Having tried a number of mods to make Doom 3 run in VR on both PC and Oculus Quest, we were pleased to see the game getting the official VR treatment. We have now played through Archiact’s port of the game, so how does it hold up?
Story
Doom 3 is set on Mars in 2145, where the military has set up a scientific research facility looking into teleportation, biological research and advanced weaponry. The research into teleportation is used by Malcolm Betruger to open a gateway to Hell, which means Mars is attacked by demons. In an unlucky day in the life of a space marine, you have arrived on Mars just in time to have to fight through the demons to stop them overtaking Mars and reaching Earth.
Gameplay
Given this is a port Doom 3, you go into it knowing what the expect from the game, even if you’ve not played Doom 3, but other Doom titles. The core gameplay is the fast paced, kick-ass and brutal gun-play. Which really gets frantic at times given the amount of enemies you could be facing at once and also the sheer scale of some of them.
However, something Doom 3 does a bit differently from the other games in the series, it brings dark and dim-lit corridors – giving it some horror suspense not found in the others.
Outside of the great fast-paced combat, it carries on the idea that all Doom games have followed since the original. Which is, between the mass slaughtering of enemies you are going to be looking for PDA’s or ID Cards to help you get through previously locked doors, and to your next objective.
Presentation
If you were hoping for an update in presentation to go with the newer version being made, you will be disappointed. This is just a straight up port of the original game, meaning you will be getting a mix of both 3D and then flat textures portraying 3D effects. However, the does not distract from the experience of getting to play this classic in VR.
One thing we were surprised to find out is that the game currently has no benefits of playing it on the PlayStation 4 Pro, meaning no enhancements for playing on the PlayStation 5 also. However, it still performs smoothly and looks nice inside of the HMD.
With the more horror approach that the Doom 3 went with, the audio is going to bring the suspense and atmosphere of Doom with a little twist. This keeps you constantly on edge and being in the space station in VR, brings that extra little bit of dread. Outside of the atmosphere with this being a AAA release originally, you can expect great voice acting and sound effects throughout the whole game.
Comfort/Controls
Firstly I only played the using the DualShock 4 and not the Aim Controller, however, from people I have spoken to they all say it is implemented well.
With the game port being given to Archiact, a team who have a great understanding of VR, you get a plethora of Comfort options in the game. Making the game playable to any user, never mind their level of VR legs, and can also be played seated or standing.
Playing the game with the DualShock 4, you are going to get what you would expect in the means on controls when playing a first-person shooter. But, the one thing different you will be aiming using the motion control element of the gamepad. At first this took some getting used to, having played every Doom game using the analogues to aim – but, after you’ve played for about twenty-minutes, it soon becomes second nature.
Longevity
The campaign took me around seven-hours to complete, but the fast and frantic gameplay and the feeling of being the bad-ass that Doom always gives you, means there is reasons to go back and play the campaign again on different difficulties. The game also comes with the expansion pack that was released Resurrection of Evil and The Lost Mission, which will add a further five to six-hours of game time. Given you plenty for the £15.99 (GBP) the game costs.
REVIEWED USING PLAYSTATION 5 AND PSVR (V.2)
For the purposes of transparency, this review was created using a review code provided by the company or their respective PR company. The use of a press code does not affect my judgement of the product.
Review Overview
The team at Archiact have done a solid job porting Doom 3 over to VR. Keeping all the elements that made it great on release back in 2004. With being in the Doom universe in VR adding more to the intense atmosphere the game brings with it, and taking on those huge bosses in VR is just something you have to take in. However, it was a shame to see no updates to the visuals and also it not including any PS4 Pro enhancements,, even taking that into account, the game still looks nice and performs well. Priced at £15.99, you are getting plenty of value for your money, with the game also including the expansions that were released – totalling around thirteen-hours of game time. If you have PSVR, this is one that should not be overlooked.
