The Doom has stood at the forefront of first-person gaming, and also with its extreme violence and satanic imagery giving politicians and parents something to complain about. Not content to rest on its laurels, Id released Doom 3 this year and terrified a whole new audience, while also giving its older fans something entirely new to relate with. As if one jaunt into the maw of hell were not enough, the sadistic geniuses behind Doom 3 have released their upgrade game onto the Xbox audience. This is not some wimpy “extra levels” cash-in, but a $30 game, complete with a new solo campaign, new multiplayer maps, and even some more classic gems. I was among the first to be in line to purchase it, and was not disappointed in my quest for terror. Doom 3 seems to enjoy trying to make people defecate themselves, and it appears to be a successful labor of love. Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil will assuredly do the same.

The game takes place recently after the events of Doom 3, with you playing the role of a marine on expedition in Erebus station to discover the mysteries of those freaky ruins. It is mere minutes when, quite literally, all hell breaks loose with your character obtaining a relic that resembles a trembling, heart-like hand grenade. It is then that the action starts, and this game does its job all too well, keeping you in narrow corridors, making you look in the dark corners, always taunting you with visceral sound effects. The story, it would seem, is that there are three demons who seek the relic and its power, and of all the luck, your character is the one who gets it first. While the game starts relatively easy, over the course of the stages, the difficulty gets a good shot of adrenaline, and even on the “Easy” setting, one can only handle so many Hell-Knights and Super Imps at once before getting his or her posterior handed to them on a pentagram platter. Yes, all the familiar buddies are back for a little rave in a science facility, but there are also a couple of new faces, each, of course, with its own entourage of weaponry. The format for playing is the same, as well, with the same PDA format used to access information and unlock new doors, and the locked storage lockers are included, too, offering much-needed ammunition and health when the demons start to wear you down.

Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil is basically a whole new Doom game, and just as in the past, when a new Doom comes out, we have to have new ways to slaughter demons, and just like when Doom 2 released, we have been given the addition of a double barreled shotgun. Although it is slower to reload this gun, the extra wallop this cannon offer more than compensates. It can lay out a Hell-Knight with one blast. Another modification to the game is having the flashlight mounted to the pistol. I, for one, was a little disappointed with this, because that is what made Doom 3 so intense and terrifying. The pitch-dark corridors of the Martian research facility were accented perfectly with the single beam of the flashlight, and the fact that the player was restricted to using either the flashlight or a gun added to the suspense. One final addition to the game play lies in the relic that your character acquires at the beginning of the game. It is a possessed demon artifact that grants your character with a limited number of special abilities, much like the soul cube in Doom 3. The relic, when activated, sends your character into a bullet-time mode, allowing you to move in real-time while the demons and environment are slowed. This ability, while handy in a normal altercation, is essential in solving certain puzzles and for certain boss fights. As you progress through the game, the three demons hunting your character, as mentioned before, will attack you in boss fight fashion, and as you defeat them, your relic will get upgrades to its powers, the first giving you bullet-time, and subsequent powers include the “berserker”.

Perhaps as a gift to all the fans of the series, just as Doom 3 had a special collector’s edition including the original Doom, Id Software has included Doom 2 and Final Doom with Resurrection. And for the fraggers, new multiplayer maps have been added as well, although it still remains lacking in what it offers. Resurrection has not been made with multiplayer sessions in mind. Apparently Id feels that Bungie can keep their fragging sessions and would opt to offer quality solo campaigns to its fans. I am one of said fans and was not disappointed.

In all, Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil is a great game, just as scary as its predecessor. It is lengthy enough to count as a full game, and with the extra content and new levels, this game delivers on all gaming fronts. The graphics are identical to its forebear, and if you disregard the choppiness in the cut scenes, this game will bring a soft tear of joy to us hard core demon lovers.