A very enjoyable, if short, expansion. Love it or hate it, it's just more Doom 3.
Doom 3 was of course, a groundbreaking game in 2004, at least technology-wise thanks to id Software's outstanding 'id Tech 4' engine. The game featured the most impressive visuals in any PC game to date along with Half-Life 2's Source engine. Doom 3's gameplay on the other hand, was a different story, but one for me, that could be forgiven. Doom 3 was really a throwback of the original Doom, meaning it was just a basic run n' gun kill-fest for the most part. Rainbow Six it ain't. But its Doom isn't it?! What did you expect? That's why we play Doom – because it's the best at what it does…blowing away hordes of zombies and demons.
And that's exactly what Resurrection of Evil is all about. But you've probably already guessed that right? Yep, it's just more Doom 3 to blast your way through. I'm a die-hard Doom fan; I love every Doom game, so it's obvious that my opinion will generally be positive about this addition to the series. First of all, I'd like to say that RoE seems to focus a little more action than it does atmosphere, if that's possible to imagine. OK, OK, Doom 3 was basically a non-stop action thrill ride from start to finish anyway, but you gotta admit that id Software put A LOT of effort into making the game as atmospheric and disturbing as possible. I don't want to say 'scary' because that all depends on who's playing it, and how squeamish they are. But anyway, along with the atmosphere was also a 20 or so minute build-up at the start of the game before everything goes haywire, if you remember correctly. Well RoE throws you straight into the carnage from the very start.
Yep, the game features even less of a story than its predecessor, if you can believe that. All that's really mentioned is that apparently, the game takes place 2 years after Doom 3 and a signal on Mars causes a UAC research team, (led by Dr. Elizabeth McNeil, though that's not important to know) and a bunch of Marines, to investigate. And then you can guess what happens from thereon. Developers Nerve (that's right, id Software did NOT develop RoE) also made the player a different Marine to that of the guy found in the former. This time you're a Marine combat engineer, but that has no relevance to the gameplay whatsoever. Really, you're just the same guy as you were last time; only your face looks different.
As I was saying though, other than a cut scene, RoE puts you right in the action, basically from the very beginning. This is a good thing in my opinion. It's not like I had anything against Doom 3's tension-building introduction, but in this game it would've been unnecessary had Nerve done the same. We've seen it all before, and we just want to get stuck in and shoot stuff, classic Doom style. Gameplay-wise, there isn't much difference between the 2 games, but seeing as RoE is an expansion, this is expected.
Having said that, there are several new weapons and enemies that do make their appearances. In terms of weapons, there's the new double-barreled shotgun, which does exactly what you'd expect it to do. Yes, it's an old-school looking shotgun that fires 2 shells at once. Once you acquire it, it makes you think how you even got through Doom 3 without one. As with Doom II, once you've got your hands on it, the normal shotgun becomes inferior. The double-barreled shotgun will most likely become your weapon of choice for most situations, and it's fun to use and looks great both visually and in the way that it animates, i.e. how it looks when you fire and reload.
The other new gun is the 'grabber'. This weapon is an obvious rip-off of the gravity gun from Half-Life 2 (HL2 came out before RoE), as it does exactly the same: you can lift most objects that aren't bolted down and launch them at enemies. One thing that does make it stand out from Valve's creation is that you can grab your enemies' projectiles and launch them straight back. E.g. you can shoot an imp's fireball right back at it and kill it with its own attack - a nice idea, and one that works for the most part. However, due to the level design (which I'll discuss later), the grabber is often useless and too awkward to use properly. But it's still fun to use, so I guess I can't complain too much.
The last 'weapon' isn't really a weapon, but rather a power-up that you carry at all times simply known as 'the artifact'. Basically it slows time down except for the player, makes you temporarily invincible and also gives you super-strength (think of the berserk power-up from old-school Doom). It's more interesting than the soul-cube from Doom 3 (which it replaces) because it's more tactical. It's also crucial in order to progress through certain points in the game. Other than that though, it doesn't affect the gameplay that much because it has to charge, meaning you won't be using it often anyway.
Sadly, the chainsaw does not make its appearance. The soul-cube not appearing was fine by me, but I really liked using the chainsaw in Doom 3 because it was simply a fun weapon to use, and one that was just cool for plowing down corridors of zombies. The grabber is your melee weapon this time around, other than your fists and flashlight. The lack of a chainsaw is just a minor complaint however, as the double-barreled shotgun makes up for it.
The new enemies include the 'vulgar', which, apart from looking and moving different, is basically a stronger imp in that they throw plasma balls and leap at you from the floor, and have a little more health. They quickly become the most common enemy in the game, just as the imp was in Doom 3. The others include the 'bruiser' which is nothing really worth mentioning and also the 'forgotten one', which is just a lost soul that looks more like the ones found in the classic Doom games than the ones found in Doom 3. Generally all the enemies found in the predecessor can be found in RoE. Not a lot going on in the enemy department then, but I wasn't that fussed anyhow.
