C gamers the world over have been eagerly counting down the days to id Software’s Doom 3 and for good reason.  Never before has an FPS packed so much action into one title yet attained a level of sheer creepiness.  Well today I managed to get my hands on a copy of the game and walk away from my short time with Doom 3 thoroughly impressed.  First of all, you wont’ find a more visually stunning PC title on the market.  Second of all, you won’t find a more engrossing and gripping gameplay experience on the PC either.  Heck, I’d even go as far as to say that the title rivals the presentation offerings of what you would find on a home console.  But, be careful.  There are demons and other foul monsters lurking about and if you’re not careful you’ll be dead before you know it.

The story in Doom 3 opens with you, the hero, arriving on the UAC space colony on Mars.  The UAC is a sort of catch all corporation, dabbling in things like space exploration and mining.  Lately, however, the company has been tinkering around with things a little less savory, including genetic research.  Your welcome on the colony is no bit party, either.  The very first day you arrive the entire colony goes to Hell, literally.  A strange portal opens up as a result of a botched experiment and strange apparitions fly about, reanimating the dead as well as teleporting in hideous demons and other monsters.  Despite your greenhorn status, you end up being one of only a few survivors in the entire colony and as a result, are given the task of trying to find more survivors as well as get to the bottom of what exactly is going on at the colony. 

Most of the gameplay in Doom 3 is nothing you haven’t seen before in any other FPS.  Moving around and using your weapons follows standard FPS conventions.  Movement is default set to either the arrow keys or the old WASD layout and firing and changing weapons is mapped to the left mouse button and the mouse wheel.  In those regards Doom 3 doesn’t offer up much surprise.  There are some features, however, that do add a bit of spice to the overall package.  The first is your PDA, a handy little device that allows you to store mission objectives as well as download and read or listen to crew reports.  These come in all sorts of forms, including things like work reports and more personal diaries.  As diversions they’re pretty entertaining and offer up a nice opportunity to piece together some of what’s going on around you one snippet at a time.  They also come into play when it comes to door lock mechanisms.  The UAC colony isn’t open so every Tom, Dick, and Harry can waltz around to their hearts content.  Many of the doors that you’ll run across are locked and require you to track down PDA information from certain crewmen.  Given the fact that most of the crewmen are already dead, you’ll find their info scattered about through the levels.  Once you’ve gained the required information, the door will open.

The second neat feature of Doom 3 is the flashlight, which you tote around along with your compliment of weapons.  Most of the levels in Doom 3 are saturated in darkness, which spells hell for you and heaven for your demonic enemies.  Since the UAC colony has gone haywire many of the lighting systems in the base are malfunctioning, shedding most areas and rooms in almost total darkness.  Using your flashlight you’re able to sneak your way around, although the light that it sheds pretty much forces you to take it slow and steady.  Although it may seem like a gimmick, the flashlight is an invaluable tool that gamers should really get the hang of from the start.  Not only does it give you the opportunity to sometimes get the drop on an unsuspecting zombie or monster, it also gives you the chance to score some valuable ammo and armor.  Since the levels in the game are filled with all sorts of nooks and crannies (which many enemies will leap out from), there’s a wealth of handy items to find simply by poking around and searching with your flashlight.  But while necessary, the flashlight also can be a detriment.  Enemies will react to the light by approaching it, so if you’re looking to stay concealed running into a room with the light on will usually give away your position pretty quickly.

While I’ve only had the chance to play the game for a few hours, I’ve also run into a nice assortment of weapons, each of which serves a unique purpose.  You start off the game with a pistol, which can hold 12 rounds.  Later on you’ll run into a shotgun as well as a machine gun and chaingun.  The pistol is your basic utility weapon and although it doesn’t pack much of a punch you’ll undoubtedly fall back on it when you’re running low on other ammo.  The shotgun, naturally, is adept at close range combat and not many enemies can handle a point black shot from its barrel.  The machine gun is more suited towards infantry enemies and has a pretty high rate of fire, although continuous fire can cause the gun to lose accuracy.  The chaingun is the mother of all bullet-driven firearms and is capable of dishing out severe damage, although it eats through ammo like nobody’s business and takes a second or two to warm up when you first start firing.  Besides these weapons you’ll run across some series favorites like the BFG as well as the cool Soul Cube, a weapon that can harness the power of defeated demons and then unleash them in a super attack.

