Doom III is at the moment, known mostly for it's graphics. It extensively uses bump mapping, a technique which uses lighting effects to add detail to objects without increasing the polygon count, and that looks better than textures. The lighting will be up to par with Splinter Cell, and you will be able to shoot out lights to hide in the darkness, a feature that everyone seems to be copying from Splinter Cell. Doom III also features some of the most advanced physics of any game. Shooting a box causes it to authenticly jump around, and the bullet pentrates the box, and passes through with a reduced velocity. Bullet wounds are accurately modeled, and depending on where they hit, could pass through the body, or get stuck in a bone.
The basic story is the typical experiment on Mars gone wrong, creating mutants, and you play as a scientist who has survived. The story may not be revolutionary, but we play games for gameplay, not cutscenes every 2 minutes. 2 weapons are in the alpha demo - leaked from E3... A Jackhammer style automatic shotgun, and an assault rifle similar in style to the pulse rifle from Aliens. The rocket launcher, handgun, double barreled shotgun, BFG9000, plasma rifle and chaingun are likely to make a return, although it is not yet confirmed. According to people who have played the alpha demo, it is one of the scariest games ever.
The producers have stated that enemies will have realistic levels of AI. Some enemies will be smart, stalking through the shadows and searching for you methodically, while others will just charge on sight. "Ask a guy the time, and he won't quote Shakespeare, he will tell you the time" one of the programmers stated. Non-Player Characters may also play an important part - a guy may offer you ammo in exchange for bringing him food or killing a monster that has occupied his residence.
Doom III is aiming for the ultimate single player experience, so multi-player will not be the main focus. Death match and a few other modes are all that is confirmed, and probably Xbox Live support, although no word on this yet. The gameplay seems to have changed in style from previous Doom games. When confronted with a powerful enemy and armed with a handgun, it may be better to hide in a shadow and let is pass instead of firing ineffective handgun rounds at it. Doom III is one of the best looking games so far, and apparently is only possible on the Xbox because of RAM limitations on the Playstation 2 and Gamecube.
Doom III is currently on course for a Christmas 2003 UK release on the PC, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was delayed.
