DOOM 3 BFG Edition, coming 2012

Nerdkiller1991

May 30, 2012 (London, UK) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today announced that DOOM® 3 BFG Edition will be available this Autumn and features DOOM® 3 and the Resurrection of Evil® add-on pack, both of which have been completely re-mastered. The package also includes hours of new content – seven new levels entitled ‘The Lost Mission’. DOOM 3 BFG Edition is slated for release for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PC and PlayStation® 3 – making it the first time any DOOM game has ever appeared on the PlayStation 3.

Re-mastered for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, this genre defining game and its add-on pack offers greatly enhanced graphics, deeply immersing the player in the demonic world of this terrifying horror masterpiece. Players will also experience a never-before-seen single-player story, ‘The Lost Mission’ featuring seven heart-pounding levels that will once again have them on the edge of their seats.

DOOM 3, Resurrection of Evil, and ‘The Lost Mission’have been optimized in 3D, featuring 5.1 surround sound, Xbox 360 Achievements, PlayStation 3 trophies, improved rendering and lighting, and a new check point save system allowing for smoother progression through the game. id® Software has fine-tuned the controls to bring the intensity of the DOOM single and multiplayer experience to the consoles, and DOOM 3 now features the new armour-mounted flashlight, allowing players to illuminate dark corners and blast enemies at the same time.

“DOOM 3 was enthusiastically embraced by gamers worldwide at its release,” said John Carmack, Technical Director at id Software. “Today, the full experience has been enhanced and extended to be better than ever, and is delivered across all the platforms with a silky smooth frame rate and highly responsive controls. New support for 3D TVs, monitors, and head mounted displays also allows players to experience the game with more depth than ever before. We think shooter fans everywhere will love it.”

As a special bonus, DOOM 3 BFG Edition will also include the original DOOM® and DOOM® 2 games, making it the definitive collection of the revolutionary games developed by id Software, the studio that pioneered the first-person shooter genre.

For more information please visit www.facebook/Doom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYq2XWAQxUk

So...who's up for a trip back to Hell?

chin_grin

Read this on Kotaku a few minutes ago. I'm rediculously giddy! :pac: (I hope it's as good as I remember it being!). Won't be the same without the Trent Reznor sound pack though.

PogMoThoin

Yeah, without mods it may not be great

Gbear

The game with the worst weapons sound effects ever.


Good fun, mind you.

cml387

Ah, no longer any need to try to get a kill by beating baddie to death with torch.

chin_grin

cml387 wrote: »

Ah, no longer any need to try to get a kill by beating baddie to death with torch.

That really annoyed me (until I got the patch). Why didn't weapons in the future have flashlights on them!? I'll admit it did increase the tension, but really annoying when you pull out the pistol instead of the shotgun cos you jumped like a sissy from a zombie shuffling out of the shadows.

SirLemonhead

Boo to iD. Pandering to the whiners by adding torches to the guns.. it was fine as it was

o1s1n

Shame Doom 3 plays nothing like a Doom game should

Nerdkiller1991

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Yeah, without mods it may not be great

Ahem...PC version incoming.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

wtf is the point in adding flashlights to the ****ing armour
half the fun of the game was ****ting yourself as you rounded a corner witha flashlight, not being sure if you were safe or not

JohnMarston

I never had a good enough PC to play this game on, and now that its being ported, i'd still rather boot up a game of Ultimate Doom.

Definite rental or possible pre-own purchase down the line.

Nerdkiller1991

Some more info.

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/5/30/3051918/doom-bfg-edition-details

Russ Pitts wrote:

We're driving down a two-lane country road in North Texas. Id's Tim Willits is riding shotgun, navigating. He's telling me about the upcoming Doom 3 BFG Edition. It's a bonus-packed re-issue of the Doom catalog to date, with updated graphics and controls, extra missions and improvements geared at converting naysayers.

When it releases (exact date and price point are TBD), it will be suitable as an introduction to the series for new adopters. Or, perhaps, as a foot in the door for a new installment in the almost 20-year-old franchise.
I mention to Willits that if one were id Software, and were working on a new Doom (say, Doom 4), that the Doom 3 BFG Edition would be the perfect precursor. This is the second time today I pose the same question. The only question, really, for id Software, which announced it was working on the sequel in 2008 but hasn't said much about it since.


Willits laughs, and then takes his time responding.


"If one were working on that," he says, "it would be a perfect precursor." Then he makes a show of checking his email. And then we get lost.


***


Willits and I are en route from id's headquarters in Dallas to John Carmack's private airplane hangar about 45 minutes outside of the city. There, Carmack will show us the rockets and rocket engines made by his other company, Armadillo Aerospace. This is the hobby Carmack pursues in his spare time, when he has any.


