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home > PC > Reviews > Doom 3 Resurrection of Evil
Graphics: 10
Sound : 8.5
Gameplay : 8.0
Multiplayer : 7.5
Overall : 8.1

Review by Andy Levine
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil takes place two years after the events in Doom 3. This expansion pack further continues the marine’s adventure as he travels from the Martian Base and onward to Hell. This expansion pack will an extended adventure for those who are yearning for more Doom.

Since your last encounter with Betruger, you learn that the marine survives his journey through Hell and safely returned to Mars. The story takes place at an archaeological excavation site, where some of your fellow comrades uncovered a new artifact. As you’ll soon find out, this relic will become your greatest weapon on your quest to save yourself. Charged with the power of human souls, the artifact will give the marine powers that no other human can possess. The Soul Cube in Doom 3 is a piece of junk compared to this; overtime you can learn special abilities by defeating bosses that give you access to more powers. Towards the end of the game, you’ll be able to kill any enemy with one punch, become invulnerable to any damage, and even have time around almost completely stop, giving you an edge over the demons. Using your newly acquired powers, you must stop the hellions from entering your world or your death will be inevitable.

Resurrection of Evil improved a lot upon the previous release of Doom 3. Besides the artifact, the other new weapons include the double barrel shotgun and the gravity cannon. The double barrel shotgun may only be able to carry two rounds at a time, but it packs with one hell of a punch. Don’t expect it to be too deadly from long ranges, but if you’re within a reasonable distance almost anything will succumb to its tremendous force. Having a highly interactive environment is essential to a first person shooter nowadays, so id Software introduced their gravity cannon to show off how your surroundings can be affected. Similar to the gravity gun in Half Life 2, this gravity cannon can lift up objects such as crates, explosive barrels, and even corpses. While it isn’t used too much to help your exploration, it can be a very powerful weapon if used correctly. By taking hold of incoming projectiles from enemies, you can launch them back at high velocities and make them pay for messing with you. Some of the smaller enemies can even be sucked in by the gun’s force, which will kill them instantly. Upgrading the arsenal is a must for any expansion set, and Resurrection of Evil manages to do so effectively.
Now you’re probably wondering how the gameplay itself has changed, and in short, it hasn’t changed much. You’ll still be put into over darkened scenarios where each level looks very similar to its predecessor. You can expect to find many more predictable triggered events as well. While the first few times the screen is overcast with red and the laughter of Betruger fills your head you might be frightened, after about ten times it begins to lose its effect. After turning every corner you can expect some monster to scream at you and throw a blue plasma ball at you, which doesn’t make for much of a big surprise after a while. The game flows the same as it always did; you’ll be expected to blast away a few baddies in a room, search for some type of key or PDA, and then move on. Despite Resurrection of Evil keeping some of Doom 3’s major flaws, there are some problems that have been fixed. For starters, you won’t have to scan through every PDA trying to figure out what’s going on because the story has already been laid out. Every know and then you’ll need to look for the password to a storage locker, but now you won’t find yourself reading and watching videos for hours trying to figure out what you’re actually doing. A few puzzles have been added that require use of the artifact to solve, and now the boss levels require some type of game plan. The most creative part of this expansion would be the numerous arcades that can be found throughout your journey. While Doom 3 had the infamous “Super Turbo Turkey Puncher 3”, you can expect to find more of these asinine machines in the new installment. Resurrection of Evil could’ve been better if it varied the gameplay more, but overall it’s still a worthwhile experience.

Like its forebear, Resurrection of Evil has graphics superior to any other game around. All of the models have been created meticulously down to the last bone in order to creatures with lifelike movements. The bump mapped textures are still as amazing as ever, making the environment almost photorealistic. The burning fires rage on with a very smooth and realistic manner that will make you nervous to step near it at all. The graphics engine used in this game remains unsurpassed by the top games of today.

Most of the sounds in this chronicle have been brought over from Doom 3, with an exception to some newly acquired voice talents. You can always hear something going on in the background which adds a sense of realism. The whispering of souls helps contribute to the fear factor, along with the terrifying roars of the beasts you will come across. The guns sound the same as they did before, but the double barrel shotgun has a very nice boom effect to it. Generally speaking, you can expect this installment to sound much like Doom 3, and although nothing is necessarily new, the sound will still make the game horrifying to play, in a good way of course.

The multiplayer aspect of this expansion includes support for eight people and a new Capture The Flag mode, but even with this it still leads to an average online experience. The major focus of Doom is the single player campaign, so the multiplayer was added for some mindless fun every once in a while. The levels make you feel claustrophobic and could really use some redesigning. If you’re bored and can’t find anything better to do you can find fun from the online play, but don’t expect to see any Resurrection of Evil LANs coming up any time soon.

In conclusion, Resurrection of Evil will appeal to those who have a craving for Doom. This expansion includes some new weapons, a handful of new objectives to complete, and a whole load of badass demons just asking to be blown apart. While there is still much room for improvement in the gameplay, the latest episode in the Doom franchise won’t let any fans of the game down.