Doom III: Provavelmente a experiencia de jogo mais aterradora do mundo
Oh! My! Word! DOOM III has finally been let out into the light, and it looks so damn good it might just blow your socks clean off
16:10 E3 2002 dawns, and the god of gaming is smiling upon us – our very first appointment is with Activision to check out id Software's DOOM III. The dedicated booth is mobbed, understandably, as bodies claw and scrap their way to the front of the queue to get a glimpse of a rolling demo of probably the most highly-anticipated PC shooter around. And thankfully the bite marks and scratches are all worth it as we get a chance to spend a few minutes gazing upon the most amazing looking first-person action game to date.
Having slightly let the cat out of the bag, we ought to begin by telling you that DOOM III is truly a graphical wonder to behold. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Plot-wise, the game is set on the war planet Mars in the year 2145, and deals with the dark and mysterious goings on at the Union Aerospace Corporation. It's a megalith of a complex, the only signs of civilization in a raw and blasted landscape, and it's about to get one hell of a surprise.
Seemingly acting under orders from a Machiavellian-type character, a deranged scientist unleashes literal hell on the human inhabitants. Horrific, ethereal skulls rip through the bodies of the luckless UAC population as a demonic power is let loose, transforming them into macabre zombies. But there's more afoot than at first appears, and only one man can get to the bottom of things and save the day. Namely, you.
On the DOOM III story front, id Software isn't giving too much away at this time, but it seems that it is keen to rectify what many have seen as a major shortcoming in its previous single-player games – plot, or rather a lack of.
"As far as the gameplay goes, it is more or less a re-telling of DOOM. It's not an extension or sequel so to speak, from a story perspective, but we are doing many things differently from the story perspective," says the developer's Director of Business Development Marty Stratton. "It is by far and away the most story that id has ever put into a title. We have hired a writer, Matt Costello, a science fiction novelist who's worked with us for a while. He wrote 7th Guest and 11th Hour, so there's some great talent there." It's reassuring to say the least, and hopefully means that we'll be getting a storyline to match the title's graphical quality.
And just how good does DOOM III look. id Software has really excelled itself with the visuals, as we're presented with a stunning game with brilliant light and shadow effects that smack of a dark and brooding atmosphere. We just can't help but gawp at the rolling demo – it's a shame that it wasn't there in playable form, but there you go – at least it's running before our eyes.
The one thing that really stands out above all else is the graphical realism that lends the title a disturbing edge. The textures are quite unbelievable and character body and facial animations so incredibly lifelike that it feels as though we're watching a CG movie rather than a game.
One particular scene sees our hero enter a bathroom area with an eerie, swinging light and blood smears on the floor that have been left by two cadavers that have obviously been dragged into the room. Suddenly a hideous, cybernetic beast emerges from the dark shadows and proceeds to entertain itself by dining on one of the corpses, formerly a rather fat fellow. As it rubs its grotesque face against the belly of the body, you can actually see the stomach wobble realistically, and then the jaws open and tear into the flesh, ripping away meat and entrails and leaving the guts exposed.
"We're focusing all of our efforts on creating the most terrifying, ultra-realistic single-player experience possible," says Stratton in explanation to what we've just witnessed, and boy have those efforts borne fruit. There's an almost gothic quality to the game as our hero treads carefully down low-lit corridors and through darkened rooms. Constant guttural roars and cries that fly in from the shadows suggest that at any moment some form of horrific creature is about to leap at you out of the dark, and what's key is that in many cases you can never judge when this is going to happen.
It will leave players on the edge of their seats, scared of progressing down that foreboding corridor for fear of what might jump out at them. And with the apparent addition of a trip to Hell - most likely at the end of the game - for this journey we advise bringing at least two spare pairs of underpants.
Weapons-wise only three guns were on offer in the demo – pistol, shotgun and assault rifle – but the trio were all satisfyingly robust with solid sound effects. The shotgun in particular went down a storm as it blasted shambling zombies to the floor.
Other ghastly creatures to be peppered with bullet fire included the Imp, which makes a welcome return and looks hideously awesome, and our four-legged friend from the bathroom with his nasty, pointy teeth. Although id was reluctant to elaborate further on the type of enemies that will be faced, it did say that the Revenant will be making an appearance, along with many, many new monsters.
To present the player with an immersive, terrifying experience, DOOM III does rely on scripted sequences to set the atmosphere. Obviously this casts doubts over the title's replay value, but it's something that id isn't too concerned about. "Our primary design goal," says Marty, "is to basically terrify people the first time they play it, so we're doing everything with that in mind.
"The fundamental thing we come back to is, 'Is this going to scare people?', 'Is this going to drive the story forward?'. We're trying to immerse people into a very movie-like experience, so replay isn't really a design goal for us.". It definitely is one of the most scary games we've seen, and when we get hands-on it's likely to have us running for our mothers. It's very much Resident Evil in first-person shooter mode, and a whole lot more.
One thing that did, however, surprise us was the pace of the game. To reflect the sense of impending doom (ha-ha), the main character (and the creatures we saw) moves with a cautious gait, so rather than rushing around with all guns blazing and rocket-jumping into the skies, it's much more of a careful-approach affair. Says Marty, "The gameplay is not really fast action, not the 30 guys on screen that maybe DOOM was, nor the arcade-style of Quake III. We're definitely going for a more deliberate, scary, moody atmosphere that really takes the players on both a physical and mental journey."
So there ended our look at DOOM III, and what we saw totally blew us away. Eye-popping graphics and animations have been coupled with a superb physics engine that sees the likes of bodies falling realistically down stairs and boxes and other objects in the environment realistically flying through the air when shot or knocked – it's awesome.
id Software says that it is creating the most ultra-realistic single-player experience possible, and we're not going to argue with that. Sound, light and shadow effects create an ambience that will have even the most hardened brute wincing in terror-filled expectation as they cautiously make there way through the game, taking on all manner of beasties and enemies. The title is likely to only ship with Deathmatch as the multiplayer offering, which might come as a blow to hardcore online freaks, but the single-player experience promises to be so damned amazing that we almost don't care. After-all, that's what patches are for, right?
Prepare for your PC to tremble in its boots in 2003.