Customer Reviews

Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil Expansion Pack

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I just finished the Single Player game. Those who liked Doom 3 will like this one too, those who didn't, won't. It's really more of the same, which was what I was looking for. I'd say it's about two-thirds as long as D3, which ain't too bad for an addon. You'll find the familiar array of weapons but with the addition of the double-barrel shotgun, the grabber gun, and the "artifact". There's no soul cube. For those wondering about the "artifact", it gathers souls of dead human scientist to charge and when activated it puts you into "hell time" slowing the baddies down (like in every other FPS made in the past five years). It powers up when you kill bosses, adding extra damage and invincibility to the hell time ability.

The gravity gun--oops, I mean "grabber" gun doesn't make a huge difference in the game like it did in Half-Life 2. At least I didn't have much use for it--your mileage may vary. A huge drawback is that it can hold items for just a few seconds. That's hardly enough time for the smoke of the fireball (or whatever) you just caught to clear away so you can aim it back. I found this very frustrating--nothing like the saw blade chucking fun of H-L2.

I heard a lot of early rumors that they were making this game more well lit than Doom 3 (which got a lot of flack for being too dark). Don't beleive it. Resurrection of Evil will have you toggling between flash light and weapon as much as D3 did (still no duct tape there in the future). It's only more well lit in the first few levels. If anything there's more occlusion due to smokier environments and the dimming effect you have to deal with when you use hell time (it narrows your vision with a swirling border). So if that was your big gripe about D3, you may wanna steer clear of ROE.

The graphics are at least as good as D3, which is to say excellent. Sometimes I just had to stop and marvel at the endless detail. It's still largely an "indoor" game with the same mad dashes across the martian surface. One thing I really appreciated was that they seem to use the most annoying monsters the least. No endless spawning of spiders or cherubs like in D3. And that zombie-in-a-closet trick that got really old in D3 doesn't happen much, so maybe the guys at id took some constructive criticsm. Just not about duct tap.

The guys at NERVE know what they are doing. I think I liked this better than DOOM3. They took alot of elements from the original DOOM too, like the exploding barrels, hidden corridors that opened up letting out demons, the strobe lights, etc. They have this sewer level which is just awesome. You put on this environment suit, and in the process it muffles all sound...the sound is just surreal hearing the gatling gun go off with explosions and screams all muffled like that. I never really found myself taking much advantage of the grabber gun though. It just wasnt practical when you had the doublebarrel shoutgun at your disposal. Basically I thought this is how DOOM3 should have played, alot because it reminded me so much of the original. If you didnt like DOOM3 too much, I would highly recommend trying the addon out, as its more of DOOM3 on steroids plus the feeling of the original.

Overall it was not bad.

It didn't feel like a new game; more like an add-on off stuff that was cut out or missed development from the original game. I kind of missed the continuous insults from the original. The taunts could be corny but to me it added to the game.

It seems there was less interaction in this game as well.

Two nice additions are the double barreled shotgun and the grabber. At first I didn't see the need for the grabber but found it useful especially when grabbing bolts and flinging them back(saves ammo) and grabbing and tossing cherubs (kills them).
The demons seemed a little smarter here. They hid behind stuff more and didn't always charge into your line of fire.

The chainsaw is gone. Some of the weapons didn't feel the same. I didn't use the chain gun or the rocket launcher that often.

The bosses are a challenged especially the final fight. Store up your heavy hitting ammo.....

The ending is ok.

Again it's not a bad add-on in fact I think if it was part of the original game there wouldn't have been very many detractors.

It game me many hours of play so what more can you ask?

I enjoyed Doom 3 and was practically waiting for an expansion the day I finished the main game. However, now that I have played the expansion, I am disappointed. Here's why:

For one, this game is very very dark. Now I am not amongst those people that complained about the darkness of the original. I thought it added a lot to the game overall. But this expansion is almost a parody of the main game. It starts out dark, and gets darker as you progress (you often have to get energy cells, which turns OFF the power and lights). The flashlight doesn't help a lot either. Most of the time, you simply can not see what you are doing. It really isn't fun.

