I've been very excited for the new "Doom" game that is set to be released in a couple weeks. Given that I have the "Doom BFG Edition" on Xbox 360, a collection of the first two "Doom" games and "Doom 3," I thought it would be cool to play all the games in preparation for the new release. After playing through all three games again over the past few weeks for the first time in years, I've been heavily reminded just how great the first two games still hold up. But on top of that, I was also reminded how much "Doom 3" still sucks after nearly 13 years since it's original release.
It's hard to imagine that at one point this was one of the most anticipated games hitting market. The original "Doom" was such a popular and revolutionary game, popularizing not only the first person shooter genre, but the concept of creating mods for games. It's depressing to know that this game is somehow connected to such a great franchise like "Doom," and just as depressing is the fact that a company like Id Software, a company that has such an amazing history and creative mindset for the first person shooter genre, would actually be able to produce and then release such a colossal mess of game.
The foremost biggest gripe to be had with "Doom 3" is the lackluster and uninspired game play. The "Doom" franchise has always had simple but entertaining game play: get from point A to point B while running around in big open spaces, shooting all kinds of enemies, picking up weapons, ammo and all kind of bonus power ups along the way. "Doom 3" is the exact opposite of what its predecessors were. "Doom 3" tries to be a survival horror game, a game that has you wondering around in dark, claustrophobic hallways just waiting for some random monster to spawn and attack.
Instead of dodging enemies and picking up power ups, "Doom 3" has you picking up PDAs that contain messages revealing secrets like locker and doors codes, which in turn might contain items like health packs or armor. This doesn't feel like a "Doom" game, "Doom 3" feels more like it is trying to copy a game like "System Shock." Instead of being fast paced and more about the action of the game play like the original, "Doom 3" is slow and boring, making you focus more on the story of the game instead of the actual game play.
On top of the lackluster game play, the design of the game was awful. The environment you fight in just looks bland and uninteresting, with almost no detail. Plus the monsters were just awfully designed, and that's the one area that Id Software should not have failed in. Id Software has always had tremendous talent in creating enemies for their games, and especially in "Doom." "Doom" enemies look like bland and uninspired aliens instead of these terrifying demons.
The best example is the Cacodemon. In the original "Doom" games, the Cacodemon was one of the most terrifying opponents. As soon as you would see it pop up, you knew the situation you were in just intensified. However, in "Doom 3" the Cacodemon is not in anyway terrifying at all. It looks like just a blob of bland colors and random objects that were thrown together.
"Doom 3" killed the "Doom" franchise in my humble opinion. While it was commercially successful, it went on to become one of the most polarizing games critic wise, and id Software ended up pushing the "Doom" franchise aside, the franchise that put them on the map, to pursue other the games that have not been as huge pillars of success as they wished them to be. It's taken Id Software over a decade to finally put a brand new "Doom" game onto the market, and let's hope this time it's a good one.
