Doom Collector's Edition
- In Ultimate DOOM you're a space marine with nothing but guts and a pistol. Locate stronger firepower and shoot your way through undead marines and mutant demons from hell -- 27 levels of bloody action
- When the original DOOM leaves you wanting more, you can start up with DOOM II -- the forces of the Netherworld have invaded, and you're the only one who can stop them
- Final DOOM is the final chapter in the legendary Doom series -- featuring 2 new 32-level episodes with complete stories
- Features the classic 3D DOOM graphics that made it a hit when it was first released
Extras are plentiful, with the 36-minute documentary A League of One: The Dwayne McDuffie Story leading the pack; it's a heartfelt tribute to the writer-producer, whose love and respect for the DC milieu led to his stellar work on the Justice League series (and many other titles) before Justice League: Doom marked his final screen credit prior to his death in 2011. The 20-minute featurette Guarding the Balance attempts to address the moral issues touched upon by the film, while Cyborg, a supporting player in Doom, gets his own short showcase as an apparent launch pad for his own future status as a lead hero. There's also a pair of JL episodes and a preview of the next DCU feature, Superman vs. the Elites. The extras are definitely worth a look, while the feature itself will either intrigue or leave viewers wanting. --Paul GaitaA fr! antic call for help from a remote research station on Mars sen! ds a tea m of mercenary Marines into action. Led by The Rock and Karl Urban, they descend into the Olduvai Research Station, where they find a legion of nightmarish creatures, lurking in the darkness, killing at will. Once there, the Marines must use an arsenal of firepower to carry out their mission: nothing gets out alive. Based on the hugely popular video game, DOOM is an explosive action-packed thrill ride!ONE OF THE SCARIEST GAMES EVER MADE, RATED MThe wait is over. After five years of development, Lead Programmer John Carmack and the id Software team have put together a revolutionary visual experience. If your PC has the juice to set this game loose and you have a thirst for first-person shooter action, you're in for a treat. Although Doom 3 is not perfect, the 3D graphics engine upon which it is built sets a new, jaw-dropping standard that makes this game a must-have.
Hell on Mars
Your character is a low-ranking Marine on a routine rotation to the Mars Research Facility of the United Aerospace Corporation (UAC). That's pretty much all the backstory you need. Doom 3 is a bit skimpy in the storyline department, but rich plotting and character development have never been the focus of the Doom franchise. Action is the name of the game here, and we found plenty. After a few minutes of wandering through the facility, listening to rumors about impending catastrophe from the staff (rememb! er Half-Life?), it was time to start shooting. We fought our way through dark, lavishly detailed environments until finally doing battle with pure evil in the depths of hell. Although the game offers no opportunities to explore the Martian setting apart from the linear corridors of the research facility, good level design and well-crafted sound effects succeeded at scaring the living heck out of us all the way through.
| Fearsome monsters. Dimly lit environments. The perfect recipe for horror. |
Groaning zombies and the sudden leaping attack of an eleven-eyed Imp are just the beginning of the horror and anxiety in Doom 3. Floating Cacodemons attack from above with a mouthful of teet! h... ethereal Revenants fire flesh-seeking missiles with deadl! y accura cy... a swarm of spider-like Trites skitter down the corridor, hungry for blood. Although the enemy AI in Doom 3 is less crafty than we would have liked, the incredible variety of enemies--each with a unique style of attack--outweighs this shortcoming somewhat.
Guns, Guns, Guns
While there are many powerful weapons in the game, they are designed to force players to anticipate and plan for firefights. For instance, we liked wielding the chaingun to shred enemies at longer ranges, but the weapon devours ammo and using it on close-range targets was a waste of bullets. We quickly learned to switch to the shotgun or the chainsaw to dispatch foes at close range.
One piece of hardware, the flashlight, was a point of both salvation and frustration for us. Doom 3 is a dark game and many enemies know how to take advantage of it. You'll often find yourself switching back and forth between your weapons and your flashlight just to see what's lurking ahe! ad. This problem might easily be solved by duct-taping the flashlight to your equipped weapon, but, alas, we found no duct tape on Mars.