Some of the game is in the spirit of the original. I like going around and find PDAs. However, I thought there was too little in terms of video discs and audio logs. It seems that they cut some costs there compared to the main game.

I also was disappointed that there are practically no new ideas in this game, except for ones that are shamelessly stolen from other games. The "grabber" seems like a thrown-in goodie just because Half Life 2 has an anti-gravity gun. The soul cube is really just bullet-time. If you do not play a lot of different games, then perhaps it doesn't matter that these things are stolen from other games, but if you have played the games these things came from, then you will be disappointed, because they aren't implemented nearly as well as in the games they came from. Playing with the anti-gravity gun in Half Life 2 is great fun. Playing with the "grabber" in Doom 3 is just OK by comparison.

There also were a few technical problems I had with the original, such as framerates dropping, or the sound completely turning off and forcing a restart. Those issues have not been addressed here. To be honest, I do not find the Doom 3 engine to be quite as impressive as everyone makes it out to be. It is a good engine, no doubt, but from a great engine, I would expect better frame rates at a higher resolution with more crispness.

Anyway: This isn't a desaster, but it certainly isn't what I had been hoping for.

Running on 2.6GHz pentium on nvidia MX6200.

This expansion pack runs slower than the main doom3 game for some reason. If Doom3 is borderline on your rig you may want to avoid this expansion pack.

There are some new monsters in this expansion but nothing too exciting. There are some new weapons too but, again, nothing you haven't seen before. One of them invites comparison with Half-life 2 and it's clear the HL2 implementation is better both in operation and use. Again - I don't want to give too much away but you'll know what I mean when you find it.

The difficulty is pretty uneven. There's one point way too early with a teleporting bad guy - well you'll recognize it when you get there - that's obviously much too difficult for it's location in the game.

There are lots of contrived sections too, such as twisty paths and spiked balls and the sequences of slamming walls. We expect better these days.

It's clear this game is mainly all the ideas that were not included in Doom3 because they weren't good enough. I know expansion packs generally fail to live up to the standards of the original games and we shouldn't be too suprised that this one is the same.

I paid $20 for it and I'm not sure it was really worth it. It's not very imaginative, long, or good.

(Note: This review is based upon the single player missions.)

While not as long and as plotting as the first incarnation of Doom 3, Ressurection of Evil eases up on the difficulty (which was already not that bad in the first place) and gives the gamer more gas to play with. The ammunition pick-ups are much more generous, and the level design is not as heavily "flashlight" oriented. Thankfully there are now more over-head lights in each levels, so you will not be running around in the dark trying to find switches and doors with your trusty light... as much. Also the new weapons and 'artifact powers' feature gives you a much more commanding presence as you now are capable of blowing enemies away in 1-2 hits very early in the game, and even the largest of foes are nothing to really worry about even in the end-game. This is possible due to the following:

1. The new "grabber" gun allows one to grab the fire-balls that imps and various other monsters hurl and reflect them back at said monster. This always results in a one hit kill, which is not only cheap, but is a great way to conserve ammo (the grabber has infinite "ammo" since it is a 'tool'.)

2. The double barreled/super shot gun has way more stopping power than it's single barreled combat shot-gun counter-part. Once you obtain this weapon, you will be able to kill clusters of zombies and imps with ease. A medium-to-short range blast takes out most of the lower-level enemies easily!

3. The "artifact" adds an incredible amount of power to the player, allowing them to first slow down time, then add on an instant berserk (AKA quad-damage), and finaly invulnerbility. With all three (or just one or two) of these abilities in unison will cause the game to suddenly become a joke when you face up against some of the greater monsters such as the arch-vile, hell knight, mancubis, or bruiser. And if not to make matters more easy, ID was generous enough to allow the artifact to have up to 3 charges (as opposed to the soul cube's 1 charge). And guess where the charges come from? From the dead scientist and worker bodies scattered around throughout the mars base. This leads to you being able to use the artifact quite often... so breezing through the game's few levels will not be a problem.

