"Doom 3" is a video game developed by Id Software. It originally came out in 2004. It was... okay. The thing I really would rather talk about is "Doom 3: BFG Edition" which came out waaay later in 2012. This fixed all the problems with the original and made it an entirely acceptable game to play. It also included the classic Doom and Doom II for you to have fun with as well.
Normally when I review a Doom game, I play it through first. This is the first time that I didn't do that. I mean... I have played it; I just didn't replay it for this review as I have been doing. I started to though. I just was not having as much fun, and the reason for this was that Doom 3 is not really representative of the Doom experience that I crave these days. It isn't a balls-to-the-wall, heavy metal laced power fantasy. It's a survival horror!
"Doom 3" is dark, scary, and consistently manages to fill you with dread. You have to constantly fight for your own survival. Sure, you are a tough guy. Nobody is arguing that. But you are a tough guy whose soul is resting on the razor's edge of Hell. I never once felt powerful in "Doom 3." I always felt like I was fighting for my life and just barely making it. You know what? That's not a bad thing! It's just not what I have come to enjoy about Doom.
There is another problem. "Doom 3" is kind of its own story. It really has nothing to do with the other games, and that's kind of a bummer. The other games actually do have fun and interesting stories. This one does too. It just isn't the same kind of story.
The developers wanted to make Hell seem really palpable for the wickedness that it truly represented. It wasn't just about demons; it was about the wickedness of sin. This concept was made visual and done extremely well. I did love this game's presentation.
Now, for the elephant in the room. Why is the "BFG Edition" better? The problem with the original game was that the developers tried to make the game scarier by forcing you to switch back and forth from a gun to a flashlight. This was not good. It made most of the game too dark to see anything. Most of the time, you were just shooting in complete darkness. Sorry, Id, but you screwed up. That wasn't scary; it was just annoying.
The "BFG Edition" completely remedied these issues, handed over all the expansion episodes, and the classic games to boot. It was a wonderful gesture that just took them perhaps a little too long to get to. But now-a-days, it is an easy thing to recommend "Doom 3." It's worth your time if you don't mind your Doom themed in a darker, more terrifying way. It is what it is, although to be fair... the world has pretty much moved on.
This blog was written on April 22, 2025.
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It was a remake rather than a sequel... and it was thematically very different, more like SILENT HILL or RESIDENT EVIL than DOOM. Yeah, that one problem was the problem. The game thrived without it, though as its own thing.
ReplyDeleteIt's not really a bad time in Doom history. It was just a little messed up for a while.
DeleteIt is suitable for a Doom game to be scary. However, not being able to see is just frustrating. I'm glad they made a version without that problem.
ReplyDelete