| Doom 3 does exactly what a game is supposed to do, exactly what its grandpappy did: It grabs the first-person shooter genre by the balls and hoists it up to the next level. Yeah, it demands you prepare your system for the next generation of gaming, but it also rewards you like a sweet sweet lover. If John Carmack had promised to make me his bitch, he'd have been well within his rights.
When last we left the series, our unnamed Marine hero had successfully saved Earth from a horde of pixellicious demons. Despite the number in the title, Doom 3 really goes back to the original Doom for its storyline: Our unnamed Marine hero arrives on Mars as part of a very small troop rotation and almost immediately finds himself, well, knee-deep in the dead. It's no spoiler to say scientists in the employ of the monolithic UAC have been tampering outside God's domain.
What's interesting is that Doom 3 creates a sort of circle with titles it inspired. The first mission, a menial task, serves as the introduction a la the monorail ride in Half-Life (albeit not nearly as extensive). Throughout the game you'll find PDAs that move the story forward, shades of System Shock 2. And speaking of SS2, that creepy Hellish biomass sure reminds me of a certain worm growth.
I was a bit surprised to find myself nodding at these features. It's like Doom is gathering its children for a final special appearance. (And yeah, rumor has it this is the last Doom game – right up until those first sales numbers came in, I expect).
More surprising is the gameplay. The early Doom titles were blastfests, back in the day when even a jump command was a novelty and the software really couldn't let you do much more than plow ahead, firing like mad. I expected to see something like Painkiller, and instead was surprised and pleased to find Doom 3 requires quick thinking and tactical savvy. The rule of the day here is to peer around corners, check your six at all times and pay close attention to the ambient noise.
Reason number one is the lighting. Or lack thereof. Carmack spent years developing a lighting system that looks just about as lifelike as possible, and shows it off by forcing you to rely on your flashlight to get around. At first, I was annoyed as, well, Hell. System Shock 2 did a great job of creating dread in sterile, brightly lit environments (the Stanley Kubrick effect). Doom 3 is more like one of those Halloween haunted houses: With the lights on, you'd probably see all the surprises coming from a mile away. But by turning off the lights and making the flashlight separate from weapons, you get some very tense moments. I'm thinking of one pitch-black room where I was ambushed by zombies; I had to aim my shotgun based on their growls and split-second bursts of flashlight.
By the way, don't ever assume you've cleared a room. Just when you think it's safe, hidden doors disgorge zombies or demons teleport in. Spend too much time looking forward and you'll miss the guy behind you. That said, the AI isn't nearly as fearsome as rumored. Some opponents use tactics for self-preservation, but most just come straight at you.
Still, I have never come close to peeing my pants so many times as while playing this game.
Yes, the graphics engine is phenomenal. Yes, it's demanding as a sorority girlfriend. My rig is just months old, and I can only play on the medium graphics setting. And yet I can't even imagine how much more lifelike the higher-level graphics are. I get no noticeable lag during battle, even while taking on multiple opponents.
I like that the horror aspect is played up this time around. You're not just plopped into the middle of a demon fight. Heck, some of the journal entries picked up while exploring reminded me of Stephen King's stories, with reports of usually inanimate objects exhibiting animalistic behavior. These journals (and e-mail logs contained within) provide hints for surviving the level and sometimes reveal codes for equipment lockers chock full of weapony goodness.
I do have some quibbles. First, and most petty, why doesn't our hero talk? Usually that's because they want an avatar that could be any player, but cutscenes here clearly show the Marine as a white male. Second, and almost as petty, the darkness does grind after a bit. There were times I wanted just one well-lit room so I could relax my eyes. The biggest problem will be the steep requirements. Serious gamers will have the goods, of course, but casual players will want to either wait and upgrade or get the Xbox version.
Shooters have, for me, been secondary in my heart to tactical games. Well, Doom 3 is changing that. I like to be scared, and I like those scares to be clever, and in providing them Doom 3 has reclaimed the throne its forebears forged. | 
