DOOM 3 Under the Microscope
By Ryan Treit
Several months ago, I sat in my bedroom at my then current apartment while staring at the same monitor I'm looking at now. Only then, I was greeted by a blank page and a severe case of writer's block. I couldn't get an angle on any piece on my deadline plate, and frustration was beginning to brew.
Then, my door swung open, and the grinning face of my oft somber roommate shone through from the doorway.
"DOOM 3® is out."
"Yeah, but not until midnight, I don't think."
"Nah, I just called <censored>, and they have a couple copies left."
The question didn't even need to be asked. I was up from my chair with keys in hand in a flash, and 40 minutes later (thanks to some interminable gridlock traffic), we pulled into the parking lot. I wasn't driving, so I quickly jumped out and burst into the store, a crazed purpose radiating on my face.
The greeter guy at the door made some remark, but my response was only a grumbled, "Where is it?" I knew where the PC games were kept, and I made a bee-line to that location. Alas! Nothing was there. I despaired, but only for a blessed moment, as a kindly employee informed me that they were keeping the copies in a display up front.
I dashed to the described location, saw the display from the back, whipped around it, and nearly cried out as I beheld its vacant shelves.
Some sutures will clear that right up.
Fully dejected, I shuffled on over to the console games to look for a title I had to cover the next week. But, as I rounded the corner, I spotted my roommate gliding towards me with huge grin plastered on his mug … playfully tossing a copy of DOOM 3up into the air!
My singular goal had obscured me from looking anywhere but the PC games section, so as I barreled through the store, he had come on in and plucked the last copy of the garish display case planted right in front of the entrance.
So ends the saga of buying DOOM 3 on the day of launch, but luckily, not even the joy of purchasing the last copy could match the pleasure of playing the game.
DOOM 3 and its famed creators, id Software, have always been known for pushing the technological envelope. TheDOOM games have consistently provided us with graphic marvels, and while the environments and characters on display inDOOM 3 are unarguably among the best of the bestever, it is the cohesive way in which they've been presented to create an authentic and very convincing world that is so utterly amazing.
Level design, art design, sound design, and sheer technological horsepower have merged to create an experience unique only toDOOM 3.
They make the most disconcerting sound.
First, we must note for those unaware that DOOM 3 is ostensibly a first-person shooter (FPS), but that it's also a survival-horror game in the purest sense of the genre. It's a unique blend that doesn't often come together, but it's with this goal of instilling terror and tension that the full presentation ofDOOM 3 glows so bright.
The examples of its prowess are nearly endless, as each moment is filled with them until you finish the game—and even then a replay will reward you with so many more subtle touches that you didn't notice the first time around—but here are a few examples.
What's That They're Saying?
Upon first arriving at the Mars station, you would do well to take your time with your first objective (reporting to the sergeant in charge). If you do, you'll hear all manner of self-mutterings and paranoid conversation, as the employees of the installation voice their fears of the unknown. They whisper their desperate need to get off the base. They voice their concern about their missing comrades. They talk of strange voices in the dark. The bits and pieces of fragmented dialogue you pick up build the tension of unrealized fears beautifully. It sets the mood.
Hints of What's to Come
While in-game cinematics are included to tell the story, DOOM 3 takes its immersion factor very seriously, and much of the plot and story is uncovered realistically throughout the game. You'll find PDAs scattered throughout the station, and many of them include a voiced logbook. While they're mostly concerned with reporting their work status, you'll get little snippets of worry or even descriptions of strange events. You'll also find vital information amongst the PDAs (e.g. the code to a weapons locker).
I'm guessing it's not a vegetarian.
"The Devil Is Real"
When you finally reach your first major objective (finding a missing scientist in the bowels of the station), you're given your first glimpse at the true darkness that lies lurking throughout the station. The scientist is gibbering and fearful, but he gives you one line, perfectly delivered, that sets the tone for what's to come. As he stands there waiting for the inevitable, he desperately states: "The devil is real. I know, I built his cage."
Let the Madness Begin
After finding the scientist, the station plunges into darkness, as Hell itself begins to encroach upon it. As you fight your way back through the station, you'll hear the desperate cries of your fellow marines. You'll hear their panicked orders crackle through your communicator. You'll hear their desperate screams as some unknown horror slays them. You'll hear a constant string of tense replies to command, and you'll hear their fear grow with each passing moment.
You'll also hear the demonic cackling around you, the subtle whispering from the now prevalent shadows. The sound itself is frightening, but it's the overloading assault on your aural senses that's just plain disconcerting.
Sights and Sounds of Pure Evil
As you progress, you'll be privy to any number of small scripted events that help build the terror around you. You may see an elevator door open, but then stall as some unknown creature appears, pulling a shrieking scientist behind him, only to devour them off-screen before you can help.
You'll see the dangling mutilated body of a fellow soldier hanging from almost organic looking wires. You'll hear a voice from above cry out for you to help and drop a ladder for you to climb to him.
You'll see a scientist pushed to his death by a demon imp as he pleads for your help. (I've never been fast enough to get to him.) You'll also be privy to demonic visions, as the screen reddens and pulses, and you're given glimpses into the true horror that lurks all around you.
The sights and sounds of these visions are so disturbing that a proper explanation cannot be told. You must simply see and hear them to believe them.
DOOM 3 is filled with so much rich detail and terrifying presentation that it's nigh impossible to fully describe. You must experience it first hand. Truth be told, that's exactly whatDOOM 3 is: an experience.
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