Doom 3: BFG Edition...anybody getting it?

[Freestyler]

I haven't been paying attention to PC development for several years now.

Same here, to be honest. I've just been so deliriously happy with my Xbox 360! Seriously, this generation has come up with some truly astonishing games. I can't wait to see what's coming next. Even if I can wait, if you see what I mean!

Yeah, PC tech has come on in massive leaps and bounds these last five years alone. I think you have to go out of your way to NOT buy a quad-core machine these days, with some coming in six, or even eight core varieties. Now that Windows has dropped the over-reliance on its stale 32bit version we're seeing 4gb PC's being considered absolutely minimum spec, even though on my machine (I have 4gb with Win 7 64bit) even in full gaming mode I'm using less than 3gb total at any one time. 16gb is rapidly becoming standard, even though it's not needed or warranted. Yet, at least.

So yeah, if you've got the money and are totally serious about your gaming habits then the fully specced PC is the way to go. On the plus side the couple grand you'd have spent five years ago wouldn't have bought you even half the kit you would get today.

After all, who wouldn't want Swifty's triple monitor setup at home?

[KM*]

Can't really justify paying $30 for a campaign upgrade and some graphics upgrades. I already have all the original stuff on steam, would have been nice if they had a discounted upgrade.... Nevermind, it looks like I get $10 off actually. Still...

[speedlolita]

After all, who wouldn't want Swifty's triple monitor setup at home?

Me.

My CPU is only a single core i3-2100T (low power) and my GPU is only a 6850 (about £75) and my motherboard is a cheap POS but I can play pretty much anything. What with the AMD APU stuff PC gaming is gonna be a lot more accessible.

[DoraemonTheCat]

As it happens, I have just been plaing Doom II for the last few weeks - it is on Coinops3 on my modded Xbox.
I have wanted to play Doom + Doom II for such an incedibly long time, and I am glad I have finally managed to get into it. I LOVE this game - although I much prefer Duke Nukem 3D - to bad this isn't on Coiops! Never had the good fortune to play either Hexen, Heretic or even Quake, but I will hopefully manage to get to the end of Doom II at some point.

I have watched alot of youtube vidz of Doom 3, and it looks a bit .....lame. Not sure that I will ever be that interested in it

[ToxieDogg]

Well, I bought it for Xbox 360 (only cost me £15, and I didn't have either Doom or Doom 2 from XBLA so it' was a nice deal I thought) and I'm really impressed.

I did enjoy Doom 3 back on the original Xbox (never wanted to use my PC for gaming) but it was too damn dark for the most part, and always got fiddly having to switch from weapons to flashlight and then back again whenever anything attacked. Now, it's much improved with a 'Half Life' style flashlight that you just switch on and off with the L trigger (has a battery meter that slowly runs out and recharges by turning it off) and can be used in conjuction with all weapons. Things are generally brighter too, but even when they aren't, being able to use the flashlight a lot more makes up for it.

Gameplay wise...a lot of people probably won't agree with me, but Doom 3's always been one of those games that's able to genuinely scare me. Sure, it used a lot of cheap tricks like sometimes spawining enemies right behind you, but it works for the most part. Or at least it works on me. There's been loads of times when I've thought I've cleared an area out, only to turn a corner and have an Imp right in my face taking a swipe at me and gone into 'OH SH*T!' panic mode.

Also seems to be a bit more generous than before with medikit and ammo placement. Some might argue that this makes the game easier but I disagree...the original Doom 3 had more than enough ammo and medikits but you'd often only find ammo/weapon caches at specific points and if you took too much damage further on, you'd sometimes have a long trek back for supplies if you needed them...here, they've just spaced things out a little better to make the game flow quicker.

At any rate, I'd still rather play Doom 3 than any CoD game I've played. Only strange thing I've noticed so far is that if you install it to your hard drive, it refuses to let you play Doom or Doom 2 from the main menu screen and tells you to uninstall the game first....however, if you exit to the dashboard, Doom and Doom 2 are readily accessible from the 'My Games' section instead. Only a minor complaint though.

[Dam]

I got this in the post today, I was planning to wait until the price dropped, but I got swayed by a free copy of Rage

I briefly tried Doom 3 on the orgininal XBOX and didn't really like it that much, but I'll give it another go. I've heard the new missions are supposed to be a bit more open plan with multiple enemies, which is how Doom should be! Most likely I'll just play Doom 2 in co-op with my doom-mad friend though.

