Doom Resurrection iPhone Review
This sure beats suckin' dust and watchin' restricted flicks in the rec room.
by Mark Bozon
June 29, 2009 - Outside of a few easy transitions touch swinging for Tiger Woods and tilt steering for racers I'm very much in the iPhone camp that wants to see new concepts and entirely redesigned ideas on the platform, rather than ported "virtual analog stick" renditions of games. Metal Gear may have had its own slew of issues, but I'd rather it be a unique offering than a struggling third person game with mediocre on-screen d-pad and buttons or the like. Maybe games will come along in the future that really prove that design theory, but thus far the best experiences I've had on the platform have been entirely original, and that same concept is the driving force behind Doom Resurrection.
So as you'd guess with that handy-dandy intro I just jotted down, Resurrection is anything but classic Doom gameplay. Like the upcoming Wii EA effort Dead Space Extraction, Resurrection is actually an on-rails shooter that mixes tilt aiming with auto-moving stages that tell the story, spawn enemies, and camera lock in battle areas in an entirely scripted manor. Right off the bat I can see how some people would be skeptical about the choice hell, I was but in a matter of minutes it was obvious that the guys at id Software and Escalation Games knew what they were doing with Resurrection. The game started as an FPS, but when it just wasn't working the design got an overhaul, and the project was saved via an all-new design. That's impressive. The game is a little pricey, and with eight levels and about two to three hours that may or may not be enough for some iPhone patrons, but there's no denying that this otherworld entry for Doom is still a hit, and downright entertaining.
It's got the look, the guns, the enemies, the sounds... it's Doom alright.
Doom Resurrection kicks things off in a similar manor to
well
all Doom games, but more specifically Doom 3 in both visual style and core story. You've got a space theme centered around the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) which you find out early on has accidentally opened a portal to hell, and from there you're on a quest to escape the station while blasting the hell out of everything in sight. After a few twists and turns you're sent to hell (It's Doom. Go figure, right?) and have to once again blast the hell out of everything in sight. See the common occurrence in this game? Blasting the hell out of everything in sight? All the while you're followed by a floating drone that is your lifeline to others trapped amidst the chaos, as well as a handy way to unlock doors or stir things up with "protect me" moments and final stands within areas. It's all pretty basic, but it varies up the content nicely.
Enough about the story though. This is Doom.
Screens alone don't do this game justice. It's one of the better looking iPhone games we've seen.
Resurrection's controls are pretty simple, and minus a need for cursor sensitivity (which isn't included; odd) it all works great. The game auto-moves through each of the eight levels, you've got weapon switch between three options that are constantly switching in and out (assault rifle and shotgun always stick around, with the third position saved for chainsaw, minigun, and other big effing guns), a tap in the bottom right of the screen will fire, tilting moves the cursor, and in certain situations a dodge and cover button is assigned to the bottom left of the screen, allowing you to take cover or quickly sidestep enemy fire.
I'm a fan of the design, as every on-rails shooter out there seems to dig the concept of shooting enemy bullets, rather than working in any real evasion. Instead, Doom is like Time Crisis with demons, shotguns, and chainsaws. Nice. Tapping the upper right of the screen reloads, you've got ammo count in the top center (infinite for the assault rifle), and your own health in the bottom center. The options menu also lets you invert the cursor controls if you prefer reversed tilting, and there's a lefty flip for the fire and dodge buttons. With no sensitivity change, however, shooting at corners requires a bit too much of a tilt for my liking, though the game does a nice job of keeping most of the enemies out of the more extreme corners.
Blowing demons into chunks is fun... it's just a shame that blood doesn't look too hot.
The only other issue I had with the game and it's a minor one was the item pickup system, which is all based on tapping the playfield to grab ammo, health, and new guns. For the most part it worked fine, but any time items were located on the corners of the screen (near the fire, dodge, and reload buttons) I found myself hitting the action buttons and unable to pick up items. The main buttons extend out a bit further than their actual art does, so scaling those back a bit would give more leniency for grabbing pick-ups. That said, I'm sure the size was extended so that people wouldn't tap to shoot and have nothing happen, so it's a give and take.
As far as the overall presentation goes, Doom Resurrection is one of the better looking iPhone games, and a true showcase as to what the system can do. Enemy and character models kick the crap out of most 3D games, the lighting is well done, I found myself actually staring at textures while I was walking around, and outside of some iffy blood effects Resurrection is a damn good looking game. There's also a pretty nice amount of enemy variation throughout the game (though level-to-level crossover does happen) and each has their own gimmick to them. Commando zombies require you to take cover, the fatter zombies can grab the player and require a shake to escape, Hell Knights and ArcViles will fire projectiles and have you constantly dodging, and the Forgotten and Maggots do a lot of rush attacks. There's even a fun battle with storming Pinky Demons and a newly-found chainsaw. Classic.
Eight levels will run you around two to three hours. It's not bad, but the $10 price might scare some people off.
On the audio side things are pretty creepy and well produced, though you won't get music for most of the game (outside of menus) and voiceover work is kept strictly to the game's intro. Still, with assets taken and scaled from Doom 3 it's at least obvious where your higher price point is coming from. This is a good looking iPhone game.
Closing Comments
For the most part I had a blast playing Doom Resurrection, and its easily a game Id recommend to players that want a quick-bursts shooting gallery thatll take up a few minutes of dead time. In a lot of ways its unfortunate that this is a $9.99 game though, as its main competition (titles like Tiger, Need for Speed, and Sims from EA) has a whole lot more depth. Still, eight levels at about 10 to 15 minutes each is still a nice amount of content, and you can always go back and play through each stage on harder difficulties to extend play. Doom shares a lot of similarities with Metal Gear Touch, though ids offering is slightly more expensive but stronger overall. Theres no leaderboards for scores though, and while a few new levels for a couple bucks would be a nice addition Im not sure if id wants to mess with the core game at this point, so youre basically getting a couple hours of play (two to three for most) for $10.
If its about the price, there are deeper games out there in the higher pay bracket, but if you have your heart set on Resurrection either spring for the game now (its a fun offering, and itll last you a few good sittings) or hang tight for a price drop. Its a great game, Im a fan of the on-rails design, and its a visual stunner on iPhone. It might just be a bit costly for most impulse buyers.
8.5 Presentation
Doom 3 meets House of the Dead in this true-to-form shooter. The enemies are there, the locales are there, and youve got a nice slew of weapons to boot.
9.0 Graphics
The Doom 3 assets look great in their scaled form. Lighting is well done, textures look great, and model detail is there; you even get dismemberment. Blood could look better though.
8.0 Sound
The same creepy sounds make a return from classic Doom, but you wont get much in the vein of voiceover or musical offerings - Just a bit in menus and intro.
8.0 Gameplay
If youre a fan of rail shooters, this is a great one on iPhone. The cover and dodge system keeps things fresh, and minus cursor sensitivity the team thought of everything.
7.0 Lasting Appeal
Itll last you a few hours, but beyond that theres no leaderboards or any real reason to go back beyond just blasting away at more baddies. Fun, but very limited.
8.0
Impressive OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average
