Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil Xbox Review

Doom 3 had all the hallmarks of a good horror game, including an unsettling atmosphere and moody lighting. The torch was also a masterstroke in game design as you couldn’t actually hold a gun and flashlight at the same time, which made things all the more tense. A lot of people didn’t like flipping between the two though and shouted out for a gun and flashlight combo. The reasons were simple; either people couldn’t be bothered pressing a single button to switch or the darkness became just too overwhelming.

The “torch hater” brigade will be happy to learn that Resurrection of Evil has a plan as you can now actually walk around with torch and weapon in hand, although before becoming too excited it’s exclusively a single gun and a mere pistol at that. The rest of the guns have you shooting into the dark again, but we’re sure that many people will be content with the addition of the torch and pistol combo.

Resurrection of Evil was initially an expansion to Doom 3 on the PC; therefore new gameplay elements are included into the mould.

New weaponry largely satisfies with the return of the double-barrelled shotgun, which is devastating at close range and eats up shells like there’s no tomorrow. The Grabber gun is meanwhile a rip-off of Half-Life 2’s Gravity gun, as it allows you to pick up objects and toss them at your enemies, and even send their own projectiles back where they came from and straight into their alien faces. Then of course there’s the Artifact, which can slow down time allowing you to beat certain enemies, progress traps and more.

It’s still Doom 3 though. The PDA still plays a large part in fleshing out the back-story, the atmosphere, darkness and stunning graphics still provide plenty of chills, and weird aliens are also waiting to taste some lead, only this time from a double-barrelled shotgun!

The game takes more away opposed to adding to as far as the online and system link multi-player options are concerned. Gone is the popular cooperative mode, but at least there’s some new maps to blast at others included.

Modern Doom is complemented by ancient Doom games such as Ultimate Doom and Doom II, which are included on Resurrection of Evil’s very disc. They still play very well, although time hasn’t exactly been kind to the cosmetics, which is to be expected from games first released in the 90’s.

Doom 3 Resurrection of Evil is more of the same, which should please those who wanted to return to Mars after completing Doom 3. The best thing about Resurrection of Evil is definitely the devastating weapon that is the double-barrelled shotgun, and we are surprised it wasn’t in the third game in the first place. We liked Doom 3, and Resurrection of Evil’s cheap retail price makes it a most welcome expansion to the Doom universe.

8/10