Another web Doom 3 review

[thinkjose]

And another 9.4 from http://www.pgnx.net/reviews.php?page=full&id=5561

[SupaTroopa]

Gamespot gave it an 8.5, over-all kind of a disappointment.

[Mr. Natural]

Gamespot gave it an 8.5, over-all kind of a disappointment.
I read that review and I think the reviewer (Greg Kasavin) has missed some of the points of it being a GAME.
Here's a quote from the review:
Why would a 22nd-century space marine be sent into action in a darkly lit area without night vision goggles of some sort, or even a helmet? Why wouldn't any of his weapons have light-amplification modules built into them when even today's weapons frequently do? Why, instead, is he stuck carrying around a very weak flashlight with unlimited battery life? Why is he unable to hold a gun and the flashlight at the same time?
There are some publications which do reviews in which I tend to disagree with the reviewer because they are taking the job of critic too serious and overlook the overall intention of a video game being just that, a video game. While some of the other points the reviewer made in the game may be valid and worthy of mentioning, it will be seen down the road whether these are worthy complaints noticeable by the overall gaming community.
It may very well be a mediocre game in game play, but I believe there is more to this game than just gameplay. It is more of an experience and as Carmack games always are, preludes of things to come in the gaming world.

For those who are interested on keeping tabs on reviews of the game, check 'em out here. (http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/469881.asp) You'll see Gamespot's review is the lowest score among them all.

[Tom Servo]

OMG! I CAN'T BELEIVE HOW A FUTURISTIC GAME ABOUT DEMONS SPAWNING FROM HELL CAN BE UNREALSTIC!!11ONE11

[GodsInHisHeaven]

Hi,
well ... the reviewer Greg Kasavin seems to be nuts :joker: .
Doom 3 is the best game i have ever played ( in case of 3d shooters of course :shades: )
Why should a company which tries to save money in all aspects give a normal security guard nightgoogles ..... hey buddy afraid of aliens down in the labs ? hahaha :wink: .

[Rob]

I think Tom has the right idea. If Greg was reviewing a Ghost Recon game where realism is the intention, I would agree with his statement and expect a knock to the points. But this is Doom, an arcade shooter. Kasavin has been panned all over the place these past few years... isn't he a big reason we left Gamespot to begin with?

The only time I ever head to Gamespot now is when Gamefaqs has an interesting link to them.

[Nyghtfall]

That excerpt from Kasavin's review brings to mind countless debates I used to read about Star Trek, on FidoNet. People complained about various aspects of the science while constantly ignoring the fact that it was a fictional show.

The funny thing is, good reviews or no, I was a huge, huge, HUGE FPS fan for as long as I can remember. Doom 3 is finally on store shelves, and I still couldn't care less about it.

[bobbigboote]

I think the realism isn't exactly the point.

He's bitching about realism but that's the symptom, not the problem.

1- The problem is that this game has great graphics that you can't see half the time because it's too dark. What a waste of a great graphics engine and monster models! Darkness does not equal scary. I've been scared playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein and it's rarely dark! It's also a lot more enjoyable.

2- It gets pretty tedious having to waste time switching back and forth between gun and flashlight. It's like the designers said, "Hey! How can we make the user have to press more keys more often while they are playing? I know! Let's make em switch between the ability to see and the ability to fire! Gamers love to press keys so it'll be lots more fun that way!"

3- The switching and darkness slow the game down a LOT. The old Doom was great because it was a fast paced frag fest. This one is more like Resident Evil. It's too bad with all the cheat codes there isn't one for "Turn on the damn lights!"

Honestly I've waited for this game a long time and I don't regret buying it. But I've had it a day and I'm already getting bored with it. I may not even bother to finish it. I definitely will never replay it. Games like Half Life, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Call of Duty...these I've played through multiple times. Doom 3 will only get hauled out again for demos of my video card.

[Gaim Mastr]

Ahh.... my old buddy Greg Kasavin.

*feels bowel movement coming on*


I've read several reports of gamers not liking how dark the game is. There should be gamma settings in the game's options. If not, you may be able to adjust the gamma settings on your vid card. Failing all of that, you could always just turn up the brightness on your monitor.

So there are things to help improve visibility. But keep in mind that the devs intended it to be dark for added scare factor. So you may not want to brighten the screen up too much.

[Tom Servo]

I was much more bored by RTCW's SP than Doom 3. I've got no problems with the pace, games evolve. It's not fair to compare Doom 3 to Resident Evil, they aren't similer at all. I don't mind the flashlight, it adds suspense when you have to shoot in the dark etc. I'm lazy, but I'm not too lazy to press a button.

