DooM 3 Review Retrospective - When horror comes first 

As much as loved doom 2016 and doom eternal, the creep factor of doom 3 was incredible. Maybe cus i was 16, but it stuck with me

Nobody born after these times will understand just how revolutionary this moment was in gaming. There were always leaps in quality and still are, but THIS..

I'll never forget listening to the radio comms after things start going south and all the chaos and screaming and terror. It was an awesome thing to experience for the first time way back in 2004/5.

I played the game when it came out and it was insanely scary. I would complete one level a day at best because I'd be too scared to proceed. When you reach that checkpoint and finish a level it's such a huge relief and getting back out there was too much.

Let it be known Carmack said in an interview back in 2005 that doom 3 is what they wanted the original to be the survival horror feeling but do to engine limitations at the time it became the run and gun shooter we love today.

I loved the PDA such a good way to tell the story and flesh out the world.

My go to comfort game. Brings back such great memories I wish I could play this one for the first time again.

Doom 3 is one of those games that I have massive respect for. Definitely underrated in the Doom franchise. I'm glad they switched things up, even if it polarized the fanbase and we probably won't see anything like this in doom again.

So many people forget that the original DooM WAS scary. It absolutely integrated horror elements: jumpscares, traps, spooky music with both fast AND slow tracks, ambient growls, monster roars, terrifying locales, flickering lights and monsters lurking in shadows-- the works. In the 90s, a full playthrough of DooM could be a very scary game.

This is an exciting time. We were there when those things came into existence. The late 90s to the mid 2000's was the birth of a new era of technology. If you grew up with DOS games, this was unlike anything you have ever seen before. It was so wild.

This game still looks amazing today. One of my all time favorites.

the plasma rifle in doom 3 might be the best sound desing of any weapon i've ever heard. instantly nostalgic and incredibly satisfying to listen.

I would love to see a spiritual successor to Doom3 in terms of horror FPS.

I was taking C++ and OpenGL as classes in high school when Doom3 was announced. I managed to get a hold of an alpha or pre alpha and brought it into class so we could open it up and tweak it until we got it to run. Those were the days.

Despite loving all the other Doom-games, this is actually my favorite. Perhaps because it always feels real and grounded, much like Half-Life/HL2. Doom 1/2/4 are mostly about learning to most effectively eliminate everything that moves, which is challenging like a sport is. Doom3 is more about soaking in the atmosphere and story.

Doom 3 is still one of my favorite games ever. It had its problems but it’s still a pretty good game.

Wait what? They really called the bad guy "Dr. Betrüger"? :D That literally means "cheater/swindler" in German. Could have just called him "Mister Evil" at that point. :D

Doom 3 was one of the reasons why I started gaming, even to this day, Doom 3 had it's flaws but brings back nostalgia every time! Coming home after school and play it all afternoon and night to scare myself lol 😆

It’s one of my all-time favorite games. Still play it.

I played that one, it was phenomenal and so intense & scary. The « baby-flies » were SO horrific

Love Doom 3. It's so rad and so innovative for the time

Playing this game in VR on the Quest 2 in the park in a tennis court at 2am was one of the best gaming experiences i’ve ever had.

Doom 3! Excellent! 🤘It might be the black sheep, but I still love it.

I never managed to finish this game until I reached 20s 😆 It still gives me goosebumps while playing it

This game and _Dark Corners of the Earth_ both gave me chills as a kid.

The only single player game, that I played over and over again from start to finish. What a classic.

Doom 3 over time has become not just my favorite Doom game but my favorite FPS game period. I've played all the Doom games many times & lots of Brutal Doom. But there is just something so unique about Doom 3 on nightmare difficulty especially playing after midnight, all the lights out, & headphones on. It's maybe not scary per se to me but it's very tense. It's combat that I have come to call "ambush survival". You're always outnumbered, alone in the dark, with unending ambushes coming at you from multiple directions. It's always unfair. It's perfect. Doom 3 on nightmare difficulty is the perfect FPS game to me.

I remember being scared when playing this as a kid, but it was so good that I just couldnt stop playing...and I had to play at nigth with no ligths hidden from my parents 🤣

I recommend playing Resurrection of Evil without using the Artifact for anything but the slowmo puzzles in the beginning and the Betruger fight at the end. Makes the combat a lot more exciting!

I really enjoyed doom 3. Going into the horror genre I think was a solid move. The game really did make me fear ever step I took. I also feel like the environments and scare tactics used was a big inspiration for deadspace.

