HAROLD
01-11-2003, 09:45 AM
DOOM III: The Very First Look
The year: 2145. The place: Mars.
We're currently zooming over the Martian landscape, passing over a massive installation of the Union Aerospace Corporation. Inside, a number of guards are chatting as a scientist passes by and sneaks into a nearby room.
Now sitting at a computer terminal, the camera pulls in close to the scientist. He's nervous, obviously up to something he shouldn't be. His face is lit up by the glow of the computer screen, flickering in unison with the display of information on the monitor.
After a few moments, explosions rock the facility, causing machinery to crash to the floor and sending boxes falling off shelves. Cut to: a red portal, with a number of ghostly skulls flying out of it. They rip through the installation's personnel, changing them into something …not quite human.
Elsewhere in the facility, you duck into a corner when a huge shadow suddenly envelopes the area. The creature attached to it is at least a few feet taller than you, and it's hard not to feel overwhelmed as it slowly lumbers by. You smartly choose not to fire your pistol as the creature passes, oblivious to your presence … for now.
This is DOOM III, and it's going to scare you to hell.
The Theater of Terror
We're not actually on Mars, of course. This is all happening in Los Angeles, inside the DOOM III booth at the Electronics Entertainment Expo. The booth, which has been created to look like a UAC structure from the game, has more in common with a Disneyland attraction than your typical trade show display. Outside, three plasma screens are running a video showing the history of DOOM (including footage from DOOM III and interviews with team members) … but inside is where the real action is. This is where, starting Wednesday morning, id Software and Activision will be giving the world their first look at DOOM III via a demo presented completely in the working game engine. Having seen the 11-minute presentation in its entirety -- twice -- I can safely say: you're going to be amazed.
The small theater resembles a ship, with computer terminals and textured walls and surfaces that appear to have come straight out of the game. For purposes of showing off the demo, the theater contains an 8 x 6 foot projection screen, as well as a Dolby 5.1 surround sound system (which is supported by the game), complete with subwoofers built into three rows of benches. One of the theater lights even flickers on and off, mimicking some of the lighting effects in the game. (The theater is supposedly designed to hold 15 people at a time, but we're suspecting that number will reach as high as 20 once the lines start growing.)
Sitting nearby is Marty Stratton, id Software's Director of Business Development, who's pretty excited about the game. It's hard to blame him -- DOOM III is easily one of the most highly anticipated titles in development by anyone at the moment. Before actually seeing the demo, I was able to chat with Marty and ask many of the questions gamers have been asking since DOOM III was announced well over a year ago. Some of the answers, we found, were quite surprisingThe First Look
One of the first things to understand about DOOM III is that it's not being designed as your typical first-person shooter, where elements like plot and atmosphere often take a back seat to the action. The game will take a more deliberate pace, to allow gamers to soak in the surroundings. "One of the design goals of the game is to terrify people," Stratton explains, "we're setting up scenarios to scare people." The demonstration contains a number of moments that illustrate this point, including one where your character is checking out his reflection in a mirror … and you suddenly spot another creature off to the side, rapidly charging your way.
While id isn't planning on giving away the entire plot of the game anytime soon, Stratton did give us a few ofthe basics: DOOM III is basically a "retelling" of the original DOOM, with many of the same characters and themes, and even some returning weapons. Most of the game is set on Mars, where you're a marine recently stationed at the Union Aerospace Corporation, a company with strong military ties doing experimentation with teleportation technology. It seems a few people at the UAC don't exactly have everyone's best interests at heart, and after a betrayal, things quickly descend into chaos, with members of the facility being possessed and turned into zombies. This is where you come in -- as one quote from the demonstration put it, "only one man stands between hell and earth... you."
Details are also a bit thin on the many of the enemies, weapons and levels, but there were some elements that could be seen in the demonstration. There were a number of zombies roaming the UAC installation, based off both civilian and security personnel. There were also a number of seemingly non-human creatures present -- many of whom attacked with quick, lunging attacks, and were all modeled and animated exquisitely. The main character carried a pistol for the majority of the demonstration, but also got to wield a shotgun (causing much spattering of blood), as well as an assault rifle that reminded me quite a bit of the one from Halo. And while the entire demonstration was set in the UAC facility, we're told that you'll also get to make a trip to Hell.
For the game, id has enlisted the services of science fiction writer Matthew Costello to pen the game story and dialogue. Costello is no rookie to this sort of thing -- you may recognize him as the writer of the 7th Guest and The 11th Hour games. The game has already been storyboarded from start to finish, so it's clear the developers know exactly what they're shooting for. You can expect the plot to be furthered along through a combination of in-game scripted scenes and in-engine cinematics, but nothing rendered -- everything will happen inside the new engine.
