Thoughts on Doom 3?

[Quadsword]

I know Doom 3 has always been sort of a weird game with the Doom community. Some love it, some hate it. Some of my thoughts on it since I've been playing the BFG Edition lately:

The atmosphere. They actually did a really good job of nailing a lonely, oppressive atmosphere in Doom 3. The moody lighting and the cold, metallic textures make you feel like you're a lone marine millions of miles from Earth, fighting an alien invasion by yourself.

The guns. For some reason, when I played Doom 3 years ago on Xbox, I remember the guns feeling wimpy. Maybe that was something they improved with the BFG Edition, but the guns feel nice and punchy. The shotgun in particular has a nice, loud *BANG* (although it annoys that Doom 3 started doing the whole "you can't hit anything with the pump shotgun unless you're literally in arms reach" thing).

I think the biggest let down in the game for me is the difficulty. Even on veteran, I don't feel like I have to try very hard to stay alive. I'm hoovering up combat armors and medkits when my armor level is like 121/125 and my health is 91/100. Actually, that's something odd I've noticed. Was armor always this durable in Doom 3? Sure seems like you never run out of the stuff, no matter how much of a beating you take in combat.

Speaking of combat, the enemies don't feel particularly threatening, either. They have an annoying tendency to throw out a single attack and then just stand there gawking at you while you pump them full of lead. It actually makes me wonder how much more tense the combat in Doom 3 would be if it had Doom 2016's more aggressive enemies. Imagine how tense that first encounter with the pinkie would be if it bull charged directly at you as soon as it saw you, or how you'd need to be quick on your feet and able to think on the spot while dodging imp fireballs and melee attacks in a tight corridor. The thing is, in Doom 3 I don't feel unstoppable because I'm too fast or skilled for the enemies to hit me; I feel like I'm unstoppable because I'm just too overpowered for anything to pose much of a threat.

So it's a mixed bag for me, but I'm looking forward to finishing the rest of the main campaign and seeing what Resurrection of Evil and Lost Mission have in store.

[🎃MaximusBlastalot🎃]

The problem with doom 3 is doom 3 thinks its Alien when in reality doom is and wil always be Aliens.

While not a good analogy for quake 4 theres a simlar tonal disconect from 1+2 and 4.Part of it is they were "very of their time" in a not particularly postive way.That being said they are good games just "poor" games of their franchises.

[ros117]

The Alien analogy is absolutely spot on. DooM 3 REALLY wants to be a moody, dark and atmospheric experience and in my mind it achives it with gusto. Granted to do this it had to alter the way DooM feels to play to a great degree but nevertheless I always found it to be an enjoyable experience. You were supposed to feel somewhat vulnerable (the OG DooM 3 having the flashlight be a separate equipable so you couldn't have a weapon out while using it), while the rest of the franchise has you on one hell (pun intended) of a powertrip.

[Skankhunt42]

meh

[Findus]

Its a good game. Neither doom 3 or doom 2016 is like doom 1/2.

Also play doom 3 on nightmare and its no longer a slow paced game. The constant health loss is really harsh at points.

[Salamand3r-]

Originally posted by Findus:

Its a good game. Neither doom 3 or doom 2016 is like doom 1/2.

Also play doom 3 on nightmare and its no longer a slow paced game. The constant health loss is really harsh at points.

Health loss and bullet sponge enemies don't change the pace. They make it harder, to be sure, but it's still a slog.

My main issue with Doom 3 is dated monster closet design, aside from the slow pace. I mean, I hate the horror aspect - I play shooters for power fantasy, not powerless fantasy, but games with well designed gameplay can overcome my distaste for the survival style of game.

Doom 3 plays like someone took the most limited aspects of classic shooter design, stripped out the arcadey action, ignored all progress in the core genre, and slapped a Doom paint job on it. But that is just my opinion (albeit shared by a lot of critics and gamers alike).

Again, I enjoy the game for what it was, but if I had a choice between the other major shooters of the era (the big ones being Halo and HL2, Unreal 2k3/4 for MP), Doom 3 would be my absolute last choice to replay.

As to the OP, Resurrection of Evil is much improved over the base game IMO.

Edit: Firmament, we are going to disagree on this, as always. Can we not debate in this thread? We both know each other's feelings, and I respect that you enjoy Doom 3. Could you just respect that I don't and let this thread be a bit more productive?

