It's called atmosphere. I'd say it's pretty much impossilbe to create a creepy game with everything well lit. If you've ever been inside any large industrial complex, esspecially an underground one like Hoover dam, you'll notice that there are indeed lots of hallways and not all of them are very brightly lit. Sure I found the lack of light annoying but it added to the suspense. Plus, if you are in a room with no external windows and the power goes out, guess what......it's really freakin' dark. My office is like that. I enjoyed doom3 but I didn't expect too much from it because nothing about it is original at all. While I have painkiller I haven't fired it up yet. From what I hear about, it does what it does quite well. If you're going for the mindless shooter, you need a variety of levels to keep things interesting. If not, players get bored quickly. Now, I don't need lots of plot or anything fancy to have fun. Hell, I had blast with the serious sam games and look forward to the next one. But to say one is so much better than the other is just a matter of opinion much the same way a review is.
It seems like everyone gave into the hype for Doom3, and now they're disappointed. And because of that, games like Painkiller and Farcry are receiving more praise than they deserve (also including HL2, which isn't even out yet). People are comparing these games to Doom3 instead of judging them for what they are. Personally, I disliked Doom3, Painkiller and Farcry. All three became very boring after only a few hours of play, and if a game has to rely entirely on its multiplayer to give lasting enjoyment, it isn't worth spit, imo. Either game developers have lost their touch, or I've seen everything there is to see in gaming, and anything new is just plain stale to me.
I think the biggest issue with FPS's is making them original. It's impossible. I say this because we've seen just about everything there is to see in them. I loved far cry up until it started throwing monsters at you. Dealing with the fantastic AI of the mercenaries and their realistic human behavior was a blast. Then suddenly all you have is creatures running straight at you begging to be filled with holes. By their nature, no fsp is original. They are like movies sequals. Are they fun? Yes, but it's nothing we haven't seen a hundred times before. The best you can hope for these days is bits originality scattered in a sea of done it before. I also agree, doom 3 was way too repetative and didn't need to be that long.
