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Review of the only official mission pack for Doom 3, Resurrection of Evil. Because I feel like writing it. I might do more reviews of games I play.
The pack contains a dozen levels, and most notably the double barrel shotgun. It also replaces some of the game's weapons and monsters, and adds some varieties such as a more aggressive imp and a sort-of-hellknight with rocket launchers. Overall it is about a quarter to a third of the length of the original Doom 3 - I just played through it on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
The main changes are as follows:
1. The Soul Cube is replaced by "the artifact" which allows you to do a Matrix-style bullet time stunt. Everything around you slows down, while you can blast monsters with impunity. You get this artifact right at the start, and over the course of the game, a berserk effect (increased damage) and finally invulnerability are added on top of that. Very powerful, and there are plenty of charges - it uses the ubiquitous corpses to recharge.
2. The chainsaw is replaced by a gravity gun (the grabber). It allows you to catch projectiles in midair and toss them back, usually killing the attacker. You can also grab explosive barrels and even small monsters, for example those annoying winged babies and the countless flying skulls that have been introduced just for this purpose.
And that is it.
The annoying part about these new toys is that the game designers absolutely, totally want you to use them. The first two levels are largely some sort of tutorial, where you have to use these new abilities to proceed. They are not optional - it rubs the lotion on its skin, or else...
As a result, the first levels are more reminescent of a puzzle game or something. You must use "hell time" to pass a few timed sets of crushers and a room full of flying blades. You have to slow down time so you can remove a power cell and duck under the closing doors. The grabber has to be used for removing obstacles and even for defeating the first boss (already in the second level). "Hell time" is realistically required to beat most of the pack's four bosses, and the grabber is often the only reasonable way to defeat a horde of flaming skulls. If you try a different tactic, you are usually punished - the designers really tried to drive the point home here.
I found it rather annoying how much the game depends on the new toys. They are cool while they're optional - but you quickly notice when you're supposed to use them, and it is usually the least painful option to do so.
The boss fights - three minibosses and "Dr. Betruger" - are all in one way or another dependant on these gimmicks. What happened to good old "shoot him till he drops"? Again the impression is more that of a puzzle-shooter, which I usually like, but in this case it's more on the annoying side because you have to use the toys in a certain way to succeed.
Now for some positive things:
The level design is good. It is Doom 3, but there are quite some nice new locations, it is all convincingly done and some things are even somewhat creative. There is some blatant re-use of parts of the original game though; in one case, almost an entire level has been ripped from Doom 3 and transplanted into ROE. That was a bit cheap, although in principle it's nice to revisit some areas. Unfortunately, a lot of the levels are pretty short. Progression is straightforward, there is little chance of getting lost. Personally, I don't think the levels can touch the creativity and the solid craftsmanship of the original Doom 3, but they are good and some of them did manage to draw me in and get my attention. There is less button pushing, pump disabling, item collecting and so forth than in the original game, which might appeal to people who are looking for more of a straightforward shooter.
Gameplay is almost exclusively combat-focused; most of the PDA audio logs and cutscenes and NPC escort stuff from Doom 3 has been stripped away. There are only two sequences where you fight alongside a sentry bot, and only two or three cutscenes involving talk between NPCs. Most of the game is just you, the monsters, and the grabb... I mean the double barrel shotgun.
Which is probably why some people like ROE better than the original Doom 3.
It is brutal, too. There are more monsters overall and the "improved imps" are used a lot, which creates a very visceral, for-the-throat feeling. In the latter half, revenants are used liberally and in pairs or even larger groups. A few fights could even be called horde combat. The time-stop ability of the artifact shines here, especially in combination with the double barrel shotgun. It's total ownage.
The last level is again in "Hell", and you'll face a veritable horde of Hellknights, Imps and Mancubi, and scores of the annoying flaming skulls - I don't know what was wrong with the original's Lost Souls, but the designers clearly thought they weren't challenging enough. There is not one of them in ROE.
To be honest, I found the last two levels pretty annoying; without excessive use of the time-stop/berserk/invulnerability artifact, it is impossible to make it through that. People who love really brutal combat will feel at home there.
There aren't very many of the dreaded monster closets, either. Enemies are usually placed around the room (zombies, z-secs) or will spawn in when they think you deserve a spanking (imps, revenants, mancubi, hellknights etc).
And spanking is done liberally in ROE.
Good game, more straightforward than Doom 3 and the difficulty is higher. The double barrel shotgun alone is reason enough to play this - it is an "ownage" type gun and very satisfying. You'll have to live with some annoying gimmickry though, mostly concerning the grabber gun.
