DOOM 3 Articles - Life After DOOM

Life After Doom

By: Nick P.

Now that Doom 3 has come and gone, you are probably saying to yourself, ‘Well, I better go back to looking up swimsuit models on the net.’ Well, you can do as you wish, but I will be the first to tell you, the Doom 3 experience is not over. To those who did not enjoy Doom 3 or found it disappointing, get the hell away from my face. And to those who enjoyed it and were saddened that it’s all over, I’ve got some good news for you: the Doom 3 experience isn’t over yet. A few mere months after Doom 3’s release came the news that work was already underway for an expansion (well, OK, seriously, who didn’t see this coming?). If you thought you had seen it all, you probably had. Until now, that is. So let’s take a peek at the up-and-coming Doom 3 expansion, Resurrection of Evil, which promises more weapons, baddies, environments. Oh, and it won’t screw up any relationships.

And then there’s the Doom 3 modding community, and the numerous mods, many of which got started prior to Doom 3’s release thanks in large part to a certain, erm, shall we say, leakage. We do not speak its name. Regardless, many fans, finally with new (and legal) copies of Doom 3 endeavored in the Modding Odyssey. So to those who felt that something was missing from the game, and to those who put that copy of Doom 3 away, I say, stay tuned. This expansion may not be revolutionary, but it’s good to kill a weekend or two, if necessary. I can’t say that it’ll be worth the money it costs, but hopefully it won’t be too much, because then it’ll definitely be worth it. We’ll be sure to tell you if it sucks. But even then, don’t go away! For even if the expansion doesn’t wet your whistle, you’ll surely find a mod that will.

Resurrection: The Second Coming

I suppose there’s one question on everyone’s mind (I know, because it’s on my mind, too): Will this expansion be worthwhile? Worth my money? Worth anything? Obviously, I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you what we know so far (however little of it there is). First of all, it’s being developed by Nerve Software. Whether that’s good or bad news is left to the reader to decide, but it should be interesting to have a game with a touch other than id’s. If that doesn’t get the blood flowing, Quake IV is coming our way, alongside id’s next project (whatever that may be). Oh yeah, and a Doom movie is being made that has nothing to do with the game. But let’s not stray from the topic at hand: Life After Doom. At least, not yet.

As far as the story goes, not much has been released, so we’ll have to wait and see. What we do know is that it takes place right after Doom 3, and it’s likely we might even see a bit of Earth (after all, shouldn’t this, by logic, be ‘Doom 3: Hell on Earth’?). What we do know is that you’ll find yourself fighting hell and all the baddies it can dish out again. But I bet you already knew that.

What we can tell you is some of the new hellspawn to be featured in this game. First up are the vulgars. A new addition to the ever-growing list of human-sized, humanoid monstrosities (honestly guys, how about something more interesting), these beasts are like imps on steroids. Does it look familiar? It should; the vulgar model is a slightly reworked version of the original arch-vile model that was shown. I’m happy that it wasn’t thrown out, though the more I read, the more this expansion feels like a regurgitated bit from the gaming industry’s meal. Back to the vulgars, we can say that they are faster and can delve out big amounts of damage fast. Also, they are reported to do a lot more wall-crawling. That sounds like good news. While imps were crawling all over the walls and ceilings in the videos released prior to the game’s released, I was a bit disappointed that the few rare times that happens, it was scripted. Hopefully, this time it won’t be and we’ll have a genuinely interesting addition to the gameplay factor.

One of the more interesting new monsters is the bruiser. Hell-knight sized, and just as big of a cause for alarm, these beasts will make you think twice before approaching a computer monitor. Why? Well, they’ve got one for a head and may lay in disguise as a computer console until you approach them. Sound silly? It won’t once one bursts from the wall and charges after you. No word on what kind of weapons they may have attached to their arms, but you can be sure they’ll pack a punch. I’m betting that, whatever they may be, they’ll be used mainly for clubbing and melee damage, which makes it all that more frightening.

The next monster on the line-up should look familiar: the forgotten. If you didn’t get nostalgia playing Doom 3, now you will, because the forgotten are pretty much the lost souls from the original Doom. Don’t remember? Flying flaming skulls with horns and a nasty bite. Bump-mapping does wonders to their skull form, but you won’t have time to notice that, for chances are that these buggers are gonna be pretty quick. I think it’s safe to assume they won’t have any weapons (like coughing up fireballs), but you never know what game developers will screw up next.

Rounding up the line-up we know so far are the hell-hunters, which are basically hell-knights without legs that float around and, I’m guessing, throw fireballs. I bet they use those claws, too. An interesting feature to these monsters is their ability to warp time and slow everything down (something you’ll be able to do too, but more on that later). That sounds great and all, but the fact that this is just a reworked hell-knight makes the game feel only more like that digested bit I was talking about earlier. Still, I’ll hold off on further comment until I actually play the game.

As for me, I have some ideas of what I’d like to see in this expansion, but I have no word on the subject. Doom 3 was all about tight corridors, fear, and tension. And while I believe this expansion should still retain these qualities and strain for some new ingredients to scare the players shitless, I hope that they do not create a carbon copy of Doom 3. In all honesty, judging from all the screenshots released thus far, that’s exactly what it looks like. I do not want an expansion with more tight corridors. I guess what I’m saying is, more variety in environments. Since I imagine that this sequel would take the battle to Earth, this wouldn’t be too difficult. With Doom 2, id Software pioneered larger environments and more variety, and I’m hoping this sequel to Doom 3 will do the same. You can still deliver shock and pant-soiling fear, but still some larger outdoor environments and vehicles would be nice. And whatever the naysayers might, well, say, the Doom 3 engine can handle it. Quake IV, which is developed with this engine, promises these things, so I see no reason why the expansion pack shouldn’t handle them.

Another thing I’d say to any people from the Nerve Software gang that might be reading this (dream on) would be to bring back more of the old monsters. I’m happy that they reworked the old Arch-vile design and worked it into the game, but how about some Arachnatrons, Spider-Masterminds, and maybe even pain-elementals? And barons of hell? Doom 3 went off on a bit of a tangent from the Doom universe, and if this expansion goes off on a tangent from Doom 3, well, next thing you know, you’ll be fighting colourful aliens on an alien planet with laser guns and gravity weapons.