I suppose I enjoyed Doom 3 because I had a closed-circuit experience. I missed that initial hickup after its launch when no hardware could play the game within reason and the burp of negative press the game got. I bought Doom 3 in March of this year after upgrading my PC to a veritable powerhouse, capable of even playing Crysis at reasonable framerates. Of course, Doom 3 ran perfectly, it still looked great (if low-poly), and I genuinely had a lot of fun with it. No, it's not similar in pace to Doom or Doom 2. Apart from the monsters, Doom 3 is its own beast -- for better or worse.

I was actually surprised to go back and read all the jaded reviews it got, most of which cited issues with the game I never really had problems with. The darkness never bothered me -- it added to the mood and quite honestly, the game would have been a cake walk if it were in full-blown porn lighting.

I encouraged a few of my friends to replay the game, but they were all so jaded from the initial bad exposure they'd received to appreciate it, which I believe may unfortunately be forever its legacy. So here's to Doom 3, you were the scrappy, misunderstood step-child between Quake and Rage.