Carmack has not had much spare time of late. Although we are now driving to Armadillo Aerospace's rural headquarters, this will be the first time Carmack has visited in weeks. He's been too busy to pursue his hobby of rocket science. He's been rebuilding Doom.


***


"A number of companies have done these 'retro projects,'" says Willits, using the company's code name for Doom BFG, "but we're trying to do something with new content. We have all the games. We tried to make the offering the best we can."

Doom 3 BFG Edition will be the final say in Doom content to date. The package will include Doom, Doom 2, Doom 3, Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil and a brand-new, "lost" mission for Doom 3 with seven new levels, a new boss and two-to-three hours of content.


In addition, Carmack and id have been tweaking the formula, enhancing and improving the now seven-year-old game. The graphics have been enhanced. 3D graphics support will be native. And the game will have a brand-new control scheme on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Also, it will be available on PlayStation 3, which marks the first time in history that the original Doom will be available on a PlayStation platform. (While a version of the game was released for PlayStation, its levels were modified from the PC version and some were missing entirely.)


But perhaps most importantly, Xbox 360 players will be able to use their flashlight and gun at the same time, something that was not possible when the game was originally ported to the console, and which fans let id know was a problem.


Willits says the id team scoured message boards and fan forums looking for complaints they could address this time around. The flashlight. The too-dark levels. The difficulty. All were issues id addressed based on fan feedback, in the hope that this version of Doom 3 would be that much more engaging.


"We've tried to find those opportunities that can enhance the gameplay," Willits says. "We didn't have enough ammo in the original. It was too dark. There weren't checkpoint saves. No flashlight. That one was so big, we put it on the sell sheet."


***


John Carmack has printed out painstakingly detailed instructions on how to get to Armadillo Aerospace. Instructions which we do not follow.


We turn down a rutted, dirt road. We can see, off in the distance, the large, white hangar building housing Carmack's rocket factory. After driving for almost an hour, we are almost there. The only problem is the active runway between us and it. We've come in the wrong entrance, and are now on the wrong side of the field.


We park for a bit, and mull our options. A friendly farmer walks up and informs us that attempting to cross this barrier in our rented Camry would be a bad idea. Not to mention illegal. He gives us directions to where we want to be, and we turn around. We're back on the county road for less than five minutes before we hear a strange, rhythmic knocking coming from under the car and have to pull over.


***


Willits says id's recent acquisition by Zenimax, parent company of Bethesda Game Studios, has allowed his studio the freedom to take a risk like spending a year tweaking a near decade old game and releasing a 'director's cut,' an opportunity few studios get. Most games are rushed out the door, barely finished and then left to fend for themselves. For id, the chance to go back and right some Doom 3 wrongs, is an opportunity they've relished. Adding a new mission is just a bonus.


The new Doom 3 "Lost Mission" will put players in the boots of "Bravo Team," the company of space marines players were originally sent to save in Doom 3. The Lost Mission begins with one of the Bravo Team members waking up in a Wraith kill room, and having to help a group of scientists shut down a teleporter to Earth, before the demons invade and ruin everything.


The Lost Mission takes place concurrent with the timeframe of the Doom 3 story, and will help fill in some of the gaps, as well as offer players a few hours of new content. Combined with the tweaked, revamped and prettier Doom 3 and the two original Dooms, the total package will be, in John Carmack's words: "quite a long offering."


***


We're on the side of the road, near the railroad tracks, and Willits, his PR handler and I are pacing around the rental car, looking for damage. Luckily we don't find any. We shrug off the noise as mud, or some small animal and climb back in the car. Only after we are again underway do I remember that this car has a digital readout of the four tire inflation sensors, which can tell is how much pressure is in each tire. The car's computer verifies what we have since learned. We continue on our way.


Willits is happy. He's spent the past year revisiting a game he believed was done, for better or for worse, and been given the chance to make it better. He's also been promoted. In his new role as id's studio director, he is in charge of all of id Software's projects, making sure the designers on each team have the tools and resources they need to get their jobs done, and pitching in where he can.


Willits says that at id, it was important that a person in a leadership role have the tools and resume of a developer. As a developer himself, he's not coming in from outside the system and telling people how to do their jobs. Instead, he's building them up to be their better selves, and offering hard-won wisdom.


I ask if he's concerned that consumers who have never experienced Doom might be disappointed when they get their hands on Doom 3 BFG Edition and find an eight-year-old game and two that are an additional decade older.


