iPhone It In: Doom Resurrection

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 7th 2009 at 3:30PM }

What's the most you would spend on a game for your iPhone? Not a port, mind you, but a brand new game based on a classic franchise, developed specifically with the iPhone's control system in mind -- $5? $7? How about $10? Try as I might, while playing id Software's latest Doom iteration -- Doom Resurrection -- it was near impossible to shake the uneasy feeling that $10 is just a bit too much money for the experience.

Truth be told, the game is "big" -- Doom Resurrection could easily be ported to gaming-specific handhelds -- though it weighs in under 100 MB. The problem with the scope of the game, however, is the resultant long load times and an occasionally choppy framerate -- the length of time it takes to jump into the game make it something I don't want to play on my way here or there (full disclosure: I'm using an iPhone 3G and it may run significantly better on the 3GS).

Gallery: Doom Resurrection

Which isn't to say my experience with DR was a bad one, per se, just one that I wouldn't necessarily take with me on the go. I spent the lion's share of my time with the game sitting on my couch, able to sit through loading screens, away from the sun's glare -- a necessity given the dark, gloomy environments of DR. It was clear early on that the game isn't intended for the morning commute.

When I finally got into the game, however, I was quickly greeted with a variety of UI customization, a load of recognizable, classic Doom weapons, impressive graphics (taken from Doom 3 mostly), and a decent, though predictable, story. The game is an on-rails shooter with a motion-sensitive control system -- one that works surprisingly well. Unlike other id Software releases on the handheld (Wolfenstein 3D Classic and the upcoming Doom Classic), player-controlled movement has been removed in favor of streamlined gameplay.

And, most of the time, the system works. An option menu allows for quick recalibration of your shooting reticle -- something I found myself doing more often than I'd have liked -- and a slight brightness adjustment. Escalation Studios (the game's developer) even threw a dodge/cover button into the HUD for use in certain firefights, helping to mix up the gameplay from enemy to enemy.

Unfortunately, like other iPhone games that require screen tilting, I often found myself contorting my head to see what was happening on the screen, desperately trying to avoid screen glare that would get me killed. Thankfully the game's difficulty is forgiving enough that I never felt "cheated" or not in control.

Can I suggest you immediately drop $10 on the first classic id Software resurrection to hit your iPhone, without a demo to check out first? Not really, no. Wait for a weekend deal -- you could spend $5 in a lot worse ways.

Doom Resurrection ($9.99, id Software.):

Tags: doom, doom-resurrection, escalation-studios, id-software, iphone-it-in

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Storm Eagle::The Blood Edge @ Jul 7th 2009 3:34PM

I'll wait for the Duke.

ilovethewaggle @ Jul 7th 2009 3:39PM

What are you bitching about? Bejeweled and Tetris along with a bunch of other non graphically intense games are $10 or more at the Sprint online store. This itteration of Doom seems like a steal compared to that shit.

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Jul 7th 2009 3:56PM

Why would you compare iPhone games to games from Sprint? That doesn't make sense. Maybe if it was on Sprints service for $10 it would be a good deal, but in the App Store you can get a lot more for $10.

Captain Planet @ Jul 7th 2009 3:40PM

Thank god for Installous. $10 is way to much for something you'd probably play for about a week.

Shadsy @ Jul 7th 2009 4:27PM

I think it's amazing how quickly standards for games have increased. On the NES we were totally comfortable shelling out $50-$60 for a game that we could beat in an hour, and now we won't spend $10 on something that lasts us a week. Remember when $10 for a game was a bargain? That was... maybe a year ago.

Technology changes really, really fast.

Ricky @ Jul 7th 2009 5:12PM

@Shadsy An NES game that can be beaten in one hour? Funny, not one NES game comes to mind matching that criteria. That era of gaming was full of limited continues, non existent checkpoints, and 24 digit alphanumeric chapter skip codes. I implore you to play Battletoads and get back at me after an hour let me know if you've beaten it.

Shadsy @ Jul 7th 2009 6:02PM

I was thinking Excitebike, Urban Champion, Mario Bros. 1, Donkey Kong, etc. There's a ton of incredibly small games like that we were pumped to pay full price for, and now people are complaining about paying $10 for a game that'd last a week. It's crazynuts.