After all of the said ease that the expansion adds to the game though, there is a seeming feel of increased fun added to the game. While the horror factor of the game is severely hurt by the fact that ammunition and power-upage are not scare, there seems to be an increased number of oppertunities to wreck havok. While in the original Doom 3, the game had a very scarce dispersment of monsters and explosive objects, the expansion has many many more. Still not anywhere as nearly as much as the original Doom's monster population, but a bit more so that it is not as seemingly slow when it comes to combat. Also again, with the decreased dark areas, you will be able to have an easier time navigating the hallways of the mars base (there still is a lot of usage of the flashlight though.)

Also to point out, there are more 'extras' in the game when it comes to arcade games sitting around. There are about 3 different arcade games that can be found sitting around throughout the game, and beating one of them will actually yeild you something VERY useful.

Beyond gameplay, the music and sound of Doom 3: ROE is pretty much the same as the original's. With the exception of the new sound FX for the new monsters and weapons, there really is nothing new here in the audio department. The theme is still the great number by Tweaker, and the in-game noise is still the atmospheric space station/horror noise.

The storyline is pretty much the same as it was last time. It has the sci-fi approach with some intelligent sounding terminology here and there, although not as much talking as there was in the last game when it comes to things such as videos and audio recordings. The game is much more direct and to the point in this sense, and thankfully as a result, not as testing when it comes to patience. The storyline could perhaps be a little stronger when it comes to the horror aspect though, as the 'mystique' that the demons have is a little ruined by a few small details that would be spoiler content if revealed here.

In the end, ROE greatly buffs up the fun of Doom 3, while hampering the difficulty somewhat. Expansion packs can only do so much though, but ROE seemingly does it's job in adding onto Doom 3.

It's time to strap on the marine armor, load the shotgun, and take a deep breath as you walk down those dark halls. It's back to Mars to finish off an evil thought defeated in DOOM 3: Ressurection of Evil.

Taking place 2 years later, you (The Marine), return to Mars with more UAC military and scientists to find a signal hidden deep in the ancient caverns. There, you find an artifact, but you 'accidentally' cause Hell to once again come into your world, and now must use the strange artifact to seal Hell for good. Along the way you'll use 3 new weapons, the Artifact itself, the Grabber(Very useful tool), and the Double Barreled Shotgun (Thank you! A must see weapon! It's halarious). But certain demons want the artifact as well, and Dr. Betruger is well aware of it's existance.

Since this is an expansion, the plot may seem short at times. If you've played DOOM 3 and have beaten it in good time, you should be able to beat this in a couple of days, assuming you aren't too scared or don't have too much difficulty beating boss demons. The game also does get difficult fairly quickly, but the new weapons are there to even the odds. The double barrel shotgun is UNGODLY powerful! Want to drop something at point blank range? Use this and BLAMO! Sometimes I feel as if the double barrel shotgun takes the cake for best DOOM 3 weapon, heh. Or want to do something matrix like? The artifact is a powerful tool to use. I won't spoil it's powers, I'll simply say "You have to see it for yourself".

The graphics are fairly much the same, as you will drop your jaw at the scenary, especially when you're transported into Hell. And the use of sound effects and music are once again top notch, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

If you've played DOOM 3 and loved it, then get this expansion, it's easily worth it!

This game is realy great, but I find the gameplay kind of boring after a while. You see if you dont realy care that the gameplay is the same, then I think you should get this game.
Heres my rating:

Gameplay: 7/10 - I realy find it boring after a while because everything is just the same, darkness and enemyies.

Graphics: 10/10 - Amazing graphics and might in fact be the best graphics ever on PC.

Sound: 9/10 - I realy enjoyed the sound effects because they were realy clear.

Value: 8/10 - I think the price is a little bit high for an expansion pack.

