DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil - Review
Added October 19th, 2005 by Barnolde
Introduction:
Another day, another first person shooter from the PC makes it presence known on the Xbox. This time, we get the expansion pack to Doom 3, as if we needed more dark corridors to trudge through. Debuting on PC a few months ago, it was ported to Xbox by Nerve Software (Vicarious Visions originally did the port of Doom 3) of Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War fame. This game does what it set out to do, which is give more Doom 3 to the people and that’s pretty much it.
Resurrection of Evil picks up about a year after Doom 3, but the timeframe really doesn’t matter. Like Doom 3, the story is garbage and like me, you’ll probably be wishing there was an “I don’t care” button on the controller for much of the game. Doom 3: RoE’s story is even less interesting and immersive than Doom 3’s, you really just have an apathetic take on it. You play a different character than in Doom 3. You play as a fellow that was with his fellow crew when they discovered “the artifact” which caused them all except you to die. So, like Doom 3, all hell has broken loose (evil is resurrected!), again, and the only way to fix it is to navigate cramped corridors and fight enemies that jump out at you. So did Doom 3’s expansion pack change the experience or are we still left with the same crap that the previous experience left us with?
Gameplay:
Players of Doom 3 should expect nothing new or shocking and newcomers should expect a boring gameplay experience. All your necessary elements from Doom 3 are here in the expansion pack: poorly lit and cramped corridors, enemies jumping out at you and, of course, the monotonous gameplay. The bulk of the game is pretty much the same formula as Doom 3 - kill anything that jumps out at you, maybe get scared once and repeat for 8-10 hours until you pull your hair out due to boredom. It’s a very linear game and you complete your usual crappy, easy puzzles without a hitch. The main emphasis is still on atmosphere and horror, and the latter fails miserably. There’s nothing horrifying about this game, because Doom 3 relies on the same stupid formula over and over to scare you, which in turn makes you not scared, but rather bored. It’s hard to write about the actual gameplay, because it literally is just walking down poorly lit corridors and shooting any boring creature that pops out at you and like the game, it tires very quickly. Playing this game really becomes a chore, which isn’t helped by the even more boring story. It’s just not as interesting to browse the PDAs as it was in the first game. All of the returning guns are still the same, providing a distant experience, as opposed to an immersive one.
Another day, another first person shooter from the PC makes it presence known on the Xbox. This time, we get the expansion pack to Doom 3, as if we needed more dark corridors to trudge through. Debuting on PC a few months ago, it was ported to Xbox by Nerve Software (Vicarious Visions originally did the port of Doom 3) of Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War fame. This game does what it set out to do, which is give more Doom 3 to the people and that’s pretty much it.
Resurrection of Evil picks up about a year after Doom 3, but the timeframe really doesn’t matter. Like Doom 3, the story is garbage and like me, you’ll probably be wishing there was an “I don’t care” button on the controller for much of the game. Doom 3: RoE’s story is even less interesting and immersive than Doom 3’s, you really just have an apathetic take on it. You play a different character than in Doom 3. You play as a fellow that was with his fellow crew when they discovered “the artifact” which caused them all except you to die. So, like Doom 3, all hell has broken loose (evil is resurrected!), again, and the only way to fix it is to navigate cramped corridors and fight enemies that jump out at you. So did Doom 3’s expansion pack change the experience or are we still left with the same crap that the previous experience left us with?
Gameplay:
Players of Doom 3 should expect nothing new or shocking and newcomers should expect a boring gameplay experience. All your necessary elements from Doom 3 are here in the expansion pack: poorly lit and cramped corridors, enemies jumping out at you and, of course, the monotonous gameplay. The bulk of the game is pretty much the same formula as Doom 3 - kill anything that jumps out at you, maybe get scared once and repeat for 8-10 hours until you pull your hair out due to boredom. It’s a very linear game and you complete your usual crappy, easy puzzles without a hitch. The main emphasis is still on atmosphere and horror, and the latter fails miserably. There’s nothing horrifying about this game, because Doom 3 relies on the same stupid formula over and over to scare you, which in turn makes you not scared, but rather bored. It’s hard to write about the actual gameplay, because it literally is just walking down poorly lit corridors and shooting any boring creature that pops out at you and like the game, it tires very quickly. Playing this game really becomes a chore, which isn’t helped by the even more boring story. It’s just not as interesting to browse the PDAs as it was in the first game. All of the returning guns are still the same, providing a distant experience, as opposed to an immersive one.
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil does offer a few new minor features though. Aside from the expected new enemies and slightly more varied environments, you have some new goodies to play around with. A double-barreled shotgun has been added, which unleashes quite a bit of damage and, despite its slow reload time, is a great weapon to have out. There’s also another new weapon, the grabber, which is a complete and blatant rip-off of the gravity gun in Half-Life 2. Unlike HL2 however, you can’t interact with that much stuff and there isn’t much fun to be had, as you mostly use it to throw fireballs back at enemies. It doesn’t help that it’s not all that easy to use, because of the game’s claustrophobic nature. Many of the stronger enemies require you to use the grabber instead of brute force, which is a pretty lame attempt at strategy, as you just field their fireballs back at them. The flashlight has also been tweaked; it’s actually mounted on the pistol now! Granted the pistol is weak and ammo is scarce, but at least it’s on a friggin’ gun now. For something totally generic, the artifact allows you to, get this, slow down time! You charge the object, which looks like a heart, by holding it over dead guys and then you use it and time slows down, man, this game just oozes innovation. Granted Doom 3: RoE isn’t meant to be innovative (a likely excuse), but it doesn’t even try and thus, it doesn’t hold your attention.
