Doom 3

 Review

Common Sense Media says

As bloody as games get -- adults only.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that the level of fear, blood, gore, and violence makes this game a poor choice for kids of all ages.


What's it about?

The story isn't really an essential part of DOOM 3, although it does work to enhance the sense of foreboding and fear. Problem-solving skills or puzzles are limited to simple "find the correct computer screen" or "listen to audio files that contain codes or passwords" types of things.

It's difficult to see, making it easier for monsters to leap out of hiding places and sneak up behind players. The artificial intelligence of the game is also very sophisticated, with monsters working in teams to trap and ambush players. Blood is everywhere: It stains the floors, it sprays wildly as demons are shot, and is smeared across the screen when the player is injured. And the graphics of this game are designed to be the most realistic ever -- even to improve with the capabilities of computers not yet designed.


Is it any good?

 

It should be obvious based on the amount of blood alone that Doom 3 is not a kid-friendly game. However, on top of being bloody, Doom 3 is outright terrifying. The darkness and the artificial intelligence keep the player on the edge of his seat, as attacks are almost always a surprise. The game only really shines in what it was designed to do -- kill or be killed. Doom 3 is not a good choice for kids of any age.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about gore in games and movies. Which is creepier in this game -- what you see, or what you don't see? Does piling on the blood make media scarier in general?


This review was written by Jeremy Gieske
Adult
April 9, 2008
 
A must-read book for every 8 year old
FUN/Scary

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Teen, 15 years old
October 31, 2009
 
So good its a sin
Doom is a classic, always has always will be. Now if you think that the original Doom started Colombine, you are an idiot: violence will not turn your kids into murder machines. If you talk to them about what is real and what is fantasy. 13 year olds that havent been sheltered will enjoy most everything about it, its fun, supensful, and somtimes atmospheric. I suggest to play in the dark with surround sound and an adult diaper. Notes: This game will not recruit your child into the church of satan. If he can wach Nightmare On Elm Steet and not have any nightmares. And MOST importently DO NOT use this game as a scapegoat if your kid goes compleatly bannas and goes on a heavly armed rampage through the school.

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Teen, 17 years old
January 24, 2011
 
Not satanic. Gives good message about resolve and bravery.
A lot of peoples main complaint is that its "satanic", I think they couldn't be more wrong. Sure, you got your demons, satan, hell, and posession. But you know what you do? Shoot them all in the face with a shotgun. Your fighting the evil, not summoning or worshipping it. And the message "fight evil with all you got", ain't a bad thing. Even though the main character see's whole squads go down to the enemy, he still picks up his favorite machine gun, and goes to do some exterminating, saving whoever he can. I think everybody needs a little bit of that resolve. I can't say the game isn't a bit on the gory side, but its rather tame compared to some of the stuff coming out today (i.e Splatterhouse).

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Teen, 18 years old
April 15, 2010
 
its not that fun of a game don't play it at all wish i did not have it do not let kids play or see this game.

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Teen, 15 years old
October 1, 2009
 
Doom is not everybody's game. Some detest the whole pointless shooter games with no story line. But Doom makes the player jump at the unexpected horrors lying around the corner, and are blown away by the major step up from the original doom games. A winner.

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Kid, 12 years old
July 11, 2011
 
Scary and fall off the bone gory, but really fun.
Doom 3 is scary and fall off the bone gory. When all the monsters come, you would be afraid to move a muscle. There's a lot of blood that splatters, dead bodies lay everywhere, there's blood wiped on the floor and walls, you can't see anything (although you do have a flashlight, also can beat stuff, but you should only use it when there's no monsters), these zombies and demons pop out when you least expect and scare the crud out of you, and you can even see brains fly out when you shoot zombies in the head with a shotgun. We hear a little cussing sometimes, but not too bad. You arrive at a base and everything's calm, no monsters yet, people there welcome you and stuff, but when you get the maybe second task to go somewhere...boom, after a cut scene, the base is suddenly attacked by zombies and demons. You have a radio, and you can hear screaming and for example: "We've got 2 down and 1 wounded.", "We don't know what we're up against.". There's also downloadable mods for the game to make it gorier, enable dismemberment, add more modes, make demons look different, make the level lights bloomier, and more. There's an expansion pack to add more monsters, another weapon, and more levels to the game. I don't have the game...yet, and I saw gameplay videos of Doom 3. There's also an online multiplayer mode including co-op play, deathmatch, and much more.

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
EXTREMLY SCARY!!
My favorite game at this point in life. Best played if alone, in dark, and w/ really good surround sound or head phones. I say it all depends on the kid if they can handle the game or not. The graphics are the best out of any game and the sound is in perfect sync with the game.

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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
 
this game rocks
it talks about hell and god in mars and very very very gory and scary and gets bloodier and more violent throught the game and when you get to the last level you must battle the devil i love this game and i give it 5 stars.i love it.no kids must play this game.

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Teen, 15 years old
October 21, 2011
 
Incredible and terrifying shooter is too gory for kids

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Parent
June 9, 2011
 
Great game. Great for 12 and older iffy for 10 and 11
Great game. But it might be too violent or scary for younger children. Although if your child is 10 or 11 and is mature enough for this. Let them play.

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This review was written by Jeremy Gieske
Platforms:Windows
Available online?Not available online
Genre:First Person Shooter
Developer:ID Software
Release date:July 5, 2003
Price:$50
ESRB rating:M

This review was written by Jeremy Gieske

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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