While I love the dark setting etc, it'd be nice if they did have the OCCASIONAL brightly lit space, for a change of pace...

[Dwango]

I think some people are missing the point. The darkness of the game is not a shortcoming of the game, but a feature of the graphics engine. For years, games have had darkness in them, but its easily defeated with the gamma, as the light shading is faked. What ID has done is used pixel shading to create true darkness. A moving creature can now be fully hidden by darkness since it becomes the color of darkness. And, conversly, a bright light will make a surface truly white, as in real life. Add to this complex textures that can use light in different ways, creating blinding glares on flat surefaces and softer sheens on rough surfaces.

As for the flashlight, Its a tool to create tension. You have to search carefully with your gun at your side. I don't see it as the big problem others have had, as it adds to the tension.

But I have begun to realize there are some real shortcomings of this game that must be considered:

1. The game has limited replayability. The single player gets repetetive and I doubt most people would want to go through the game more than once.

2. Multiplayer is really weak. Not very good maps and weak net-code could kill this for future player.

The multiplayer really surprises me as that was the major feature of Doom 2 that made it the killer apps of their generartion. I could play against other people with little lag or in a lan party.

[GodsInHisHeaven]

I think most people play it in wrong circumstances.
U have to play it at night to get a real feal for horror :joker: .
Btw the biggest game magazine in germany gave only 87 % to doom 3 and 90 % to far cry .... thats a joke in my view, doom 3 is better in every aspect except of outdoor levels ... :mad: . (I will never buy a issue again)
:doa: .

[Cronus]

PC Gamer here gave Doom3 90% and Farcry 92%...

Haven't played the full games of either, so meh.

[Gary V.]

I think they'll patch up the mp to include better net code, more maps, and extend the mp beyond 4 players. I think they put the mp to the side to concentrate on getting the game out before HL2.

One complaint I agree with is the weapons not feeling robust or beefy enough.

[phaelanx]

I posted in the other DOOM3 intial response forum about some of the blah blah stuff..

If i might say, I agree with everyone who beleives the flash light is a suspense factor in the game, even if tedious when searching for that extra health pack in the deepest darkest corner, and boom monster munches your head, your vision goes blurry while switching to your last weapon, and realize it was your fists because you used mouse wheel to pull out your weapon, so you have to be munched on again while pulling out your shotty.
-remededy for this, perhaps ID could patch the game, and alow the pistol to be held in the primary hand (right hand) and the flashlight in the left. So when your searching around corners and you see a spooooder (spider) you just hit it twice and it dies. But then you try it again, and you realize its a manscorpion or something and a pistol wont cut it, so you will either have to become the flash, or pull out your chainy.
Nuff sed about the flashling issue... more to come in another post.

[phaelanx]

There were two greatly anticipated games for the past 4years or so... That was Doom3 and HL2.
HL2 put alot of thier time in effort in to simulating real world manipulation of objects and AI.
Doom3 wanted to make superb eye candy and an experience no one has every really had while playing a FPS. Many compare D3 to Resident Evil because for an FPS it isn't as fast paced as its predacesors. You now have to stop and look in corners for that health pack so you can get your health outta the red. Or find that PDA that has the clearnece you need, or the door code to get some ammo outta a darn closet.
Beyond this, the game has an excelent graphics engine, I never really followed up on whether ID made this engine from scratch or transformed an existing engine, someone else might want to respond to that. I figgure with the time it took to make the darn game they might as well have made a new engine. Anyways, graphically its reveloutinary, so boku points for that. I had to buy a new graphics card 2 days after getting the game. Im sure many had to do that.
Anyways point being, Resident Evil was an adventure/action game, not an FPS, Doom3 is, its just got the twist of having to stop for a moment and let your heart rate drop a little bit. Even with the highly scripted sorta charge/nook the player atitude of the monsters, there many ocasions that have caught me with my guard down, and i would have to load my game.
So fooey on those who have been mislead by thier ignorance about the game being bad. Im not saying its high on my list to replay the day that i beat it. But maybe a month later or what ever.
And Definately score one for ID for a mega hit, perhaps they could make a new game series built on thier new fancy engine, that isn't horrorfyied but more frag fest like UT2k5, but less carebear than UT...

[SupaTroopa]

It's just highly unbelieveable that someone can't hold a pistol in one hand and a small flashlight in the other.

I for one sure as hell wouldn't be walking around in dark corridors filled to the brim with crazed aliens with my pistol in my pocket.

Bad game decision, no matter how it's spinned...miner's hats are not that expensive, or rare, they've been using them since God knows when.

