Doom 3 Game Info
It comes billed as "the most frightening game ever created", but as Doom 3 went on sale in British stores yesterday, its distributors dismissed accusations that the violence on-screen can encourage violence off it. The sci-fi horror game involves the shooter struggling against zombies, lost souls, demons, maggots and various other monsters unleashed from hell. Along the way, graphics depict exploding heads, chainsaws, axes and decapitations.
It has been granted an 18 rating by the British Board of Film Classification.
But 10 years after the original Doom was released, creators say Doom 3 is a retelling of the story with superior 3D graphics, and sound and lighting used to create a sense of dread.
The original Doom was linked to the Columbine school massacre when it was claimed that the teenage killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were influenced by the violent nature of the game.
Last month, the graphically violent Manhunt game was pulled from the shelves after parents of a murdered schoolboy claimed his killer was obsessed with the Playstation 2 game. Stefan Pakeerah, 17, was beaten to death with a claw hammer and stabbed by Warren Leblanc, also 17, who had lured him to a local park.
But Tim Ponting of Activision, the distributor of Doom 3, told the BBC: "Doom 3 is a game suitable for an adult audience, marketed appropriately to adult consumers who make their own choice whether to purchase.
"There is a robust, well-proven regulatory framework in place and Doom 3 has been fully approved for distribution in the UK with a BBFC rating of 18." It has taken the Texas-based developers id Software four years to complete the making of the game, which costabout £8.3m to create and was initially expected to be on the market a year ago.
"Add in the most ferocious lineup of demons hell has ever brought to bear and you have an experience so intense that you'll need to keep your heart medicine handy," he said.
Retailers have been warned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport that anyone selling an adult game to a minor could be jailed for six months.
Computer experts have described the release of the original Doom in 1994 as a watershed in computer games where the player first became the shooter. Since then the franchise has grossed more than £55m.
There have been reports in the UK of thousands of illegal copies of the game after it was leaked on the internet following the US release last week.
ELSPA, which classifies computer games along with the BBFC, said yesterday it was important for the public to remember that most people who play the games regularly are in their late 20s and early 30s.