Doom 3

I was missing a great classic shooter. I like the dark atmosphere in this version im afraid never be repeated in the next Doom versions.

Does not feel like a doom game whatsoever

The less DOOM so far. It's a marvel of the technology of it's time, but lacks in what made DOOM so memorable.

Rock music angry man!

I understand why people might have not like it at the time, but the creepy factor definitly is a plus for me, and the sound design and graphics are great, even if a bit too dark at points

Doom 3 released during a time where the FPS genre was drastically being rewritten. With its launch being sandwiched between the releases of its new competitors, Halo and Half Life, it is no surprise that it tried to reinvent the formula to be more aligned to the design philosophies of those games. Consequently, Doom 3 stands out from the rest of the franchise, taking more of a grounded approach; adding things like weapon reloading and limited sprint, which slows down the gameplay and aligns it with the clear horror focus that id Software was going for. Doom 3 certainly excels at the horror in this game, far more than any other game in the franchise. 90% of the game is spent wandering through dark and dingy corridors where demons lurk in the darkness, waiting to jump out at you at any moment. The addition of the flashlight makes these moments even more erie, as it adds to the claustrophobia and isolation, making for visually haunting moment-to-moment gameplay. Hell was also given a much darker facelift, and honestly looks terrifying. I just wish the game had given us more time there as opposed to the identical looking hallways it has you fighting in for most of the game. All this is elevated by the game's surprisingly good graphics, at least for 2004. The new design of Doom 3 unfortunately compromises the non-linear nature of its predecessors; each level is painfully linear and there are only a few times where you can branch off the path and solve a few puzzles. Luckily, the varied enemy types from the first two games return and make traversing these linear paths a bit more engaging. The weapon cycling system is by far my biggest gripe with Doom 3. Despite being present in the original games, its frustrating nature is a lot more noticeable in this game, as you can easily be swarmed. There is a way to choose the weapon you want in the menu, but this does not pause the game, ultimately disregarding this feature. This made for frustrating weapon swapping during intense combat scenarios. The story is also boring; it takes a backseat, but not in a tasteful way like the 2016 sequel. I at least remembered the characters and key moments of 2016's game, but I couldn't tell you anything about the story or characters in this game. I can see why the community uphold Doom 3 as a footnote in the franchise's history. It is clearly influenced by the shooters that came out in the early 2000s and adopts these revised mechanics, sacrificing the consistency of the first two games. By itself, it works as a good horror game.