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Product Features

Genre
Action and Shooter
Publisher
Bethesda
Release Date
October 19, 2012
Available Platforms
PC, PlayStation 3, XBox 360

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Doom 3 BFG Edition

Doom 3 - BFG Edition (PC DVD) [DVD-ROM] [Windows XP | Windows Vista | Windows 7]

  • George Orton October 19, 2012 360
    ****

    Readers of www.find-game.co.uk, I'd like to invite you for a moment to think of your favourite first-person shooter. Maybe you're a fan of one of the big current franchises like Halo, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, or Battlefield. Perhaps you favour some of the more idiosyncratic stuff, like the retro-alien-invasion-themed Resistance series, the futuristic space-war antics of Killzone, or the super-soldier escapades of the Crysis games. It could even be that you're a lover of something more obscure - Black on the PS2, perhaps - or possibly some of the really old-school stuff like Half-Life 2, Quake, or Goldeneye 64.

    Well whatever your favourite FPS, they all have one thing in common: all of them - each and every one of them - owe it all to Doom.

    It's easy to forget just how important the Doom series was for the development of modern video games - but before it (and its immediate predecessor/prototype, Wolfenstein 3D), the first-person shooter as we know it simply did not exist. We therefore have Doom to thank for the blossoming of an entire genre - even though many of today's younger gamers probably haven't even heard of it, let alone played it.

    Thankfully, that can now be remedied, as this brand new rerelease collects all three of the major Doom games by id software (pronounced, 'id', not 'eye-dee'), remastered for today's consoles. So don't be fooled by the title "Doom 3": ports of the first two games are presented here too in all their retro glory. And it's all just as you remember it.

    Those who played Doom and Doom 2 when they first came out will be hit by a wave of nostalgia as they re-experience the spooky low-resolution locations and grinding, grainy music - before plunging headlong into the classic, chaotic battles that fill the screen with thousands of blocky sprites, representing a wave of hellish monsters that can only be seen off with a shedload of shotgun cartridges (or, if you prefer, a few well-placed rockets).

    It's also a blast to rediscover the games' intricate level designs (as frustrating as they may be) - which often require lots of backtracking and finding of keys to unlock the path ahead, as well as offering up huge quantities of secret rooms and shortcuts that allow you to achieve those all-important 100% achievement ratings at the end of each level. And on modern consoles, there's now the added bonus that these new versions of the games are supported by attainable achievements and trophies that register your prowess for your friends and family to swoon over, should they so wish.

    There's also a lot of enjoyment to be gleaned from revisiting the array of weapons that feature in these old games. From the standard pistol through the shotgun(s), chaingun and rocket launchers, there's a lot to enjoy here. Even if the selection now feels somewhat limited in a world in which games regularly have several different flavours of every weapon type - along with extras like grenades, mines and the like - it's still undeniably fun to let rip with a chainsaw for a few bloody minutes, or unleash a blast from the "BFG" (most delicately translated as the 'Big F...lipping Gun'), from which this re-package derives its subtitle.

    But the real focus of this rerelease is Doom 3, which - unlike the first two games - has actually been given a certain amount of spit and polish for its high-definition outing. Having enjoyed the game when it first came out on the PC (at which time it represented the height of graphical excellence) it's pleasing to note that it looks even better here.

    I was worried that the cleaner edges and more high-tech graphical tools available for today's programmers (to render lighting effects, and suchlike) might have detracted from the effectiveness of the horror of Doom 3. But thankfully, it still manages to maintain that same shadowy feel - including some sections of complete darkness - which only serves to enhance the creepiness of the eerie voices or cackling sounds that emanate from the gloom, usually preceding an attack of demonic cherub babies or something equally unpleasant.

    In fact, it's interesting to compare Doom 3 directly with its predecessors, because it's actually quite a different type of game. It might have provided one or two neat innovations on the action front - such as the sections set outside the Mars moonbase, that require you to achieve tasks quickly, before your oxygen runs out - but by and large it's less of a frenetic shooter and more of a considered, atmospheric slice of sci-fi horror (paving the way for later games like Dead Space to perfect the formula), with a little bit more focus on story and character than the first couple of games.

    Still, all the classic Doom elements are present and correct - including the giant mutated monsters that serve as the game's bosses, as well as the frequent demonic/satanic imagery that underpins the overall plot of an invasion into our dimension by the forces of hell. And it's all given a subtly-building atmosphere that makes it genuinely scary and unsettling, rather than merely outlandishly in-your-face horrific as in the first two games.

    And fans of Doom 3 will be particularly overjoyed to learn that - again, unlike Doom and Doom 2 - there's actually some new content for the game here, in the form of a few extra levels that fall under the banner of "The Lost Mission". It might not be enough to justify bumping the price up to that of a brand new game (and thankfully, this release is a mid-priced budget offering available for around the £25 mark on release day, which isn't bad), but it's a nice peace-offering to those of us who have already owned all of these games at least once before, and who are only shelling out for the convenience of having them on our current system.

    The only criticisms I really have of this package are a couple of minor problems with changes that have been made to Doom 3. Firstly, the sound mix seems a little 'off' in places, with sound effects and voices difficult to hear over the amped-up music. Unfortunately, there are no separate sound-channel controls to remedy this problem, which seems like an oversight given the usual array of options that modern-day games give us to customise our experience.

    And the other complaint is about a tweak that's been made to the gameplay mechanics, which now allow you to mount your flashlight on the barrel of your gun and use both at the same time, rather than being forced to switch between the two. That frantic swapping was a big part of the fun of the original Doom 3 - especially in the pitch-black rooms - as it made you choose between being able to see and being able to defend yourself. It's not the end of the world that the developers have chosen to remove that element of the game, but to me it feels like a shame.

    Overall, though, this is a fine rerelease for a genre-defining set of games, and one that I'm thankful for if only because it allows gamers old and new to rediscover the magic of Doom, with the most polished presentation the games have ever seen.

    Just don't play them before bedtime...