Play it and respect it, for this is Doom...in HD.
Here's a quick recap of these titles: Doom 3 is essentially a re-imagining of the original Doom; not necessarily a remake, but more of a reboot. You play as a nameless, silent Marine who's been assigned to a huge base Mars on controlled by the Union Aerospace Corporation. Your mission: to search for a missing scientist. Before you know it, one thing leads to another and the whole base has been overrun by demonic forces and most of the bases personnel have been transformed into flesh-eating zombies, leaving you to fight your way out.
Doom 3's gameplay is relatively straightforward and lacks a major plot, but since Doom was never intended to be that way, it doesn't matter. Most people will remember the game for it's incredible graphics, which blew away the rest of the competition for some time with the exception of a few odd titles here and there (Half-Life 2 anyone?). But honestly, I loved the way that this game played just as much as it's visuals. The weapons for example, were very satisfying to use, and the attention to detail within the levels was unrivaled.
Resurrection of Evil takes place a few years later and has you in the boots of a different Marine who also just happens to never speak a word for the entire game. RoE is essentially the same game over with several new weapons and abilities, including the 'Artifact' and the 'Grabber' (basically a rip-off of Half-Life 2's gravity gun). In my opinion RoE had it's strengths and weaknesses over Doom 3; if you want an even more action-oriented Doom, RoE is the better choice, but if you were looking for more of a horror/atmospheric experience, Doom 3 is the better game.
The Lost Chapter is a solid eight-level campaign, but don't expect a lengthy game (mind you, games these days rarely last any longer than five or six hours). It doesn't really add anything new to the series, and is simply a set of well designed levels for the fans to enjoy. The whole point of the game is to shut down a teleporter to Earth in order to prevent the demon forces from invading, but really, it's just an excuse to create some more Doom 3 levels. If, like me, you are a Doom fanboy, having more new Doom 3 levels to play is a treat.
First of all, I'd like to just say that the guy who told you 'BFG Edition is pointless, just get the PC game and mod the hell out of it' is wrong. True, there's nothing wrong with playing the original game modded to the extreme, but did people forget that not everybody plays PC games!? Yes, the game is available on the PC as well, and in this respect I can understand why you'd pick the original over the PC version of BFG Edition, but the console versions of the game are still there for anybody who never played a Doom title in their life, or for anybody who simply just wanted to play the game in an armchair in front of their massive TV's.
Seeing as this is essentially a port, albeit an enhanced one, not much has really changed at the end of the day, and that goes for all the games included. There are a few minor tweaks to be had here and there, but the gameplay largely remains the same. So if for example, you hated the whole PDA business (the audio logs, the emails etc. that were integral to the game) that was introduced to Doom 3 in 2004, then you probably still won't enjoy the game. However, what has been altered is the flashlight.
Anyone who's played Doom 3 will remember constantly switching between their flashlight and their weapons due to the constant darkness the game beholds, and the fact that you couldn't hold both at the same time, and there was a lot of criticism from many gamers at the time. Well the BFG Edition removes the flashlight and now you have a light fixed onto your armour instead, which can be switched on or off at any time. True, this will make many players happy, but honestly, I LIKED the original flashlight system. You heard me. Much of the tension of the 2004 game has been lost in the BFG Edition, and that's mostly because of the lack of a physical torch that you hold separately to the rest your arsenal. Of course, I'm in the minority on this front, so if anything the average player would actually prefer this so-called 'improvement' over the PC original. Meh, it's not like it ruined the BFG Edition for me. Far from it.
One of the most obvious topics to discuss is how well the game holds up visually today, and how much better the game looks over the original. Well, the best news for me is that the game runs at a consistent 60 frames per second on the PS3, and I assume the same can be said for the 360 version of the game. I didn't experience any issues with the frame-rate whatsoever, and the game runs very nice and smooth throughout. In all honesty, this was a big deal for me, because I absolutely can't stand a game with a broken frame-rate – especially a GREAT game that's been butchered due to it running at a snails pace. Well, there's no need to worry about this aspect. The controls are perfect, very responsive and well-mapped out. Put simply, playing Doom 3 on a DualShock controller works as well as any other well-received FPS on the console.
