I finally finished Doom 3. That doesn’t explain where I was for nearly all of July but it does pretty much cover August. I don’t think I’ve ever been as relieved to finish a game as I have with this one. I’m pretty much admitting that I’m a sissy here, but that was a nerve wracking game. Screenshots don’t really do it justice, conveying only the obvious fact that it’s really really dark. What they don’t really show is the way that the few sources of light realistically move and cast shadows. When well illuminated, most of the creatures in the game look amazingly detailed but more cheesy than scary. However, the way that they tend to hurl themselves out of the surrounding shadows at you never failed to make me jump. Most disturbing though may have been the sound, which featured no music but just unsettling ambient noises ranging from metallic groans and clanks to demonic laughter, hisses, and cries. The level of atmosphere created was impressive, and more than made up for the somewhat repetitive style of gameplay. The team at id games did a great job, though I figure that they owe me several pairs of clean underwear at this point.
Comments
Comment by Neal on 2004-08-24 07:55:42 +0000
I still think that the scariest thing ever in a video game was when an imp in the original Doom somehow snuck up behind you and started scratching you. That scratching noise was enough to cause nightmares.
If anyone could outdo that, it would have to be the guys at id.
Comment by Phil on 2004-08-24 11:12:51 +0000
Yeah, I agree.
By the way, did you think that the Hell level was kinda sissy? I was expecting it to be the whole second half of the game and was also expecting it to be ten times creepier than it was. There are parts in the Mars base that are creepier than anything seen in Hell…
Soul Cube, anyone? The little noise and animation that thing makes when it’s bored makes me jump every time…
Comment by Will on 2004-08-24 18:53:42 +0000
Yeah, ironically Hell was pretty relaxing compared to the rest of the game. Brightly lit and not a twitching impaled corpse to be found. Also the last boss wasn’t challenging enough. It looked impressive but was too weak. Oh well. Time to wait for some good multiplayer mods to come along.