I guess this is the fun part of expectations. “DOOM 3” was the final “DOOM” game that I needed to play to have completed all of the mainline entries in the franchise. I enjoyed the first game, thought the second was just okay, was pretty indifferent towards “DOOM 64,” and of course, I quite love the reboot entries. So, “DOOM 3” happened to be the last one I needed to play, and what aI guess this is the fun part of expectations. “DOOM 3” was the final “DOOM” game that I needed to play to have completed all of the mainline entries in the franchise. I enjoyed the first game, thought the second was just okay, was pretty indifferent towards “DOOM 64,” and of course, I quite love the reboot entries. So, “DOOM 3” happened to be the last one I needed to play, and what a polarizing one to end with. When it came out in 2004, “DOOM 3” faced massive expectations as it felt the pressure to modernize the classic “DOOM” formula to keep it up to step with the then-modern FPS giants around it like “Half-Life 2” and “Halo 2,” while still being faithful to the legacy of perhaps one of gaming’s most historic franchises. It didn’t really land with a thud (critics seemed to dig it), but a number of fans were a bit disappointed with it. And while it also wasn’t outright hated, the 2012 “BFG Edition” saw some criticism for a few of the changes that it made to the original game. Thus, when walking into the game for the first time, a number of people warned me that the game was, to them, the weakest of the “DOOM” games, and that I might not have a fun time with it. And while I don’t think the game is an under-appreciated classic or anything like that…I can’t say I’m overly disappointed in it. In fact, I can honestly say I didn’t mind the game.
Even among those disappointed by “DOOM 3” when it first came out, one of the big things many appreciated about it was the cutting-edge graphics. Even today, I think the game visually holds up. The lighting and shadow effect remain strong, the environments are suitably creepy for the game, and even when played on the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode, I had no qualms about how the game looked. Gameplay-wise, perhaps the most polarizing thing about the game was the sudden heel-turn into survival horror, and I see why people would not be happy about that: aesthetically, this game often feels so far removed from what “DOOM” usually is, and it is a wild change. For me, though, I don’t mind the change: when I played through “DOOM II” and “DOOM 64,” they both felt so similar to the original that it gave the franchise this feeling of “if you’ve played one, you’ve played them all,” so I think with “DOOM 3,” I was able to scratch that itch for some change. And even with the change in aesthetics, I still think the gunplay is very solid, the game performs well even in handheld mode on the Switch, and it feels like the game managed to successfully push itself and feel a bit different here. In a lot of ways, I look back at this and I think it was a very valiant effort for id Software to turn in the wildest, most different direction they could, and for the most part, I think it works.
That said, there are a number of frustrations that really added up for me and brought down the experience: while I was totally okay with the change in aesthetics as a whole, I do think it caused the enemy designs to feel a bit bland, and it makes me glad the recent games have brought the designs closer to the original games. I also found that the game struggled a bit with some repetitive level design, with environments that blended together a bit to the point where I felt the game could’ve been shortened a bit, and I wasn’t crazy about having to fight through the “advanced darkness” the game provided me with, even with the use of the flashlight. Perhaps this is also just me, but I was also a bit bothered by some quality-of-life issues in the game: the way that you have to continuously cycle through multiple weapons to get to the one you want was understandable for the first few “DOOM” games, but by 2004 (or 2012, for the BFG Edition), was that not too dated of an element for them to remove? And further into the QOL area, as a game that tries to focus more on story, I personally wish the game offered subtitles. Maybe that’s just me, but I really enjoy playing games with subtitles on, and this game felt like one that really could’ve used them.
All in all, though, while I don’t think “DOOM 3” is a hidden gem or anything like that, I certainly think it’s far better than a lot of people led me to believe. For its time, it was a pretty valiant effort of id Software to try and modernize “DOOM” and make some big changes to it, and while it doesn’t totally stick the landing, it’s far from a bad try. Do I think it stands up there with the FPS games that released around it like “Half-Life 2” and “Halo 2?” No, but I do think it’s a perfectly solid game that, for all the age, wear and tear that it might have collected, can still provide some rare moments of rip-roaring fun. And while I wouldn't recommend rushing to the eShop to get it, you can do worse than the game's $10 price tag, especially given how great Panic Button's porting job is here.
Final rating: 6 out of 10 "Decent"… Expand
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