Doom 3 BFG Edition Review

Doom 3 BEG Edition
Developed By: id Software
Published By: Bethesda Softworks
Date of Release: October 16, 2012
Price: $29.99(PC)/$39.99(Xbox 360/PS3)

Doom 3... Has it really been 7 years since it ripped its way into the PC gaming world? I remember it like it was yesterday. Now, my first experience with Doom 3 was less than ideal. A family friend had bought the game to play herself, but found it to be a bit too frightening. So the brand new barely played copy of Doom 3 was passed on to me, and I proceeded to try and play through it on my measly Athlon XP with 256mb of ram and a 128mb GeForce FX5200. At 640x480 and low settings I barely got 20fps, but it still kept me on the edge of my seat. As time went by I managed to get my hands on some better hardware, and was able to experience Doom 3 the way it was meant to be played.




Of course now that we've hit the 20th anniversary of the Doom franchise, computers and game consoles are a bit more advanced. Sure, there have been many ports of the various Doom games to consoles, but nearly all of them have disappointed in one way or another. However with Doom 3 BFG Edition, things have changed. Not only do you get the full uncut Doom 3 and its expansion pack Resurrection of Evil, you also get pixel-perfect ports of The Ultimate Doom, and Doom II with its newly added episode No Rest For the Living, as well as a new episode for Doom 3! With Doom 3, none of the graphical detail or level architecture had to be sacrificed this time around (unlike the chopped to pieces ports for the original Xbox).




In fact, the original rendering system has been improved from the ground up with better lighting, and silky smooth constant 60 fps gameplay on normal monitors or televisions, and 120fps support for the 3d monitors and Head Mounted Displays that support it! The gameplay itself has also been streamlined slightly with a new armor-mounted flashlight which eliminates the need to choose between being able to see and being able to frag the hordes of hellspawn that stand in your way. All of the classic weapons are still available to find along the way, from the reliable shotgun to the always-classic BFG 9000. (That's Big F*cking Gun for those who don't know!)




When you get back to the original Doom games, nothing has really changed other than the addition of achievements/trophies, however if there had been any tinkering with them it just wouldn't have felt right. At first glance The Ultimate Doom and Doom II may seem a simple affair by today's standards, with their deceptively simple gameplay. However looks can be deceiving, as the classic Doom titles are known for their twisted mazelike corridors. Gamers who are used to the linear games of today could find themselves lost for hours in a level, searching for the next keycard. In the era that Doom was released the length of a game was provided by actual gameplay, and not by artificially padding the experience with cutscenes every 3 seconds.




With the BFG releases of The Ultimate Doom and Doom II, every little detail from the wonderfully pixellated sprite graphics, pumping MIDI buttrock soundtrack, and all around ass-kicking style of the originals have been preserved perfectly. The controls are superbly mapped out to take advantage of the dual analogs on the consoles, which makes circle-strafing a breeze. The PC versions have also been upgraded with full WASD controls as well as mouse turning. These are is truly excellent ports of a pair of genre-defining games, and if you have never played these titles in their original forms you owe it to yourself as an FPS fan to try them out.




Doom 3 BFG Edition is definitely an epic package, and should be considered the del-facto collection of all things Doom that id Software has crafted over the years. Some fans may bemoan the lack of Final Doom and The Master Levels, however they were never actually developed by id themselves, they were fan works compiled and published officially. No matter if you are a console gamer or a PC gamer, you should seriously pick up this package. It is the definitive way to experience the Doom saga, and an all around good value. Hopefully if Doom 3 BFG Edition is a success then we'll see id and Bethesda release a similar compilation for their other famous series, Quake. But for now kick back, dig out your BFG, and keep on fraggin!