Graphically, the game has been improved over the 2004 original – just don't expect any major differences. The graphics are very crisp and clear, and in my opinion, the game still looks better than the majority of other first person shooters on the PS3, and this is largely due to the high frame-rate and excellent atmosphere. It's quite amazing how well Doom 3 holds up today. True, this is an enhanced version of the game, but only in minor ways. The game looks like the PC original on ultra settings, with improved character and enemy models, crisper shadows and brighter levels. Apparently the game was build on the original Doom 3 engine (id Tech 4), with elements of id Software's latest engine, id Tech 5, the same engine which powers the mediocre Rage. There's also 3D support...which I've yet to try.
My only complaint regarding the visuals is the fact that the shadows and lighting could have been better at times. For whatever reason, shining your light on an object in the world no longer casts a dynamic shadow, and I can't understand why this sacrifice was made. That said, the rest of the shadows still look fantastic, and you would only be complaining about this if you played the original. The music and sound mostly remains the same, so there isn't anything to be excited about here either, though I thought the game's sound design never needed any improvements anyway.
Any other complaints? Well, despite the game running exceptionally well and also looking damn good on the visual front, there are still a couple of technical issues to be had. The load and save times are pretty ridiculous for a game like Doom. Loading a level takes way longer than it should; my guess would be around one minute, and it can be pretty frustrating if you die and have to load the level again. Why the load times are as bad as this I don't know. The good news is that you can still save wherever and whenever you please, so it's not a huge complaint really.
A checkpoint system has also been included, but it doesn't really work that well because the game seems to save almost randomly at times. There are many points in the game where you'd expect a checkpoint, but it never comes. Then, out of the blue, the game saves itself. Again, not a huge complaint because you can save the game manually at any time, but it can be annoying if you're not a PC gamer and you aren't used to manual saving.
Of course, you're also getting full versions of the Ultimate Doom and Doom II, as well as the Xbox Live Arcade WAD, No Rest For The Living. I'm not going to give an in-depth description of these classics, because a) they are so legendary I don't think it's necessary, and b) I've reviewed countless ports of them already. But the upshot of it is this: if you've never played classic Doom before, you can't go wrong with these versions.
These ports are very accurate to the original DOS format, and really there's nothing wrong with this. But personally I think each of the games could have been rendered better and play at higher resolutions than they are presented on the PS3. They play at 1080p for sure, but they aren't quite as silky smooth as I expected them to be, and personally I don't think there's any excuse for this. Not that these games are unplayable, that's the last thing they are, I was just disappointed by the fact that they felt as if they were thrown in at the last minute and not polished enough. Also, no Final Doom! But much of Final Doom was never developed by id Software in the first place... I did enjoy playing No Rest For The Living very much however, as this was something I was looking forward to playing (I don't own a 360). For anyone who happened to miss out on playing any of the golden oldies, these ports will do just fine.
The good news is that as well as the obvious single-player modes, you also get multiplayer co-op and deathmatch modes as well as split-screen support, so you can enjoy some good, proper fragging 1994-style. Like any other Doom fanatic however, it's no surprise that playing classic Doom with a keyboard and mouse on the PC is still the best way to go. Especially when played through a source port such as ZDoom.
In the end it's difficult for me not to give this game the nine out of ten I've scored it – it is a collection of my favourite game series after all. And to be honest, the BFG Edition port of Doom 3 ended up the way I expected it to...more-or-less. The actual ports of Doom 3 and Resurrection of Evil are very nice to play, The Lost Mission is an enjoyable, albeit brief set of new levels and the ports of classic Doom...well, it's old-school Doom. And when you consider the fact you're getting hours and hours of quality gaming for half the price of a brand new title, well, it's a steal. If it wasn't for the minor technical issues, I'd have happily given the BFG Edition a ten out of ten. The game is missing a (very thin) coat of paint, but this is still Doom – id Software's magnum opus is back once again for a whole new generation of fans to enjoy.
Wrap-up:
+ Includes Doom 3 and Resurrection of Evil as well as Ultimate Doom, Doom II and No Rest For The Living
+ The brand-new exclusive Lost Chapter makes it worth picking up for the Doom fanatics
+ Literally hours of demon and zombie blasting goodness
+ Cheap price-tag
+ Nice HD update, the game is still easy on the eyes
+ Consistent 60 fps frame-rate
+ A few minor tweaks here and there from the developers improve upon the original
- Unusually long load and save times
- Inconsistent checkpoint system
- Doom 3's never been a great multiplayer title
- No Final Doom
- I'm sorry, but without WAD sharing and a proper community here, classic Doom will always rule on PC