Doom 3 finally comes to the Playstation 3, but suffers from some shortcomings in the process.
The Good:
-Contains almost every Doom game on a single disc.
-Looks fantastic on a proper TV.
-Controls are very smooth for the most part.
-The graphics still look great even to this day.
The Bad:
-A bit expensive considering that this is a re-release of an almost 8 year old game.
-Sprint is binded to R3, and you can't change it.
-PC version is worse to the original PC release.
-The increased ammo count in the levels has unbalanced the game somewhat.
Its hard to believe that its been almost 8 years since Doom 3 was released on the PC. And it is thus very impressive just how good Doom 3 still looks even after all of this time.
Basically, this is Doom 3 and the expansion pack RoE on one single disc. Doom 1 and 2 plus a new short episode for Doom 3 called "The Lost Mission" are also there as sweet bonuses. The originally Xbox only "No Rest for the Living" episode for Doom 2 is also included.
The graphics have been improved somewhat, though you might not notice it if you have already played the game on a high-end PC.
I won't get too much into details about the gameplay since this is basically a re-release of an old game, but for the sake of giving at least some information on it you play as a marine that is stationed on the UAC mars research base in the 22th century that suffers a massive demonic invasion fallowing a horrible accident involing teleporters and other dimensions. Think Half-life 1 but with demons from hell.
The gameplay is very simple. You collect key cards and PDA's and press buttons for the sake of unlocking doors and new areas to progress in the game. And of course you shoot everything that gets in your way. The gameplay's simplistic nature may turn some people off but for those who enjoy old school shooters Doom 3 is a wonderful game.
While Doom 3 was released as a horror game, a lot of people did not find it very scary. All of the blood and the nightmarish hellish visuals in the game make it look very disturbing, but disturbing is not the same as scary.
In fact, Id software appears to understand this to a point that they decided to remove the flashlight mechanic from the original game. In the original, you could not use your flashligh (which you needed during the game's darker areas) and a weapon at the same time, but in the BFG edition your flashlight works basically the same as it does in the Half-life series meaning that you can use it and a weapon both at the same time. This makes the game more fast paced but also removes some of the horror element from the game. Its up to you to decide if you think this is bad or good.
The controls are very smooth, and would probably be almost flawless were it not for the fact that the sprint key is binded to R3 (I HATE it when games do this) which makes it hard and annoying to use. Thankfully Id Software decided to increase the player's basic walking speed so you may not need to use it that often.
The new episode for Doom 3 is solid. Its not great or fantastic (besides the 2 new hell levels, which are great and fantastic) but its still solid fun, and its actually kind of different from the base game and RoE in that you get all of the weapons and face allmost all of the enemies in the game within a span of just a few hours, so its actually kind of a "all around" episode. Its not very memorable since there is no real story (there is a story, but its extremely simplistic and features only one character besides you) though.
I also feel I should mention the problem with the amount of ammo in this game. Id feelt that there wasn't enough in the origina release of the game, so they decided to increase the amount that there is in the levels. However they overdid it and now there is little reason to be careful with it. It wasn't a very good design decision.
Doom 1 and 2 also play pretty well in spite of their age, though there are still a few problems with them.
For one thing, WHY IS THERE STILL NO WIDESCREEN SUPPORT!!!
I don't get this. I really don't. Id has had so many chances to include this. They had a chance when they released Doom 1 on the Xbox Live arcade, they got another chance when they released Doom 2 on that same arcade a few years later, and they got another chance now....AND THEY STILL HAVEN'T DONE IT!!!
Don't give me the excuse that these are old games. They have actually updated the graphics for them a bit and created a completely new menu interface for them, so how hard could it have been to add widescreen support? There are already lots of source ports for the PC version that add widescreen support!
In terms of actual gameplay, its the same Doom and Doom 2 as before (minus the secret bonus levels which have now been censored since they contained nazy imagery), though having controller vibration is pretty neat. There are also trophies for all of the Doom games including Doom 1, 2 and the lost mission.
I would like to end this review with a few notes about the PC version of Doom 3: BFG edition.
While the BFG edition is a great deal for anyone who wants to play Doom 3 on a console, its a waste of time for PC players for the fallowing reasons:
-The game has been consolized. Great for console players, bad for PC players.This means a console like interface, and next to no graphics options even though the original PC version has a PC like interface and more graphics options.
-Mod support has been removed. This is a BIG deal since the original PC version has lots of great mods for it.
-The console can no longer be used unless you enable it with advanced launch parameters, and doing so disables your SA's.
-The FoV sucks since it's intended for consoles. It can be changed by editing the launch parameters though.
-The graphics are actually worse even in spite of the "upgrades" on the PC. The game still looks great on a good HD TV however.
So basically, ONLY get this for the PS3 or Xbox 360. If you want it on PC then get the original version instead.
I am giving this game (the PS3 version that is) a solid 8.5/10.
Doom 3 is a great game. A classic. And getting all of the Doom games (not counting Final doom and Doom 64) on the PS3 on a single disc is a great deal provided that you are getting it for the consoles.