6.5 / 10 because it really is rather short and there were some annoying parts. It is only a mission pack, after all.
The pack contains a dozen levels, and most notably the double barrel shotgun. It also replaces some of the game's weapons and monsters, and adds some varieties such as a more aggressive imp and a sort-of-hellknight with rocket launchers. Overall it is about a quarter to a third of the length of the original Doom 3 - I just played through it on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
The main changes are as follows:
1. The Soul Cube is replaced by "the artifact" which allows you to do a Matrix-style bullet time stunt. Everything around you slows down, while you can blast monsters with impunity. You get this artifact right at the start, and over the course of the game, a berserk effect (increased damage) and finally invulnerability are added on top of that. Very powerful, and there are plenty of charges - it uses the ubiquitous corpses to recharge.
2. The chainsaw is replaced by a gravity gun (the grabber). It allows you to catch projectiles in midair and toss them back, usually killing the attacker. You can also grab explosive barrels and even small monsters, for example those annoying winged babies and the countless flying skulls that have been introduced just for this purpose.
And that is it.
The annoying part about these new toys is that the game designers absolutely, totally want you to use them. The first two levels are largely some sort of tutorial, where you have to use these new abilities to proceed. They are not optional - it rubs the lotion on its skin, or else...
As a result, the first levels are more reminescent of a puzzle game or something. You must use "hell time" to pass a few timed sets of crushers and a room full of flying blades. You have to slow down time so you can remove a power cell and duck under the closing doors. The grabber has to be used for removing obstacles and even for defeating the first boss (already in the second level). "Hell time" is realistically required to beat most of the pack's four bosses, and the grabber is often the only reasonable way to defeat a horde of flaming skulls. If you try a different tactic, you are usually punished - the designers really tried to drive the point home here.
I found it rather annoying how much the game depends on the new toys. They are cool while they're optional - but you quickly notice when you're supposed to use them, and it is usually the least painful option to do so.
The boss fights - three minibosses and "Dr. Betruger" - are all in one way or another dependant on these gimmicks. What happened to good old "shoot him till he drops"? Again the impression is more that of a puzzle-shooter, which I usually like, but in this case it's more on the annoying side because you have to use the toys in a certain way to succeed.
Now for some positive things:
The level design is good. It is Doom 3, but there are quite some nice new locations, it is all convincingly done and some things are even somewhat creative. There is some blatant re-use of parts of the original game though; in one case, almost an entire level has been ripped from Doom 3 and transplanted into ROE. That was a bit cheap, although in principle it's nice to revisit some areas. Unfortunately, a lot of the levels are pretty short. Progression is straightforward, there is little chance of getting lost. Personally, I don't think the levels can touch the creativity and the solid craftsmanship of the original Doom 3, but they are good and some of them did manage to draw me in and get my attention. There is less button pushing, pump disabling, item collecting and so forth than in the original game, which might appeal to people who are looking for more of a straightforward shooter.
Gameplay is almost exclusively combat-focused; most of the PDA audio logs and cutscenes and NPC escort stuff from Doom 3 has been stripped away. There are only two sequences where you fight alongside a sentry bot, and only two or three cutscenes involving talk between NPCs. Most of the game is just you, the monsters, and the grabb... I mean the double barrel shotgun.
Which is probably why some people like ROE better than the original Doom 3.
It is brutal, too. There are more monsters overall and the "improved imps" are used a lot, which creates a very visceral, for-the-throat feeling. In the latter half, revenants are used liberally and in pairs or even larger groups. A few fights could even be called horde combat. The time-stop ability of the artifact shines here, especially in combination with the double barrel shotgun. It's total ownage.
The last level is again in "Hell", and you'll face a veritable horde of Hellknights, Imps and Mancubi, and scores of the annoying flaming skulls - I don't know what was wrong with the original's Lost Souls, but the designers clearly thought they weren't challenging enough. There is not one of them in ROE.
To be honest, I found the last two levels pretty annoying; without excessive use of the time-stop/berserk/invulnerability artifact, it is impossible to make it through that. People who love really brutal combat will feel at home there.
There aren't very many of the dreaded monster closets, either. Enemies are usually placed around the room (zombies, z-secs) or will spawn in when they think you deserve a spanking (imps, revenants, mancubi, hellknights etc).
And spanking is done liberally in ROE.
Good game, more straightforward than Doom 3 and the difficulty is higher. The double barrel shotgun alone is reason enough to play this - it is an "ownage" type gun and very satisfying. You'll have to live with some annoying gimmickry though, mostly concerning the grabber gun.
6.5 / 10 because it really is rather short and there were some annoying parts. It is only a mission pack, after all.
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