Comments on: Doom III

By: Theophilus

Theophilus — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:04:23 +0000

Demon battling is not just left to God and the angels; the Apostles were able to excercise demons, St. Antony the Great battled demons with his asceticism and faith in Christ (on top of excercising them) according to St. Athanasius, etc. It’s not just something God does. In fact, we battle our own personal demons everyday: in our temptations and trials. Without these battles we are not able to make it into the Kingdom of heaven. However, this is a spiritual battle (with the aid of Christ) and not a gun-toting, blow-em-up battle. Jesus didn’t go around with gun/sword in hand to battle demons.

I can’t speak a whole lot against this since I approved of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. But even so, that game wasn’t as gory as Doom 3 appears to be and it actually went so far as to make what were doing to be a religious, almost semi-spiritual battle against demons, which I really liked. They tried to tie in some Christian implications to what you were doing. Doom 3 seems to be more of a straight-on gorefest like Resident Evil 4. Sure you might be the good guy, but it seems like they want you to enjoy the act of killing more than trying to bring about any good cause.

That’s my opinion.

By: 'non

'non — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:52:31 +0000

Bit late in my response, but in answer to this:

“Why would you WANT to make yourself feel spiritually drained, if not, shocked and disturbed for the sake of… entertainment?”

I think it’s similar to the reasons we ride on rollercoasters. The fear is thrilling, and when it’s all over you can laugh about it.

By: Lukas Alexandar

Lukas Alexandar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:44:14 +0000

I don’t know, I found it very empowering to be the hand to smite the demon hordes. Although humans are not supposed to be able to see demons, the fact that the player’s character is pretty much half on God’s soil, and half on Satan’s, makes it feasible that he can see them and strike them down. Is it that far fetched that God endowed his weapons with the ability to lay down evil?

Don’t get me wrong, I agree with you on a lot of points, but some things are personal preference. This may be a bit far fetched, but I’d rather die a grisly death whilst fighting evil to the last bit of strength in my body and faith at the hands of demons, then to die a thousand deaths of a coward in hell who has given up to Satan.

Sometimes we need to be reminded that a lot of our faith is backed by violence, and violence founded much of all religion. Admittedly Doom III’s graphic violence is a bit over the top, but the satisfaction of shoving an occult item down the throat of evil is pretty nice.

By: Kaikuro

Kaikuro — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:34:09 +0000

Thank you.

I also forgot to mention, and probably should note, that some users above stated that you’re SUPPOSED to feel shocked and spiritually drained after playing this game. My question is, why would you want to?! Why would you WANT to make yourself feel spiritually drained, if not, shocked and disturbed for the sake of… entertainment?
We know demons exist. We KNOW that there is REALLY a spiritual world. i’m sure most of the designers of Doom 3 handle demons and spirituality as a myth.
But demons are very real. Its so very real its scary.

By: silver-dragon

silver-dragon — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:32:58 +0000

Kaikuro has nailed this on the head!

Excellent comment Kaikuro!

By: Kaikuro

Kaikuro — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:01:46 +0000

Frankly, even if you are a ‘good guy’ fighting demons in this game, you personally are still getting a very graphic view of the occult and demons themselves. While Doom 3 is most likely not what demons really look like, or hell, or any other satanic thing, it is still giving you a vivid picture of evil.
Let’s put aside your CHARACTER in the game for a moment and think about YOU. Your eyes are glued to the screen, watching your character slaughter demons, run from demons, and jump straight into hell. Sure your character is the good guy here. But let’s think about what YOU may be getting out of this. Would you spend your free time exposing yourself to such brutality in a video game?
Doom 3 depicts evil exactly how most people imagine evil in the world. They do a good job with it too. I am ashamed to say I played this game at a young age myself. Though I was very mature for my age, and it didn’t effect me, I was still disturbed to the point that I would rather play a friendly Mario game then Doom 3 any day. I really found no benefit in playing Doom 3. All it did was make me realize just how brutal and evil video games can get.
And besides, fighting demons isn’t our calling anyway. That’s God’s job, and the angels. Their job is to drive back the demons. It is not a task God gave to humans, we can’t even see demons. And I’m so glad we can’t see REAL demons.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:01:32 +0000

Here’s another verse from the same passage:

1 Corinthians 10:23 “‘Everything is permissible’—but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible’—but not everything is constructive.”

From what I know, Doom III is permissible-but is neither beneficial nor constructive. I did an image search for some of the screenshots (just because I was curious) and I was rather disturbed by images of men hung upside down on crosses, way too many pentagrams, and bloody corpses and guts strewn throughout everywhere. If that is in the game, I’m not so sure I want to play it, even if I am “killing [make-believe!] demons in the name of God.”

By: habib

habib — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:17:29 +0000

i think its ok if someone matures plays this because you are fighting evil. read 1 cor 10:31. what i got from this verse is if you play this game in God’s name, that its ok since you are fighting forces of evil and demons.

By: Charles

Charles — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:55:23 +0000

i personally think it’s quite a horrid game. Im just saying that emersing yourself in a game like that could mess with your mind-even though its a game, it still can play on your train of thought and emotions. i don’t think it’s wise to play it simply because it desensitises you to pure evil. it might be a good game if it recognizes God and you slay them in the name of God,(probably with a holy sword or something cool.) but has’nt God already dealt with satan in hell awaiting his throwing into the lake of fire?

Make a game about fighting demons on earth.

By: MoffDub

MoffDub — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:25:50 +0000

I am a Christian, and I disagree with this review and concur with other commentators here that point out that you are fighting the forces of Satan in this game. Few other games have a premise that is more unambiguous and clear-cut than the Doom series.

Doom 3 is, in my opinion, the greatest computer game ever created.

This is an entirely Christian game because it depicts evil for what it is. You are supposed to be shocked, grossed out, and exhausted after playing. That is a testament to the outstanding job id did at immersing you into the experience of destroying evil.