Survival horror? In MY DOOM??

Doom 3; by far and away the most controversial Doom entry, it earned the ire of the fanbase by daring to diverge from what defined Doom in the 90s, and what defines it today thanks to the rebooted series. Rather than being asked to "rip and tear", you spend a large chunk of the game in tight, cramped corridors, hoping you're not the one being ripped and torn by demons spawning directly behind you.

And honestly, I think the first 4 or so hours are just absolutely dire and mundane. It aspires to be almost a Deus-Ex lite, talking to NPCs, reading logs and emails to find passwords hidden away that can get you into lockers, or doors. Unfortunately, your silent protagonist never feels like a part of the world you're being asked to care so much about by the writers, and instead it just feels like revision for an exam moreso than worldbuilding. The dull, repetitive corridors make for poor fighting arenas too, and the early enemies are incredibly bothersome to fight with the screen-shake you receive from being shot by their hitscan bullets.

However, as you hit about halfway in, something kinda magical happens. Doom 3, as far as the Doom timeline goes, is a bit up in the air - timeline wise, it can't fit into the universe, but ignoring the finer details, it makes the most sense to think of it as a prequel to the franchise. But in my opinion, it's a little more meta than that.
Think about it - the corridors start to get replaced more and more with larger, more open areas to manoeuvre. More familiar demons appear, the hellish imagery becomes stronger, your arsenal expands, and the story becomes less in-the-way. This isn't a prequel to Doom's story, but in a way it's very gameplay. I know I sound completely insane, but I think that's what actually playing Doom 3 just does to a person.

Unintentional meta-ness aside, it's easy to see why Doom 3 is the way it is; it's the same reason Link tried side scrolling that one time, or why Simon Belmont tried talking to townspeople in an open world that one time. Developers sometimes have to try mixing their sequels up so as not to get diminishing returns as people complain about "more of the same". This may sound ironic when talking about Doom, but it was that very thing that caused the decline of the series in the late 90s. This wasn't just meant to be another Doom, but a game that was meant to seize the PC gaming market entirely as a technical achievement, while capitalising on current trends, and it did so brilliantly - even if that stops it from holding up nearly as well.

The BFG edition does make certain changes to Doom 3, and not entirely for the better, but I think I'd have more fun with this version than the original, personally. Not to mention, you also get access to both the original expansion pack, Resurrection of Evil, and an entirely new one, as well as the original Ultimate Doom and Doom 2....though, why you'd play these somewhat butchered versions (nightmare mode nerfed, censorship) over the new Unity ports or fan ports these days is anyone's guess.

All in all, Doom 3 starts poorly, but actually really shines in it's second half, and is worth at least giving a try.

Reviewed on Apr 02, 2022


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