Doom III

No more comments are needed for this game.

Negative—Heh. I'm suprised I am actually taking this stance on games like these, an attitude I would have spurned years ago. But there is no real way around it. Doom III is very satanic. One defense is that its a “good VS evil” struggle, that it actually sends a positve message about how Evil satan is. It does, indeed show evil in this game, but you don't really see any good. The “good” in this game is a marine armed to the teeth with a bunch of guns. Is that our defense against satan, for us to try to defeat him on our own power? Besides, even if you rationalize the occultic overtones, this game has an extreme level of violence. Just stay away from this game. My Ratings: [1/4]
   —Eric LeCarde, age 21

Negative—I agree with you on all of your points. For those of you who want a good FPS just wait for Halo 2 or Half-Life 2. And in all good sense just go get an N64 and play Goldeneye or Shadows of the Empi My Ratings: [1 / 3]
   —Kite, age 13

Neutral—I see no evidence of any satanic cult influence on ID's employees. Simply using geometric symbols like a star inside a circle or a cross where the horizontal portion is below the vertical line's midsection doesn't strike me as a satanic plot any more than seeing a rainbow suggests a meteorological conspiracy to endorse sodomy. That some deviant groups through the years have attempted to appropriate innocuous symbols for their own uses doesn't mean that we Christians should acknowledge and grant them that conceptual seizure. Fashions and fads form and fade, but God remains the same today, yesterday, and forever, and his Word will not pass away. The game's grotesque monsters and environment, against which the player fights, I should add, could serve as a faint echo of the real and eternal horror that awaits anyone unwashed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and for that reason primarily (as it provides a platform on which one could share what Scripture says about hell) would I recommend it to everyone. My Ratings: [3 / 3]
   —Ramon Ruenes IV, age 32

Positive—

This review is a little late, but I ran into this thru a modding website where a thread was created to discuss this site's official review.

Now for my opinion. I think that the game is a technological and artistic wonder. It is a straight forward first person shooter. There is nothing new or exiciting in the gameplay with the exception of the flashlight and dynamic lights.

You can only either use a flashlight or a weapon at any time and when you are in a dark place, which is frequent, this makes for very immersive and therefore very intense gameplay. In fact, this is one of the most immersive games ever. This is why it is also one of the scariest and most disturbing games ever.

This game with scare you. It will make you feel creeped out. It isn't called Doom for no reason. It's supposed to give you the feeling of doom and you are supposed to rise above that feeling and fight back in the face of terror. That's the primary point of the game play and story.

There is a lot of satanic references since of course this game is about hell being unleashed on human kind through a dimensional portal on Mars. There has been quite a bit of talk about whether the inclusion of satanic references is an indication that the game is itself purposed to be satanic. One clearly missed detail in both sides of the discussion has been the, to me, obvious fact that the 'satanic' creatures are actually aliens and that they have been understood by humankind to be something religious.

This game doesn't take the stance that satan is real. It is like the movie Stargate and it takes what the creators of the game consider popular mythology and says that in the game world that the myth is real but not what humanity thinks, rather that hell is another dimension of sadistic evil creatures that want to kill everything.

I am actually pretty surprised that nobody has brought this up in discussions about the game. Oh well, it's just a game.

Having said that… do I think that this game is appropriate for play. Well, it scared the hell out of me and I quit playing. I personally don't like the be terrified. Not for religious or moral reason, I just don't like the way it feels and to be honest, I don't understand those people who do. But, I can't honestly say that this game is evil or even intended to be evil. It is a haunted house. That's it. If this game had been made by Christians and the main character were an angel or a Christian who quoted scripture to fend off the demons then it wouldn't be considered evil, just bad taste. Which, as is, bad taste is what I consider Doom 3 to be.

Now. I am playing Quake 4. Doom 3 tech and art without the terror. I am not killing humans. I am not assaulting prostitutes. I am fighting for the survival of the human race from an alien invasion that wants to destroy humanity. Now, that's my kind of game.

Although, give me a stealth game like Splinter Cell and NOW we're talking!! :) My Ratings: [3 / 4]
   — Anton Bursch, age 31

Neutral—It is hard to take a positive stance on this game, because, as a lover of gory, FPS's Doom is an incredible game. But, the game is full of occult references, which was particularly disturbing to me. The gore is fairly realistic, the violence is heavy, and the language is minimal. The game can become fairly repetitive, a lot of the rooms look the same, but surprises are always around the corner. The game will always be , even if it is something that you have already played through. The game itself is incredible, but the occult references in it drag it down and make it hard to recommend. My Ratings: [1 / 5]
   —Taylor, age 15

Negative—Terrible tons of gore and images that are very freaky! Tons of occult! I despise this game! I shot a “zombie” or something and it exploded into body parts! Sickest thing I ever played! My Ratings: [1 / 2]
   —Jason Reginald, age 20

Negative—I was extremely excited about this game. I'm a fan of the first 2 Doom games. But when I actually got around to playing it, it wasn't all cracked up to what I thought it would be. There's a lot of gore in this one, there's demonic images, magic, and demons. And it is just to unenjoyable, not to mention the flashlight issue. And if you must play something like this, then play Resident Evil 4. KEEP AWAY FROM DOOM 3!! My Ratings: [1 / 3]
   —David, age 15

Negative—I agree with you on all of your points. For those of you who want a good FPS just wait for Halo 2 or Half-Life 2. And in all good sense just go get an N64 and play Goldeneye or Shadows of the Empire. My Ratings: [1 / 3]
   —Kite, age 13

Positive—Personally I found this game entertaining to play. Granted my machine is not as high spec as it could be, and as such, the game drops me to my desktop every now and then, but that is an acceptable loss. I will admit I am not Christian, but my faith mirrors Christianity in many ways.

