Game:

Doom 3 (2004)

Duration: 2:29:30

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Originally recorded: October 29, 2023
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With the main campaign done and one last stream in October, it's time to tackle Resurrection of Evil -- the one and only expansion pack for the original release of DOOM 3. The BFG Edition added an additional level pack, known as "The Lost Mission", which seems to be more of a remix of existing content from both the base game and RoE. While The Lost Mission was never officially made available for the original release of 3, some enterprising modders have backported it. It's an easy enough feat, considering the fact that it has pretty much all of the necessary assets are available in the base game and the substantial modding scene for the original 2004 release. But playing a mod on stream feels kind of cheap, so I plan on calling it quits once RoE is done. It'd probably feel more legitimate to play it through the BFG Edition anyway. I just hope I don't have to beat the main campaign again to unlock it.

So, right off the bat, I'm definitely enjoying RoE more than DOOM 3 proper. I'm thinking another 8/10 score bare minimum, and the only reason I'm considering going that low is due to the expansion's short length -- 12 levels isn't even half of 3's 27. At the very least, Resurrection of Evil provides concrete evidence that there's an actual proper DOOM game buried in DOOM 3's engine. Adding the power cores as a new set of keys does help to break up the monotony of being forced to track down the right PDA to move forward... and better yet, taking them from their initial location even manages to cut the power, which even helps to ramp up the suspense. There's a bit less enemy variety compared to the main campaign, but honestly, I'm just happy that they added some new enemies in the first place. Usually, level packs just recycle assets while adding nothing new.

The MVP of this first session easily had to be the new Grabber Gun. In retrospect, it was probably a good idea to continue my hiatus with Dead Space 2 -- because that game also has a similar mechanic to provide the player with an ammo-free attack. That being said, it's hard to match the sheer joy I feel when I grab an Imp's fireball out of the air before killing him with it. That being said, this was clearly id Software's attempt at a "me too" with regards to Half-Life 2's gravity gun. While the original DOOM 3 managed to beat Half-Life 2 to release, RoE came out 5 months later and it's clear that someone wanted to prove that id Tech 4 could pull off the same trick. I'm just wondering if id Software build the damn thing themselves and asked RoE's developer to use it... or if Nerve Software were the ones that built it. Honestly, the same goes for all of the new assets.

The Artifact is probably the only thing that I'd consider a downgrade from the original. Bullet time is nice, but a free heal is probably a lot more useful. I did just unlock Berserk as the second ability by the end of the stream, but I didn't get a chance to try it out. Personally, I'm more curious about how you switch between both powers... or if Berserk just basically overwrites the bullet time one. That'd be a shame.

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