Doom 3: BFG Edition

Doom 3: BFG Edition is a special edition of the first-person shooter Doom 3 with enhanced graphics and a number of other innovations. In addition to the game itself, the edition includes the official expansion Resurrection of Evil and seven completely new levels combined into the campaign The Lost Mission.

The edition also includes technically refined, yet original in gameplay, versions of DOOM (1995) and DOOM 2, which run on modern PCs without an emulator.

In October 2012, Bethesda Softworks released Doom 3 BFG Edition — a version refined for the current conditions at that time. It is hard to call it a re-release, as the changes were cosmetic in nature:

To develop the game universe, id Software hired professional science fiction writer Matthew Costello. The studio aimed to reboot the original at a higher level, but Doom 3 was meant to frighten and evoke a sense of horror, rather than offer mindless shooting.

The action of the game still takes place on Mars in the 22nd century. Humanity has long gone beyond its home planet, but the energy shortage puts the existence of civilization at risk. In this regard, the United Aerospace Corporation (UAC) is building scientific bases on Mars, where it searches for powerful energy sources based on new physical principles.

By the middle of the 22nd century, UAC scientists and engineers manage to make significant progress in their research, while developing prototypes of numerous devices, including the famous super-weapon BFG 9000.

Unexpectedly, on the surface of Mars, the corporation stumbles upon ancient alien ruins. Long-extinct Martians developed teleportation technology through a dimension resembling the Christian Hell and implemented it "in hardware." Intrigued by the find, UAC directs all its efforts towards its study.

The script of Doom 3 is detailed down to specific days, months, and years. As the player progresses, they read, listen to, and watch numerous recordings, diaries, notes, and emails from scientists, managers, technicians, and security personnel of the UAC Mars base.

It is the messages left behind that reveal information about the events happening in the game world and directly on Mars, reflecting the feelings and concerns of the people, giving logic to what is happening, and meaning to the actions of the heroes.

If you play without delving into the details, the impression will be very blurred, or the plot may seem unnecessary, as all dialogues and engine scenes relate to current issues — go there, do this, find that, see the result. Periodically, the player learns some key information that moves the events forward.

Everything begins as in the first Doom — the protagonist arrives at the Mars base, appointed as a guard. Then the differences begin. The main character arrives with UAC inspector Elliot Swann, who is to investigate employee complaints, increased incidents, and strange deaths.

The main antagonist is Dr. Malcolm Betruger, who worked on teleportation technology and ultimately succumbed to the forces of Evil. His maniacal idea is to let the Devil's servants into our world so they can conquer Earth and turn humans into slaves or demons.

The main conflict is between Swann and Betruger, with freedom of choice in several moments being merely an illusion; the protagonist has no influence on the events or the ending. Despite all the advantages, careful development, unexpected moments, and plot twists, the player feels their limitations within the narrative framework.

The BFG Edition version has some gameplay changes compared to Doom 3. The flashlight was mounted on the protagonist's shoulder, allowing it to be used alongside weapons. The light from the flashlight and gunfire now casts reflections and shadows, improving situational awareness.

The pistol, shotgun, submachine gun, minigun, plasma gun, rocket launcher, BFG9000, and chainsaw are the only weapons available, with no modifications or variability, as in Doom from 2016. The protagonist carries significantly fewer ammo, excessive armor and health do not persist. Enemies can disrupt aim, which can cost the hero their life.

A unique feature of Doom 3 is the "soul cube" — a weapon that appears after killing one of the bosses in Hell and allows dealing 1,000 damage to any monster, which severely harms even bosses. Additionally, the "soul cube" absorbs and transfers the victim's health to its bearer.

The changes have increased the gameplay dynamics of Doom 3, making the game feel less like a tactical shooter and closer to classic gameplay of shoot — run forward — shoot. But players still have to act carefully, not expose themselves, and shoot accurately.

The protagonist's "pockets" capacity has increased, allowing them to carry more ammo, and the limits for each weapon's ammunition have slightly increased. If you collect more than 100 armor points, they will be retained instead of gradually diminishing over time, returning to the limit as in the original.

The gameplay on easy difficulty has become easier — the protagonist uses more health and armor points, carries even more ammunition.

The BFG Edition gameplay differs from the original Doom 3 gameplay — all moments when the game tried to scare the player have been removed or reworked. The shooter aspect now dominates, with all the caveats about its scarcity.

Thus, "presentations" have been removed — when the protagonist first encountered a new monster from the bestiary, the camera would pull back and show a small scene. In scripted events, enemies do not crawl away but attack the player. For example, in one of the first administrative buildings, a demon crawls on the roof. In Doom 3, it would run away, but in BFG Edition, it attacks.

The locations are linear, usually a winding tunnel connecting large rooms, the level design is primitive, with no hidden passages or secret rooms, and secrets are revealed very easily. There are practically no open spaces in the game, only rooms and endless corridors.

During the gameplay, the player will visit almost half of Mars — various UAC complexes and laboratories, the central city, transport hubs and factories, Martian caves, and of course, will go to Hell several times. However, the content of all levels is monotonous, and due to the pitch darkness, they simply do not stick in memory.

This is related to the focus on the storyline and the designers' desire to scare the player, who is pushed to move forward to unravel the plot.

You have to shoot a lot, but the sensations from the weapons are completely different; they do not provide the former pleasure. The mechanics of respawning enemies underfoot (as the locations are small) only terrify for a couple of hours, after which it becomes annoying.

The bestiary contains both well-known creatures (various types of Zombies, Commandos, Imps, Pinkies, Lost Souls, Revenants, Cacodemons, Hell Knights, Barons of Hell, Archvile, Mancubus, Wraiths) and several new ones:

Since all efforts of id Software were focused on the single-player mode of Doom 3 and its storyline, the studio's game designers genuinely believed that the game did not need a large-scale multiplayer mode. The expectation was that Doom 3 would appeal with its storyline, and its single-player campaign would be regularly replayed.

Therefore, only one mode was implemented for online play — "team deathmatch." Several players would gather on one map and could use all the weapons and grenades available in the single-player mode. The number of maps is small. No leveling up, statistics, or unlockable content.

One server for Doom 3: BFG Edition operates in Europe and the USA. Players do not have the option to set up their own server or use a lobby to gather as a group, nor can they kick a player with high ping. The game automatically connects to the nearest server, and the balancer assigns players to teams. It is not uncommon for participants' pings to reach 500.