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.

Source : feeds.ign.com