Doom 3

Scientific-fiction shooter Doom 3 with a first-person view and horror elements was released in 2004 as a reboot of the original DOOM (1995). The game was developed with a focus on a strong storyline and a lengthy single-player campaign, featuring numerous in-engine cutscenes and jump scares, for which the animation system was significantly improved.

The research center on Mars, owned by the Union Aerospace Corporation, has suffered a massive demonic invasion, leaving a trail of fear and chaos. As one of the few survivors, you will have to make your way to Hell and back through hordes of terrifying monsters. Your path will be dark and dangerous, but you will be able to use a pistol, chainsaw, grenades, and much more for your protection.

To develop the game universe, id Software hired professional science fiction writer Matthew Costello. The studio intended to reboot the original at a higher level, but Doom 3 was supposed to scare and evoke a sense of horror, rather than offer mindless shooting.

The game's action still takes place on Mars in the 22nd century. Humanity has long gone beyond its home planet, but the energy shortage threatens the existence of civilization. In this regard, the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) is building scientific bases on Mars, where it is engaged in the search for powerful energy sources based on new physical principles.

By the middle of the 22nd century, UAC scientists and engineers have made significant progress in their research, simultaneously developing prototypes of numerous devices, including the famous super-weapon BFG 9000.

Suddenly, the corporation stumbles upon ancient alien ruins on the surface of Mars. The long-extinct Martians developed teleportation technology through a dimension resembling the Christian Hell and implemented it "in hardware." Interested in the discovery, UAC directs all forces to its study.

The script of Doom 3 is detailed down to specific days, months, and years. As the game progresses, the player reads, listens to, and watches numerous records, diaries, notes, and e-mails from scientists, managers, technicians, and security staff of the UAC Martian base.

It is these messages that reveal information about the events occurring in the game world and directly on Mars, reflect the feelings and concerns of people, give logic to what is happening, and meaning to the actions of the heroes.

If you play without delving into the details, the impression will be very blurred, or the plot will seem unnecessary, as all dialogues and in-engine scenes concern current problems—go there, do this, find that, see the result. Periodically, the player learns some key information that moves the events forward.

Everything starts as in the first Doom—the protagonist arrives at the Martian base, appointed as a security guard. Then the differences begin. The main character arrives with UAC inspector Elliott Swann, who is supposed to investigate employee complaints, frequent incidents, and strange deaths.

The main antagonist is Dr. Malcolm Betruger, who was involved in teleportation technology and ultimately succumbed to the forces of Evil. His maniacal idea is to let the Devil's minions into our world so they can conquer Earth and turn people into slaves or demons.

The main confrontation is between Swann and Betruger, with freedom of choice in many moments being just an illusion; the protagonist does not influence events or the ending. Despite all the advantages, meticulous elaboration, unexpected moments, and script twists, the player feels limited by the script's boundaries.

Doom 3 is dominated by horror elements—constant pitch darkness, jump scares, incomprehensible sounds and noises, and scary music. The flashlight is used only when the weapon is put away; the hero cannot shoot and light at the same time. Even the light from lamps spreads over a limited space.

The shooter component is subdued. Pistol, shotgun, machine gun, minigun, plasma gun, rocket launcher, BFG9000, and chainsaw—that's all the weapons, with no modifications or variability like in Doom of 2016. The protagonist carries much fewer bullets, and excess armor and health are not preserved. Enemies can knock off the aim, which could cost the hero's life.

As a result, Doom 3 resembles a tactical shooter. You have to constantly think: use a weapon or light the way ahead, dodge contact with monsters or lose scarce health, which is damaged in any case, unleash the minigun now or methodically shoot with the machine gun. Instead of a hurricane run forward and shooting everything that moves—slow, calculated steps with careful shooting from cover, and so on.

The feature of Doom 3 is the "soul cube"—a weapon that appears after killing one of the bosses in Hell and allows you to deal 1,000 damage to any monster, which significantly harms even bosses. Additionally, the "soul cube" absorbs and transfers the victim's health to the bearer.

Playing through Doom 3 is more like watching a horror movie, only the player can shoot. The locations are linear, usually a winding gut connecting large rooms; the level design is primitive, with no secret passages or hidden rooms, and secrets are very easy to unlock. There are practically no open spaces in the game, only rooms and endless corridors.

During the playthrough, the player will visit almost half of Mars—various UAC complexes and laboratories, the central city, transport hubs and factories, Mars caves, and, of course, several trips to Hell. However, the content of all levels is monotonous, and due to the pitch darkness, they are simply not memorable.

This is related to the focus on the plot and the designers' desire to scare the player, who is compelled to move forward to spin the script's flywheel. Cutscenes, jump scares, and "presentations" are set everywhere—when the protagonist first meets a new monster from the bestiary, the camera pulls back and shows a small scene.

There's a lot of shooting, but the feel of the weapons is entirely different, and they don't provide the same pleasure. The mechanic of respawning enemies underfoot (since the locations are small) only scares for a couple of hours, and then it starts to get annoying.

Бестиарий содержит как хорошо знакомых тварей (разные виды Зомби, Коммандос, Имп, Пинки, Потерянная душа, Ревенант, Какодемон, Рыцарь Ада, Барон Ада, Арчвайл, Манкубус, Призрак), так и несколько новых:

Поскольку все усилия id Software сосредоточились на одиночном режиме Doom 3 и сюжете, геймдизайнеры студии искреннее предполагали, что игре не нужен масштабный мультиплеер. Расчет был на то, что Doom 3 понравится своим сюжетом, а её одиночную кампанию будут регулярно перепроходить.

Поэтому для сетевой игры был реализован всего один режим — «командный дезматч». Несколько игроков собирались на одной карте и могли применять все оружие и гранаты, имеющиеся в сольном режиме. Число карт невелико. Никакой прокачки, статистики или разблокируемого контента.

Серверы оригинальной Doom 3 были отключены, но с помощью фанатского мода возможно кооперативное прохождение игры.