Looking Good
Doom 3 looks incredible. Every room is exquisitely detailed, from the shimmer of the air near a heat source to the texture of a hamburger sitting on the counter of the company mess hall. Id obviously went all out designing every creature in the game and their realism makes them all the more horrifying. The eye candy does come at a price, though, and we were forced to play at fairly low resolution even on a Pentium IV 2.8 GHz and an ATI Radeon 9500. Even so, gameplay was smooth as silk. For higher resolutions (1024 x 768 and above) the latest generation of ATI or Nvidia cards is suggested. --Joshua Gunn
Pros
- Stunning display of graphics technology
- Strong level design with lots of spookiness
- Rich variety of enemies
- Plenty of hours of single-player gameplay
- Thin storyline
- Stiff system require! ments
No headlamps or gun-mounted lighting in the 22nd century - Fairly basic multiplayer options
Meet Corporal Flynn Taggart, United States Marine Corps; serial number 888-23-9912. He's the best warrior the twenty-first century has to offer, which is a damn good thing. Because Flynn Taggart is all that's standing between the hell that just dropped in on Mars and an unsuspectingg planet Earth...The Justice League are Earth's finest super heroes and protectors of humanity. But in the mind of the Dark Knight, they are potentially the most dangerous people on the planet should any of them go rogue. Over time, Batman has compiled top-secret contingency plans in the event he is forced to neutralize one of his fellow Justice League members such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Cyborg, Martian Manhunter or the Flash. When these files are stolen from the Batcave by the evil Vandal Savage, the Justice League faces its gravest challenge yet. Weaknesses exposed and rocked by betrayal, the League must band together agains! t Savage's Legion of Doom and its master plan of world destruc! tion whi le Batman is left with one final decision that could ultimately leave him standing alone.Justice League: Doom, another feature-length animated project from DC Universe, pits the League against a cadre of supervillains intent on not only destroying them, but humanity itself. But there's also a second threat from within the JL's own ranks, and one that knows their deepest fears and hidden weaknesses. Based on Mark Waid's story arc "Tower of Babel" (of which part is included in this set as a digital comic book), Justice League: Doom attempts to dig into the psychological landscape of its heroes, though the feature's relatively brief running time (75 minutes) doesn't allow it the luxury of exploring the moral and ethical ramifications of the apparent betrayal within the Justice League. The story is well populated by some of DC's most favored figures on both sides of the good/bad table, including Superman (Tim Daly), Batman (Kevin Conroy, returning to his iconic voi! ce role), and Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion) for the forces of right, and Phil Morris (Vandal Savage), Olivia D'Abo (Star Sapphire), and Alexis Denisof (Mirror Master) as their opponents. Action is plentiful, and the voice cast, many of whom are veterans of both the Justice League series and previous DCA outings, handle the material with skill. For casual viewers, Justice League: Doom is a fast-paced, appealing actioner with a cast of characters familiar to even DC novices, but for longtime JL fans, especially those familiar with Waid's original arc, the story streamlining takes away much of the dramatic resonance, leaving a well-crafted but unfortunately truncated project, not unlike DCU's Batman: Year One.
Extras are plentiful, with the 36-minute documentary A League of One: The Dwayne McDuffie Story leading the pack; it's a heartfelt tribute to the writer-producer, whose love and respect for the DC milieu led to his stellar work on ! the Justice League series (and many other titles) befor! e Jus tice League: Doom marked his final screen credit prior to his death in 2011. The 20-minute featurette Guarding the Balance attempts to address the moral issues touched upon by the film, while Cyborg, a supporting player in Doom, gets his own short showcase as an apparent launch pad for his own future status as a lead hero. There's also a pair of JL episodes and a preview of the next DCU feature, Superman vs. the Elites. The extras are definitely worth a look, while the feature itself will either intrigue or leave viewers wanting. --Paul GaitaDOOM Collector's Edition brings together the classic shooter action of the DOOM games. Relive the beginnings of first-person shooter action in Ultimate DOOM, where you'll navigate a radioactive moonbase and blow away demonic aliens. In DOOM II, the aliens have reached Earth, leaving millions dead. Pick up your guns again and fight them off. Then close off the incredible, blood-spattered story in Fin! al DOOM.