Doom 3

Did You Know?

• Doom 3 achieved gold status on July 14, 2004.
• The Xbox version included The Ultimate Doom and Doom II: Hell on Earth.
• The source code of the id Tech 4 engine was released under the GNU GPL-3.0-or-later in November 2011.

Synopsis

Doom 3 takes place on Mars in 2145. The Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC), the largest corporate entity with near-unlimited funds, operates a research facility on Mars conducting work in advanced weapons, biology, space exploration, and teleportation outside legal boundaries. Employees experience unsettling incidents involving voices, sightings, paranoia, and insanity, often leading to fatal accidents. The player is an anonymous Space Marine corporal who arrives at the UAC base.

Master Sergeant Thomas Kelly gives objectives and advice via radio for the first half of the game. Dr. Malcolm Betruger, head of the Delta Labs division, is revealed to be collaborating with Hell to subjugate humanity, and his demonic voice taunts the player. Elliott Swann, a UAC board representative, and his enforcer Jack Campbell, armed with a BFG 9000, are sent to investigate Betruger's research and the accidents. Swann and Campbell stay ahead of the player until late in the game.

Minor characters include scientists, archaeologists, marines, and security guards. Much of the story and dialogue were written by Matthew J. Costello.

Development

Development began in late 2000 after Quake III: Team Arena, with a team of 20 to 22 people and a budget of $10 million (estimated by John Carmack in 2004 at up to $14 million). The project was a remake of Doom, which caused internal controversy; owners Kevin Cloud and Adrian Carmack opposed revisiting old properties, but after the positive reception to Return to Castle Wolfenstein, employees presented an ultimatum, leading to an agreement. Artist Paul Steed was fired in retaliation. The game was unveiled in February 2001 by Steve Jobs at Macworld Conference & Expo/Tokyo 2001 alongside the GeForce 3, and demonstrated at E3 2002, winning five awards. Trent Reznor was initially set to compose music and sound effects but none of his work made the final product due to time, money, and bad management. Chris Vrenna produced and Clint Walsh composed the soundtrack.

Reception

Doom 3 received favorable reviews, with the PC version scoring 87 percent on Metacritic and 88 percent on GameRankings. Critics praised the graphics and presentation; GameSpot described environments as convincingly lifelike and densely atmospheric, while PC Gamer UK called the graphics and character modeling flawless. IGN noted that without the atmosphere, the game would be a plain shooter reminiscent of 1990s titles. Reviewers also commended the attention to premise and setting; GameSpot said it gave the impression of a fully realized world, and IGN noted the UAC base felt worn and lived-in. Eurogamer compared the opening sequence to Valve's Half-Life.