The year: 2145. The place: Mars.
We're currently zooming over the Martian landscape, passing over a massive installation of the Union Aerospace Corporation. Inside, a number of guards are chatting as a scientist passes by and sneaks into a nearby room.
Now sitting at a computer terminal, the camera pulls in close to the scientist. He's nervous, obviously up to something he shouldn't be. His face is lit up by the glow of the computer screen, flickering in unison with the display of information on the monitor.
After a few moments, explosions rock the facility, causing machinery to crash to the floor and sending boxes falling off shelves. Cut to: a red portal, with a number of ghostly skulls flying out of it. They rip through the installation's personnel, changing them into something …not quite human.
Elsewhere in the facility, you duck into a corner when a huge shadow suddenly envelopes the area. The creature attached to it is at least a few feet taller than you, and it's hard not to feel overwhelmed as it slowly lumbers by. You smartly choose not to fire your pistol as the creature passes, oblivious to your presence … for now.
This is DOOM III, and it's going to scare you to hell.
The Theater of Terror
We're not actually on Mars, of course. This is all happening in Los Angeles, inside the DOOM III booth at the Electronics Entertainment Expo. The booth, which has been created to look like a UAC structure from the game, has more in common with a Disneyland attraction than your typical trade show display. Outside, three plasma screens are running a video showing the history of DOOM (including footage from DOOM III and interviews with team members) … but inside is where the real action is. This is where, starting Wednesday morning, id Software and Activision will be giving the world their first look at DOOM III via a demo presented completely in the working game engine. Having seen the 11-minute presentation in its entirety -- twice -- I can safely say: you're going to be amazed.
The small theater resembles a ship, with computer terminals and textured walls and surfaces that appear to have come straight out of the game. For purposes of showing off the demo, the theater contains an 8 x 6 foot projection screen, as well as a Dolby 5.1 surround sound system (which is supported by the game), complete with subwoofers built into three rows of benches. One of the theater lights even flickers on and off, mimicking some of the lighting effects in the game. (The theater is supposedly designed to hold 15 people at a time, but we're suspecting that number will reach as high as 20 once the lines start growing.)
Sitting nearby is Marty Stratton, id Software's Director of Business Development, who's pretty excited about the game. It's hard to blame him -- DOOM III is easily one of the most highly anticipated titles in development by anyone at the moment. Before actually seeing the demo, I was able to chat with Marty and ask many of the questions gamers have been asking since DOOM III was announced well over a year ago. Some of the answers, we found, were quite surprisingThe First Look
One of the first things to understand about DOOM III is that it's not being designed as your typical first-person shooter, where elements like plot and atmosphere often take a back seat to the action. The game will take a more deliberate pace, to allow gamers to soak in the surroundings. "One of the design goals of the game is to terrify people," Stratton explains, "we're setting up scenarios to scare people." The demonstration contains a number of moments that illustrate this point, including one where your character is checking out his reflection in a mirror … and you suddenly spot another creature off to the side, rapidly charging your way.
While id isn't planning on giving away the entire plot of the game anytime soon, Stratton did give us a few ofthe basics: DOOM III is basically a "retelling" of the original DOOM, with many of the same characters and themes, and even some returning weapons. Most of the game is set on Mars, where you're a marine recently stationed at the Union Aerospace Corporation, a company with strong military ties doing experimentation with teleportation technology. It seems a few people at the UAC don't exactly have everyone's best interests at heart, and after a betrayal, things quickly descend into chaos, with members of the facility being possessed and turned into zombies. This is where you come in -- as one quote from the demonstration put it, "only one man stands between hell and earth... you."
Details are also a bit thin on the many of the enemies, weapons and levels, but there were some elements that could be seen in the demonstration. There were a number of zombies roaming the UAC installation, based off both civilian and security personnel. There were also a number of seemingly non-human creatures present -- many of whom attacked with quick, lunging attacks, and were all modeled and animated exquisitely. The main character carried a pistol for the majority of the demonstration, but also got to wield a shotgun (causing much spattering of blood), as well as an assault rifle that reminded me quite a bit of the one from Halo. And while the entire demonstration was set in the UAC facility, we're told that you'll also get to make a trip to Hell.
For the game, id has enlisted the services of science fiction writer Matthew Costello to pen the game story and dialogue. Costello is no rookie to this sort of thing -- you may recognize him as the writer of the 7th Guest and The 11th Hour games. The game has already been storyboarded from start to finish, so it's clear the developers know exactly what they're shooting for. You can expect the plot to be furthered along through a combination of in-game scripted scenes and in-engine cinematics, but nothing rendered -- everything will happen inside the new engine.