I will freely admit that the game is intended for adults, the 18 label makes that clear, if your kids are playing this, then the fault is yours, not the game designers. There is a lot of satanic images and iconography in this game, but that is to be expected given that the main character, is fighting AGAINST the forces of hell. A champion of humanity fighting against the forces of darkness, condemning all that is evil. This game clearly shows that this kind of iconography is evil, with enemies spawning from the symbols the player learns to fear and avoid them. The game also indicates mans over reliance on technology, with the teleporter experiments being the catalyst for this incident. While multiplayer is lacking this is excusable.

So in summary, the game has a massive amount of violence, there is a lot of anti-christian imagery in it. But you must remember, that this game is about fighting against the forces of Hell. At no point does the game condone or support the daemons. My Ratings: [3 / 4]
   —Andy, age 19

Positive— I believe that Doom III gives you a sense of horror. You are a human stuck in Hell's apocalypse. I see this game as a tool to make fun of Satan himself. You are destroying Hell, you're not worshiping it. I don't see anything wrong in this game. Of course, children will get scared because they do not understand, but teenage kids will learn the difference between Good and Evil, God and Satan, Hell and Heaven, and they will learn that good always succeeds. When will you people learn that most games are about Good vs. Evil and Good always succeeding. My Ratings: [3 / NR]
   —Mr. Lion, age 18

Negative—This is the most bloody game I've ever seen anybody play. And in addition to that, the game revolves around demons breaking out of hell and killing people on a space station. There is way too much gore in this, and things like making corpses explode and sending bloody guts fly into the air is totally unnecessary. This game is over-rated and not right for a christian to be playing. My Ratings: [1 / 5]
   —Jared Taylor, age 14

Negative—I have to totally agree that this game was repetitive and it did contain all the elements described by the reviewer. However, I did find the game thrilling until the repetitive content began which is why I give it a negative. I think sometimes as Christians, we forget that we are battling against such evil (demons and the forces of hell) and this game engulfs you in a situation where you can do so, albeit in an extremely horrible and disturbing environment. I think it is somewhat premature to say that ID is engulfed in satanism, just because the game shows that content. There are also many cults showing 'Christian' imagery that are yet however, more satanic than this game. If it is promoting satanism, that is one thing, but again, it is apparent that your character is fighting against it. The goal here is to destroy demons, not to act or join as one. The Grand Theft auto series is far more offensive than this game. Finally, I must agree that this game is for mature adults only, and should be passed by those who may be even somewhat offended or disturbed by the images described, or even may offend another by playing it. One should absolutely pray and use the Lord's judgment if considering this game. My Ratings: [2 / 3]
   —A, Colon, age 28

Positive—I think I have to disagree with the reviewer's words here. While this is definitely something I wouldn't want a kid to play due to its ultraviolent content, I think you're forgetting the fact that in Doom 3, the forces of Hell are the bad guys, not even remotely depicted as the good guys. You play a Space Marine who's buddies have all just been killed by demons, and then you go on a quest to lay down the smack on the Hell itself with a big silly gun. If that isn't a positive, black and white message of “Good beats up Evil” I don't know what is. The Satanism shown in Doom 3 is cast in an entirely villainous light, and is never glorified or presented in a way that would suggest it's a good thing at all, which I think is perfectly fine. Yes, it's horrendously violent, dark, and scary, but that's what evil really is! I would rather play a game like Doom 3 that pushes the edge and shows the demonic bad guys as they really are rather than give us a weak, watered down version out of fear of stepping on over But I do agree that Doom 3 has an extremely weak storyline and just felt like a bad horror movie. Honestly it seems like they intentionally tried to make it really lame, maybe to make it seem like a B-rated horror flick. The key to enjoying this game is to get into it expecting little more than a haunted house ride and some campy scripting. That, and the gameplay just felt way too scripted and nowhere near as real as, say, Half-Life 2. My Ratings: [4 / 3]
   —Reagan Lodge, age 21

Negative—I have played the game and I think that it is a very scary game. It has a lot of demonic and satanic stuff in it. You see during game play zombies eating a human and the human alive and screaming. You see pentagrams and upside down crosses. I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT NOBODY GET THIS GAME. The game is very offensive to Christians so do not get it. My Ratings: [1 / 3]
   —Josh Carter, age 13

Negative—I agree with everything said here. And I almost feel sorry for Id software, there they were with this amazing new graphics technology and the opportunity to create a good, solid, revolutionary first-person shooter. But they threw this chance away by loading the game up with satanic imagery, demonic acts, and things that just shouldn't be seen. That said, I kept the game, but I refuse to even touch the singleplayer game, one playthrough was one too many. You see, the actual engine the game runs on is a good one, if it weren't for all the excessive gore, violence, and demonic imagery, this game would be great. So I kept the game for the editor, which I use to create levels and maps which I find fun to play, and which of course have absolutely nothing to do with the main game's abundant evil. If you're going to buy this game, buy it for the flexibility the engine gives you to create your own game experience, and not for the horrible single-player. My Ratings: [1 / 4]
   —Jeff, age 20

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this Christian Spotlight review are those of the reviewer (both ratings and recommendations), and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Films for Christ or the Christian Answers Network.