The weapons introduction and how it’s tied to gameplay intensity is true to form of the original

Doom 1 & 2 were entertaining shooters with a great concept. Doom 2016 and Eternal took that idea of one man against all of hell to the max. But for me it was Doom 3 that truly brought the frightening aspect of the story. A real masterpiece.

I love me some doom 3. While it's not the frenetic gameplay of other doom titles, it stands on its own as an amazing horror experience.

I'm so glad you did the time honored thing which is built all Doom 3 video intros around that menu theme by Tweaker. Absolute badass to the nth degree

I would absolutely love a Doom spin off where you play as a regular marine but with Doom 3 style gameplay. EDIT: To all the people replying saying "So doom 3, you would like doom 3." Yes...that was the point of my comment you dense cabbage. I want more doom 3.

Thanks Kirk, great Retrospective on Doom³. I still play it once a year, it's really one of a kind.

1h of doom 3 with Kirk, that’s going to be interesting :D This game was head of his time, crazy to see it’s better than most horror games today.

I did not grow up with original doom and only played it much later on my xbox360. Doom3 was the first doom i played thoroughly. And to be honest I have a deeper love for doom3. I remember debating with the oldschoolers that was dissatisfied with doom3. 😄 I think the fundamental viewpoints we held was to different for us to be able to understand each other. One strange thing that was gone in the BFG edition, was the ability to stack bodies. In original Doom3 the bodies of zombies and z-secs would pile up if they died next to each other. In the Bfg edition the bodies phase through each other which is weird. 🤔

This game scared the shit out of me at age 24. Used to only play it in 30 minute bits because that's all I could physically handle, would stop playing and be completely exhausted from the adrenaline rush.

What made Doom3 so great is that it gave the franchise elements of lovecraftian cosmic horror.

I played this game with headphones in the dark when it launched and it was diabolically great!

Hahaha I can hear Silver and Medium screaming from across the Atlantic

It's also the aesthetics (ambiance) and the awesome shadow and light rendering doom 3 and games like fear had. Not only good for horror but for all games. I don't know why but these hard shadows look really realistic and complimentary.

I love that the Hell Knight design from this was carried into D16 and Eternal. even the OST from D3 was brought over. the team behind Eternal and 2016 also had love for D3 too.

Still an utterly fantastic game!

I remember playing this when I was a kid. Probably one of the only games I was truly scared almost always throughout

I remember hanging out with my buddy when he bought DooM 3 for the original Xbox and we stayed up until the wee early hours in the morning sitting the dark and killing demons without a wink of shut eye, plus you know...nightmares for a week.

With nowadays mods this game looks absolutely stunning . One of the best game in history.

There are lots of quality mods to download for this game as well, most notably Redux, Phobos, Last Man Standing, and Classic Doom 3. Since I especially enjoy mods that are funny, I also recommend Infernal Death Orgy, Duck Nukem, Bubba Lego-Tep, X-Mass, and Damnatio Memoriae (ep. 1 and 2).

There is something truly beautiful about the words: So unlimited it's on FIRE.

Your title is a play on words that is understood as your analysis evolves. It's very clever. You said it in the title, you said it once, and then "to remember, the horror comes first". This naturally caused me to think that you meant the developers prioritized the horror element over the action, but now coming towards the end of the video I realized your point: the game starts out more like a horror game, then gradually evolves into a more action oriented game akin to its predecessors. The horror comes first. Well done. Subscribed.

Probably my favorite entry in the series, spent a lot more time in 1 and 2, but 3 was revolutionary for its time and finally brought some sort of story into the doom world

I always preferred the aspect of a average human having to face off against overwhelming paranormal forces beyond understanding the doom universe fits both the power fantasy and survival horror I really hope we get another doom game like this. To me its more badass having survived a hellish engagement then painting the town red. I always prefer the demons to be imposing and power the way doom 3 presented lastly the art of hell in doom 3 has not been surpassed best incarnation of hell to date monster design as well was top notch.

i remember building a computer specifically to play doom 3 when it released. I was a senior in highschool. spent many nights in the dark in my parents basement playing it. still one of the only games that give me good bumps. Love it.

I still play this game to this day and it IS the horror-action vibe that has kept me hooked all these years. Also have to point out how well this game is holding up technologically. With or without the source ports, the idtech4 engine can really take advantage of todays hardware. When played with the big hi-res texture mods, it can rival games running on the latest engines imo. I'm in a discord where some very talented programmers are tweaking the idtech4 engine (I just listen while the grown-ups talk) and what would be really great is if Doom3 would attract more modders to make more mission packs and such

Always makes me chuckle that they named the bad guy “betruger” which is German for “cheater, deceiver, or betrayer”

There's something about Doom 3 that gets to me harder than pretty much all other horror titles, except royalty like Silent Hill 1-3 mind you. The atmosphere in the game is insane.