Overall I think you will enjoy this game and you should get it.
But know this, first of all you will need good system requirments if you dont want the game to lag.
Secound of all dont expect much exitment when playing this game.
Still I enjoyed playing this game, though I dont think I will enjoy playing it agin. So to get to my point, yes get this game if you liked other Doom games.

After playing through the original Doom 3, I recalled reading reviews that it wasn't terribly difficult, with the exception of a few boss battles. But that's what made it great in my opinion. You were more able to enjoy the atmosphere of the game, and even be scared a few (dozen) times without being stressed or overwhelmed by the difficulty of the enemies you faced. Plus, you could always raise the difficulty if you so wished.

With Resurrection of Evil though, the bar has definitely been raised. If you had mastered Doom 3, this game would still provide a challenge. All the zombies and demons of the first game are back, along with several new ones. And unlike Doom 3, you're thrown right into the mix. You'll be often facing hordes of the more powerful demons from the original, so you'd best have your tactics down. But the real challenge comes from the boss battles. They're what will definitely cause some key-board breaking frustration in novices to the game, and even some tension with the experts.

If you can get past the demons though, you can treat yourself to new, well-designed levels. Though some areas are very reminiscent of the first game, you aren't exploring the same areas. The ruins you start in are similar, yet different from the first, containing more eerie statues and devices. You explore new areas of the base, including a harrowing trek through a toxic waste tunnel wearing a breath mask. Plus your end goal lies in Hell, so that's precisely where you're going. As with the first Doom, the boss battles are set in unique, fantastic areas, which often contain structures key to your conquest of these extremely powerful beings.

Three new weapons are introduced: instead of the chainsaw, you have the Grabber, a gravity-defying weapon that can seize barrels, crates, and even fireballs and hurl them right back at demons, a key tactic in this expansion, especially for the boss battles. You also get the chance to wield the double-shotgun, a Doom classic, but unfortunately woefully slow-loading despite its powerful punch. Doesn't mean that you can't blow away a lesser demon in a single hit though if you're careful...And there's a new artifact, around which the whole plot revolves, which grants you amazing abilities, but is fueled by human souls...

This artifact is what has called the Marines back to Mars. Although kinda flimsily explained, a 'beacon' was detected at Mars City two years after the events of Doom3. Scientists and Marines came back to investigate, and reopen research there. You're part of a new complement of Marines, the original Marine probably requesting permanent leave. Dr. Elizabeth McNeil, who left before the catastrophe of the first game has come back to lead the investigation, definitely unwisely. You're sent to continue the study of the Martian ruins, and there discover the source of the beacon in a sealed-off section of the ruins, an odd, roughly heart-shaped artifact. Of course, you reach out to remove it, and a blast of energy fries your comrades, and an explosion rocks the base. You hear on your radio that again, demons are filling the complex, but they're coming out of the original portal that the ancient Mars civilization used in the first invasion. And there's three Hunter Hell-knight demons sent by the head demon who want that artifact back ever-so-badly. Time to lock and load, Marine.

I played this game in May of this year. It took me just under 3 days (that's with not playing the game by the way) on the Veteran setting. Now Doom 3 lasted me about 2 weeks on Veteran and another week on the Nightmare setting. I understand that "Doom 3 - R.O.E" is an Expansion pack, but it wasn't nearly as long as "Doom 3" and it was even less challenging. Sure there were new enemies that were bigger, faster and badder, but you also get a couple of guns that are bigger and badder; thus 'cancelling out' the new enemies. But that aside, "Doom 3 - R.O.E" was thoroughly enjoyable for the short duration in which I played it.

It's been 2 years since the events in "Doom 3." The UAC Research Facility was shut down after the incident on Mars and all events that took place during the hellish invasion were covered-up by the Company itself. However, a tracking satellite over the planet has detected some kind of activity in the abandoned facility, and after much discussion, it is decided that a crew of Marines and Engineers will be sent to the planet to investigate this strange activity. This time you assume the role of a Marine Engineer sent to the planet to uncover the mystery behind the strange activity. You and your crew move down to the Archeological Dig Site (Site 1, where "Doom 3" ended) shortly after arriving. What you find is a strange artifact and upon touching it you annihilate your companions in a furious blast of energy and once again release hell on Mars. And once again you find yourself fighting for your life against the forces of darkness, but this time your artifact is meaner and full of more power than you could possibly imagine...the storyline's a nice story for picking up from "Doom 3" and I think that it's pretty good for this game, although you basically end up doing the same things you did in "Doom 3" in order to survive. The storyline gets 8/10 from my side.

