DOOM 3. Format: PC. Publisher: Activision. Developer: Id Software. Price: £40. Family friendly? You must be kidding.

IS your PC ready for Doom 3? It's often said that games-making on the PC is a constant battle between the programmers and the manufacturers of graphics cards and memory.

A card maker like nVidia comes up with a new chipset and you can bet a game will be on the shelf within months that makes good use of it. Soon every game demands the latest card and six months later nVidia supercedes it with something even better.

It's a never ending race. That's why nVidia has two teams of engineers working round the clock with the express aim of outdoing one another. A graphics card that's six months old is over the hill in the world of PC gaming.

What marks Doom 3 out as something unusual is that it takes the next step. Not only does it require the very best graphics card available now but it has been created with the next generation in mind too. To get the absolute best out of this game you will need a graphics card that isn't even on sale yet.

Of course, this being a product of Id Software, the graphics "engine" used for Doom 3 is also immensely scaleable. That means you can play Doom 3 on fairly modest hardware you can probably play it if your PC has a 1.5-GHz processor and a Geforce graphics card.

Doom 3 is different in other ways, too. Despite the "3" bit in the title this game isn't really a sequel at all. It's more a re-imagining of the original Doom game that startled the PC world a decade ago. It's the game the boys at Id wanted to give us all back in 1993 but couldn't because the technology didn't exist.

That's fine and dandy but the world of PC games has moved on since then. Today's multimedia experiences are multi-layered affairs with the production values of big budget Hollywood blockbusters, voice acting by well known stars and complex plots. What the heck does a game that offers walking down a corridor shooting things have to offer nowadays?

Eye-strain for a start. Doom 3 on a decent gaming rig may look a million dollars but it sure is dark in parts. You need to tweak the gamma settings on your graphics card before the start if you want to see what is going on.

Just like the original, Doom 3 tries to build an atmosphere of menace - the flickering lights, disorientating glimpses at the periphery of your vision and strange noises.

It succeeds thanks to more than mere eye candy. If the graphics are good then the surround sound is sensational. Doom is a game that demands your total concentration. Immerse yourself in it and you'll be able to tell where the next assailant is coming from by listening to their movement.

The plot is staple stuff: you arrive at a Mars waste processing plant just as a spot of industrial relations bother raises its ugly head. Soon virtually everyone is dead and the base is overrun by the denizens of hell. It's up to you to get out safely.

The bad guys are remakes of the original cast plus some interesting (and disgusting) hybrids along for the ride. Some of them look truly terrifying - the urge to run away is strong in this game - so thank goodness the good old Doom arsenal is also present and correct.

This time around, however, you cannot tote your best weapons and use a torch. Instead you have to juggle the need to see what's around the next corner with an instinct for self-preservation.

There's also a touch of Resident Evil about this remake. You have to locate personal digital assistants to uncover door lock codes and there are other minor puzzles along the way.

Is it violent? Yes. Is it disturbing? Certainly. But it's no more offensive than Hollywood's terrific re-imaging of Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre. All the monsters are over the top fiends and when they die their corpses dissolve into ash Buffy-style rather than lying around in pools of their own blood.

Doom 3 has to be the most eagerly awaited gaming experience of 2004. At the moment you can only enjoy it if you own a PC. A version for the Xbox is coming but rumours abound that the project is likely to be delayed. Anyway, even the Xbox will struggle to recreate the kind of devastating visuals to be found in the PC game.

Was it worth the wait? If you love being frightened whilst playing a video game then Doom 3 hits new heights. Just as the 2003 Texas Chainsaw recreated and in some ways improved on a terrific original then so does Doom 3. Adults of a nervous disposition are advised to stay well clear, though.