The best Doom experience. Previous dooms were really "Arcade games". Doom 3 was "Doom In Place 3D", dropping you into the hellish world itself completely "Inside of it".

I really like the way the game builds from "try not to die" to "vengeance is me!" 😁 makes the power feel so earned.

1 minute into your video I already came to the conclusion that this has to be the best youtube video I have ever seen in 17 years.

VERY very well done review, I love it and brought up a lot of points. Subbed!

By far the best way to experience Doom 3 that I’ve played is via its VR mod, Fully Possessed. A startlingly well made total VR conversion that even goes so far as to add in full touch controls for the environment and even your PDA. If you have a VR rig and a copy of Doom 3, you can probably get it working. Highly recommended.

If you can, definitely give this game a go in VR, it's like reliving that feeling when it first released all over again.

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, and I don't think you did, but Doom 3 had Creative Labs EAX support on PC that made the game 100x more scary. EAX added a unique sound profile to each room, resulting in punchier and deeper sound. If you want to hear a direct comparison LGR did a great job highlighting the differences in his XP Upgrade video. And if you haven't played through the game with EAX on I highly suggest it.

As much as people hate this game now, it still holds a special adrenaline fueled memory for me. At the time the game came out I was 10. Yes I had played doom1&2 and ultimate. But the game my dad was installing to his PC was demonic. It had the coolest install, wallpapers etc. And when he let me try it, I was scared but excited at the same time. I didn't want to stop, but when I did, I didn't want to be in my room alone at night. I still do a yearly playthrough of this game, the same I do with final fantasy X and resident evil 4. This game is an absolute classic and an absolute powerhouse of a game at the time.

I have tried to spice up Doom 3 gameplay for myself by banning a few options - and I had a blast! Here are the rules: - No BFG - No soulcube (cyberdemon only) - No machinegun - No martianbuddy lockers (means no early chaingun) - No HUD - No flashlight For RoE it is all of the above and: - No artifact (early game slow-mo tutorial sectons only) - No Supershotgun No hud or flashlight means you must pay close attention to the sound. Of all the doom games, Doom 3 by far has the most memorable and unique demon sounds. All enemies make a special sound when ready to ambush and when taking damage. With no HUD, let the sound and the blood tell you if you hit something. Your doomguys voice is also an indicator of how much health you have. No machinegun means the pistol is now a viable long to mid range option, and the shotgun is your primary weapon. You must get close, kill and escape. Fast. By playing that way, I discovered that Doom 3 had strafejumping. That also made me discover that z-sec shotgunner is the only hitscan enemy in the game. Pistol guys, machingunners, chaingunners all fire projectiles that you can outrun. With no machinegun the pressure on the plasma gun and chaingun ammo is much higher. Chaingun is severely more powerful, and you can conserve the ammo by shooting enemy heads. Plasma gun is a defensive option now since it has a knockback/stun effect and can reliably deflect fireballs. The action feels frantic and ballbusting all the way from the start to the end. Some fights are just brutal now. Early game shotgunner encounters, first battle with spiders, the chaingunner encounters, the act 3 as a whole, the double hellknight and an archvile room, the double spider queen fight just before the final level... Suddenly I realized doom 3 is full of epic combat. In RoE, grabber is a treat now. Holding boxes or non-explosive barrels can block incoming shots and even enemy leap attacks. The ability to pull a health pack from a mile away is necessary to keep the strafejumping speed bonus. Grabbing lost souls/cherubs/spiders is a way to save ammo, as much as grabbing mancubi/bruiser/hellkinght fireballs. The Bruiser encounters are tough, the vulgars are very hard to one-hit with a shotgun, and the Bertruger battle is so broken without the artifact it is the toughest boss in all of doom series (including 2016/eternal and all DLCs)

Doom 3 will always be my favorite doom game

although many people didn't like doom 3, for me it was a game that marked a lot, especially in the horror part

People compare Doom 3 to Doom to much. This game had the best aspects of Resident Evil 4, Bioshock and Metroid Prime with a demonic cherry on top.

This game was nothing short of a masterpiece

Thanks so much for this in depth video. I just started playing it again last week and I'm literally hooked on it all over again. And Doom 3 BFG edition literally comes in the mail today. Nice timing to release this video

The thing that ticks me off is that in console versions of Doom 3, you cannot sprint in hell. How it works in the rest of the game is that you flick on/off by pressing down on the left thumb stick, but in hell there is no on/off - you have to hold it pressed, which is impossible, and I love my controller too much to subject it to that kind of abuse.

