I have been a fan of the computer game Doom for well over a decade. I can remember listening to Amy Grant as the game sound track (instead of Nine Inch Nails) and blasting away with the BFG at anything that moved. I was glad that someone wanted to make a movie based on the game.
I was concerned that elements of the storyline were altered. The storyline in the game is that a portal to another dimension has been opened by a secret lab on a remote world. Unfortunately the portal opens a doorway to Hell not ET’s home world. Doom II introduces us to Hell on Earth. Doom III is basically a revisit of the first game with better storyline and graphics.
Several years ago, the story was novelized. Instead of a doorway to Hell, a race of aliens are using evil imagery to exploit our primal fears so they just look like demons but are just genetically engineered freaks.
In the movie, the whole Hell part has been dropped in favor of a secret genetic engineering experiment that went terribly wrong.
Starring in the film version of Doom are Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Carl Urban and Rosamund Pike. If you have played Doom III then you will recognize the general setting of the station on Mars and some of the types of creatures that will be fought in the film. The movie maintains many of the same features that can be found in the game. Game elements in the film include the BFG (which contrary to the movie doesn’t stand for Bio Force Gun) chain saws and lots of automatic weapons; sewers and mutant critters. The gamer tribute to John Romero of the Living Dead films is clearly present.
Granted that this is a niche marketed movie but if you ever enjoyed playing the game or like films like Alien v Predator then this is a must see film. It does have an ending but nothing would exclude a sequel.