The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

The original Doom released in the early 1990s was a revolution in video games that is still felt today. The concept of a "first person" game came into full realization as instead of controlling a character from a side or overhead view, you controlled him through their "vision" of the events that transpire. It also opened the door to more violent games. Doom introduced animated blood and even allowed your character to use a chainsaw to kill it's victims. At the time, this was quite the eye-opener, but today the cartoony graphics don't quite have the same affect as it did when first released. Still, I find it fun to play and continue to do so from time to time.

Doom 2 followed with great success and what was supposed to be the last chapter, Final Doom, was released a short time later. The developers then moved on to a gaming series called Quake and it wasn't certain if Doom would ever be re-visted.

Doom 3 was released about 2 years ago on the PC and wow, to sum up: "What a SCARY game!" Using the basic concepts and monsters from the game made almost 15 years prior, the dark scenery and backgrounds with the haunting music and top notch graphics makes for a very intense experience. I don't know how many times I literally jumped from my seat from a surprise attack from a zombie or other form of creature.

The game is set in the future where your character is a marine sent to a scientific base on Mars to find a missing scientist and return him for questioning. When you find him, the base falls under attack by some form of supernatural monsters and it appears you are one of the few who survived. As you go further into the game, you discover scientists of the company UAC discovered a portal into Hell, and one of the most jaw-dropping components of the game is where you acually fight through Hell itself. The imagination of the developers is incredible, and at the same time I bet there are some who might have had nightmares the same day they played that level for the first time!

The engine on the X-box allowed for the transition of Doom 3 to its platform and it appears there isn't much difference from the PC version. The graphics engine needs to be seen to be believed. The realism and detail is uncanny: It's bloody, it's gory, it's scary and definitely not one for the tots, but for males aged 18-49, a chance to revisit and old favourite complete with 21st century technology updates simply cannot passed up.

If you like action games with tons of stuff to shoot at, you need to play Doom 3 .