Great video as always, KIRK! DOOM 3 is my favorite survival horror FPS. It was interesting seeing your takes on it, always coming from a place of understanding each side of the criticisms. You really deserve more views and subscribers, cuz this is top-notch content! Some corrections: * Wolfenstein 3D came out in 1992. * RAGE came out in 2011.

Doom3 still is my favorite fps ever.

You can also strafe jump in Doom 3 BTW it's also why I tend to call it corridor Quake

I remember playing for the first time at 640x480 having barely 30 fps with low graphics. It was so freaking scary, I usually call for my little sister sit with me while I played it LOL.

Doom 3 was so ahead of its time... I remember with awe how gorgeous it looks. And being honest it stands to well to this day. It still looks as gorgeous, the art style fits perfectly with those pitch black shadows

Bro, I just l listened your entire playlist on this and stealth games on an 9hr shift. Thank you so much for posting these!

This was a great retro, clear, concise and kept my attention the whole way through, plus it helps I love Doom 3. I'll be checking out the rest of your content. Great stuff!

when i was a kid this game scared the crap out of me i had to watch my dad play it lol. when i was older i tried it and loved it so much and beat it wonderful game. it really did scare me same with the zombie part in return to castle Wolfenstein

Doom 3 is criminally underrated.

Anytime me and my friends mention Doom 3, we always remember the flashlight and how using it scared the shit out of us. We loved it.

it was damn scary when I played back in the day, always getting me nervous. I also played a bit each day, and the worst (and best) was at night before going to sleep. If did a long run because I wanted to advance in the story I used to have nightmares later. nicely done indeed.

Half Life 2 and most importantly F.E.A.R. may have surpassed Doom 3 but it does look timeless, love the graphics to this day.

An hour-long video on Halloween? Kirk, my man, this is a TREAT

Doom 3 paved the way for the FPS survival horror genre, there would be no Dead Space or Alien Isolation without it. I still think D3 holds up visually but it was the horror story elements that hooked me - The story of ancient humanoids on Mars, their discoveries and mistakes, all put in fascinating audio notes were some scary and absolutely fascinating shit listening to at night - It really pushed the immersion.

The first 2 minutes are really effective. i was completely sold into the video :) I have no doubt it will end to be a excelent video from beginning to end!

This game is a masterpiece. The idea of the horror coming first was groundbreaking. And the flashlight separated from the gun was a brilliant idea and reached the purpose of creating anxiety and the fear of wherever you choose the gun or the flashlight.

Funny how cultic sidestepped the flashlight issue with the lighter. It gave you a couple levels with it to make the dark sections feel more claustrophobic, whilst still letting you use one handed weapons. You can use the pistol and lighter together, but if you wanted to take out the shotgun you had to fight that enemy in the dark. But jasozz knew to give you the headlamp before it got tedious. Another great video Kirk! Can't wait for the spooky vibes to pop up a few times in the next few months with Callisto, dead space, and re4make

Having to switch from the flashlight to a gun always had me nervous. It was perfect.

Doom 3 was actually the first Doom game I ever played on my OG Xbox. It's a fantastic haunted house style horror shooter imo. That Title screen theme song still gives me chills🔥 🔥

The best Doom 3 review out there. Awesome video!

I wonder if perhaps it may have been a better idea to have each weapon have a built-in flashlight instead of having a standalone flashlight. Each weapon would have a different kind of flashlight (e.g. the chaingun would have a wider cone of light while the plasma rifle creates ambient light that lets you see clearly but only within a small area around you) and the light could be affected by stuff like gun recoil or remaining ammo in an attempt to keep the balance the original separate flashlight design had.

The popularity of Doom 3 went up after the Death Stranding like reviews of Resident Evil 8

We need a full remaster of all ID tech 4 games. Doom, Prey, Quake 4, and even Wolfenstein (2009). This is such an impacting but such a forgotten time of FPS games. Wish these games, other than the obvious, got more attention and remasters.

This is a beast of a game to me! I like Doom 3 the most by far. You forgot about the moment where the game let you choose whether to call for help or not. Doom 2016 was very good too.

I remember being scared shitless against the spiders. The first time you crawl in that duct and see the webs, the shadows...

Doom 3 on the OG Xbox was Witchcraft... I remember having to upgrade my pc in 2004 to have it run back then compared to a console with a pidly 64mb of ram released in 2001

I played Doom 3 VR out in a large grass field using Quest 3 and John Carmack reposted the video. 😎

That plasma rifle reload sound though 👌 the whine reminds me of an oldschool camera flash, music to my ears 😁