The biggest draw from Doom 3, the co-op play has been nixed, which is a big hit to Resurrection of Evil. The campaign mode is a single player only and the eight-player multiplayer from the PC has been scaled down to four. The number of people in multiplayer doesn’t matter, because you’ll never play it. It sucks, it flat out sucks and there are so many better Xbox Live games to devote your time to. It’s stale, albeit at a faster pace than the campaign mode, there just isn’t really any fun to be had by playing Doom 3: RoE online, it sure as hell is a lot less fun than Quake III Arena. One thing that the multiplayer does have that makes it excel over the single player is the fact that all the maps don’t look the same, but even with that, chances are that the multiplayer is something you’ll try out, but never go back to.
Graphics:
Doom 3 had some excellent graphics from a technical standpoint, which is probably what it was most known for and Resurrection of Evil is no sloucher in this category either. The graphics look pretty much the same as Doom 3, although I did notice that the textures were not as well done, which is probably attributed to the seemingly quick port that Nerve did. The game is still very dark, in some parts, even more so than Doom 3 (which was actually lightened up in some parts thanks to VV). The graphics as a whole are detailed and you don’t see too many jaggies around, although some parts have some minor slowdown, but it’s nothing major.
The biggest draw from Doom 3, the co-op play has been nixed, which is a big hit to Resurrection of Evil. The campaign mode is a single player only and the eight-player multiplayer from the PC has been scaled down to four. The number of people in multiplayer doesn’t matter, because you’ll never play it. It sucks, it flat out sucks and there are so many better Xbox Live games to devote your time to. It’s stale, albeit at a faster pace than the campaign mode, there just isn’t really any fun to be had by playing Doom 3: RoE online, it sure as hell is a lot less fun than Quake III Arena. One thing that the multiplayer does have that makes it excel over the single player is the fact that all the maps don’t look the same, but even with that, chances are that the multiplayer is something you’ll try out, but never go back to.
Graphics:
Doom 3 had some excellent graphics from a technical standpoint, which is probably what it was most known for and Resurrection of Evil is no sloucher in this category either. The graphics look pretty much the same as Doom 3, although I did notice that the textures were not as well done, which is probably attributed to the seemingly quick port that Nerve did. The game is still very dark, in some parts, even more so than Doom 3 (which was actually lightened up in some parts thanks to VV). The graphics as a whole are detailed and you don’t see too many jaggies around, although some parts have some minor slowdown, but it’s nothing major.
Although from a technical standpoint Doom 3: RoE looks amazing, it’s artistically void. The environments are very bland and boring, but you’re on a Mars base, so that can somewhat be expected. It’s really quite sad how incredibly boring all the enemies look, because there is simply nothing innovative or interesting about them. I didn’t really touch on this in my Doom 3 review and won’t really subtract anything from the score here, but I just can’t ignore how so very lame all the enemies are. The lack of innovation even takes a bit away from the attempted horror, because you can’t scream at a skeleton that shoots rockets from his shoulders, because of how goofy looking it is. Every single enemy in the game is just plain boring, there’s nothing distinctive or innovative about them and they reek of a 7th grade goth kid’s art class book.
Audio:
Unlike the gameplay, the audio is quite solid in this game, in fact, like Doom 3, it’s probably the best part about this game. If there’s anything to add to the sense of foreboding of this game, it’s the audio. If you have surround sound, use it for this game. Growls and groans coming from the pitch black all around you is pretty creepy, so are the random and sudden clangs of things being tossed about by otherworldly forces. The music has an old school vibe to it, which is probably the best way to describe it. Voice acting is pretty well done in Resurrection of Evil, despite how sparingly it’s used. Emotion is expressed quite well in the voice work as well. Still, the best parts in the audio department belong to the sound effects and if wasn’t for the extremely tedious and repetitive gameplay, id probably would’ve had a creepy game on their hands.
Controls:
The typical Xbox FPS controls reside in Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil. Shooting is done with the right trigger, sprinting is accomplished via the left trigger (you cannot sprint forever), A jumps, Y and B switch weapons and X reloads, it’s all typical stuff. Like in Doom 3, black brings up your PDA and white brings your flashlight out, although you don’t have a dedicated flashlight this time around, so it whips your pistol out. The controls are solid for the most part, although in frantic situations, switching weapons can be somewhat cumbersome.
Replay:
If you manage to complete this game without falling asleep, then I highly doubt you’ll ever play through it again, not just because the game is pretty much the same thing over and over, but also because it’s just not fun. Playing this derivative game to review was more of a chore than anything else. Not only is the least boring part of Doom 3 gone (co-op), but the multiplayer still sucks. With such a boring game as this, going through it once is more than enough. The multiplayer is there and it does work fairly well, it’s just really not that much fun.
