24th September 2004, 4:59 PM
Okay, got it, played it for a bit, and now have an opinion.
First off, my computer can almost handle it perfectly at top quality with resolution of 1024x768. I say "almost" because the game has finally pushed my system just beyond what it's capable of. Either A, my video card needs more RAM, or B, that's not the issue, the issue is my mother board doesn't transfer data between my system ram to the video card fast enough. I KNOW I have enough system ram (a gig should do it even for this game), it's gotta be one of those two things. I have 256MB of video card ram, so next time I get a card, a few years from now, I'll aim for either 512 or a gig. Anyway, the main issue is whenever some new model is being loaded for the first time (excluding the stuff automatically loaded into ram when the level loads up), the game freezes for a couple seconds until it's done. After that, no issues though.
So, having seen this game at full capacity... well, I am not THAT impressed. It looks good but, eh, it's not jaw dropping or anything... Yes, it's got a lot of texture levels on every model, yes there's a lot of detail, and yes those various effects do look nice but, well... I guess I expected more... I think it might be the art style. It's so... typical of American games. And, the sad thing is American game developers, by and large, are FINALLY growing out of this whole style themselves. Everything just seems so... bland. Detailed, but bland. I think it's a lovely engine, but I would like to see it used on some actual decent environments. Load up something based on the Mana game's art style and let me run around there... killing demons with shotguns.
Anyway, the game does have a nice creepyness to it, decent anyway. The idea that putting away the flashlight leaves me with a menacing sillouette heading towards me is nice. I will say this. It's actually SCARY as opposed to the first two Doom games. I'm not even talking about how the art style is laughable to any adult, I'm talking about how it's pure action with not a single bit of scariness in it, at all. It's like a fight scene in a movie. That part itself is never scary, it's the part where the guy is behind the other guy and you catch a glint of the knife. Of course, that example is cheesy, but at least it's standard scary. That about describes the spookiness of this game, cheesy, but decent. They did seem to add a lot of interactivity with the various files. The story, for what it is, also seems to be told well enough. Too bad it's Doom here. I mean, the idea of opening a portal into the demon world is a concept that COULD work, even if it's scientists who do it. That in and of itself could still make a good story. However, when every single demon is a bloodthirsty braindead creature out to kill all humans, every single chance for the story to be good, at all, has just flown out the window forever.
Sooo, I guess I'll get back to the demo later and go beyond the room where I decided to see if going into a bunch of gears in the floor would be deadly or not. I'm only like halfway through the second level of the demo (maybe halfway, not really sure). The demo has 3 levels total, so not much left. If I'm not wowed, this demo is going bye-bye when I'm done with it, and I'll be left not wanting to buy this game at all. Also, there's no multiplayer demo.
First off, my computer can almost handle it perfectly at top quality with resolution of 1024x768. I say "almost" because the game has finally pushed my system just beyond what it's capable of. Either A, my video card needs more RAM, or B, that's not the issue, the issue is my mother board doesn't transfer data between my system ram to the video card fast enough. I KNOW I have enough system ram (a gig should do it even for this game), it's gotta be one of those two things. I have 256MB of video card ram, so next time I get a card, a few years from now, I'll aim for either 512 or a gig. Anyway, the main issue is whenever some new model is being loaded for the first time (excluding the stuff automatically loaded into ram when the level loads up), the game freezes for a couple seconds until it's done. After that, no issues though.
So, having seen this game at full capacity... well, I am not THAT impressed. It looks good but, eh, it's not jaw dropping or anything... Yes, it's got a lot of texture levels on every model, yes there's a lot of detail, and yes those various effects do look nice but, well... I guess I expected more... I think it might be the art style. It's so... typical of American games. And, the sad thing is American game developers, by and large, are FINALLY growing out of this whole style themselves. Everything just seems so... bland. Detailed, but bland. I think it's a lovely engine, but I would like to see it used on some actual decent environments. Load up something based on the Mana game's art style and let me run around there... killing demons with shotguns.
Anyway, the game does have a nice creepyness to it, decent anyway. The idea that putting away the flashlight leaves me with a menacing sillouette heading towards me is nice. I will say this. It's actually SCARY as opposed to the first two Doom games. I'm not even talking about how the art style is laughable to any adult, I'm talking about how it's pure action with not a single bit of scariness in it, at all. It's like a fight scene in a movie. That part itself is never scary, it's the part where the guy is behind the other guy and you catch a glint of the knife. Of course, that example is cheesy, but at least it's standard scary. That about describes the spookiness of this game, cheesy, but decent. They did seem to add a lot of interactivity with the various files. The story, for what it is, also seems to be told well enough. Too bad it's Doom here. I mean, the idea of opening a portal into the demon world is a concept that COULD work, even if it's scientists who do it. That in and of itself could still make a good story. However, when every single demon is a bloodthirsty braindead creature out to kill all humans, every single chance for the story to be good, at all, has just flown out the window forever.
Sooo, I guess I'll get back to the demo later and go beyond the room where I decided to see if going into a bunch of gears in the floor would be deadly or not. I'm only like halfway through the second level of the demo (maybe halfway, not really sure). The demo has 3 levels total, so not much left. If I'm not wowed, this demo is going bye-bye when I'm done with it, and I'll be left not wanting to buy this game at all. Also, there's no multiplayer demo.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)