"The port is very demanding, but it's still a great game overall."

Apple Macintosh computers aren't known for gaming, but for power and stability. Blizzard and Aspyr are two game companies that I know that still give respect for Mac computers. Aspyr is the one who brought us DooM 3 for the Mac, a game which came out in Summer 2004 for the PC, originally developed by id Software. id Software is known for its great gaming engines since the early 90's when Wolfenstein 3D hit the markets. From then on, they have brought us some of the best FPS games, such as DooM and Quake.

Story - You are a marine, transferred to the UAC base in Mars. Your commander has requested your immediate attention, and he gives you an assignment. You go on to your assignment and all hell breaks loose. Now it's your duty to survive.... if you have guts..

Gameplay - Aspyr has tried hard in porting the code to optimize the game for the Mac. And they did well. If you have 512MB of RAM and a processor over 1.5GHz, you're ready to go. You can still get decent framerates by setting the Shadows off(which affects gameplay drastically) and putting the resolution/quality to Low.

The gameplay of this game is like any shooter from id Software. You run around, shoot things, use keys[in DooM 3's case, it would be the Personal Data Assistant(PDA)] to unlock doors, and survive from getting your own ass clawed down. You are given an arsenal of weapons throughout the game, and it seems this time id Software has taken the bigger is better approach. Some classics have returned, such as the Big Fraggin' Gun(BFG), Plasma Gun, and the legendary Rocket Launcher(id Software's favorite weapon). Enemies will be hiding, popping out, and sneaking up to you everywhere during your course. Some classic foes have returned, such as a legendary Cyberdemon(no DooM game would be DooM without the rocket launcher-wielding mechanical skyscraper), Hell Knights, and Imps. If you had turned Shadows off, you missed out on one of the interesting aspects of the DooM 3 engine. However, it isn't all that bad. By hearing the sounds of the enemies, you'll know when they'll come.

There is however one irritating thing about DooM 3. Ok, the game is dark, and you've got a flashlight to use, so you are able to look at the dark areas. Problem fixed, which creates another problem. You can't shoot while holding the flashlight. If you want to shoot, you'll have to switch to a weapon(in which the marine puts down his Flashlight, creating darkness again). Sometimes it can be very frustrating switching back and forth, but unlike the classic DooM games, switching to another weapon takes less time.

The AI in this game has been somewhat improved compared to the previous DooM games. There are some new enemies, and all of the newcomers are more irritating than deadly, save for the bosses. Enemies now have two or more attacks each, so you won't have to say how lame the AI is because you keep getting killed by the same attack. And not to mention the BEST part about most id Software games, which is the retaliation system. Remember how in the previous chapters, when an enemy is hit by another enemy, they fight each other? Well, there is that in DooM 3, but not as frequent. This time, only bigger takes on the smaller, which is good enough.

Graphics/Sound - As stated earlier, id Software is known for creating top notch gaming engines. The graphics couldn't be more impressive(for its time). The lighting is great, enemies are detailed well, and the dark game sets for a scary mood. Even with the setting set to Low/Medium quality, the game still has eye-candy. The graphics can be taken further with Shadows on, but with it off, your framerate will improve.

Like in the previous DooM games, as you walk around the base, you'll hear enemies growl, snore, and yell. Each enemy has their own unique sound when they appear, so you'll know who you'll be facing. There is barely any music in this game, not that it needs any. They could've used some ambient, but without it its fine.

Controls - id Software once said that they'll make DooM 3 an enjoyable experience by giving the fewest keys possible. You wont use 50% of the keyboard to play the game. The default controls were perfect for me, and I didn't have to change any of them. Seems like id Software did their homework. =)

Replayability - Once you've beaten the game, you'll unlock the Nightmare difficulty. This kind of Nightmare isn't like the previous DooM games. It's much more frustrating than that. After that, you won't find the need to play the game again. But don't let that stop you from buying the game though. That's why there are mods out there that fans create, to extend the time you keep DooM 3 on your hard drive. There's the replayability there.

Performance - Aspyr didn't do a bad job porting the game over. Yes, the game is very demanding of your system. The requirements for the Mac port is higher than that of the PC, but with a G5 and 512MB of RAM, you should get playable framerates. Aspyr has released a demo after the game's release, and you can use that to see if your system is capable of running DooM 3.

This is a great buy for Mac... now what about Resurrection of Evil? We can only hope.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/07/05