While I was a bit worried awhile back that the game would feature too much “creep and explore” gameplay, I’m happy to report that while there are portions of slow, almost methodical exploration, there are also insane bouts of action.  Enemies are relentless and once you’re spotted they’ll pursue you until either you or they are dead.  This isn’t a surprising feature for an FPS, but Doom 3 ups the ante by sporting some pretty killer AI.  Enemies won’t just stand still and let you circle around them.  If they catch wind of you they’ll use the environment to their favor.  Gun-toting zombie soldiers will hide behind boxes and walls for cover while most demonic enemies will use both the environment and darkness to get the jump on you.  In fact most encounters usually feature attacks from the front and back, so whenever you get into a fight it’s always best to swing around and check out if something is trying to flank you.  Enemies will also use elevation to their advantage, so don’t be surprised to run across enemies that can attack from a distance an entire level above or below you.

But enemies aren’t the only things that you’ll run into on the UAC colony.  Since there are some survivors here and there, you may run across a friendly face now and then.  Most of the survivors will offer up a few words of encouragement while other may help you out with needed items.  For the depraved, you can gun down any person that moves, but given the fact that many of the survivors will try to help you in some way, that’s not usually the best course of action.  To keep you abreast of your current mission you’ll also receive constant communication from your military commander.  Every now and then he’ll chime in and let you know how you’re doing and where you need to go next.

Visually, Doom 3 is the hands-down the most impressive PC game to date and gamers out there are either scrambling to get their machines up to snuff or have already spent a few hundred, or thousands of dollars to make sure they can play the game.  The game shines on pretty much every visual aspect that there is.  Character models are incredibly detailed and life-like, complete with realistic animations and facial expressions.  Enemies get the same treatment and are horrific to behold and move about in a convincing way.  Attacks are fluid and brutal and the moment a monster leaps at you, I guarantee you’ll jump out of your seat.  Levels sport a degree of detail that future PC titles will undoubtedly try to emulate and with good reason.  The use of light and darkness really plays a key role in the overall scheme of the game and id Software plays on this feature perfectly.  Levels are shrouded in just enough darkness and lights flicker just enough to give you a real sense of fear and claustrophobia.  Even weapons are spot-on in their presentation and are rendered to be very life-like, or as life-like as a massive chaingun can be.

Sound-wise Doom 3 also excels and not only does it feature a creepy ambient soundtrack but it also features a great deal of no sound at all.  While this may sound like a negative, it’s not.  The lack of sound in many areas of the game really helps to create a greater sense of tension and foreboding.  Creeping around through a darkened corridor knowing that something is about to jump out from behind a corner, but not being able to hear it, is both nerve fraying and exhilarating.  Doom 3 also makes heavy use of ambient noise in the form of strange demonic voices and laughing, which turns up at the most creepy or tension-filled portions of the game and really helps to create a pretty twisted and bizarre experience.  But this isn’t to say that the game is lacking in quality audio.  Characters feature a lot of quality voice-acting and enemies are bellow and screech with frightening realism.  And often times they’re cries and screams will be the only warning you get before they lunge at you and attack.  There are portions of the game that do feature quite a bit of sound, particularly when the UAC colony is first overrun by demons.  Through your communicator you’ll hear transmissions from other Marines who are being slaughtered; they’re sickening screams and cries for help your only indication of what’s in store for you.

The hype around Doom 3 has been tremendous and is perhaps the most anticipated PC title outside of Half-Life 2.  The wait has certainly been long but after what I’ve experienced today, well worth it.  The visuals are jaw-dropping, the action is intense, and the storyline is both bizarre and engaging.  While I did find a few annoyances, like enemies have way too easy of a time backing you into a corner and then attacking you without mercy, Doom 3 is really going to set the standard on future FPS titles on the PC and perhaps home consoles.  Since I just sat down for some serious single player action, we’ll be bringing you more multiplayer details tomorrow.  But for the money, the single player campaign is second to none.