Final Score 70%

The Good: The graphics are amazing and the sound is solid.

The Bad: Basically a return to Doom style gameplay... That is ok, but it also a bit tired. 

Reviewers Tilt: The story was nothing special, as expected from a DOOM game, the fact that it plays like a linear game but somehow hides it well is pretty cool. The lack of any brain usage, as in no puzzles or anything, at any time forced you to use the environment to find your way and somewhat shortend the game.

Avid Gamer Recommended System: 1.5GHz or higher CPU, 512MB ram, and a 128mb DX9 video card.

id Software's highly anticipated DOOM 3 marks a turning point in 3D games and game engines. It's a first person shooter that’s chocked full of features such as fully-dynamic lighting with no predetermined light maps. I've been waiting for a game like this for some time now...and it's finally here, after four years in the making. Was it worth the wait though? Some people say yes, others no. I'd like to refer to a article in the latest GMR magazine that said, "Anyone who expects it to be a technical masterpiece will assuredly come away impressed. But anyone who expects it to be equally amazing in the gameplay department might well wonder where the last four years went."

The Storyline is a stand-alone story, so if you never played the original DOOM or DOOM 2, don’t worry, it starts fresh. Even if it was a follow up it still wouldn't make much of a difference whether or not you've played the previous DOOMs, DOOM 3 wasn’t made for the story. You play as a regular U.S. Marine that is sent to the UAC (United Aerospace Corporation) to help replace some of the marines put on leave for psychological disorders because of strange things at the base. Once there, its not long before hell breaks loose and its a dark, scary, frag fest to the end. Since DOOM 3's story is a retelling of the original its not to surprising that the original ideas stay true. You are one marine with big guns going from section A to section B blasting away a whole lot of zombies and demons along the way. You do have a big, and i might say VERY big, reason to continue on...thats if you have a x800 pro (if you know what i mean).

If you bought this game you got it for mainly one BIG reason...THE GRAPHICS!! and there, my friend, the game delivers... it delivers hard. If you have the hardware to play the game as it was meant to be played (forget about those minimum system requirements) then you will be in awe of the level of detail in this game. It is amazing. Bump mapping galore, and as for the aspect of detail, there is an amazing amount crammed into the game. For example, id wrote thousands of lines of code just for the interactive computer screens throughout the game alone! The game is said to favor nVidia graphics cards a little more then ATI, being that nVidia has greater OpenGL support and ATI having better Direct3D support. I played the game on a raddy 9700 pro and it ran fine considering its no 6800 Ultra or anything of the sort. Theres also been a tweak by "Humus" and driver Hotfix released from ATI which is said to boost ATI's performance in DOOM 3 by up to 40%. You can find out more information on this by doing a search in google for "doom 3 humus tweak".

If you liked the gameplay of the original Dooms than your going to love DOOM 3, walk around and have something jump out at you then...after you change your pants...you shoot it up...proceeding to find the next in a series on PDA clues (E-Mails and voice recordings) left behind from dead UAC workers and scientists hinting at where to go next. This may sound a little on the boring side, but you have to remember you have freaky sounds and genuinely scary monsters lurking within every shadow to keep your attention.

The weapons are reminiscent of the previous games...you got your pistol, shotgun, machine gun, chain gun, rocket launcher, ect.. with the exception of the BFG or "Big F$%*ing Gun" which is a blast to use I might add, and the "Soul Cube" (youre gonna have to play the game to find out what these are all about). The weapon modeling is outstanding, as well as their designs. Each one, with the exception of the pistol, is fun to use in their own ways.

Now if you have played the game then you've probably noticed how dark the game is. Its really dark I mean dark, dark, dark. You'll be screaming "It's year 2145 and this guy can't find some ducktape to attach the flashlight to the shotgun!" But I must say, it might get a little annoying as you get further into the game, but if makes it MUCH scarier. You don't know whats gonna jump out at you or when, and I love it!

If you are a DOOM head that likes that run around, shoot things, and then procede to the next level only to run and gun some more, then you'll probably love this game. If you like to take your time playing and engaging in the storyline and looking for a good gameplay experience, you might have found DOOM 3 to have fallen a little short. The big talk is that DOOM 3 is really nothing more then a Tech Demo from id. I agree and disagree with that, it does mainly just showcase a new engine and better graphics then we've seen, but it was a fun game to play as well. Early on, the scare factor in this game is incredible. I found the hair on my arms standing up on many occasions. For me it was mostly like a really really good Haunted House...but see I love that, I can't get enough of good scary games. We'll just have to see how it holds up to the other next-generation games out this year....cough*half life 2*cough.

The game has great graphics, physics, sound, and a decent gameplay experience.

Be sure to check out the second opinion on the right...