Doom 3 BFG Edition: More Horror-Action Than Horror-Survival

When it was first released in 2004, Doom 3 was terrifying. In part that was due to its dark corridors and seemingly endless amount of shock scares as demons spawned from the shadows. If you remember, Doom 3 was state-of-the-art back then, so much so that the remastered BFG Edition still looks really good. It was such an affecting game because, at the time, nothing else looked so authentic.

With the BFG Edition id Software has updated the base game, included the Resurrection of Evil expansion content as well as built in new levels, called The Lost Mission. The BFG Edition is also the first time Doom 3 will be available on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, so if you had a really sad PC in 2004 and never bothered with the original Xbox but pick this up, you'll no longer have to feel left out when your friends get into an argument about the Doom 3 flashlight mechanic.

Speaking of the Doom 3 flashlight mechanic, it's changing in the BFG Edition. Instead of forcing you to use either a flashlight or a gun, id lets you turn a flashlight on whenever you want. The flashlight has a limited charge so it can't stay on forever, but at least you don't need to put your weapon away to shine a light into the darkness. As id Software's Tim Willits recalls, the original flashlight mechanic was "not the best call." He said, "At the time [of its original launch], Doom 3 was pushing PCs to the max. We could not have had that dynamic light at the same time as all the weapon effects. But now we have lots of horsepower. But I've gotten some hate email about switching the flashlight. There have been some people that are pissed. It's kind of cool that care enough after so long to send me an email and say 'I can't believe you're screwing it up.'"

The new missions take place in Hell, where you shoot rockets and plasma pulses at screaming, charging demons as they attack wave after wave and you circle-strafe and hunt down health packs and armor to survive. It feels appropriately Doom-like, but even if you are very familiar with Doom 3, there'll still be some noticeable changes throughout.

"The whole world's a little bit brighter," said Willits. "We upped the player speed, upped the ammo counts, and just by doing those small things have pushed it more towards horror-action instead of horror-survival. One of the big criticisms [of the original] was that people spent way too much time hunting for ammo and not enough time shooting demons, which is what it's all about."

In 3D running on a PlayStation 3, Doom 3 looks surprisingly pretty and runs very smoothly. The 3D effects enhance the fights at times, particularly when you're in larger combat spaces and imps are throwing fireballs and you're returning rocket fire, giving the scene a noticeable sense of depth.

The BFG Edition will also include Doom 1 and 2, so if this is a series that you've somehow completely missed out on so far, the BFG Edition seems like the best way to catch up. It'll be available on October 16.

Id Software still will not comment on what's happening with Doom 4.



IGN.com

I'm still trying to decide if I should purchase the BFG edition for the 360 or pick it up on Steam... or just to wait for an eventual sale. $39 seems a lot for a game that is nearly a decade old, but I love the fact it comes packaged with the entire franchise.

It's been confirmed that the 360 and PS3 editions will 5.1 surround sound along with the ability to play it (specifically Doom 3, Resurrection of Evil and the Lost Mission) in 3D. Not a bad deal since I won't be able to replicate that experience on my PC.

well if you really want it...newegg you can preorder it right now for a couple of days for 29.99 with this code EMCNBNG58

Thanks! At $30 it's a no brainer for me!

The original was probably the scariest experience I've ever had with a game besides Fatal Frame II. I have vivid memories of being alone in my game room with the surround cranked and literally jumping out of my seat, great stuff. That being said, I agree that this should basically be a downloadable title. I can't see paying more than $20.00 for this. Maybe I'll pick it up in the holiday season.

anyone getting this tomorrow?

i am seriously thinking about it. i never played the originals execpt on an antiquated phone. liked it though. but, would love to experience this on the 360 console...

if BB gets it i have a $20.00 RZ cert. which would make it $19.99.

I'm going wait for a price drop. I imagine this thing will be $19.99 a couple times between Black Friday and Christmas.

