A First Look at Doom 3 (Doom 3 on sale at midnight tonight)

Time ^ | Jul. 15, 2004 | LEV GROSSMAN

[Skooz]

Sometime in 1993 I noticed a dramatic decline in my personal productivity. Also affected were my sleeping habits and personal hygiene. Same thing happened in 1996. It may or may not be a coincidence that 1993 was the year id Software released a video game called Doom, and 1996 was the year they put out Quake. Maybe there's a connection, maybe not. But I have a feeling it's going to happen all over again in about three weeks when id releases Doom 3.

If you've read this far, you probably already know what Doom 3 is — the next big game from id — and who id Software are — the spiritual and technological fathers of the modern video game as we know and love it. From the title you'd think Doom 3 was a sequel to the earlier Doom games, but you'd be wrong: It's actually a wholesale reimagining and retelling of the original Doom scenario. You're a Marine posted to a fancy-pants research facility on Mars. You show up, something goes really, phenomenally wrong, and suddenly you're squaring off against a crapload of demons.

The similarities to the original Doom end there. Doom 3 runs on all-new technology, and let's not mince words: there has never been a game that looks this good. I'm not sure what does it — the highly detailed textures, the fancy colored light and shadow-play, the all-new physics models, the "normal mapping" (whatever that is) — but id has created a virtual environment that's more compelling and immersive and realistic than really seems possible. Get up close to one of the demons and look at his skin: it gleams with a dull, matte, scaly sheen that's disturbingly lifelike. Warning: staring at demon skin up close may result in you being gutted like a fish.

Doom 3 is scary: A couple of times — embarrassing but true — I physically jerked my head back from the screen. But there's other good stuff in there, too: The id team has paid a lot more attention to storytelling and voice-acting in Doom 3 than they have in past games. This isn't just a run-and-gun scenario; there's actual plot points and stuff. There's a more cinematic sensibility at work too — watch for some nice virtual camerawork in the cut scenes. And of course, the creature design has that signature sick flair that one expects from id's artists, who almost certainly were badly mistreated as children.

More than this I can't say. id is keeping Doom 3 tightly under wraps until its release the week of August 2. But sit tight and you won't be disappointed. As for me, I've been to Hell and I survived, and I'll be going back just as soon as I possibly can. Hold my calls.

[Skooz]

USA Today has a more recent article, but we cannot post their articles here anymore.

DOOM 3 System Requirements:

Minimum Specifications:

• A 1.5-gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 chip or AMD Athlon 1500.
• 384 megabytes of memory.
• Two gigabytes of hard drive space.
• An nVidia GeForce 3 graphics card or better; or an ATI Technologies 8500 or better.

Recommended Specifications:

• 2Ghz CPU or AMD 2500+
• 512 megabytes of memory.
• Two gigabytes of hard drive space.
• Radeon 9700 or an nVidia GeForce4 ti4600 graphics card or better.
• 5.1 surround sound audio

Worry Free Specifications:

• 3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 chip or AMD Athlon 64 3000+.
• 1 gigabyte of memory.
• Two gigabytes of hard drive space.
• An nVidia 6800 graphics card or an ATI X800XT
• 6.1 surround sound audio

My system:

• 500 Mghz Pentium 3 500 CPU
• 256 megabytes of RAM
• about 100 gigs of free HD space
• nVidia gforce 2 MX 400
• very nice Audigy 2 ZS w/ MidiLand MX-5, 5.1 speakers

In other words, there is no way Doom 3 would run on my system. Have fun everybody. I might be able to pick it up next year.

[kenth]

Thanks for the post. I had forgotten all about this coming out.

I've been wasting my playing time with CoD multi.

[Phantom Lord]

When the hell is Halo 2 finally gonna be released? Thats the one I am waiting for.

[Skooz]

Consider yourself pinged.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I broke down and bought a new computer this year. I found the HP with an AMD processor to be an excellent deal that went through setup easily and quickly. And best of all, it was only $750 after rebate of $75.

[Lazamataz]

This is making me aroused.

[Skooz]

From the USA Today article:

Halo 2 (Nov. 9). A sequel to the space combat best seller for the Xbox video game system.

[Lazamataz]

I cannot stand that this game requires such a powerful machine. I simply won't buy a new computer right now.

(resisting)

(resisting)

Okay, but only this once.

[Badeye]

Like you, my business partner and I both loved the old Doom game.

I have always thought the real genius of id software was allowing the "cheat codes".

Any word on that aspect?

Thanks, and please add me to any ping list alongs these lines.

[Phantom Lord]

Nov. 9th huh. What is that, the 5th new release date? It keeps getting pushed back further and further. Its about 2 years late now.

[Skooz]

[Skooz]

Hey, at least you're not waiting for Duke Nukem Forever.

[TomServo]

Thanks Skooz!!

[Lazamataz]

BEGONE, FOUL TEMPTRESS!

[Skooz]

More screenshots here:

http://www.planetdoom.com/doom3/screenshots/official/

Be warned: this is porn for Doom fans.

[Lazamataz]

Narcotics for gamers.

[chilepepper]

in the pre-WWW days, games like doom and descent were *the* killer aps that fostered PC sales (at least for home users like me).

i bought my first "modern era" PC from gateway, a pentium 120 just to play descent... (got ripped off by gateway in the process, but what i learned in the process made it worthwhile)

[Lurking in Kansas]

My system:

500 Mghz Pentium 3 500 CPU
256 megabytes of RAM
about 100 gigs of free HD space
nVidia gforce 2 MX 400
very nice Audigy 2 ZS w/ MidiLand MX-5, 5.1 speakers

Sounds like my system. I guess that is why all my games are over 3 years old. LOL!!

[STFrancis]

We should start a CoD multi Freeper Clan...

I know of at least 3 guys here that play CoD as well.

Any interest?

[Skooz]

Yeah, I built mine in December 1999 as a Christmas present to myself. It was a smokin' machine back then.

Actually, outside of games with steep system requirements, my computer can still hold it's own against most any software.