Audio:
Unlike the gameplay, the audio is quite solid in this game, in fact, like Doom 3, it’s probably the best part about this game. If there’s anything to add to the sense of foreboding of this game, it’s the audio. If you have surround sound, use it for this game. Growls and groans coming from the pitch black all around you is pretty creepy, so are the random and sudden clangs of things being tossed about by otherworldly forces. The music has an old school vibe to it, which is probably the best way to describe it. Voice acting is pretty well done in Resurrection of Evil, despite how sparingly it’s used. Emotion is expressed quite well in the voice work as well. Still, the best parts in the audio department belong to the sound effects and if wasn’t for the extremely tedious and repetitive gameplay, id probably would’ve had a creepy game on their hands.
Controls:
The typical Xbox FPS controls reside in Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil. Shooting is done with the right trigger, sprinting is accomplished via the left trigger (you cannot sprint forever), A jumps, Y and B switch weapons and X reloads, it’s all typical stuff. Like in Doom 3, black brings up your PDA and white brings your flashlight out, although you don’t have a dedicated flashlight this time around, so it whips your pistol out. The controls are solid for the most part, although in frantic situations, switching weapons can be somewhat cumbersome.
Replay:
If you manage to complete this game without falling asleep, then I highly doubt you’ll ever play through it again, not just because the game is pretty much the same thing over and over, but also because it’s just not fun. Playing this derivative game to review was more of a chore than anything else. Not only is the least boring part of Doom 3 gone (co-op), but the multiplayer still sucks. With such a boring game as this, going through it once is more than enough. The multiplayer is there and it does work fairly well, it’s just really not that much fun.
Summary:
There are some new environments, although they seem pretty damn similar to what we saw in Doom 3. Being too repetitive is the main fault of Doom 3 and is sadly the main downfall of Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil as well, it’s what the game relies on for horror and it grows stale way too quick. I don’t know what the hell happened to id, as they used to be at the forefront of the genre, now the only thing they can seem to do right is make an engine and throw a sub-par game along with it. While the game may look technically amazing, it’s also very boring and bland. The audio is still excellent, save for some weak sounding gunfire, too bad those things are pretty much frivolous and only really matter on an aesthetic level. It controls like your typical FPS, which is to be expected, so no surprises there. Doom 3: RoE’s complete lack of innovation just makes me shake my head, slowing down time, ripping off Half-Life 2 and some of the lamest enemies this side of gaming, where does it end? The game is lower on replay value, because there’s no co-op and the main game is twice as boring without it; not to mention the four player deathmatch is nothing above mediocre, especially when compared to high quality games like Far Cry Instincts that are also out there.
For a game that’s supposed to be a horror game, the formula it relies on is so repetitive that after 20 minutes you’ve seen all the scares, not to mention all the environments you need to see. Some people call Doom 3 a homage to old school FPS’s, which I’m all for, if they’re fun, like Serious Sam or Painkiller. Doom 3 is just way too dull. One thing that this game does have, which is great, is that it includes Ultimate Doom and Doom II, but that would’ve been a better thing if a few months ago, they didn’t charge you an extra $10 for that in the Doom 3: Collector’s Edition, low blow. Activision, no kudos points from me there. Simply put, it’s a functional shooter, just without the “fun” in it. It’s half as long as Doom 3 and extremely dull and there’s really no compelling reason to play it.
There are some new environments, although they seem pretty damn similar to what we saw in Doom 3. Being too repetitive is the main fault of Doom 3 and is sadly the main downfall of Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil as well, it’s what the game relies on for horror and it grows stale way too quick. I don’t know what the hell happened to id, as they used to be at the forefront of the genre, now the only thing they can seem to do right is make an engine and throw a sub-par game along with it. While the game may look technically amazing, it’s also very boring and bland. The audio is still excellent, save for some weak sounding gunfire, too bad those things are pretty much frivolous and only really matter on an aesthetic level. It controls like your typical FPS, which is to be expected, so no surprises there. Doom 3: RoE’s complete lack of innovation just makes me shake my head, slowing down time, ripping off Half-Life 2 and some of the lamest enemies this side of gaming, where does it end? The game is lower on replay value, because there’s no co-op and the main game is twice as boring without it; not to mention the four player deathmatch is nothing above mediocre, especially when compared to high quality games like Far Cry Instincts that are also out there.
For a game that’s supposed to be a horror game, the formula it relies on is so repetitive that after 20 minutes you’ve seen all the scares, not to mention all the environments you need to see. Some people call Doom 3 a homage to old school FPS’s, which I’m all for, if they’re fun, like Serious Sam or Painkiller. Doom 3 is just way too dull. One thing that this game does have, which is great, is that it includes Ultimate Doom and Doom II, but that would’ve been a better thing if a few months ago, they didn’t charge you an extra $10 for that in the Doom 3: Collector’s Edition, low blow. Activision, no kudos points from me there. Simply put, it’s a functional shooter, just without the “fun” in it. It’s half as long as Doom 3 and extremely dull and there’s really no compelling reason to play it.
