Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil Review

Ever been told to 'go to hell'? Id Software, the legendary software developer from Texas, just keeps sending us back there. What is it about darkness, hot burning lava, and demons that is so intriguing? Just when the nightmares from DOOM and DOOM II had started to fade away, last summer brought them all back again in the action-packed graphical showcase that was DOOM 3. We obviously had fun with the demonic game, and although DOOM 3 got its fair share of criticism, the expansion pack Resurrection of Evil was still highly anticipated. This time, Nerve would be behind the developer keyboards, leaving id Software free to work on all sorts of business. Would the new team improve on DOOM 3's shortcomings, or would the expansion pack just be more of the same? For your reading pleasure, I literally went to Hell to find out.

DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil (DOOM 3:RoE) is an expansion pack like any other expansion pack. It features new weapons, new enemies, a new single player campaign, new multiplayer levels (and CTF!)... No big surprises there. The storyline continues where DOOM 3 left off, with a gap of two years: the UAC facility was abandoned, but now scientists are going back to continue their research on the destroyed Martian civilization that was found under the planet's surface. Although you're not the same character in DOOM 3:RoE, you're still a marine in the wrong place at the wrong time. In fact, the first thing your character does in the game is unleash Hell's demons on the base yet again, by picking up what is only known as the Artifact. Your mission? Survive.

Before we get on our way properly, let me just get something out of the way. DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil is still a very dark game, and still has plenty of spawning. Shadows still prevail on the UAC research facilities, and demons will still spawn left, right, and center while you try frantically to find a way to lay them down as quickly and safely as possible. These are two major issues a lot of people had with DOOM 3, and if they were looking forward to DOOM 3:RoE in hopes of something entirely different, I will have to disappoint them. You can just stop reading this review right here, and move on down the hall where all the Half-Life 2 people are waiting for an expansion pack of their own. However… improvements have been made. If you’re still curious, you’ll just have to stick around and read the rest.

The Artifact makes you stronger and faster.

What’s new?
When it comes to multiplayer, the part most people don’t really seem to care about, DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil offers not only the standard modes of deathmatch, team deathmatch, tourney and last man standing, it also adds four Capture the Flag maps to the games, which are limited to up to eight players. Although most people will be in it for the single player campaign, the new maps and CTF mode should offer plenty of late nights online for those that do enjoy the multiplayer side of things. There’s not much here that you won’t find in Unreal Tournament 2004, content wise, but then again, id’s multiplayer games have never been about content – fun is what matters most, and it can certainly be found here, too.

Dr. Betruger: now with 750% more evil!

On to the single player campaign, then. The most important addition to the expansion pack is the Artifact. This powerful, evil weapon was created by the demons, probably to counter DOOM 3’s mighty Soul Cube. Whoever holds the Artifact has the ability to slow down time itself, and to wreak havoc on just about anything that moves. No wonder Dr. Betruger, the evil doctor from DOOM 3, wants it back. To do so, he sends three Hunters, massive enemies who will form level bosses throughout the game. With every Hunter you defeat, your Artifact will become stronger. You charge the weapon on human souls, which are covered in a red glow so you can easily recognize what is and what is not to become human ammunition. You can only “load” up to three charges at a time though, so you’ll have to think carefully about using the Artifact. While slowing down time looks very cool, and your weapons become more powerful, it won’t be pretty when you’re faced with a Hellknight and have no Artifact charges left. On the other hand, running up to a Hellknight in slow motion and seeing him tumble over backwards at the blast of your shotgun is very gratifying.

Another addition in the single player campaign is the Grabber. Similar to Half-Life 2’s Gravity Gun, the Grabber is a weapon that allows the player to pick up small enemies and items, and either put them down gently elsewhere or hurl them around the room…and into the face of an oncoming enemy. The Grabber can also take hold of energy, in the form of the deadly balls thrown at you by the demons. The opportunity to kill your foes with their own projectiles makes room for new sinister strategies in combat. Unlike its Half-Life counterpart, which can hold items indefinitely, the Grabber can only grip an object for a few seconds. This means you’ll have to decide quickly what you are going to do with it, and you can’t just wander around with a large protective shield in front of you. By the way, online discussions may rant and rave about how the Grabber blatantly steals, rips and copies Half-Life 2’s Gravity Gun, but in fact, it has been implemented in DOOM 3:RoE very well and it’s a lot of fun. Simple as that.

