Besides spikes in impractical places and a sinister belly laugh, every self-respecting demon needs a lively imagination. Demons, after all, are in the business of eternal torment. Discovering new ways to inflict said torment is presumably crucial, or you'll end up with lost souls doing the metaphysical equivalent of channel surfing.
Sadly, DOOM 3's demons have all the creative flair of dried-out goldfish. Whether you're talking about the fireball-throwing Imp, the skeletal Revenant or the bloated Cacodemon, the "tortures" to which you'll be subject on your tour of Mars are precisely two: one, the creature will teleport to your blindside in a swirl of heathen runes, and two, it'll hide behind something (e.g. a door you could have sworn was a wall) and jump out at you.
id Software's horror-inflected technical tour de force has, however, stood the test of time better than contemporaries like Serious Sam. That's mainly down to the pleasantly well-articulated and detail-rich setting. Cheap as all the hidden doors and blind corners are from a challenge perspective, the Mars base has a certain depth to it - you can pick up PDAs to access audio logs, videos and emails detailing the staff's descent into madness - and while the once-celebrated lighting system feels a little artificial nowadays, the props and textures hold up well under the new 720p resolution and wide-screen format. There's support for stereoscopic 3D displays, too, if novelty eye-strain is your bag.
The conversion doesn't always do the original proud, however. It's now possible to wield a flashlight and gun simultaneously, and while this makes for a more plausible game, it also makes for a less surprising one. Where before you'd have inched into a darkened room with your torch up, poised to spring back and whip out your Plasma Gun at the slightest hint of hostile movement, now you'll trot into the ambush without a second thought. The liberal attitude to illumination also weakens more creatively-lit areas, and makes the woodenness of monster behaviour harder to ignore.
All in all, the BFG Edition is a polished overhaul of an elderly but entertaining corridor blaster, bolstered by two major expansions and remastered editions of DOOM and DOOM 2 (also available separately on Xbox Live Arcade, and pretty much every other platform in existence). id Software's take on hell might be a little two-dimensional, but if you don't have the patience for the likes of Dead Space, this should scratch your diabolical itch.
16 comments so far...
Clanger67 on 22 Oct '12 said:
Hmmm was expecting a bit better score.Although suppose it is showing its age and is just another ID corridor shooter.Still have the original of this for pc but never got the add on,might get it cheap at some point.Glad they got rid of the not being armed because of the stupid flashlight thing as well.
Edit: Plus is it true that you can't play any of the earlier Doom's that are on there if you install to HD,how stupid is that ?????
ItchyRash on 22 Oct '12 said:
I've twice tried to complete the game when it first came out. Once on the Xbox but I ended up glitching in a vent and not being able to finish and once on PC where I finally realised I couldn't play games on a keyboard and mouse. I had pre-ordered this as I was excited to finally get a chance to finish it but decided to cancel it last minute. Glad I did now. Seems like I'm destined to never finish the game but sounds as if the update hasn't done it any wonders. It worked well with Chronicles of Riddick and Resi 4. Shame they couldn't pull this one off
OXM ETboy on 22 Oct '12 said:
@Clanger
I've seen that reported but haven't had the chance to test it. I'll try it out later.
Clanger67 on 22 Oct '12 said:
Cheers Ed,something i read the other day.
FishyGinger on 22 Oct '12 said:
Is there any co-op play in it? Apparently the old xbox version had it but only played it on pc.
Thos. on 22 Oct '12 said:
When the AI in Pac-Man (ROM size: 12k) is better than in your game, you should probably have a good hard think.
Although to be honest, the AI in Pac-Man (ROM size: 12k) is better than a depressingly high number of modern FPSs
OXM ETboy on 22 Oct '12 said:
Apologies, I talked about multiplayer in a magazine box-out. Have added the relevant bits to the body copy.
OXM ETboy on 22 Oct '12 said:
Something to bear in mind - one of the "expansions" is more of an exercise in repurposed assets.
http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/doom-3- ... ginal-game
ItchyRash on 22 Oct '12 said:
Oh dear. Very glad I didn't bother now. Halo 4 is just round the corner anyway
FishyGinger on 22 Oct '12 said:
Ta very mooch.
GHOSTY05 on 22 Oct '12 said:
What the hell! I bought it anyway from game and got rage free.
Yes it's basic, but I just want to finish it.
NinthGeorgesw on 22 Oct '12 said:
I got it with Rage free as well. I've enjoyed it so far, but have played much more of Rage.
rafoca on 23 Oct '12 said:
" Co-op never really made sense in Doom 3, given the tightness of the environments"
I don´t agree. Xbox Co-op version was awesome and still scary as hell.
hujiki on 23 Oct '12 said:
Will be checking it out when its like £10... Other wise not worth it...
parris88 on 23 Oct '12 said:
this deserves an 8 the graphics are very nice and its a really good update they say in the review out dated shot outs? they weren't saying that about halo anniversary oh no thats what you call favoritism people halo anniversary has the same type of shooting . this game is packed with add ons too dont listen to this review it sucks!!
Clanger67 on 23 Oct '12 said:
Really at least in Halo :Anniv. you get to go outside and ride around wherever you want in your Warthog and shoot things as well.You get to go outside in Doom 3 four or five times for about twenty seconds before your oxygen runs out.Otherwise it's corridor,shoot,corridor,shoot,yawn,repeat to fade,game over.