Doom 3



Doom 3 is a retelling of the original Doom, but using a completely new engine with true 3D and advanced physics. Doom 3 is not as “run and gun” as its predecessors, but focuses on atmosphere and graphics. It was criticized mainly for using clichéd horror effects, and the underuse of its physics engine. It is available for the Xbox, PC, Mac and Linux.

The Xbox version was sold in both a standard case, as well as a special edition sold in a metal case. The metal case edition had several extras—interviews, G4’s Icons Doom episode, early artwork, and the full versions of Ultimate Doom and Doom II. The Xbox Collectors edition includes two more levels, one in Ultimate Doom (E1M10: Sewers) and one in Doom II (MAP33: Betray). This version is compatible with Xbox 360. The Xbox version is reported to be graphically inferior to the PC version, though casual players may not take notice. It also splits many levels up into separate parts due to console limitations.

Plot


The protagonist is once again a nameless space marine. As it just so happens, he gets shipped to the UAC Mars research facility with Councilor Swann and his bodyguard Jack Campbell on the same day all Hell breaks loose. Within minutes of the invasion, the main military units are destroyed or zombified. It is once again upon the player to stop the forces of Hell from reaching Earth.

The first cutscene displays Swann saying how fed up he is to Campbell about being sent to Mars to check security. Swann says to Campbell he is “…tired of doing damage control every time [he] screws up.” Swann is later seen arguing with the head research scientist in Delta Labs, Dr. Betruger, saying there are too many incidents happening throughout the base, along with frightened employees and rumors of what is happening in Delta Labs.

The player's first mission, assigned to him by Master Sergeant Kelly, aka “Sarge”, is to find a missing scientist named Jonathan Ishii that was said to be seen at the old communications facility. When found, he babbles about sending out a warning - “The Devil is real. I know. I built his cage.” With those words, Hell erupts from the gateways, sending a shockwave through the complex, along with glowing pentagrams and scores of evil ghost skulls that zombify nearly every human they come into contact with, including Ishii.

Gameplay
Doom 3’s gameplay was not as fast paced as the games before it. Most of the game is extremely dark, and there is no Light amplification visor. Instead the player must rely on a flashlight that can only be used in place of a weapon. There are few tactics involved other than grabbing the biggest weapons.

Much of the game takes place in dark close-quarters with demons ambushing from every direction. By contrast the Hell section of the game is considered by many to be the best, as it features more open areas and makes use of unique effects.

Difficulty
There are four difficulty levels in Doom 3: Recruit, Marine, Veteran, and Nightmare. The first three are always available. On Recruit difficulty, there are fewer monsters, but it is a negligible amount. The principal difference between the difficulties is the amount of damage the player receives. The chart on the right indicates the amount of damage the player will receive on each difficulty level, relative to the definition files (.def).

Upon completion of a campaign regardless of difficulty level, the player unlocks the "Nightmare" difficulty setting. When playing the game on this setting, the player's health falls in 5-point increments at 5-second intervals until it reaches 25, where it remains steady. Additionally, there are absolutely no medkits throughout the game; the only means of procuring health is either by the health stations, which are still operational, or use of the Soul Cube, which is given to the player at the very start of the game.

The difficulty setting can be controlled by the controllable variable,. The damage changes take effect immediately, but a map restart or change is necessary for the rest. For example, if a player begins the level on Recruit difficulty and then enters  in the console, immediately their health will begin its drop to 25 and they will receive Nightmare damage. However, the Soul Cube is not given, medkits remain in the level, and the amount of monsters does not increase.

Weapons
Most of Doom 3's weapons are updated versions of the classic weapons, but those marked with an asterisk are new additions to the series.


 * Fists
 * Flashlight*
 * Pistol
 * Shotgun
 * Machine gun*
 * Chaingun
 * Plasma gun
 * Rocket launcher
 * BFG 9000
 * Chainsaw
 * Grenades*
 * Soul Cube*

Monsters
See main article: Doom 3 Monsters.

References to Classic Doom
See main article: References to Classic Doom in Doom 3.

Final Storyline
In a later cutscene, Swann is seen in a video phone conference with Betruger who is rather calm about the situation. Betruger claims the situation is under control. After deciding on whether to alert the orbital fleet, Betruger addresses you over a computer screen and says that once the fleet arrives, his legion will take the ships back to Earth, thus revealing that he commands the monsters that have overrun the base.

Later in the game, the player runs into a colleague of Betruger, who says that he became obsessed with the teleporters when he figured out Hell existed on the other side. He says he took an artifact called the Soul Cube from the archaeological digs from the ancient Martian civilization into Hell, and demons followed him out.

The player never meets up with the remaining Marines, save for one they meet in a cutscene who dies in the same cutscene, and only reach Swann and Campbell on their deathbeds. Swann was badly injured, and Campbell went on to hunt Sarge. Swann says that Kelly has turned evil and is now on Betruger’s side. After killing Sarge, the player finds an archaeologist, who explains that the Soul Cube must be used to stop the demon invasion.

