DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil (PC) Review

This is not a game-changer. Don’t expect any major differences with the core title, since this could very well be called DOOM 3: Slightly Expanded Edition. All the previous enemies and weapons are back, and they are as simple and - mostly - non-threatening as they used to, the visuals are still great, despite being somewhat uninspiring and annoyingly dark. Also, once again, levels are linear, very simple in structure. The biggest “downgrade” is that in terms of atmosphere, it all is far less spooky than before. The story? Similar to every single title of the series: demons have appeared, blah, blah, blah, a lone space marine must destroy them, yada, yada, yada, the end! Okay, that’s a bit unfair. There actually is a new story here…

The tale on offer is a sort of continuation of the first part, although it revolves around the adventures of a different marine, who led by a chief scientist or whatever, discovers a powerful artefact which was hidden from the demons by an ancient and mysterious Martian civilization. The artefact, which is also known as the ‘Heart of Hell,’ seems to be of great importance for the now demonified, arch-villain of DOOM 3. Of course, this being a DOOM instalment, this merely provides the reason to do some monster killing, with the addition of a new toy.

So, the storyline once again boils down to: kill stuff, stay alive. Is that bad? No, as long as the actual gameplay is entertaining. Is it so? Yes… but it has some issues. For starters, as if the original wasn’t linear enough, the expansion pack almost feels like a straight line. Yes, there’s the occasional journey towards the left path in order to find a key that will open a door that is on the right one, but this is still a straightforward journey from A to B, with a couple of easy-to-handle demons and hazards along the way. As mentioned earlier, the atmosphere has taken a hit, lacking the spooky factor of DOOM 3, but it also lacks the latter’s attention to detail when it comes to level design - although it is still a looker.

As is customary, some new enemies have made an appearance. There’s a demon called the Vulgar, which is like a faster, yet weaker version of the Imp, a “new” Lost Soul that behaves the same, but looks closer to the ones in the ‘90s, a new cannon-fodder zombie that, again, is just an old monster on a new costume, a Baron of Hell and Mancubus mix that’s more laughable than dangerous, and finally three brand new bosses… but none of them really feels like a true addition. As for the new weapons, the Super Shotgun makes a return and is so freaking overpowered from up close (which is like 90% of the available battle scenarios) that most will forget the rest of the arsenal. Yes, that includes the brand new, Half-Life 2-like Gravity Gun which can grab and throw enemy projectiles. Is it helpful? Very helpful. Is it infinitely better to blast demons with the Super Shotty? Hell yeah!

The only true addition, is the artefact mentioned earlier, which similar to DOOM 3’s Soul Cube, plays more like a “magical” item - an ability, rather than a weapon. It still uses souls as ammunition, but this time, rather than killing demons to do a nice little refill, the marine absorbs the essence of dead humans. In other words, it depends more in what you find lying around, like every other type of ammunition. The cool thing about this new item is that it gets new updates after each boss gets killed. While the marine starts with a slow-down time move, as the adventure goes on fast movement gets added, and the final upgrade provides brief invulnerability.

Now, theoretically the expansion is a bit harder than the main game, as there are more enemies to fight, many times in darker, and even more cramped locations, yet the Heart of Hell turns out to be such great help that players who are careful and don’t waste its “ammo” will be able to blast away all opposition with not much trouble. If one does waste it all the whole thing is doable, but later difficulties, as well as the last boss are almost built around the use of the artefact. All in all, a… nice expansion. It’s a shame that the overall experience is not something special. Word of Caution: go straight for DOOM 3: BFG Edition, which has the - upgraded - original, this expansion along with a new one, as well as the original duology from the ‘90s.