Reviews// Doom 3 BFG Edition

Doom 3 BFG Edition is multi-platform and marks the franchise's debut on the PS3. As well as the brand new remastered version of Doom III, it also contains the original Doom and Doom II games as an added bonus. It's a nice little collection for long-time fans and a good starting point for people who haven't played any of the Dooms before like myself.

I'm not a big fan of run-and-gun alien shooters, I usually find that sort of thing boring and repetitive. But I am a fan of scary games, even though I'm a massive wuss and can't play them much! Now, Doom III might not be very scary to most but being the sissy I am it makes me jump and swear at the TV a lot.

There's nothing new to say about Doom I & II since nothing's changed here. What I'm here to tell you about is the updated Doom III. The story begins as you arrive at a man-made base on Mars, but it's not too clear what you're doing there. According to the interactive monitors everywhere it seems that there are dangerous Bio-specimens being moved or contained for unknown reasons.

As you get directed into the base and shown the ropes, noticeable oddities start to emerge. Flickering lights, misbehaving door security, it all starts to get a bit creepy. Before long though, one of the scientists drops the big opening story on you...

The Devil is real, these guys built his cage. He's not happy about this, and you're right on his doorstep.

As soon as this bombshell-sized nugget of info is revealed, all the scary stuff starts to happen. Monstrous creatures appear around every corner and suddenly all of the staff start to turn on you, possessed.

The contrast really pulled me in - one moment you are just casually walking around chatting to everyone, then suddenly you are being attacked by the same people, turned rabid. You make your way back through the base, now a nightmarish scenario, trying to survive and find out why hell is literally breaking loose.

After starting off with just a handgun, you pick up some fun weapons. The possessed soldiers are your main source of ammo as many use shotguns and machine guns, but before long you find a very overpowered Gatling gun with scarce ammo.

You soon find out that with great power comes gruesome creatures. Later on when the bigger, uglier monsters start crawling out of the woodwork (or gas pipes in this case) you'll be glad you saved ammo for your bigger, shinier guns.

The lack of a map sometimes gets annoying, especially in dark places where you can easily lose your orientation after fighting off zombies and demons. Most of the walls and corridors looks very much the same so you have to remember your route and take note of where you've been, otherwise you'll end up running round in circles.

The entire Martian base is filled with little lights on everything that do sod all to the giant voids of pitch-blackness everywhere. During the remastering process they seem to have forgone any sort of ambient lighting. This is part of what makes it scary, you often can't see what's right in front of your face, so you have to use the torch all the time.

This adds another worrying complication because your torch only lasts a few seconds before you have to switch it off to let it recharge. As much as I love this as a scare tactic, it just doesn't last long enough.

It worked in the Half-Life games because the battery lasted long enough to be useful, but here you can barely get round a corner with it kept on. It creates some great scary moments but I still think they should have made it upgradeable.

Of course, you can sprint as long as you keep the left stick clicked in but that's how control pads get bent and broken. Let's just stick with being attacked in the dark from an unknown direction.

Another thing you have to rely on is the PDA. This stores all of the data you find like emails and staff logs. You collect these from other people's PDAs and video disks that are usually found in offices. Each one gives a bit of back story and usually a code for a nearby locker. Also, when you take someone's PDA you gain their security clearance that you need to get through the next door. This way you'll always have all the information you need with you, as well as a clear opportunity to loot every locker.

If you love Doom, you should know what to expect here. The graphics have been updated to a HD version of PS2/Xbox generation quality and are easy on the eyes. The multiplayer is not lacking in any way, the variety of weapons and power-ups provide something to keep coming back to if you like shooting.

If you're only really interested in the horror aspect of the campaign, you might get bored before long as the creatures become repetitive and predictable. That is unless the traces of underlying story keep you pushing on.

Pros
+ Quite scary
+ + Amount of ammo is well balanced
+ Good variety of weapons
+ Nice, steady progression of firepower

Cons
- Torch doesn't last long enough. Should be upgradeable
- Bad lighting, too much pitch black
- Not much variety of enemies
- No map/guidance, easy to get lost

SPOnG Score: 5/10