Now for the new weapons: the first new weapon you'll find is a device called a "Grabber." This device is typically used for engineering and maintenance, but makes for a decent weapon as it can pick up small objects using an anti-gravity beam and subsequently launch these objects at high velocities (which is ideal for killing enemies). You can also use this gun to catch plasma balls and hurl them back at your enemies. Just make sure your aim is good. Then there's the Double-Barrel Shotgun: this puppy can only hold 2 shells, but has a greater muzzle velocity than the single-barrelled shotgun. And you can either fire one shot at a time or both simultaneously to crush those that stand in your way. It's great for larger enemies especially. Then the artifact itself will gain power with each hunter demon you destroy: you'll be able to slow time down after killing the first Hunter Demon, then you'll be able to go beserk after the second, and finally become invulnerable after killing the final Hunter. It charges itself on the souls of the corpses of fallen zombies and humans and each soul will allow you to utilise these otherworldly powers for a short period of time. The new weapons are pretty mean although few, so in terms of weapons, "Doom 3 - R.O.E" gets 8.5/10.

The new enemies are rather numerous. There are creatures called 'Vulgars' in this Expansion that are faster and meaner than traditional Imps. Technically you use similar tactics to kill these enemies, but they're a little trickier to kill than their more idiotic Imp cousins. They throw fireballs and can knock the crap out of you at close range. There are also 'The Forgotten,' which are like the 'Lost Souls' from "Doom 3," but are now skull-like in appearance. 'Bruisers' are big, ugly ba$tards and are faster and nastier than 'Hell-Knights!' They fire rapid and powerful plasma blasts from two integrated cannons and if you get close to them, consider yourself dead. I like to use very big weapons on these guys or I use the Artifact to obliterate these guys. Trust me, it's worth it. There are also new 'Hazmat' zombies - they're just like other slow-moving, dumb zombies, but they just wear Hazmat suits. Use your fists or flashlight on these guys, and when you're in a hurry, use your shotgun. As for the bosses, the 3 Hunter Demons will be the first you face: first the Hell-Time Hunter, then The Berzerk Hunter, and finally the Invul Hunter. Each have their own powers and abilities and each appear to be enchanted 'Hell-Knights.' The final Hunter was the hardest to kill of the 3, but it wasn't too bad. Finally there's the Boss of all Bosses in the "Doom 3" Saga: 'The Maledict,' the creature which Doctor Betruger fused with in "Doom 3." He was a bit of a bugger to kill, but when he died, man did it feel good. And that's all the enemies that appear in this game, so "Doom 3 - R.O.E" gets 10/10 in terms of enemies.

The gameplay, sound and graphics are essentially the same as "Doom 3." I had no problem on my system (2.4GHz Processor and 128 MB Radeon 9200 3D Card with 700 MB of memory). The game's just as good as "Doom 3" but it's the shortness and easiness of this game that brings its score down a bit. I'd give the Veteran Skill Setting 7/10 for difficulty and the Nightmare setting 9/10. It's quite a bit easier than "Doom 3," purely because of the Artifact and the plenteous carcasses you find throughout the game.

Overall I'd give "Doom 3 - R.O.E" 85%. It's not as long or as difficult as the prequel and the Multiplayer still sucks! Well, I suppose it's ok, but not for me. Still it's worth purchasing, but not for more than $20. So I'd buy it from Amazon if I were you, otherwise just get it at a local Computer Store. It's full of action, horror, thrills and spills; but it may not excite you quite as much as you think. So make your decision, but it's still a very good, if somewhat short, Expansion pack...