"Our consumers are smart enough," he says. "You can see the evolutionary steps of the product. Even the gameplay mechanics in Rage are more advanced than they were in Doom 3. I think people understand what it is."


What is it?


"It was a great game that had a few things that could have made it greater."


I ask again if it is also a sign that Doom 4 is coming soon, and Willits just smiles. If it is, then one assumes it will arrive "when it's done."


***

chin_grin

JohnMarston wrote: »

I never had a good enough PC to play this game on, and now that its being ported, i'd still rather boot up a game of Ultimate Doom.

Definite rental or possible pre-own purchase down the line.

Reminds me that I had bought the game, only to get home and have it run at a snails pace even on the most basic settings! That pc fecked up and I had to wipe the disk completely. So I reinstalled everything and didn't make one change to the hardware and decided for the craic to load up Doom on it. Worked a charm on normal settings. Weird.

Nerdkiller1991

o1s1n wrote: »

Shame Doom 3 plays nothing like a Doom game should

Well then, you might want to take a look at this mod to see what it offers.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=38332621&postcount=96

bizmark

A game so boring and out of touch with what doom was about i couldnt finish it in 3 attempts completely overshadowed by half life 2 as well

chin_grin

bizmark wrote: »

A game so boring and out of touch with what doom was about i couldnt finish it in 3 attempts completely overshadowed by half life 2 as well

In all fairness that's like saying a movie was sh!t without watching the ending!

I do agree that it was veeerrrrrry boring and repetitive in places, but I liked the take on the Doom-iverse (can't believe I just typed that). It did the same thing being a corridor shooter, but I felt the scares and the atmosphere of it were top notch. Maybe because I played it with headphones on...and am a wuss.

johnny_ultimate

Huzzah! Now I can not give a **** about this abysmally designed game in HD!

Nerdkiller1991

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Huzzah! Now I can not give a **** about this abysmally designed game in HD!

I'd still take it above CoD and much of the other modern day FPS's that are being made. I just want a shooter that I don't have to play with dudebro's.

And here's something a little extra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIkrQK60N-4

the_syco

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Huzzah! Now I can not give a **** about this abysmally designed game in HD!

Likewise. Played Doom 1 & 2 and they were great. Doom 3 sucked real bad.

bizmark

chin_grin wrote: »

In all fairness that's like saying a movie was sh!t without watching the ending!

I do agree that it was veeerrrrrry boring and repetitive in places, but I liked the take on the Doom-iverse (can't believe I just typed that). It did the same thing being a corridor shooter, but I felt the scares and the atmosphere of it were top notch. Maybe because I played it with headphones on...and am a wuss.

It made me jump once or twice right at the start but after i relised every single monster was going to teleport in behind me once i pick something up it sorta kinda lost its "horror" appeal after that it just didnt have good enough game play to make up .
I mean in comparison resident evil 4 is about as scary as a kindergarden picnic but it was great fun doom had nothing boring maps boring guns boring pda's boring monsters coming at you one or two at a time and my god did it drag on remember having a little sense of relief after finish the hell level (really **** boss fight as well) figuring i had cleared it then being heartbroken by being teleported back into the mars base with no weapons for like the 3rd tiime in 2 hours of game play...Ugh

johnny_ultimate

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

I'd still take it above CoD and much of the other modern day FPS's that are being made. I just want a shooter that I don't have to play with dudebro's.

Doom 3 is every bit as uninspired, bland and focus-grouped to within an inch of its life than any of the modern Call of Dutys. In fact I'd say MW1 is actually a much better, varied and inventive shooter than Doom 3 ever was.

I just think there's a whole rake of games that do what Doom 3 tried (and failed, IMO) to do but much, much better. Amnesia or Eternal Darkness are two games that are much scarier, and Amnesia has a fascinating light & dark interplay far beyond anything Doom 3 and its monster closets have to offer. Vanquish, Bioshock, Left 4 Dead, Resi 4, Gears of War etc... provide much more interesting (or at least more mechanically accomplished) shooting. Heck, Serious Sam for all its repetitiveness is actually probably closer to a spiritual successor to old school Doom. And Dead Space 1 (to a lesser degree 2) is pretty much the game Doom 3 should have been, had it not been so tied to tired old-school mechanics.

I had always presumed Doom 3 was received as simplistic, repetitive and one-note eight years ago. I can't imagine age has been particularly kind to it either, especially since it was fairly outdated a decade ago.

ShadowHearth

Well ID realised they are shiet at new IPs like Nintendo. So might aswel recycle like Nintendo.

The only reason ID is still known is nostalgia factor and pink glasses memories.
I know some fanboy will run in and shout " omfg, you dick, if not ID we would not have FPS games!!!." ford made first production car too, but that does not mean that I will run to buy fiesta now, because ford used to be awesome once.

