

PN Game Reviews: Doom 3 > 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9

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