Doom 3: BFG Edition – review

This collection of all three entries of the hugely influential first-person shooter series Doom inverts the usual rule for vogueish remasters – that the older the game, the less fun it is to play in an age of HD blockbusters. Instead, here, it's the relatively recent Doom 3 that struggles, while 1993's original Doom, the precursor to Halo, Call of Duty and the rest, still shines.

The problem is, perhaps, one of ambition. Released for the Xbox in 2005, Doom 3 is just one generation old and it tries, imperfectly, to achieve heights now taken for granted – near-realistic visuals, action woven into a compelling narrative, extra layers of story scattered through the world in PDAs and audio logs. In striving for more, it appeals less. Enemies move stiffly, even comically, as they weave down space station corridors and roll, robot-like, into cover. Everyone – hellspawn and space marine alike – appears lifelessly pale and glazed, like an undead doughnut.

Doom and Doom II, however, are still enormously fun. They're simpler, smoother, faster and accomplished – innovative and genre-defining in the face of technological limitations, rather than defined and impoverished by them.