"While we've played dozens of deathmatch games -- and DOOM 3 doesn't deviate far from the standard formula -- the game's advanced technology changes the game in a number of ways. As id's Todd Hollenshead explained to us, DOOM 3's multiplayer features "per-pixel hit accuracy," a far cry from the early days of deathmatch when player models were inside an invisible bounding box, allowing you to "hit" players even when you've actually shot the area just next to them. It's now possible to watch a rocket pass under a player's arm, and the overall effect is that you need to be a bit more accurate with many of the weapons.

The game's advanced lighting does a lot more than offer eye candy (which is considerable in itself). From a strategic standpoint, we could occasionally catch the shadows of other players as they approached, giving that extra split-second of warning that sometimes means the difference between getting the frag or getting killed. One area had a light switch that could be turned on and off, and other lights in the level could be shot out for the duration of the level, forcing players to resort to a flashlight … which might as well be a big, neon "SHOOT ME" sign."