After entering the Primary Dig Site, the player discovers a section of Hell that has creeped into the Martian underground and deep within the bowels of this Hellscape, they encounter the invulnerable Cyberdemon guarding a “Hell hole” — a portal to Hell. Defeating the Cyberdemon, which is only possible with the charged Soul Cube, the Cube seals the Hell hole and the game ends, leaving many questions unanswered.

Levels
Most of these maps are quite large and typically require 1+ hours each on a player's first run through the game.


 * 1) Mars City
 * 2) Mars City Underground: Union Aerospace Subsystems
 * 3) Mars City: Union Aerospace Corporate Division
 * 4) Administration: Union Aerospace Corporate Division
 * 5) Alpha Labs - Sector 1: Union Aerospace Science Division
 * 6) Alpha Labs - Sector 2: Union Aerospace Science Division
 * 7) Alpha Labs - Sector 3: Union Aerospace Science Division
 * 8) Alpha Labs - Sector 4: Union Aerospace Science Division
 * 9) Enpro Plant: Energy Processing and Storage
 * 10) Communications Transfer: Maintenance and Transfer Station
 * 11) Communications: Central Communications Tower
 * 12) Monorail Skybridge: Facility Transport
 * 13) Recycling - Sector 2: Waste Recycling Center
 * 14) Monorail: Facility Transport
 * 15) Delta Labs - Level 1: Union Aerospace Research Division
 * 16) Delta Labs - Level 2a: Union Aerospace Research Division
 * 17) Delta Labs - Level 2b: Union Aerospace Research Division
 * 18) Delta Labs - Level 3: Union Aerospace Research Division
 * 19) Delta Labs - Level 4: Union Aerospace Research Division
 * 20) Hell
 * 21) Delta Complex: Union Aerospace Research Division
 * 22) Central Processing: Processing Distribution Center
 * 23) Central Processing: Primary Server Bank
 * 24) Site 3: Analysis Facility
 * 25) Caverns - Area 1: Excavation Transfer
 * 26) Caverns - Area 1: Artifact Excavation
 * 27) Primary Excavation: Artifact Dig

Xbox Controls
Left Thumbstick: Move

Right Thumbstick: Look

Click & Hold Left Thumbstick: Crouch

Click & Hold Right Thumbstick: Zoom

A: Jump

B: Previous Weapon

X: Reload

Y: Next Weapon

Left Trigger: Sprint

Right Trigger: Action

White (LB for 360): Equip/Unequip Flashlight

Black (RB for 360): PDA/Multiplayer Score

Start: Pause

Back: Save/Ready

The D-Pad arrows serve as hotkeys to select weapons instead of cycling through every weapon in inventory. Four weapons can be assigned. The weapon assigned to each arrow is customizable.

Trivia

 * The Doom community long predicted a sequel to Doom II, usually referring to it as Doom 2000. Some speculation is recorded in this Doomworld mailbag from 1998-08-18.
 * TimeSplitters: Future Perfect parodied the Doom 3 audio logs in the level What Lies Below. In this level, Cortez can access a scientists’ personal audio log, which contains his locker code (or, at the very least, several three-digit numbers which he believes are his locker combination).
 * The character of Dr. Reinhard in Evil Dead: Regeneration may be a parody of Dr. Betruger. Both share a similar physical appearance, including a solid white eye. Both men also started out good but turned evil when tempted by the forces of Hell.
 * A terminal after returning to Mars from Hell displays a red screen. An email can be downloaded from this terminal, containing a rather tongue-in-cheek message written by the Hell demons on proper human sacrifice techniques.
 * In the final room before the Cyberdemon encounter, a small Id Software logo can be found on one of the bricks in a corner. Approaching this turns the crosshair into a mouse arrow as would happen if the player approached a terminal. Clicking this opens a secret room which contains a PDA. Picking this PDA up downloads special "thank you" messages from the iD software staff.
 * The large Hell Gate that is present on the menu selection screen resembles the Stargate from the movie/television Stargate franchise, with the constellation markings replaced by runes.
 * The name 'Dr. Betruger' has a strong similarity to the German word 'Betrüger' which means 'traitor'.

Mods

 * The Classic Doom for Doom 3 mod replays Knee-Deep in the Dead but with the new Doom 3 engine.
 * The Last Man Standing mod enables cooperative play, and introduces a new gametype.

Other mods for Doom 3 include:
 * A mod that puts lights on the weapons (but which are less effective than the flashlight)
 * A mod that prevents the bodies of the monsters you killed from disappearing
 * A mod that makes the Cyberdemon at the end of the game vulnerable to weapons other than the Soul Cube
 * A mod that makes the game much easier to beat if having a hard time

A mod featuring the Doom 3 weapons for Classic Doom source port ZDoom also exists. It includes several Doom 3 weapons (using sprite-based graphics and Dehacked alterations to change weapon behavior and allow reloading) as well as the flashlight (the mod also works with both Doom and Doom II, though the mod lacks the super shotgun when played with Doom II). It lacks the grenades and Soul Cube, however.

Expansion
See Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil