Current Events > Can I play original Doom 3 or do I need the BFG edition?

(+) Yeah! (+)

original: $5
bfg: $20

or just fuck it and play Doom95, ZDoom or w/e

Get the BFG edition. It's got the expansions as well as Doom 1 and Doom 2 on it.

The BFG edition has worse graphics but it's otherwise an upgrade.

Original. Doom 3 banks on its dark atmosphere, which BFG ruins by brightening up everything too much. BFG also gives the player too much ammo. Now, is the flashlight a pain in the ass to switch back and forth between in the original? Yes. But the original is true to the creators' visions and can actually creep you out. Its like a weird mix of Half Life, System Shock 2 (minus any RPG elements) and survival horror elements, but with Doom monsters. The BFG edition tries to make it more of a standard action game rather than a darkly atmospheric slow-burner, but the changes make the game worse. If you want a fast paced fragfest, play any other Doom game instead (1, 2, 64, 2016 or Eternal). If you want a slow, dark, atmospheric horror shooter, play the original Doom 3. BFG is neither here nor there, and satisfies neither camp.

The original is better.

play the original

The original is really difficult to play as it doesn't natively support modern display resolutions.

Liu_Kano posted...

Original. Doom 3 banks on its dark atmosphere, which BFG ruins by brightening up everything too much. BFG also gives the player too much ammo. Now, is the flashlight a pain in the ass to switch back and forth between in the original? Yes. But the original is true to the creators' visions and can actually creep you out. Its like a weird mix of Half Life, System Shock 2 (minus any RPG elements) and survival horror elements, but with Doom monsters. The BFG edition tries to make it more of a standard action game rather than a darkly atmospheric slow-burner, but the changes make the game worse. If you want a fast paced fragfest, play any other Doom game instead (1, 2, 64, 2016 or Eternal). If you want a slow, dark, atmospheric horror shooter, play the original Doom 3. BFG is neither here nor there, and satisfies neither camp.

This. I don't know what the hell they were thinking with the BFG version but it totally goes against what the original game was going for. Doom 3 OG is a pretty interesting experience.

CRON posted...

The original is really difficult to play as it doesn't natively support modern display resolutions.

Yeah you'll have to either download a widescreen patch, or Google up old Steam posts on how to adjust the resolution and FOV manually in the game's config file. It's a bit of a pain, but if you're going to play Doom 3 at all, this is the way to do it.

Original for sure. Much better than the BFG Edition.

I played the Xbox One version last year and fucking loved it, and I think that's based on the BFG edition. I can't speak for how it compares to the original through personal experience, but I still think it's great regardless. I loved exploring the environments of Mars, sifting through emails and audio logs.

Liu_Kano posted...

Yeah you'll have to either download a widescreen patch, or Google up old Steam posts on how to adjust the resolution and FOV manually in the game's config file. It's a bit of a pain, but if you're going to play Doom 3 at all, this is the way to do it.

After playing Mass Effect on PC I think I can handle some basic widescreen patches or cfg edits, no problem.

I think I'll play the original Doom 3 (I've played original DOOM 500 times). BFG doesn't sound like a great thing. It seems OK but the original game seems scarier.

I also discovered I have the DISCS for Doom 3 from 2006 or so, might try installing those but I feel like the steam version might be easier.