Doom 3 - My Opinion
Okay, you've probably gathered that I don't like this game. Now what
is it exactly that I do not like ? Let me list what I do not like :
- Lame monster spawning
- Stupid flashlight trick
- Corridor crawl
Okay, now for a point-by-point flyby :
Lame Monster Spawning
This is a really dumb trick to play on today's players. Go into an
empty room, tour the room, nothing there. Go to the other side and turn
around, still nothing. Open the door, and BAM ! Some monster is
attacking you from behind.
That does not create suspense, it is not masterful, it is all too plain
and easy. It is the ugly hack of gaming, the bad excuse for technical
limitations or lack of imagination. It is a destruction of continuity
and believability. It is BAD.
We're in the third millenium now. Leave these cheap tricks for B-grade
films where they belong. Today's leitmotive is supposed to be realism.
Well, it is not realistic to pull this kind of stunt anymore. It's not
even funny.
Drop it, and take a look at Splinter Cell, or Half-Life (not HL2) to
see how things should be done. In Splinter Cell, the enemies are all
there, waiting to be found. You get surprised only if you are stupid
enough to charge in, guns blazing. Do it slow and careful (like you
should), and you'll find the enemy before he finds you. That is part of
the thrill. That is realistic. In Half-Life, monster spawns were rare,
and generally confined to certain areas. For the rest, all the enemies
you were going to fight were there when you got there, and that made
for a bit of attack planning.
Okay, I agree, Doom III is supposed to call upon its granddaddy's
atmosphere. Well, I think Serious Sam did a better job of doing that.
And don't tell me that id wanted to make something scary. It would have
been a lot scarier to be relentlessly pursued by howling hoards of Imps
throughout a mad (well-lit) corridor chase then to go about in
semi-darkness, killing one or three zombies at a time.
Give us a realistic environment, where we can discover what is waiting
for us, and scare ourselves with what might have happened to us if we
had just opened the door without paying attention.
Stupid Flashlight Trick
Okay, so we're decades into the future, on a base on another planet.
Our incarnation is an elite Marine, and he's forgotten how to hold a
flashlight and a gun at the same time ? Or, in the immortal words of a
forum poster : "don't they have any sticky tape ?". This is the very
first thing that was changed by game modders.
Creating an atmosphere is an essential part of a game, but basing the
atmosphere on the assumption that a game character is not going to do
what any sane individual would in the first place is not good for
believability.
And I don't think anyone in their right mind, when stranded on a
scientific base in the dark with monsters all around that can see you
without light, is going to happily take to the corridors with a
flashlight AND a gun and only use ONE AT A TIME.
Nope, don't think so.
Corridor Crawl
This is just boring to death. Open door, kill creature, creature spawns
behind, kill creature, pick up useful item, go to next door, repeat. As
you progress, more creatures will spawn, then different kinds, then
mixes of different kinds, then a boss, then two bosses, then . . ah,
you get the picture. Predictable. Besides, it really is incredible how
much armor, weapons and ammunition is strewn around top-secret
scientific bases. Not to mention health kits you can find lying on the
floor. On the floor. Is that supposed to be the normal storage method
for health kits in the future ? I think not.
Not to mention the ridiculous notion that weapons and armor are
supposed to be haphazardly distributed all around the base. You know
what, even in the middle of a purely military compound, there is only
one place where you'll find weapons and ammo : the armory. Elsewhere,
the only place you'll find a weapon is where a guard is holding it.
Okay, some guards are really dead, so their weapons are available. But
that would normally mean that you should have to get armor, weapons and
ammo from dead guards, not from random spots on the floor. Sure, the
best weapons you find are hidden in some locked cabinet (thank God),
but as soon as you pick it up, a monster spawns behind you. Always.
Predictable, thus boring.