Doom 3: PSVR Review

Released by Bethesda

Platform: PS4 /VR

It's back to hell once again for the Doom franchise - and for the player to experience it in a way hitherto unendured.

In this virtual remake of the 2004 original, it's upto you to take on the hordes of Hell’s demons which have overrun Mars through an inter-dimensional portal and threaten to invade Earth. 

You'll have to battle the demonic invaders through the claustrophobic corridors of an abandoned research facility and into the depths of hell itself to close the portal and stop the demons from getting to Earth.

So far, So Doom.

But what the VR version of the game brings to the classic is the very familiar trope of jump scares and then blasting like crazy to stop being overwhelmed. There's little new in the VR Shooter genre being explored here, but there is a sense that the game is mining the technology for a more than adequate series of frights and kills.

From shining torches down corridors to suddenly discovering something coming for you, the game knows what it wants to do - and simply executes it as reasonably well as any near-20-year-old shooter game can.

With every weapon being fully realized in high resolution, gifted upgraded textures, shaders and visual effects, the game looks its best. To complement their new look each weapon’s sound effects have been completely revamped to be louder and meaner. Ripping and tearing demons has never looked or felt this good - even if the inevitable motion sickness from the speed of the game and movement do come in waves.

The straightforward port of the original and its expansions will entertain in doses, but given the game's more about atmosphere and moodiness than outright shooting like the reboots were, the PS VR version of Doom 3 will only have a limited appeal. 

Immersive and worth it if you have an AIM Controller, Doom 3 may have benefited from a ground up reimagining for VR, but as ports go, it's not the worst thing to have emerged from hell.