Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
Score: 68% ESRB: Mature Publisher: Activision Developer: Nerve Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: First Person Shooter
Graphics & Sound: Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil looks great, which is about the only thing the entire game has going for it. While not as good looking as the PC version (what is?), the visuals are still rather stunning on the Xbox. The textures in this game have set a new standard, and the animations, lighting, and effects are all far above par. There is little to complain about other than the lack of lighting at times, and though this was probably meant to induce fear and uncertainty, all it accomplishes is to create an environment of chaos and confusion, as navigating in these conditions is a hassle. The sound is what you might expect from a console game, as well as from a game with the word Doom in the title. The explosions of the guns and the voiceover dialogue is adequate, but barely scratches the surface of what we would call greatness. The demonic noises that emit from enemies are bland, as the gamut has been run for audio demonic outbursts in about a hundred other games. What you see will overshadows everything that you hear.
Gameplay: Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil is a FPS and cannot be called anything else. Applying the term survival horror here would be like calling apples vegetables. There are no more survival techniques in this game than there are elements of horror. Everything thrown at the player has been done before, and a lot of games have done it better. What Doom 3 does offer is a solid action experience, a lengthy single player campaign, and some decent multiplayer features. Oh yes, and most importantly, classic Doom, Doom II, and the Doom II Master Levels. The feeble story line that persists throughout the entire game is based around a Marine finding a strange artifact that unleashes the powers of hell. You, as the Marine, explore an archaeological site in possession of this artifact and fend off the legions of Satan with all the firepower you can lay your hands on. The basic guns are present here: pistol, shotgun, grenades. There are also some extra, more powerful weapons (including the artifact) that most people will instantly recognize, but that do little to further the arsenal of most FPS games. What is new in Doom 3 is a gun that can pick up and throw objects, including things shot at you by the enemy (or even smaller enemies themselves). However, this is just the first of a few features that are blatantly stolen from the Half Life series, and are not even expanded upon. While it may be new to Doom, it has been done before and is not utilized in a unique and fun way here. The single player campaign is long and offers many bad guys to shoot, small puzzles to solve, and environmental hazards to work around. What it doesn’t offer is a fun experience. Most of the things you run into in Doom 3 are predictable, scripted events. It follows the same trend that most sequels these days are falling into; updated graphics with little to no new material. The main attraction of the game could have been playing it on Xbox Live. Had the limit of players been capped at something higher than 4, the game may have been worth checking out simply for the multiplayer support. Even more sadly, you can only play the classic Doom games in split-screen mode.
Difficulty: Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil is made difficult only by selecting the higher difficulty setting and by the imprecise controls. There are no mentally taxing puzzles, no hordes of enemies that can’t be gotten around without a bit of firepower. Things become a problem more than a challenge when there are multiple enemies surrounding you and you have to deal with the dual analog setup that doesn’t seem to have been fleshed out enough. Aiming with the analog sticks is a hassle, even with the Aim Assist turned on, and quickly drags the game into the gutter.
Game Mechanics: Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil uses the standard console setup of two analog sticks to control the vertical and horizontal movement of your character. You can also set the D-Pad to quickly bring up weapons of your choice. Running and jumping is also easily accomplished, as is crouching and generally navigating through the world. What is done poorly is the responsiveness of the analog sticks. Aiming your weapons is at first guesswork, and after some practice, it is still a tedious act. Also available to you is a PDA that is almost but not entirely useless. The only purpose it serves is to keep vital information like keycodes stored for you. It also contains things that expose more of the plot, like movies and email, but trying to get into this story is like trying to read an encyclopedia from cover to cover. Doom 3 is probably almost as good as the original Doom is now. With the inclusion of the old Doom titles on this disk, you might be able to justify the purchase. Otherwise, there is hardly a single thing to point at other than the graphics that you can say anything good about. This is not a game to buy simply because of the title, so if you have any interest definitely rent it first.
-Snow Chainz, GameVortex Communications AKA Andrew Horwitz
Top Spin Devil Kings