Well, I just finished the Doom 3 Demo, and I'm not impressed.

The graphics are OK, but the levels are too damn dark. I don't mind switching between the flashlight and the shotgun - it works quickly enough, but sometimes you just want to see more of the graphics that everyone is oohing and ahhing about.

I have heard people exclaiming about the environment and the immersiveness, and yes, it does have an effect - the sound is well done, and the voices/whispers/conversations you overhear are a nice touch.

Overall, though, I can't help but compare it to a game from the late 90's - HALF-LIFE. The plot is nearly the same, the lighting and sound effects, the items you can pick up, everything just reminds me of Half-Life, but actually Half-Life was better in so many ways.

Understand that I can only play this game in 640x480 at medium detail level. That said, the graphics are nice, but they just don't seem to have the detail level that Half-Life did. I know that at higher resolutions and with the high and ultra detail turned on it should blow my mind, but I expected the low res/med detail to be at least as good as HL was at the same levels.

I might get Doom 3, but not at full price. When it hits $20-$25 I'll consider it. More likely I'll wait until it hits the bargain bin or I can get it on ebay for $15 shipped.

I'm glad I got the demo - it saved me $50!

I had much the same dissapointed reaction when I bought Unreal 2. While it really wasn't like half-life at all, it wasn't quite as good as Doom 3 seems to be. And short. I finished Unreal 2 in 12 hours or so. The Doom 3 demo I finished in about 3 hours, I think. Not bad for a demo!

I recommend everyone grab it, and if you don't have a fat internet connection, find someone with a CD burner that can make you a copy of it. Bruce - I'll be sending my CD copy of Doom 3 Demo to you along with the VHS-DVD recording unit. When I get around to mailing it. ;)