I just pre-ordered Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 using Gamestop.com’s 1DDOOMHL code which gives you free overnight delivery on both games if you order them together. I had already pre-ordered Half-Life 2 quite some time ago. Though I’m not a fan of the first game (read: I don’t even like the thing), Half-Life 2 looks far too impressive to pass up. Besides, if the combat pacing even remotely resembles what’s been shown in their “gameplay” videos, it should be a pleasant enough experience, free of the strict scripting and ridiculous A.I. that plagued the first game.

Doom 3, on the other hand, I’m not too sure about. Though I respect John Carmack more so than any other western game maker, his company seems unable to produce any truly amazing works of interactive entertainment, Quake notwithstanding. I figure at best I’ll get a System Shocky, Quake-esque survival horror game with plenty of arcadey run-and-gun action and a decent multiplayer mode to boot. At worse I’ll get Quake 2. Either way, it’ll still be better than the original Half-Life.

P.S. Six new Warcaft 3 replays are online, including two PopcornChicken crafted especially for his fans.