Last, but not least, the double-barrelled shotgun makes a return among your tools of destruction. While the prospects of merely one shot per mouse click and a long reload time may not sound very appealing, the sheer power of the weapon and its accompanying sounds will bring an evil grin to the face of any long-time DOOM fan. After all, to graciously pump lead into the heads of Hell’s demons, and to hear the satisfying click-clack of the reloading process…that’s what we’re all playing the game for, right?! Right. The double-barrelled shotgun is a fine addition to your arsenal, and at the same time, it’s been an inspiration to one of the game’s arcade mini-games, which are more frequent and more entertaining than the last time you visited the UAC facilities.

The Grabber is introduced early on in the game.

What’s better?
What I noticed during the early levels of the game, which take place in the Egyptian-like dig sites, was a rather pleasant increase in scripted events. While last year’s Imps would usually just spawn somewhere in your vicinity, in DOOM 3:RoE you’ll often see them crawling from ceilings or balustrades, through air vents or from under floor tiles. This way, they keep the element of surprise, as not every creature is introduced by the sound and lightning flashes of spawning. Also, bodies will suddenly jump up as you near them, or the lighting will go all red to frighten the player – all scripted events that add to the atmosphere. The presence of these scripted events is a very welcome change from DOOM 3’s “run down hallway, wait for spawning, aim and fire” game play many gamers complained about. Besides more scripting, Nerve also seems to have added more in the sound department, as there is much more ambient noise this time around. This greatly adds to the frightening sense of being alone and quite helpless in the game, which will have you reaching for the Quicksave button every couple of minutes.

Human souls glow red, they feed the Artifact.

On a personal note, I did enjoy DOOM 3 enough to finish it, but I, too, had had my fill of it when it was all over. The new additions and improvements in the expansion pack have, somewhat to my surprise, actually rekindled the feeling of having fun with DOOM 3 again. The Artifact, Grabber and double-barrelled shotgun make room for new strategies in the game. The Hunters, which are mini bosses on their own, are also very welcome in this shooter as they offer a nice change of pace and a challenge. A plus is that none of these bosses are very hard to beat, yet they do not go down easily. The same goes for the end boss, which, unlike DOOM 3’s anticlimactic Cyber Demon, will take quite some effort to beat.

What isn’t?
With all these positive comments, now seems to be as good a time as any to explain why Resurrection of Evil isn’t the best expansion since sliced bread. The game is rather short. This reviewer finished it in a matter of days – to compare, Brothers in Arms and DOOM 3 lasted me just over a week, and it took two weeks to complete Half-Life 2. Of course no-one is expecting Resurrection of Evil to be longer than DOOM 3 itself, but it appears the expansion pack is priced slightly higher than the average expansion pack: points deducted for a raise in price that doesn’t really seem to have any justification. However, what’s more important than a few extra bucks is the fact that the game goes downhill in quality somewhere around halfway through.

Led across the base by your replacement guide, Dr. Elizabeth McNeil (instead of Sarge, who you released from his suffering in DOOM 3), you will eventually end up in places that took a heavy beating during the last invasion of the base. From here on in, the difficulty level goes up, the number of tough baddies goes up, the number of med kits goes down, and the scare factor increases. This causes the game to somewhat rush the player through tons of action, as if to hide the fact that you’re running around in levels that were used in DOOM 3, too. Although it becomes more exciting, it also reminds gamers of why a lot of them didn’t like DOOM 3: there is much more spawning, much more uncontrolled combat, and although you won’t be bored for a second, the frantic action can be very tiresome. The departure to Hell follows shortly after, but the cool scripted events, ambient noise and slow yet spooky pace are all gone, the exact factors that made Resurrection of Evil start out as good as it does.

Hunters. Big. Painful. Out to get you.

Nonetheless, the single player campaign is very enjoyable, and no DOOM 3 fan should leave it on the store shelves just because a few levels aren’t as good as the standard set early on in the game.

In conclusion, DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil has turned out to be an enjoyable expansion pack. The multiplayer has been extended nicely, and the single player campaign is better than its predecessor. Although the settings are still very much the same, most of it is done in a way that makes it all worth it anyway: props to Nerve for that. There are still a few shortcomings, but I can, without a doubt, recommend this shooter to anyone who enjoyed DOOM 3. Go to Hell.

D3:RoE has several entertaining minigames.

The marines-gone-zombie are annoying as ever.

This guy's new, and you'll see quite a bit of him.