Doom 3

This was originally going to be the Doom 3 choose-your-own-adventure review. It was all mapped out. A section for hardcore gamers, another for the "I buy 3 games a year" crowd, versions for fans of single player and multiplayer fans, even sections broken down by your hardware spec.

But ultimately, I scrapped the idea as weak; an each-way bet that really was more of an excuse in fence sitting than critical analysis. It was pretty easy to realise why: personally, I didn't think Doom 3 was all that.

There, I said it. But before you napalm my apartment and send me dead animals in the mail (I prefer them alive), let me qualify that statement with another: I can totally understand why this game will appeal to heaps of people out there. Maybe you. Maybe not you.

Look at the immense weight this game has going for it before you even tear off the wrapping. You've got id Software, who in addition to being nice guys have the best PC games pedigree in the business, bar none. Valve aren't even close, even before you take into account that their main claim to fame was based on id software's engines. I mean, you're talking about a company whose lead programmer lists collecting Ferraris and rocket science as hobbies, as opposed to getting hacked by impatient game fans.

You've also got a first person shooter market dying for stimulation. Everywhere you look it's realistic this, 32 plus players that. Unreal 2 was meant to be a predominantly single player game, look what happened to it. And really, World War II is only now giving ground slightly to the next two year fad, Vietnam games.

Finally, you've got the Doom name. It's not merely one of the most famous PC games of all time, it spells instant credibility to online gaming communities the world over. It's no longer fashionable to claim being a Quake/Quakeworld (there is no "Quake 1") player when establishing your e-credentials anymore. Hell no, now you've got to have hooked up mates with null-modem Doom action and outrun rockets on Dead Simple to have any weight. Gaming can be like that at times - in some quarters you're only as good as the history you invent.

It's important to note that id Software didn't inflate expectations of this game; they left that to gamers and game writers. The decision to develop this game wasn't a unanimous one at Mesquite. A vote was taken. Deals were made. Tempers flared, egos were bruised, and heads rolled as a result. But as always, once set on their course, the boys focused on creating a quality product - on their terms. They said it would be strongly single player oriented. They said you'd need top hardware. They said the game would be released "when it's done". All these things have held true.



Let's get the obvious out of the way. Doom 3 looks sick. You can prognosticate all you like about the gorgeousness of games like Battlefield 2 and Half Life 2, but in the right here, right now stakes, nothing holds a candle to John Carmack's uber crafted Doom 3 engine. Hardware has been discussed ad nauseum, and there's no real excuse for thinking that machine you have which struggles to put out top detail on Unreal engine games will cope with Doom 3 with any kind of finesse. Let me tell you now: it won't.

Your CPU gets a hefty workout. And if you're still labouring under the delusion that 512MB of RAM qualifies as a power gaming rig, Doom 3 should free you of that notion. As time goes on Doom 3 boxes will start at 3GHz CPU, and 1GB RAM. That's a logical starting point for people wanting smooth, high resolution, high detail. It goes without saying that you'll also want to slap in a Geforce 6800 class video card to round out your ensemble. Yes, those of us not wanting to blow heaps of dollars on cutting edge video cards can make do with Radeon 9800XTs and Geforce FX 5950s, but I'm thinking long view here.

Lesser spec machines will be able to cripple detail levels to get by, but that's all you'll be doing... getting by. This game was made to be impactful and frightening, and Kreese's law of relativity states that for every frame per second your PC drops under 25, the less scared you can be from a video game. I'd go as far as to suggest that if you're hovering on the year old plus video card/CPU mark, save single player until you can afford to upgrade. Multiplayer? Well that's an entirely different kettle of lag, and we'll get to that a bit later.

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