Nerdkiller1991

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Doom 3 is every bit as uninspired, bland and focus-grouped to within an inch of its life than any of the modern Call of Dutys. In fact I'd say MW1 is actually a much better, varied and inventive shooter than Doom 3 ever was.

I just think there's a whole rake of games that do what Doom 3 tried (and failed, IMO) to do but much, much better. Amnesia or Eternal Darkness are two games that are much scarier, and Amnesia has a fascinating light & dark interplay far beyond anything Doom 3 and its monster closets have to offer. Vanquish, Bioshock, Left 4 Dead, Resi 4, Gears of War etc... provide much more interesting (or at least more mechanically accomplished) shooting. Heck, Serious Sam for all its repetitiveness is actually probably closer to a spiritual successor to old school Doom. And Dead Space 1 (to a lesser degree 2) is pretty much the game Doom 3 should have been, had it not been so tied to tired old-school mechanics.

I had always presumed Doom 3 was received as simplistic, repetitive and one-note eight years ago. I can't imagine age has been particularly kind to it either, especially since it was fairly outdated a decade ago.

CoD4=cinematic nonsense. That alone makes Doom 3 leagues above it. But if you're so bitter about the game, go download the mod I posted last page. You might get a good classic kick out of it. I didn't expect Doom 3 to play like the originals, so I guess that's why I'm not as disappointed in it.

Retr0gamer

Doom 3 was just a crappy simplified version of System Shock 2 which none of the depth or atmosphere of even a game released in 1999. Darkness and having enemies teleporting behind you every time you pick up an ammo/health stash is lazy level design. I'd take the better CoD games over it any day.

ShadowHearth

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Doom 3 was just a crappy simplified version of System Shock 2 which none of the depth or atmosphere of even a game released in 1999. Darkness and having enemies teleporting behind you every time you pick up an ammo/health stash is lazy level design. I'd take the better CoD games over it any day.

funny you say that. i remember got so annoyed by enemies teleporting from behind or coming from secret door, that i started walking in to new area backwards. worked like a charm!

Nerdkiller1991

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Doom 3 was just a crappy simplified version of System Shock 2 which none of the depth or atmosphere of even a game released in 1999. Darkness and having enemies teleporting behind you every time you pick up an ammo/health stash is lazy level design. I'd take the better CoD games over it any day.

Sigh. Jesus, this is Star Wars Episode I all over again. Hyped up to holy hell, even though it was never going to live up to expectations. I know the game has some problems, but not to the point where it ruins the series.

Retr0gamer

There's nothing game breakingly wrong with it. It was just boring.Considering it was up against the likes of Call of Duty, Farcry even Halo and with the likes of Half-Life 2 around the corner it just felt horribly old fashioned and the level deign was quite poor. And yes the gun sound effects sucked.

deathrider

I want it now!!

Being a Doom fan since the Snes days, I've always been sickened that I never got the chance to play Doom 3. To the best of my knowledge it never appeared on PS2, which was the only console I had in the generation. This is perfect for me. I already have the first two Dooms on 360 through XBLA, but I'd never say no to more copies of them too. Now if I could just get my hands on Final Doom for PS1 to complete the collection...

Nerdkiller1991

Retr0gamer wrote: »

There's nothing game breakingly wrong with it. It was just boring.Considering it was up against the likes of Call of Duty, Farcry even Halo and with the likes of Half-Life 2 around the corner it just felt horribly old fashioned and the level deign was quite poor. And yes the gun sound effects sucked.

Well, I do get what you're saying here, but I like old fps design. Hell, I still enjoy a bit of Wolfenstein 3D from time to time. And yes, the gun sounds could have been way better.

Skatedude

I loved doom3 but it no longer works on triple screen since the last update., so i'll wait to see if they fix that first before buying. its hard to go back to a single screen

johnny_ultimate

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

Sigh. Jesus, this is Star Wars Episode I all over again. Hyped up to holy hell, even though it was never going to live up to expectations. I know the game has some problems, but not to the point where it ruins the series.

No need to get angry, we're all friends here!

Although Episode 1 is an apt comparison. A film that, over the course of 13 years or so, was derided and ripped apart by critic and audience alike. The consensus was that it wasn't very good at all. Then the re-release (in redundant 3D!) came along and made 50 million dollars theatrically.

