I am not a big computer gamer any more, but I love the technology. Ever so often I play a couple of games, just to try and stay on top of recent developments. This weekend, I installed the Doom 3 demo and I was blown away. Based on the demo alone, the game is amazing in a few ways. First id software has yet again managed to raise the bar on graphical goodness. Doom 3 is the most attractive looking game I have seen, and I was playing it on a "low end" laptop. John Carmack is nothing short of a genius graphics programmer. The screenshots look good, but you need to play it to really understand how much of a difference good lighting makes. The textures are also top notch. When the in game cut scenes show close ups of two people talking, their skin is very convincing. In fact, the visuals in the cut scenes are so good that the animation stands out like a sore thumb: It isn't as smooth and as natural as the beautiful graphics.
The second way that this game stands out is in the immersive quality of the environment. You can evesdrop on conversations that are around you, there are machines that look interesting, and objects to play with. I was having so much fun playing in this virtual space that I was almost disappointed when the action began. The immersive environment leads to my third comment: Doom 3 is almost too intense for me. I was playing it alone, late at night, wearing headphones, and I had to stop because it was making me really jumpy. They use every cheap trick in the book. For example, monsters sneak up behind you, things suddenly fall on you, or the lights go out just as you walk into a room. The tricks may be cheap, but they work, at least on me.
For a more informed opinion about the game, you may wish to check out some reviews: Adrenaline Vault (4.5/5) or GameSpot (8.5/10). Both admit that Doom 3 is gorgeous, but its gameplay is little boring and unimaginative. Funny, that sounds exactly like the reviews for every other id software game.