[Dam]

I got this in the post today, I was planning to wait until the price dropped, but I got swayed by a free copy of Rage

I briefly tried Doom 3 on the orgininal XBOX and didn't really like it that much, but I'll give it another go. I've heard the new missions are supposed to be a bit more open plan with multiple enemies, which is how Doom should be! Most likely I'll just play Doom 2 in co-op with my doom-mad friend though.

[Megamixer]

Gameplay wise...a lot of people probably won't agree with me, but Doom 3's always been one of those games that's able to genuinely scare me. Sure, it used a lot of cheap tricks like sometimes spawining enemies right behind you, but it works for the most part. Or at least it works on me. There's been loads of times when I've thought I've cleared an area out, only to turn a corner and have an Imp right in my face taking a swipe at me and gone into 'OH SH*T!' panic mode.

Same with me mate. Utterly hated hearing echoey noises coming from areas that I'd already cleared - proper scary moments. The worst one I ever had was when I was playing the game in the dark with the sound up and I heard something behind me, spun around and there was a big demon right in my face. I think I shouted out "Oh Sh!t!" or something like that

Haven't been able to pick up the BFG Edition yet due to a lot of money going out on my car this week but the £25 and below price tag in the shops is damn tempting.

[Freestyler]

After all, who wouldn't want Swifty's triple monitor setup at home?

Me.

My CPU is only a single core i3-2100T (low power) and my GPU is only a 6850 (about £75) and my motherboard is a cheap POS but I can play pretty much anything. What with the AMD APU stuff PC gaming is gonna be a lot more accessible.

I wouldn't either actually, it just looks HELLISHLY COOL!

People have even started using six monitor setups for their games too, and - hardware aside - it looks incredible! I barely have room for my 23" monitor as it is, so trying to stick another two (or even five!) on my desk is a whole different ballgame!

[SJ_Sathanas]

I haven't been paying attention to PC development for several years now.

Same here, to be honest. I've just been so deliriously happy with my Xbox 360! Seriously, this generation has come up with some truly astonishing games. I can't wait to see what's coming next. Even if I can wait, if you see what I mean!

Yeah, PC tech has come on in massive leaps and bounds these last five years alone. I think you have to go out of your way to NOT buy a quad-core machine these days, with some coming in six, or even eight core varieties. Now that Windows has dropped the over-reliance on its stale 32bit version we're seeing 4gb PC's being considered absolutely minimum spec, even though on my machine (I have 4gb with Win 7 64bit) even in full gaming mode I'm using less than 3gb total at any one time. 16gb is rapidly becoming standard, even though it's not needed or warranted. Yet, at least.

So yeah, if you've got the money and are totally serious about your gaming habits then the fully specced PC is the way to go. On the plus side the couple grand you'd have spent five years ago wouldn't have bought you even half the kit you would get today.

After all, who wouldn't want Swifty's triple monitor setup at home?

The last brand-new PC I got had a 1ghz Athlon and a TNT2. It got swapped for my brother's old 2ghz Pentium/Geforce4 and I got as far as pricing-up a new build after that (can't recall the details) but I lost interest after that. That Penti4 lasted untill about 2008 IIRC but was hopelessly outdated by then.
I can recall, having just got the Athlon with TNT2, being able to walk into a game shop and buy any game knowing it would run well.

[ZeroCipher]

Got it, First impressions are good compared to the PC version i once had

controls feel good, and general game play has been improved I think.

[binaryRooster]

Doom3 is a weird one. On one hand the game irritatingly loves to open previously sealed doors as you walk past (the designers of the moonbase were really big on storage apparently) to allow your enemies to get cheap shots at your back, the actual enemies themselves aren't that varied and at heart it's a very basic shooter. On the other, it's still really atmospheric, it looks great and the hours fly past when i play it. i'm glad the whole "torch or gun" mechanic has gone - that made it scarier but it was a pain in the ass.

I also found myself playing Doom for the thousandth time which took me back to the "i'll just have a look at this level before i go to bed...censored! It's 2am" days of old.

[binaryRooster]

After all, who wouldn't want Swifty's triple monitor setup at home?

That section on the lag switch was outrageous!! I think it's amazing how you these people can mod the game etc but jesus, would it really hurt to play the game properly and you know, maybe win by using just your skill??

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

I like this but it's not amazing.

[binaryRooster]

I like this but it's not amazing.

I think that pretty much sums Doom3 up. I think the "it's just a tech demo" argument that keeps coming up is harsh - it's only because the graphics and the lighting are really good and the gameplay itself is average. There's plenty of equally unadventurous FPS games out there that don't called that.

The loading sections are a bit screwy though. I had a demon throwing himself towards me and the game decided to load the next section while he was in mid air. Not very well thought out! *Edit: the game also stops to load in the middle of voice overs. What's that about?