There is a cavalcade of great games being released over the next few months for the XBox - the only console that matters in the current generation of gaming consoles. These range from Jade Empire to Forza Motorsport, and the XBox version of GTA: San Andreas (for which I will gladly trade Halo 2, as promised).
ID Software released Doom 3 for the XBox in two versions this week - the Ultimate Edition is the better version - it comes with XBox updates of the original Doom games - Ultimate Doom and Doom II. There are also interviews, a photo gallery, etc.
Doom 3 is a striking, powerful, freakingly scary game. It fully utilizes the rich surround-sound capabilities of the XBox, and the ability to render darkness, light and narrow. cramped, claustrophic cargo holds of spacestations in a manner that you wish you were not there.
The storyline is basic, placing the player on a space installation as a sort of security dude/investigator, who is forced to defend and fight his way out when the residents turn into zombies and monsters - some borrowed from the original Doom (the wookie-type monster who shoots balls of fire, for example). You can only hold one weapon at a time, and it is often necessary to switch to your flashlight to peer into the dark spots. That takes the weapon out of your hand, a difficult situation, and a step back from the two-handed fighting of Halo 2. A PC Mod apparently exists for this difficulty, none that I am aware of, or would want to apply, for the XBox.
Not a game for kids or the faint-hearted, the sounds are very effective at creating a dark, corrosive atmosphere of dread. The game can also be played on XBox Live, although the matchmaking interface is terribly clunky, and commonly tries to connect you to games that have ended or are not available. The very cool feature on XBox Live of showing you which games your friends are currently playing tells me however, that many of my Halo 2 friends and clansmen have deserted the Covenant for the gates of Doom. A very cool feature on XBox Live is co-operative gaming, a first, I believe.
Article comments
1 - Matt Paprocki
Doom 3 may be good, but it has nothing on Resident Evil 4 or God of War this year... nothing. Also:
"I also picked up a nice, low-priced anniversary collection of all 10 Megaman games - these were N64 titles that featured Megaman..."
N64?? Not a single game in that collection was a 64 game. That system only got one Mega Man game and it's not included. Those are all NES, SNES, Arcade, and PS One titles.
"From the industry's perspective, an upgrade cycle is overdue"
No, they're not. This is way too soon. Just because the PC can provide beter graphics doesn't mean anything. Looking at something like the new Splinter Cell on the Xbox shows it's not neccesary yet. The PS2 has only been around for 4 years, the Xbox/Cube a year less. That's a ridiculously short console life, actually the shortest this industry has ever seen.
2 - Aaman
It's overdue perhaps from a dollars perspective - they feel they've squeezed out as much as they can from the consumers' wallets in this generation - since typical upgrade cycles in PCs are 18 months to 2 years, perhaps they are trying to commoditize the console
My mistake about the N64 reference - I meant NES
3 - Matt Paprocki
I'll disagree with you there too, Aaman. Last Christmas, very few stores had any consoles left. I worked in one, I know. The $149-$179 price point was obviously a price point people felt was solid. In fact, I'll even go as far as saying not all stores have been restocked fully yet either. The games and systems are still selling fine. The next gen can wait, and the major players would be smart to do so. You're only making consumers mad (especially parents) who just plunked down all that cash last year to see them all replaced.