Got it at NewEgg for $29.99. Looking forward to it.

if anyone is interested in the PC version.

www.greenmangaming.com has it for $29.99

however if you use this code you can get it for $24.00

GMG20-FXYD1-7WHP1


the game is activated on steam

i had only played Doom 3 on the original Xbox back in the day. It quickly became one of my favorites of all time. I played through the game probably 10 times. I have never been so immersed in a video game before. I actually feel like i am there while playing it. After playing the new PC BFG edition last night...that magic is still there and i am loving every second of it. I am replaying the original campaign again since it has been so long since last playing it. I will then go to the new levels that were released with this version.

that sounds great wlj. i got it as well yesterday with $20 RZ so $19.99 for the compilation seemed a no brainer. will have to finish Borderlands 2, then DisHonored probably, but can't wait to get into this and discover it for the very first time!

cool! i hope you enjoy it. Play with the lights off and with surround sound if you have that.

I imagine I'll pick this up if it goes on sale on Steam. No interest in playing this on a console, and not worth the $30 currently.

Started playing last night. Its just like I remember it (never finished the original release as my PC could barely run it at the time).

Looks good overall, like other HD make overs you can see the limitations of the lower poly counts with the new textures. Still, good ole straightforward fun. I'm on the fence about the new shoulder light, I liked the old play mechanic of one item at a time.

The checkpoint save is kind of intrusive as it pauses the game to save. Hasn't happened in a critical situation so it hasn't affected actual game play.

Played a little Doom II as well. No one was on the multiplayer last night for it, hopefully that changes over the next few days. Doom II online was a lot of fun.

I got it through newegg.com for $30 (PS3) so well worth it for me!

I started with the original Doom. Funny, somehow over all the years I've only ever played the first episode. It's great to see new content on a game I haven't played in years. Working my way through Inferno now and it gets pretty hairy even on medium.

Not sure why I'm even bothering to read this as we are eschewing any non-Nintendo consoles going forward and I don't see this coming out for the WiiU.

I briefly owned an Xbox several years ago and had Doom3, but mostly just played the redone versions of the first two games ( I also played the heck out of Doom for the 32X and the N64, and still own the old PlayStation versions of Doom and Final Doom).

But I have to say the issue with the flashlight always struck me as incredibly dumb. If Sigourney Weaver could duct tape a flame thrower to a machine gun in 1986, then a Space Marine could strap a flashlight to his gun in 2004.

If there's a chance it'll make money they'll port it to the Wii U, they've already expressed interest in doing so but admit they don't have the resources to pull it off at this time.

Flashlight hack/mod was the first mod out for Doom 3.

a not so flattering review...

I think the game is awesome. However, I only played it on the original xbox so I can't comment on the original PC version. I can just judge the BFG edition and I think it is great. here is some video I uploaded from me playing the PC version. I have no clue why i can't get it to embed here -- i hit the "share" button and cut and page the embed code here and it doesn't work

http://youtu.be/5TLa-adAjrE



i am not sure what the guy was expecting. Doom/Resident Evil hybrid? don't know. everyone is entitle to their opinions of course. my opinion is that the game is terrific. i actually liked only being able to use either the gun or the flashlight separately in the original. Unrealistic? sure, but it added to the tension. i have no clue why the reviewer calls the flashlight a torch. I wish the new addition gave you the option to use the flashlight and gun in the old way.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5TLa-adAjrE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I assume he's British.

how did you do that?? like i said i used the youtube embed code but it didn't work

I copied the embed code, it worked

< iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5TLa-adAjrE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>< /iframe>

Minus the spaces between < iframe and < /iframe

I loved the flashlight design. It made the games more intense and scarier.

Ended up getting this over the Black Friday weekend for the PS3 from Amazon for 20 bucks shipped with a free trial of prime. The only time I ever played Doom 3 was the XBox port which I finished at the time. I remember liking it but also not liking the claustrophobic indoor feel of it. It didn't feel to me like a real base on a planet. I still sort of feel that way but I think my feelings on it have improved over the XBox port.

The BFG edition is pretty good, very fluid, some textures look very nice along with the new lighting effects others....not so much. I'm replaying the main game before I do resurrection of evil and the lost missions so can't comment on those yet. It's also nice they include full versions of Doom and Doom 2. Having only ever played the Shareware version of Doom and Doom 2, it'll be nice to be able to play the original Doom in its entirety.