Love Doom 3 fervently since it came out - I hacked the early flahslight for weapons mod into a full 180 degrees light - and replay the BFG update with greatest gusto every few years.

Last couple times and forever on, in excellent VR with K&M for Doom 3 BFG (Fully Possessed mod, includes the ROE dlc).

Plus I played the amazing Phobos new story mod this august: 3rd part came out on moddb.

Burrito of Peace wrote on Sep 2, 2024, 08:45:
I think Doom 3's biggest sin is that it is largely forgettable. Sure, there was the flashlight mod thing and the monster closet thing. But, generally, people don't mention how great the game felt to play or that it was even interesting. That same year Half-Life 2 was released and that game was and is mentioned much more frequently since its release.

I went back and played Doom 3 about 4 years ago on a system that laughed at the system requirements. It's an uninteresting game that doesn't mesh with its disparate parts. It just didn't feel like a Doom game. As a series, Doom wouldn't return to form until 2016's release of Doom.

I'm with you. It felt like a brilliant engine ahead of its time, with gameplay that couldn't figure out what to be. Gameplay felt like it was trying to be Half Life, from the plot and presentation, rather than a Doom game. Combine that with closets that open when you pick up armor in an anotherwise empty room and it was just... I remember PC Gamer or CGW did a 12 page spread, with a fantastic review score, and it was the first time I realized they definitely traded embargo for coverage. They were the only ones to have the review that early. I was so incredibly disappointed by it.

Doom 3 helped make Half-Life 2 feel epic. HL2 released a couple months later and the difference in level design and gameplay was so stark, it made subtle HL2 innovations feel more substantial.

All these years later, I can recall a couple jump scares from Doom 3. But I can sketch out level design and how to solve puzzles in HL2.

I think Doom 3's biggest sin is that it is largely forgettable. Sure, there was the flashlight mod thing and the monster closet thing. But, generally, people don't mention how great the game felt to play or that it was even interesting. That same year Half-Life 2 was released and that game was and is mentioned much more frequently since its release.

I went back and played Doom 3 about 4 years ago on a system that laughed at the system requirements. It's an uninteresting game that doesn't mesh with its disparate parts. It just didn't feel like a Doom game. As a series, Doom wouldn't return to form until 2016's release of Doom.

VaranDragon wrote on Sep 2, 2024, 02:35:
... PC that could run it properly in all it's glory

* its

I tried getting back into it and just couldn't. I don't think I even made it halfway through before I uninstalled the game. I didn't mind the more slower paced horror vibes, but it just didn't click for me. There was something off about the game and it got boring really fast.

Fully agree. The game was simply boring as fuck. The levels were way too samey and went on forever with no variation, little enemy variety as well, no "story" worth mentioning but just boring predictable audio logs, no exploration because it was as linear as could be, yada, yada, yada. Just an all around unremarkable game.

And the "horror" did not work for me at all (never does in games). The scripted jump "scares" were very predictable and when you are armed to the teeth then the only ones who should be afraid are the fucking monsters who are going to get their fucking stupid faces and dumb asses blasted to smithereens.

I probably stand alone with my viewpoint but apart from doom 1 (Which I never completed without idkfa and iddqd), I was not a fan of doom nor quake. I preferred the duke nukem and shadow warrior games for their style and lighting *albeit inferior engines. I played quake fortess and rocket arena but that was about it. Half life and mods was my bread and butter for a long time. I didnt bother with doom 3.

An important and misunderstood engine. Plug for The Dark Mod, truly standing on its own:-
http://www.thedarkmod.com/

I agree with pretty much what everyone said here. It's one of those games that I bought at launch, had problems running, then shelved it. Once I got a decent enough PC that could run it properly in all it's glory I tried getting back into it and just couldn't. I don't think I even made it halfway through before I uninstalled the game. I didn't mind the more slower paced horror vibes, but it just didn't click for me. There was something off about the game and it got boring really fast.

Silent Bob wrote on Sep 1, 2024, 21:50:
I wanted to like it when it came out but just couldn't get into a dark, cramped, corridor shooter. The design was outdated compared to the large map team based fps games of the time. Their competition had moved on.

Doom 3 wasn't competing with large map team based fps games. If that's what you wanted, then you weren't in the target audience,.

I wanted to like it when it came out but just couldn't get into a dark, cramped, corridor shooter. The design was outdated compared to the large map team based fps games of the time. Their competition had moved on.

MoreLuckThanSkill wrote on Sep 1, 2024, 14:30:
Doom 3's lighting engine was amazing, unfortunately the lighting implementation, level design, etc. were mediocre or worse.

L take.

It was fun but clearly a John Carmack tech demo. Glad he had fun making it. No flashlight on the shotgun for you.

I never understood the criticism of this game. Yes, it was its own thing and different from the originals. It was amazing for what it was. It had amazing immersive graphics and a creepy atmosphere. I really enjoyed it upon release and again when I replayed it a few years ago.

I guess the basic idea for Doom 3 was to build levels with groundbreaking new graphics and then to turn off the lights so that noone can admire them.

Kajetan wrote on Sep 1, 2024, 13:19:
Is it though?

Exactly!



And the answer is: NOPE. More bullshit from PC Gamer. Par for the course these days.

And really noticable monster closets. (Doom had always had them but the change better graphics made them feel worse)

I enjoyed it when it came out. Great atmosphere and great sound. The unified lighting engine was a huge leap forward, but also felt limiting in many ways. The performance limited the game design significantly: lower poly counts than we were used to, you couldn't have huge open areas, and you couldn't fight huge swarms of monsters at the same time. The lighting would have benefited greatly from something like ambient occlusion, but the tech just wasn't there yet. So you ended up with tight corridors, total darkness everywhere, and the same monsters constantly popping out behind behind you. The sharp-edged shadows were immersion-breaking in a lot of places 'cuz our brains *know* that's not how light works in the real world.

The technology was just a bit too early for D3 to be something truly remarkable.

The other issue is that the last few id games relied heavily on the modding scene, I don't remember Doom 3 mods ever taking off like they had with Q2 or Q3. I suspect performance limitations were a big contributing factor. Fans of Doom and Doom 2 may have been pretty disappointed, because D3's pacing was slower.

Doom 3's lighting engine was amazing, unfortunately the lighting implementation, level design, etc. were mediocre or worse.

I played Farcry before Doom 3 and it was a more exciting look and feel at the time.

Is it though?