DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil

“We’re doomed, I tell ya! DOOMED!!”

Hmm, maybe not the right way to open it. How about – “they’re baaack!”

Ok, enough with the clichés … for the moment. DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil is everything that the name implies. Activision and id Software know what players expect from the DOOM franchise and deliver it solidly with this latest excursion into the eerie Martian base.  

One more cliché, or at least a partial one – DOOM 3 is not about things that go bump in the night, it is about things that bump, mangle, rip, shred, pop up everywhere and can scare players expected a walk through the dark underground passages.

If there are any guarantees in the game, it is that the bit of darkness up ahead holds some surprises and while you are preparing to face whatever demon lurks there, one will pop up behind you. In that sense, this title is very reflexive, but players will have to have more than fast fingers to finagle their way through this unfriendly terrain.

Story? Of course there is a story. It’s been two years since the ‘incident’ that shut down the UAC base on Mars – you remember the incident, right? … something about trying to discover portal technology and instead opening the gates to hell and letting some of its inhabitants out. During that incident, it seems that something was lost – something that the demons very much want back. As a Marine combat engineer, part of a massive team sent to investigate, you find the Artifact. Nothing like painting a big bulls-eye target on yourself, but then there has to be a reason while everything in the world – better make that hell – wants a piece of you.  

The game wastes no time in pulling you in. You see your Marine self stand up, with the Artifact hovering between your hands, dangling like a magicians handkerchief. A demonic voice chuckles something about a ‘new reign beginning,’ then as you begin to move through the ruins, you are assaulted with a vision of liquid rising up through the floor, floating heretofore hidden bodies. 

The radio crackles “Code Four,” there are bodies everywhere, and Dr. Elizabeth McNeil asks what just happened. She could be more accurate. Hell just happened.

What would DOOM be without new weapons, and the Artifact, which has several abilities you unlock and you power it up by feeding it souls (of sorts), is certainly one that will give you an edge later on. But as you start the adventure, the newest UAC gadget, known as The Grabber, will be your best friend. It can grab fireballs from the sky and hurl them back at the monsters who initially threw them. And all those annoying little floating fiery skulls are easily disposed of with this handy device. 

Graphically this game is stunning. The texturing and lighting really set the tone and feel, and the soundtrack underscores both with a feeling of terror and anticipation, but in just the right way. Nothing is really over the top here, but it all fits superbly to create that spooky environment. The environments are amazing, and while there are a series of familiar monsters in the game, as you progress, you will begin to encounter a few of the new types – and they can be more than a handful. Early on, the game is mostly reflexive. When you start to encounter the new mobs, you have to think a little as well.

The control scheme is standard fare for the FPS genre, though comparing the Xbox controls felt a little sluggish when compared to the PC mouse targeting. You can, though, go into the settings and increase the sensitivity, and for those who lack the dexterity console shooters demand, there is an assist for targeting you can activate.

The game has four difficulty settings to challenge most players, and the multiplayer modes include deathmatch, team deathmatch, last man standing and tournament. Yes, this is Xbox Live supported. The Xbox version also comes with Ultimate DOOM, DOOM II and DOOM II Master Levels.

There are some games that you can play at night with the lights down or off – DOOM 3: RoE is not one of those. This game is eerie, hellish, intense and challenging – in short, everything we love from the first-person shooter series known as DOOM.

DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil releases the first week in October.