I don't think it's about laziness or tension (tension can be created just the same with a head lamp and the engine's technology).

---------------

Edit: There's a MOD out already that gives you a "sentry" that has a lamp and also helps kill monsters for you (wonder if that's optional). I'll be interested to hear how this works with the game.

Doom 3 Sentry MOD (http://dlx.gamespot.com/pc/doom3/moreinfo_6104274.html)

[Kalbrecht]

Yeah, but there's "realism", and there's "game design".

In realism (even accepting demons, monsters and the idea that a man can carry 5+ weapons and ammo, including a rocket launcher) yes, they can't get away with it. Most games cannot get away with shoddy design mistakes like that.

However - this is much more a conscious game design decision to limit the player's effectiveness by making them have to choose between light, and effective defense. I fail to see how this is different from having the ability to carry enough weapons to deal with any situation, or finding instant health packs. They are decisions made because it is a game, nothing more - the player has to continue in the design structure chosen by the producer. A game which does this, and still fails, has serious problems, but a game that does this effectively is another kettle of fish.

Additionally, unlike the original days of Doom, it's a lot harder to push the same number of enemies at the player (plus, other games like Painkiller and Serious Sam make a living off doing that). So they need other tools to make us uncomfortable.

[SupaTroopa]

I get the reasoning behind it, but maybe for a level or two...after that it would just get old I would think.

Doom was never about adventure or survial horror elements really, it was an action game, health packs and carrying a lot of weight are widely accepted staples in games and have been for a long time - the original Doom being one of them. I just think this was a poor choice, there's nothing complicated about what they decided to do, it's just an engine specific effect that's focused on by using a flashlight to show off the lighting.....throughout the entire game apparently.

That's obviously just my opinion and I don't mean to be argumentative at all, just disappointed a bit I guess, I like Doom just as much as anyone else. And the MOD above should hopefully make it more enjoyable.

[Torsion]

I think the flashlight is brilliant. Perhaps it is illogical, but it makes the player choose between visibility and defense. For example, a player can go check a corner for health and ammo, but if he uses his flashlight the player will be totally vulnerable to an ambush. This creates awesome fear and tension.

I think the gamespot review is too harsh. The game deserves a 10 for sound. The ambient sounds and voice acting are superb and the monsters are truly frightening. The value should be higher because the game is nearly as long as farcry. Its one of the longest fps to come out in recent memory. Also, the game is scary, at least for me. How can that guy say its predictable?

I think doom 3 is the best game I have played in a long time. Its better than that overrated farcry and deserves to be played by everyone.

[Logan]

Doesn't Gamespot say an 8.5 is "Great"? It might not be Editor's Choice, but they still say it's "Great." And at the end of the review, Kasavin himself admits that it is a fantastic game that is worth buying. I personally don't blame him for nitpicking like that. He had to fill three pages, what was he going to say? You can only say the graphics are spectacular so many times before it gets boring. We don't need a review to tell us the graphics are amazing, we've seen screenshots. The graphics are obviously the main appeal to the game. Sure, a lot of people do love the game graphics aside, but it certainly wouldn't be the same without the visual excellence. But even with that, what's a reviewer to do? We know the graphics are great - I think Greg was trying to tell us what isn't so great about the game. An again, an 8.5 is a "Great" score.

Also, I think the lower score for sound is when compared to everything else of the game. It is clearly VERY polished, and with a four year development time, it's ENTIRELY reasonable to have high expectations.

On that note, I probably won't buy this game. Judging from what I've been hearing, I won't even finish it. I tend to lose interest in games very quickly, especially those that don't do much to keep my interest. Games like Max Payne and NOLF (my all-time favorite game, ever) kept my interest every single step of the way. NOLF especially offered varied environments, exotic locales, tons of characters, and a unique spy story. I remember buying the game, years ago, on a complete whim, and being so incredibly surprised by it. The major thing keeping me from buying Doom 3 is it's apparent lack of variety. Flashlight, see a demon, gun, shoot, flashlight. I would get tired of that after the second level. It also sounds very Alien vs Predator 2 to me, as well. I liked AvP2, but I found myself having to force myself to actually play the marine campaign, not because it was all that scary (although the beginning certainly was), but because it was so depressing to look at.

So with that, I'm really looking forward to the next NOLF - I don't mean a NOLF3 (I have no idea if they are making one - but if they are, I would certainly be a happy person!). I mean an FPS with style, one that will reinvigorate the genre. That's what NOLF did for me like four years ago. I'll hold my purchases until a game can do that again.