[Cowtipper]

Not a bad game but if they think making vr version of everything is going to save it they are in a dream world.Because i see it as a complete and utter waste of time , especially when the main game barely has players as it is :{

[TakenStew22]

It's a good game, but not as good as people make it out to be imo.

[Lars]

I hate the enemy placement, it's like many of them are out there just to jumpscare me.

[XIII]

Doom 3 isn't a bad game, but it really didn't age well (people also had lots of criticisms back in the day). Feels quite outdated today, with those terrible sounds, often boxy level design and little gunplay feedback.

Really a middle of the road game, game wants to be a bit horror, but it's not good at horror, it wants to be action, but is merely fine in action. No must play, but worth a few bucks.

Doom 1/2 is more of a methodical, satisfying action game, and Doom 2016 an unapologetically messy, fast paced action game always pushing you forward. Both quite different and really good at what they do. D1+2 vanilla holds up better than D3 (assuming you fixed mouse controls), and with Brutal Doom it's a blast to play.

[lPaladinl]

People expected every game that id delivers to be a boundry pushing experience to elevate the genre of shooters.

Doom 3 just wasn't really pushing the boundry of shooters or shooter mechanics, it was very average and even generic in general. They did however have some nice effects with monsters breaking through walls or destroying environments, which was almost unheard of at the time from other games in any genre.

[XIII]

Originally posted by lPaladinl:

People expected every game that id delivers to be a boundry pushing experience to elevate the genre of shooters.

Doom 3 just wasn't really pushing the boundry of shooters or shooter mechanics, it was very average and even generic in general. They did however have some nice effects with monsters breaking through walls or destroying environments, which was almost unheard of at the time from other games in any genre.

Destructable environments were nothing new, Red Faction 1+2 even had actual procedural destruction in some places. And Half Life 1 brought lots of scripted destruction in 1998.

[Nar!]

I will always have love for Doom 3. It was my first Doom experience.

I remember being amazed with the graphics and sound (had my 5.1 logitech speakers set up for the first time, back then). But I also recall getting tired of playing it, after about 2 hours and had to take many breaks in between, until I finally lost interest to play it at all. (I may have been really busy with work too).

Each mission offered very similar tasks and that became a total grind for me. I grew numb of the jump scares, which at first, was pretty exhilarating. Took a while before I finally reached the first hell map, which re-sparked my interest, only to be drawn back to Mars base again and that's when I shelved it for years.

I finally finished the game, from start to finish, just recently, when I got the less than stellar version, in BFG (for 4 bucks, no complaints).
Today, I have more appreciation for the work that went into the game and can see myself playing it again, just for kicks, every once in a while. The visuals and sound, for it's day, was very impressive. I think some of it still holds up today.
Using hi res texture mods on the vanilla copy, is the best way to go, for modern machines.

What I would have loved, was more variety in game play and more than 4 or 5 human models to interact with. Seriously, I felt like I was on a base full of clones. There should have been at least more females in there as well, (aside from the one that gets her head torn off with spine attached). More boss fights too. There's what, like a total of 5 or 6 boss battles in the entire game?

1. 2 Hell Knight through portal battle (does this one count?)
2. Sabaoth aka S.Kelly (probably the hardest boss fight I faced)
3. Mancubus battle in sewer map
4. Hell Guardian
5. That female spider thing, right before the exit
6. Cyber Demon fight

A few more would have broken the monotony a little better. Aside from all that, the game is very nicely designed. There were a few great experiences I will always be drawn back to.
I also enjoyed playing the game with the LMS mod and do the co-op campaign thing. :-]

[Mister Torgue Flexington]

I personally love "Doom 3" and its "Resurrection of Evil" expansion game, and have been playing it off-and-on since 2004-05. And while i'm aware it played more as a survival horror than a fast-paced shooter like the classic version played, I still enjoyed the hell out of it.

[Skankhunt42]

Doom 3, especially when compared to other fps of the time, is a lame tech demo.

[Mister Torgue Flexington]

Originally posted by Skankhunt42:

Doom 3, especially when compared to other fps of the time, is a lame tech demo.

well truth be told, I wasn't even aware of games like "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" or "Half-Life 2" up until around late-2010 to early-2011, when I my internet at the time allowed me to watch some LP's of them