For any true gamer the Doom franchise is a big deal, it brought about the modern first person shooter games we have today and did huge work in horror/ thriller gameplay too. That’s right, this is COD’s great great grandfather. I’ve always had a huge soft spot for the Doom games and love their simplicity so, naturally, when news of the Doom 3 BFG Edition coming to consoles reached me, my trigger finger tingled. Doom 3 BFG was released here in the UK October 19th (3 days after North America) and contains the “Resurrection of Evil” expansion and a new expansion pack “The Lost Mission”. Unfortunately Doom 3 BFG has received some disappointing feedback from fans and newcomers alike since its release so here are 5 solid gold reasons to ignore them and face hell on Mars again.
5. Stability
Those who are familiar with Doom 3 for PC will share my pain on this. Doom 3, like many big games with high frame rates, could crash every now and then. This was all dependant on your PC and its power obviously so wouldn’t have happened to many of the hardcore gamers with gaming PC’s but for the little fish that wanted to experience Doom this proved a huge problem. The BFG Edition is a dynamically remastered version of the original just for consoles, HD, 3D implementation and a frame rate the original version could only dream of reaching. This removes the constant fear of freezing mid brawl with a Hell Knight and leaves game play seamless until you reach an auto-save point. I’d also like to note that loading screens are substantially quicker.
4. Fear Factor
Doom 3 scared the crap out of me. As it did to a lot of people that played it, just like the first two games which have only just been removed from German “List of games harmful to young children“. Thankfully the fear factor the PC version possessed is still applicable today, even with its dated tactics. Things such as power cuts and enemies bursting out of air vents are considered cliche in today’s modern gameplay but Doom 3 BFG still manages to get your heart racing and leaves you edging through doorways and checking every shadow with your now “armor mounted” flashlight.
3. Simplicity
Point, shoot. Doom has always been simple, in a very good way. If you’re hurt you need to find a medi pack, new weapons are found in boxes or off fallen foes, keep shooting an enemy until they fall down and then shoot them again for good measure. Health is limited so combat is tense, ammo is also limited so weapon-choice is a skill not a preference and the story is easy to follow and driving. These are all simple ingredients that come together in perfect harmony and present players with a small dose of illogical science fiction horror, a nice breath of fresh air in the FPS genre.
2. Expansion Packs
The BFG Edtion brought some friends to the Doom party. As aforementioned the BFG edition contains the original expansion “Ressurection of Evil” which features the Doom 2 double barrel shotgun, new enemies and hours of extra gameplay found in the twelve extra missions. Brand new to the BFG edition of Doom 3, however, is the expansion pack “The Lost Mission” which brings a few more extra hours of gameplay, however it has been identified that some environments of the “TLM” pack are recycled environments from the core game. Regardless, the packs add further variety and content to an already extensively long game which is all you could hope for expansions to deliver.
1. Doom 1 and 2
Probably the best addition to the BFG version is the inclusion of the remastered Doom 1 and Doom 2 games complete with some of their own expansions. This enables players to experience the roots of the most successful genre in gaming history on their consoles. Although incredibly dated in terms of mechanics and graphics, these original games are still hugely enjoyable and flood old fans with nostalgia as well as offering a unique experience for new players.
The tweaks and improvements found in the BFG edition haven’t overtaken what Doom 3 felt like and in fact playing Doom 3 BFG feels like the best version of the game. This also proves that ID and Doom are perfectly adaptable to console gaming thus opening the door for a potential Doom 4 which could be just what the franchise needs. Don’t listen to the press and get yourself back to mars on the double marine!
If you liked reading this article here are some links to other Doom 3 related articles including reviews, source code and information about the steam versions.
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