By Richard Bell

IN this latest instalment of one of the most successful franchises in gaming history, Doom 3 keeps everything satisfyingly familiar, but utilises id’s new 3D engine to draw players into a truly frightening and gripping first-person frag fest.

Being a title that’s unashamedly all about action, the storyline is relatively irrelevant: your assignment to the Union Aerospace Corporation’s Mars research facility had been fairly routine…. right up until the point when the corporation’s discoveries and experiments unlock the gates to Hell itself.

Now, in an epic clash against evil incarnate, you must fight to understand who is with you, who is against you, and what must be done to stop this nightmare from reaching Earth.

Here’s a few pointers. Human-looking characters are generally good. Hideous monstrosities are always bad. And the best way to stop the nightmare is to shoot everything that’s ugly and moves — but you already knew that.

As well as lots and lots of lovely monster mashing, there are, of course, more than a few doors to unlock as you progress through the very linear levels.

You will also, naturally, meet lots of new abominations begging for plasma bolt suppers, not to mention pick up a tasty selection of extra pain-givers, including an assault rifle, minigun, rocket launcher, chainsaw, shotgun, and everybody’s favourite, the BFG 9000.

See what I mean about familiar? Doom 3 is all about evolution, not revolution. All the bits that made it so good (the gameplay, endless fragging) are practically unchanged, while the bits that can take it to a new level have been overhauled. Which bits? Sound and graphics.

Supporting Dolby Digital 5.1, surround sounds really pump up the atmosphere, with eerie groans and chilling growls of nearby foes lurking in the shadows making for clammy palms and racing tickers. Weapons too have come in for a sonic upgrade and now have the potential to rock the room.

When you do see what’s doing all the moaning, cue another shot of adrenaline as freak upon beautifully animated and ultra-realistic freak lurches at you for a large helping of shotgun surprise.

With crisp textures, both dynamic and delicately subtle lighting, and environments absolutely steeped in detail, the game’s levels will pull your eyes from their sockets.

While the core of the game is Campaign mode, there’s a new Co-Operative Campaign and also Xbox Live multi-player action on offer too.

Fans of the series are in for a treat as a Limited Collector’s Edition includes full versions of the original Ultimate Doom and Doom II playable in single player, split-screen co-op, or deathmatch with up to four players on one console.

VERDICT: A heady mix of old skool gameplay and bleeding edge visuals, miss it and miss out.

Five stars

By Derek Uchman

THERE are plenty of MP3 players in this wonderful digital world of ours. None, however, measure up to the white splendour that is the iPod — with the exception of this wee smasher from Rio.

The Carbon fits snugly into the palm of your hand, and yet contains a very robust 5GB hard drive. Rio reckon that’s enough to store 1250 songs, but 900 to 1000 is a more realistic number if you want reasonable quality. Still, that’s enough for most needs.

Despite its size, it does feel satisfyingly heavy, due in part to the smooth chrome casing on the back.

Mind you, it’s hardly the design icon the iPod is (and this may put the style-conscious off), but where it does knock socks off its main rival is in sound quality.

Not only is reproduction excellent, but the headphones produce a spacious, full feel.

When passed around the journalists in Activate Towers, all agreed it put the iPod in the shade. ’Nuff said.

We were also enthusiastic about the way it works in conjunction with a PC or Mac. The USB 2.0 cable serves to recharge the Carbon, and the software is user-friendly enough for you to simply drag-and-drop MP3s on to the player.

Fully recharged, the Carbon will give you up to 20 hours of playback — again, pipping the iPod mini’s 18 hours, or the IPod’s 12.

The front of the Carbon is dominated by a small, monochrome display giving tracks details, and a menu to organise songs according to artist, album or genre.

VERDICT: Come in, iPod. Your time is up.

Five stars

MTV is launching an Internet channel on April 25 which will show some of the station’s programmes, including The Osbournes. Called MTV Overdrive, it allows users with a high-speed Internet connection watch music videos and shows on demand.

OUT today — Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars (PC, CDV), Cross Racing Championship (PC, Project 3), Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich (PC, Digital Jesters), Kao The Kangeroo Round 2 (GameCube, PS2 and Xbox, JoWood), Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (PS2 and Xbox, Take-Two).