One thing I can say about RoE though is that there seems to be more focus on boss fights than that of Doom 3. I won't spoil it and reveal what the bosses you'll be up against actually are, but I will say that there several of them throughout the duration of the game. Whether or not this is a good thing is up to you. I will straight-up admit that I'm not a fan of bosses full stop, especially not in my first person shooters, my favourite kind of game. Unless the boss consists of hundreds of normal enemies at once, they just never work as well as they do in say, a platformer, or an RPG, regardless of the game. It's not like the bosses in RoE or even Doom 3 were 'bad', it's just a personal preference. I'd have enjoyed it more if they'd have just kept 1 final boss. Again though, this is just my opinion. I'm pretty sure a lot of players actually liked the fact RoE had a few bosses in stock for you.
The level design is similar to Doom 3 too, that means more indoor corridors and dark environments. Saying that however, in the short space of the game, there are actually numerous larger, open spaces and caverns to fight through rather than just endless claustrophobic UAC bases. This is always a good thing. There are also more puzzles and general challenges than in Doom 3. One notable gameplay feature are the 'power cells', which is basically just a battery that you'll have to swap around to power up different parts of the UAC facility in order to continue, and they form sort of a mini-puzzle in addition to all the action.
The game generally looks exactly the same as its counterpart too. Not that that's a bad thing. In fact, the Hell levels in RoE are actually better and more challenging than the original Hell level in Doom 3. Speaking of which, RoE in general is more challenging than the former. You'll often find yourself fighting a whole lot more larger, tougher enemies at once, particularly on the Hell level. And of course, the bosses that you'll face provide even more of a challenge. This game can be difficult, but that's a positive in this case.
The whole PDA business returns, though this time it doesn't seem to play as much of an important role like it did in Doom 3. If you remember, Doom 3 featured hundreds of audio logs and emails that gave you an insight into what was going on before the whole demonic attack began, as well as crucial information and codes for security cabinets to give you extra ammo and health etc. In RoE, there are hardly any audio logs at all. Nerve probably did this to save money on hiring more voice actors and it wouldn't surprise me if some players actually found this a good thing, because listening to audio logs in the middle of a firefight often meant you couldn't hear what was being said and often found yourself replaying them over again. I for one actually enjoyed listening to the audio logs as they just gave Doom 3 more substance. That said however, this isn't a crucial aspect of the game anyway, and there are still plenty of emails to read to gain more security codes etc.
Notice how earlier I said 'in the short space of the game'. I said that because, unfortunately, RoE is quite a short expansion. We're talking maybe 7, possibly 8 hours of gameplay here for the single-player campaign. That's just the way things go with expansion packs though, and often these days, rather worryingly, normal games too. What's there is great no doubt, but lets face it, we'd all like to see a few more levels tacked on. Doom 3 was a surprisingly long haul for an FPS…it's not like RoE should be as long as Doom 3, but I definitely wouldn't be complaining had Nerve included just a bit more gameplay.
One of the main questions you'll be asking is probably 'is RoE as dark as Doom 3?' In short: not really. But that doesn't mean you won't be using your flashlight anytime soon. In general I found RoE to be a little less dark and gloomy than Doom 3, but I still can't deny that this is a dark game. What did you expect anyway? I didn't have a problem with Doom 3 being dark in the first place, so obviously this didn't bother me here either, but I know that it will bother some players. The whole system of switching between a weapon and flashlight is still there, and if you don't like it, download a duct tape mod. Problem solved. As for me though, I'll just stick to the way it was meant to be played, because I always found the system made the game a little more intense.
Moving on, I can finally discuss a biggie: the graphics. Yes, everything still looks as good as Doom 3: all the fancy dynamic lighting, specular highlighting, bump and normal mapping still generate the awesome, atmospheric environments, crystal-clear, high-res textures and great animations. Because of this, there isn't really a lot to say about the graphics. They are exactly the same. You have some new odd textures here and there, but really nothing has changed. They aren't 'better' in anyway, but they aren't worse either. Still, Doom 3 was a phenomenal game visually, and that means the same can be said with this expansion. The good news is that seeing as the game provides a nice variety of different environments to fight in, it always looks interesting. The cut scenes return as well, and the formula is still the same as before. They aren't particularly ground breaking, but they do make the game look just that little bit better and more interesting. Of course, Doom 3 looked incredible to look at, but seeing as that took at least 12 or 13 hours to complete; a lot of the environments were very similar at times. Overall, RoE is top-notch in the graphics department.
Sound-wise, nothing has changed either. Of course, the new weapons all have their own sounds as with the new enemies. The voice acting is also pretty decent, though nothing spectacular. Other than that, there isn't a lot to say here either. The sound effects though, are, like its predecessor, excellent. Just make sure you crank up the volume on your speakers while you play.
Multiplayer-wise, RoE is lacking, just like Doom 3 was. Yes, there is a multiplayer, but it's just too straightforward and feels unfinished. A new capture the flag mode featuring up to 8 players has been introduced here. Big deal. We've seen CTF a million times before in just about every other shooter. Alright, I admit, deathmatches can be fun, but really Doom 3 was never about its multiplayer, and the same applies with RoE too. Unless you loved Doom 3's multiplayer, there isn't much going on in this field.
In conclusion, Resurrection of Evil is a great expansion that any fan of Doom 3 should play. It doesn't stray too far from the original game, but it's still definitely worth playing if you loved that classic gameplay of Doom 3. In a way, it may even appeal to some players more than the original game. Unfortunately, due to the game's short campaign, I can't say that it's better than the former. Had it been longer, it could have been even better. Still, RoE is an incredibly solid, enjoyable expansion that won't disappoint the Doom fanatics out there.