Note: This game may require an additional serial key for multiplayer mode. In case it is not automatically generated in your GOG.com library (open it via website → select the game → More → Serial Keys), please reach out to our Support team.
This used to be my favorite DOOM game, a solid FPS that delivered an enjoyable experience. While I understand why some people may dislike it for deviating from the previous entries, it remains a standout for me. The atmosphere, the audio work, the art direction, the hauntingly beautiful design of the demons, the UAC marine's armor, and the weapons were all perfectly executed. It’s my second favorite DOOM game. I remember being mesmerized by the game from a Toys "R" Us Christmas shopping manual.
...but it still good! (although, personally, the horror genre truly isn't my favourite)
Doom 3 (and Doom BFG Edition, which changes the game completely) was supposed to be the 'new' direction of the Doom franchise, after Doom 64, into the Horror genre, switching the frantic gameplay with... something still frantic (to be honest, the 'scary' part and the over used I-got-no-ideas-so-let's-use-them Jumpscares only last, for like, less than half of the game.) but with some... undecisive design choices.
Man, this is confusing. Let's start from the beginning.
Doom 3 (or, better yet, Doom remake) is a Horror/''survival'' FPS with a weird paced gameplay (but utterly solid gun-play. After all folks, it IS still ID software) and a strange case I-wanna-do-like-system shock game kind of narrative. And, for its time, Doom 3 actually brought, beside the new big graphic, also an innovative light and dark system, perfectly fused with the gameplay (I mean, the torch system is fundamentally what separated Doom from its peers, at the time). Now, if it WEREN'T Doom (and I'm reviewing it like it wasn't Doom) that would fine and dandy... However, since it is Doom, and Doom means killing demons and extremely fast-paced gameplay, the choice of making it slow (from character movement to the pace of story) but then adding features that truly doesn't add well from the old franchise... welp, it isn't great (and yet it is still fun, just not like previous instalments).
This issue was apparently so obvious that they try to mend it (and to show something out of a refined game theory, that is changing entirely a game by changing only two of its mechanics) by releasing the BFG edition, which removes the need of a separate torch (now you can always see where you are shooting) and let's you find way more ammo... and makes the game even worse, since it removes the need of survival.
Anyway, is worth it? YES! Doom 3 (even BFG) is still an ID game, and that means marvellous!
The game is really great, no question. But it has a big problem. The BFG Edition is not running under Windows 11. I don't understand why Bethesda did not fix it. That is why I give 3 stars.
