I make it a habit of renting games before buying them. If the game's truly worth it, I'll gladly pay the "extra" fee due to renting it first. I rented Doom3 for the Xbox, and here's my spin on it.

Pros:
- graphics are superb and very atmospheric. It's downright creepy at times
- Good overall translation from the PC to the Xbox. Considering what the original PC specs for the game are/were, this says a *LOT*.
- FPS gameplay translates well to the console controller. Very responsive and intuitive.
- Cooperative play adds a fantastic dimension to the game. It's nice to go Demon hunting with someone else tagging along blasting bad guys as needed.
- Collector's Edition comes with Doom I and Doom II. It's worth the extra $10 bucks for those alone, as getting those games to run on Win XP is almost impossible at times.
- A nod to id for trying to put some sort of story to it this time. A weak story, mind you, but a decent effort nonetheless. I especially like that it's the guy's first few days at the place, meaning he's none too sure of what goes where yet. The PDA feature is nice, as it eliminates the days of yore where you wandered around pulling levers for no reason.
- It's the same ol' Doom, atmosphere, zombies, demons, and all.

Cons:
- It's the same ol' Doom where monsters pop out of boxes in the wall...behind you...in the dark. Why can't the monsters morph through the wall somehow, where they maintain some level of invincibility during said morphing, instead of having some goofy secret panel open up and out pops same? And the monster-behind-you-in-the-dark paradigm is a bit stale for today's games. I know it's part of the atmosphere, but it seems to be an afterthought in design to me. Maybe I'm just jaded after playing KOTOR, GTA: Vice City (haven't played San Andreas yet), Halo/Halo2, Mercenaries, Prince of Persia, SW: Republic Commando, and others.
- Repetitive gameplay: go through level, monster pops out behind you, blast monster, find code or whatnot, exit level. The technology exists to do oh so much more, demonstrated by those games mentioned above.
- Underutilized story elements: The PDA is great and all, but it's underutilized. It would be cool if you got a certain amount of info and are then given a choice; manipulate building functions through the PDA to get out faster, albeit without as many weapons or whatnot, or go through the building popping monsters, risking much more harm, but getting better weapons at the end. Why doesn't it have a comprehensive *map* of the place on it?? It can download video and security clearances no problem, but it doesn't have a map???
- Linear gameplay: To be totally fair, this is a problem with a lot of games now, so maybe I shouldn't be too harsh. One of the endearing things about Halo2 was the ability to play as members of both sides of the conflict. I think the Doom series could benefit from some fresh thinking in that regard; letting you play as various characters who eventually meet up at the end (or not, depending on character played), then you're given a choice as to which character to play to go after the bad guy, for example. Randomization of the levels and the like, a la Diablo and Diablo II, would breathe some modern life into the series as well.
- (Xbox version) Paltry cheat codes: Yeah I like using them and will freely admit it. I especially like unlimited ammo cheat codes, because, well, it's fun. If I *wanted* a real life shooting experience with limited ammo, I'd *join SOCOMM*. The PC version has an unlimited ammo code, but the Xbox version doesn't. It does have invincibility, the single most boring cheat code ever invented. WHY?!?!?!

So color me so-so about Doom 3. Will I buy it? good question. If you're a Doom fan, you've bought both versions anyway, have the board game already, several action figures around the desk, and could care little about my opinion on it. The Collector's Edition is intriguing; knowing that I could simply insert the disk into the Xbox and play Doom and Doom II all over again without having to write some batch file on my PC to manage virtual memory or whatnot is a value added benefit. I may wait until it goes down in price, say closer to the end of the year or whatnot.

Half-Life 2 where are you???

When i was but a lad, this kind of thing would have been a great game to play. But now as an older wiser gamer i can see through that kind of thing. By that kind of thing, i mean cheap thrills, which this game has plenty of and will use often. After playing this game for about an hour or two, you will begin to see that if you see a dark corner or hear a "SSSSSS" something is there or coming. And odds are you will shoot in the direction of the sound or darkness and almost 99.9% of the time, there is something there that you will have just killed. That's how i went through this game, and in the end i just didn't get enjoyment out of it. After finishing the final level, i really felt like i wasted my time playing it because the challenge just wasn't there. If you must play this game, do it for the graphics and rent it. Save your money.

The goal of this game is to escape from hell, according to the description. However, if you trust in Jesus, you'll never have to worry about going there in the first place. Therefore, this game is unnecessary to anyone who has accepted Him as their savior.

I just got this game for my birthday and I think it is one of the best games I have ever played. I think the storyline is one of the main reasons it is so scary. The one thing I can say I don't like about this game is the fact that you have to switch between your gun and your flashlight. Other than that, this game is awesome. It has good graphics, cool weapons, creepy monsters, scary levels, and a killer storyline. tHIS GAME IS DEFINATELY WORTH BUYING!!

What happened to John anyway...He's the father of 3-D gaming, polygonal rendering, I believe he has to be proud of his accomplishment. He's one of the few gods in technology.