A mod for the 2004 cult classic Doom 3 lets players assume control of Doomguy once again with full haptic feedback and 1:1 scale demons roaming Mars.
Originally part of the Oculus Rift’s Kickstarter project back in 2012, the dreams of bringing Doom 3 in a fully interactive experience are now a (reality) from indie studio Team Beef. The mod essentially tweaks the Steam version with 360 visuals, higher frame rates for real-time locomotion and body controls. This adds another layer behind Id Software’s survival horror shooter, which preceded Doom‘s new focus for fast-paced gunplay. Instead, VR players would be creeping down the halls of another UAC base with a mission to close a Hell portal on Mars.
This is also the latest (unofficial) Doom game to be released on VR following Bethesda’s own DOOM VFR was released for PC and PSVR in 2017. An official port of Doom 3 would also be in the making by Id Software and Oculus. But ZeniMax developer and one of Doom creator John Carmack was accused of stealing technology when he moved to Oculus. A subsequent lawsuit would order Oculus to pay $250 million in settlements.
Over in VR, the game features an identical story-based campaign as it was released. This is paired with the inside-out tracking of the Oculus Quest and Quest 2, which let players move around their rooms. Players also use a mix of joystick walking to navigate the bloody UAC halls. For gunplay, weapons are also fully-sized replicas players can collect and aim/fire at enemies. Melee combat is now motion-based as players are mercilessly engaging zombies and Imps with fists or ranged weapons. Despite the joys of having Doom 3 in VR, the mod features a number of launch bugs including occasional sound skips in cutscenes and hand tracking. This comes with performance issues which can vary with the Oculus Quest’s mobile-based hardware with improvements over Quest 2.
The fully-voiced cutscenes also vary from first person, while players get a fixed camera during third-person sequences. In VR, the traditional HUD is also incorporated into the environment for realism while the in-game menu is a wrist hologram. Of course, players will be needing the full PC copy of Doom 3 for the VR mod to work. Doom3Quest can be downloaded through the SideQuest app here with instructions. It’s worth noting the mod won’t work with the BFG edition of Doom 3.