To me, you can't polish a turd, and that's all this re-release is attempting IMO, just like Episode 1. If you're looking forward to it, who am I too deny you that? But it would take more than a makeover to make Doom 3 sing - it would take an entirely new game.

o1s1n

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

Sigh. Jesus, this is Star Wars Episode I all over again. Hyped up to holy hell, even though it was never going to live up to expectations. I know the game has some problems, but not to the point where it ruins the series.

Even if it wasn't hyped as much as it was, it'd still have been a boring game. It's not that it had production issues or bugged out or even looked crap, it's just dull. Jump scares are cheap and boring. The weapons were boring. It's just boring really.

I can remember upgrading my PC to play that along with Half Life 2 and FarCry. Doom 3 didn't get much of a look in after playing the two of them.

For anyone giving out about the sounds, the Trent Reznor sound pack helps a bit.

Nerdkiller1991

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

No need to get angry, we're all friends here!

Although Episode 1 is an apt comparison. A film that, over the course of 13 years or so, was derided and ripped apart by critic and audience alike. The consensus was that it wasn't very good at all. Then the re-release (in redundant 3D!) came along and made 50 million dollars theatrically.

To me, you can't polish a turd, and that's all this re-release is attempting IMO, just like Episode 1. If you're looking forward to it, who am I too deny you that? But it would take more than a makeover to make Doom 3 sing - it would take an entirely new game.

Well, as I said before, there's always mods. If we're still making the Episode I comparison, the fan edits are to Star Wars, where the mods are to Doom 3.

Retr0gamer

Jar Jar did look very like the imps... Just Saiyan.

Canis Lupus

Count me as another D3 hater, it was linear and unimaginative, had a pretty engine but the environment was bland and finally the horror was utterly predictable. Total bleh.

Ardent

A lot of the complaints at the time were that Doom 3 was too linear and not interactive enough, i.e., didn't have objectives and puzzles like in Half-Life 2, CoD, etc.

I say screw that - it was brill. A good old-fashioned, straight-up, balls-out, alien shooter with great graphics. I loved it! The number of times I jumped playing that game, I laugh to think of it now.

SirLemonhead

Ardent wrote: »

didn't have objectives and puzzles like in Half-Life 2

Yep. There's a lot to be said about not having your game be one giant physics tech demo

"oh look! *another* see-saw puzzle!"

Varied

Great game imo.

Can't wait to get this.

Sarky

I played until I got the shotgun. I judge a FPS purely on how satisfying the shotgun weapon is, and so far I have not been disappointed. Half Life, Serious Sam, COD4, Deus Ex 3 even, they all had delightful shotties with a shoulder-smashing kick, gloriously satisfying damage output and a roar like the hounds of Hell.

Doom 3's shotgun handled, sounded and looked like a budget airsoft knockoff. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't play any further.

Duggy747

The shotgun is a big factor for me too and id usually deliver in spades with a good boomstick.

This, however, sounded like I was firing bits of tins of beans at people.

I thought the game was ok, not a Doom game at all and was incredibly bland in terms of monsters and level designs.

I got bored and decided to play around with the engine and posting these pics up on the Picture Of The Day thing on FileFront:

"Where's the usual receptionist? Oh........eh.....he's..........sick today."


"Hey Joe, watcha doin? What's that? What would happen if I pressed this?"

the_syco

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

Well, I do get what you're saying here, but I like old fps design. Hell, I still enjoy a bit of Wolfenstein 3D from time to time. And yes, the gun sounds could have been way better.

Ah, here. Even Wolf3D had a way better level design than Doom3.

You know a monster will come from the corner. You throw a grenade into the corner. It goes bang. You move forward. The monster comes from the corner. It's too close by now, so you have to waste bullets on it.

And this happens every single time, in every single small corner. And there's heaps of these small corners. And you have to go by the corners.

And if you killed them and went back to collect the health? Yes, you guessed it; the monster would again spawn into the corner!

Wossack

much prefered the following years Quake 4

Doom 3 was ok, but suffered from the the 'extended tech demo' feel of alot of ID games imo. Really felt like it was game made to sell the engine

deathrider

Just spotted on gamespot that this one is apparently gonna be 40quid as opposed to 50. Still seems a bit steep for a 10year old game. It's got expansions and the first to games too. Do these additions really even out the price though?

Ardent

deathrider wrote: »

It's got expansions and the first to games too.

As in the levels from the first two games?? That would be awesome..!

deathrider

Ardent wrote: »

As in the levels from the first two games?? That would be awesome..!

Whatever expansions were available for Doom 3 the first time round, I guess. It says:

The BFG Edition includes remastered versions of the 2004 first-person shooter, its 2005 expansion Resurrection of Evil, and The Lost Mission, a new seven-mission pack. It also contains the original Doom and Doom II games