Well yesterday was the first in a line of many release dates that have larger notices on my calendar than Mother's Day and Christmas. Yesterday was the release of Doom 3. The public has been licking their chops for this game for 5 years now, so there are rather large expectations for what it is bringing to the table. Other games that are on my release date list are those the likes of Fable, Halo 2, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, GTA: San Andreas, Starcraft: Ghost, and Half Life 2.

Back to Doom 3. For anyone that doesn't know the third installment into the Doom universe borders on what is now being called “horror gaming.” This is not a new genre of games, and it has a good base of franchises like Resident Evil. The immersive nature of horror games is their large draw; lots of horror games are very good at making the player happy they are not in the situation of their digital counterpart. Also when some horror games allude to forgotten pasts or things hunting the player, the player feels urgency as they play as if there is always a nagging feeling of what comes next. The idea of placing the player in the world is not new to gaming, but using that as a way to scare the hell out of them is. Doom 3 is no exception, with tentacles that burst through walls and some of the most gruesome foes ever modeled in a game, it is a true gem to the horror and FPS genres. The thing with the horror genre is that as graphics and sound improve developers and going to find new and better ways to manipulate the player's emotions because fear is very powerful in gaming and few other genres can have that kind of emotional bond with players.

I got a chance to try one of the newer horror games to come out, The Suffering. I have never been a big horror movie fan so I had my doubts about what a game could do to get a players heart pumping. Within ten minutes of playing the Suffering I had to pause and turn the lights on. Ten more and I broke into a cold sweat. I have been waiting for all the big names to come out and have been skimming the game market as other less known games gets released and I am glad I found The Suffering. Not only is the setting a haunted/possessed prison and island but also as the player you aren't really sure if you like the hero or not. He gets put on death row for killing his wife and two sons and he has other problems to say the least. The game environment is visually brutal and the sound is just as brutal. The idea and theme of the enemies is fantastic and so is the way Surreal Software put together this game, I know we don't really do reviews but if you are looking for a game to keep you wrapped in it because you are scared to stop, pick up the suffering today.

-Mark (4-August-2004)

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