Doom 3 - Resurrection of Evil (Xbox)

Expansions are tricky. In video games they are hit and miss, usually the latter. Really an expansion is a cheap way for a production house to get a bit more mileage out of a franchise without spending much money. The result is usually a shorter game, hopefully addressing any of the problems of the original, while bringing some new fun.

Doom 3 was a solid shooter by anyone’s standards. Advanced engine rivaled only by Half Life 2’s graphical power and some serious improvements over the previous Doom title that made for a great adventure. There is no sign of slowdown and everything is up to scratch.

The Multiplayer is seriously beefed up over Doom 3 stand-alone, there is the capacity for up to 8 players and while I haven’t had a chance to give this a whirl, all reports are it makes for some serious and hectic fun. Apparently the rocket launcher still reigns supreme and trumps everything else so most multiplayer battles are really a race to get hold of it.

Doom 3 RoE has plenty of atmosphere, however this is quickly marred by the mass spawning of bad guys whenever you pick up a power-up turning fright into frustration. Why bother picking up new armor if you are going to end up worse off by that demon suddenly clubbing you from behind? Why get health packs when a fleet of skulls will rain fire on you with no warning?

The game doesn’t reward exploration with treats and power-ups, but with “monster closets” and mass respawnings that will leave even the best players white knuckled on their xbox controller – for all the wrong reasons. This element of Doom 3 RoE really should have been removed at the design level.

The new powers are inventive, such as the gravity gun and time control powers. However you are forced to use them at particular times, such as when you reach a gigantic fast moving thresher thing. It would be nice to be able to use the time control at a time of your choosing rather than be forced into a linear deployment. Ditto the gravity gun. It is good to use, but has a weird green muzzle flash that blocks your vision. This sucks as you can’t really see what you are firing at and are liable to be shot in the meantime.

I can’t fault the level design other than with the annoying “monster closets”, and the action is frantic and otherwise fun.

I have to say that the dents and scratches in Doom 3 RoE combine to offer a thrill that only the hardcore fans of Doom 3 will really enjoy, and even then not very much.

This may only be an expansion, and priced accordingly, but I really expected a whole lot more than Doom 3 RoE delivered.

Rating 2/5

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