
	Platform Xbox Genre Shooter Publisher Activision Developer id / Nerve Software ESRB M (Mature) Released October 5, 2005

- Scary mix of light and shadow - Old school Doom included! - New weapons - More of that Doom action

- New "grabber" weapon isn't so new - Story is rote

Review: Doom (XB) Review: Far Cry Instincts (XB) Review: Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil (PC) Review: Half-Life 2 (PC)
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Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil

Score: 7.5 / 10

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Beings from another dimension, possibly Hell, invade a futuristic sci-fi complex and it’s up to you to single-handedly stop them. Alone. No recruiting a human army to drive the salivating hell-beasts back to the brimstone. By yourself; mano et beasto. Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil throws gamers back into a clichéd world of alien artifacts and monsters, picking up soon after the events recounted in last year’s Doom 3, which didn’t score well in the “original storyline” department in the first place. So why are we scrabbling around in the dark again?

Because blowing away nightmarish creatures never gets old especially when they look this good.

Once again, the graphics are the star of the show. The play of light and shadow is a great rendering of the PC source material. There’s a real sense of apprehension

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turning around blind corners thanks to the graphics and art direction. But we’ve seen the graphics before – what hasn’t been seen are the new weapons.

As is to say, “We can do that too!” developer Nerve has included an homage (or, less politely, a rip-off) of Half-Life 2’s ultra spiffy gravity gun with the “grabber.” With it players can grab fireballs out of the air and shoot them back at

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enemies as well as affecting specific items in the environments. Also making an appearance is the demon-exploding double-barrelled shotgun and the alien artifact which is the cause of so much intergalactic grief and imbues powers like slow-mo and extra damage. These complement the standard roster of returning weapons from Doom 3.

The basic gameplay of stalking corridors on your way from point A to point B (and re-stalking them on the way back from B to A) blowing away an assortment of Imps and Hell Knights, remains intact, but this is a Doom game so we should know exactly what we’re getting into. The action remains steady with just enough in the way of almost being overwhelmed to keep your trigger finger twitching. And there seem to be far fewer cutscenes included compared to the original.

If that isn’t enough carnage for you, Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil comes packed with the original Doom titles – Ultimate Doom, Doom II, and Doom II Master Levels – which is a great way to show how far the series has come graphically (the gameplay is pretty consistent). The games are included in their entirety and I really appreciated this from an “old school gamer” perspective (especially because they’re all unlocked right from the start) even if I remember the games running at a much smoother framerate.

Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil isn’t such a hot multiplayer game. There are a few different deathmatch modes but co-op mode has been eliminated. However, co-op still exists in the original Doom titles.

The upshot of it is, if you enjoyed Doom 3 you’ll enjoy Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil. Further to that, fans of first-person shooters will also appreciate much of what Resurrection of Evil has to offer.

- D.D. Nunavut
(November 24, 2005)