122 - Doom 3

[matt]

In this diary, I share my thoughts about the horror in Doom 3 (and the BFG Edition).

[gagaplex]

I enjoyed Doom 3, but it's damn repetitive. It fell flat for me as a horror game, because I just got used to the monster placement and the usual tricks they play on you, what jump scares to expect, which grates will fly away and reveal enemies and so on. So I actually experienced it differently than you did: I was hoping for a horror game (because everybody told me it was so scary) and it did freak me out at first (okay, and again for a bit in Delta Labs), but after a while it was little more than a generic shooter to me. Again, I liked it, but still.

Haven't tried the BFG edition and certainly not the console version, but I do feel like maybe replaying the original game (and even the addon) or making an LP of it, perhaps.

[matt]

I got it right at launch, so I hadn't really heard anything about it other than early complaints about the flashlight.

I do agree that it got a bit repetitive once you expect monsters to come out of walls. (Sure, they are called Monster Closets, but why do they exactly like the regular wall?)

The latter sections of the game moved to more action based. Maybe it's because they ran out of scary things to do?

I thought the expansion didn't really add much. There were a few new enemies that were very similar to old enemies, and they added bullet time, but that has been done to death (and better).

I'd say steer clear of the console edition, and BFG doesn't really seem to add anything. I guess there is the lost mission or whatever that has no story and is just pure action, but it doesn't seem like my cup of tea.

[RightClickSaveAs]

Oh man, you're gonna make me go back and replay Doom 3. I do remember it being surprisingly scary when I played it years ago, but that was overshadowed by the annoyance and disappointment about the game not being what I was expecting. Going into it as a horror game might be a completely new experience. Plus I could max out all the settings now, oh boy!

You mentioned the duct tape mod, I remember reading people defending the fact that in the base game, you couldn't use a gun and flashlight at the same time, their rationale was that it made the game more tense by forcing you to choose between combat and being able to see and move around. Do you think it adds to the horror? If I play it again, I may just keep the default setup and see what I think now. Again, I was more annoyed by it than anything when I first played it, but treating it like a horror game might make me feel differently.

[matt]

I'd be interested to find out what you think now. I think playing without the duct tape mod would add to the horror. I always like to quote Sid Meier that games are a "series of interesting decisions" and I think choosing between being vulnerable but being able to see and having a weapon but not necessarily knowing what to shoot at is an interesting one - and it seems like a good choice for a horror game.

However, on the console, the game was barely playable without being able to jump right to a weapon, so I'm really glad I didn't have to worry about that. In hindsight, I should have played the original on my PC, but sitting in front of my couch with a gamepad in hand is so much easier... I'm so lazy! hahaha

[RightClickSaveAs]

I started replaying Doom 3 (vanilla non-BFG edition, I still have it on Steam from some Id Software superpack I bought years ago) and I'd forgotten how frightening the game could be. At least at first, until it wears out the jump scares. I've played a lot of horror games since then, but I have to say the beginning of this one still managed to freak me out some. I can be a pretty big baby when it comes to horror games though, and I was playing it late and had forgotten most of the game by now. Also I think it's partly due to all the demons and hell stuff (although is it explained at any point that they're actually just aliens? I can't remember). That gets to me, demonic possession movies are some of the most frightening to me, maybe due to having a really religious family as a kid. Who knows though, different things scare people in way different ways.

Still, approaching it as a horror game does help, especially for some of the standout levels. I think there was a lot of filler from what I remember, with way too much crawling around in maintenance tunnels and finding switches to flip, but there were some really good and atmospheric levels that stuck with me. And at the beginning, when you're still not sure what's going on, the weapons you have are not that effective and ammo is limited enough it almost feels like a survival horror as opposed to an action shooter. Add the flashlight juggling mechanic from the vanilla game to that and you feel a lot more vulnerable than you'd expect in a Doom game. I'm still torn on the flashlight juggling; on one hand it makes the game much more tense, but on the other hand, not being able to see anything goes from tense to obnoxious after a period of time. It pretty quickly gets to the point where you walk down a hallway, and when you hear noises, you know that something's going to be spawned in front of and behind you.

I think there is too much filler and reused jump scares for it to all come together as a solid horror game, but it has some really good moments and holds up well enough to give me a few frights. Although that's not incredibly tough to do.

[matt]

I am fascinated by possessions as well. Perhaps that's because I'm Catholic, and we are supposed to believe in exorcisms. I think. I'm not quite sure what the official doctrine on it is these days, but since our church is steeped in history, I don't think we can just get rid of it. hahaha

I think it's supposed to be hell in Doom 3 and the expansion. They didn't say they were aliens. Had they, I think that would have totally ruined the mood for me at least.

It did have some good jump scares and some cool moments, but I agree that there was a lot of filler. I wouldn't say it was a solid horror game, but it was entertaining enough for me to finish it at least.

[gagaplex]

I always took it to be like in Event Horizon, sort of: It's never clearly stated whether the hyper drive (or in Doom 3's case, the teleportation devices) lead people to Hell in the metaphysical sense (where evil people would go, anyway) or "just" a hellish world, pocket or parallel dimension. In the end, it doesn't matter at that point, because it became Hell on Earth regardless... erm... Mars.

[RightClickSaveAs]

I seem to remember hearing that the Catholic church still has official sanctioned exorcists around. But then again, I may have heard this in a movie, so that's probably not the most concrete of sources!

Event Horizon is a great comparison. Whatever it is going on in that movie, it's horrifying and barely comprehensible to the human mind.

I don't know how many people here have read those old Doom novels (this guy right here!) but it's explained in there that it's basically some alien race taking on the guise of traditional Catholic religious iconography (imps, demons, ...huge mechanical spider monsters?) to exploit the deep seated fears in the human race and make it that much easier to overrun their world. I don't know how CANON that is , but that's a fun if slightly less frightening take on the whole story.

[gagaplex]

Hm, no, I haven't read those.

Do they tell the reader anything about how these aliens "really" are if this is just a disguise of sorts? And do they use technology to appear like demons and some sort of medical method to create zombies, or do they have innate powers/magic/whatever that allows them to disguise themselves?

There's definitely some technology involved, I'd assume, what with the cyber-demon and all that, but that could also be seen as "infecting" technology and twisting it rather than utilizing it like humans or other sentient beings might.

Whether it's canon or not is a difficult question. But then Doom was never too big on story and I at least kind of view Doom 3 not as a sequel but more as a remake! If that's right, then anything goes, kind of, with regards to the plot. Then it's reset, if you will, and what was true about the demons before doesn't necessarily apply now.