Captain Planet @ Jul 7th 2009 7:02PM

It's not so much that technology changed dramatically, but we as consumers have changed. I'm not a gamer that's into cheap thrills, I like games that I can play consistently for at least a year. Games like Halo 3, CoD4, Tetris, Rolando, Dawn of War 2, Left 4 Dead, etc. You could say, I want more bang for my buck. I don't think purchasing a game for $49-$59 that has no multiplayer and less than 15 hours of gameplay is worth my time. It was great when I was kid, I didn't give a shit what the fuck was in my NES or Genesis.

Shadsy @ Jul 7th 2009 8:00PM

I think the tech's got something to do with it too, since there was no point making a $5 game if it was only going to be available in brick-and-mortar stores with limited space.

But yeah, not giving a shit about what you play was AWESMOE.

Levi @ Jul 7th 2009 11:18PM

Yeah, Ricky, there are a number of NES games that can be beaten in an hour. The thing is, CAN you beat them? I'd dare to say that the majority of NES games could be beaten in one hour if you were good enough. Look at games like Battletoads - I'd bet the game doesn't take more than an hour if you don't die. It's just that nobody has ever beaten the game. Ever.

Mario 1 is a perfect example. The first game that comes to mind, the game that was bundled with the NES, and it can be beaten in under an hour. Mario 3 as well. Mega Man games, if you are good at them. There are plenty. [-]!!!

[tre] @ Jul 7th 2009 3:42PM

Maybe my dad might buy it. Probably not.

C @ Jul 7th 2009 3:44PM

My main issue is that the gameplay wheres thin after a while, and it' s more akin to Doom 3 than Doom 1 or 2 (people who've played all three should get my meaning). id really needs to return to its horde of enemies approach rather than survival horror like they've been trying to turn the Doom license into.

Doom doesn't need to be 'modernized', id -- it just needs to be itself. Doom 1 and 2 were great titles because they were twitch shooters with iconic atmospheres and satisfying weapons. I think Carmack thought we all loved it because it was suspenseful - and, yes, at the time it was - but that was 10% of the pie that was Doom. The other 90% was memorable enemies, weapon assortment, fantastic pacing, ingenious level layout and a simple paragraph of text that let you know you won the day at the end of the game.

BRING IT BACK!

Levi @ Jul 7th 2009 11:19PM

I agree. Doom 4 will disappoint me if there are no colored keys and locked doors to use them on. No more diaries, the story wasn't good enough for it.

aggrazel @ Jul 7th 2009 3:50PM

I would be fine paying $10 for doom if they released a 'shareware' version so I could tell if I liked the controls on the iphone. Heck, the entire first episode was shareware back in the day. id built itself on the shareware concept.

Diragor @ Jul 7th 2009 3:57PM

FWIW, yes, it does run significantly better on the 3GS. Load times are short and it's *never* choppy.

Storm Eagle::The Blood Edge @ Jul 7th 2009 4:10PM

I hope this doesn't become a recurring issue or isn't some cheap ploy to get older iPhone users to upgrade to the "S". 'Cuz it ain't happenin'. I've only had my iPhone for a year and there's no real reason to upgrade.

Andrew Timson @ Jul 7th 2009 7:22PM

It's not a cheap ploy; it's just a case of software running better on better hardware, same as any game over the last thirty years.

TiaMaster @ Jul 7th 2009 4:04PM

Um...methinks it does run "significantly better" on the 3Gs, since I have none of the problems listed in the article.

Donalds5 @ Jul 7th 2009 4:06PM

i payed 10 dollars for assassins creed the day it came out, wasnt worth it and i shouldve waited because since then it has gone down 5 dollars and that is a good standing price, with sims 3, i bought it for 10, i think its like a 7 dollar game imo, and peggle i bought for 5 dollars a week before it went on sale for 99cents and i think the 5 dollars was worth it, now seeing doom out, ill wait on it, even though it looks good, i think ipod games should be 5dollars or less in the future, 10 dollars is way too much for a iphone/ipod game

Donalds5 @ Jul 7th 2009 4:08PM

As i forgot to mention too, i bought mgs touch and that i think the 7 dollars was good because it had like a dlc update for it, and made it so much better and it gave a lot of good wallpapers to use for you ipod

AND DONT FORGET, DONT BUY GAME RIGHT AWAY, MGS HAS A DEMO, ASSASSINS CREED HAS A DEMO, and i bet you a lot of other expensive games have/or are getting free demos soon

Rax Dakkar @ Jul 7th 2009 4:09PM

Glad to hear on the podcast that you finally picked up Drop 7. Really, do you need any iPhone games after that one?

Stanley @ Jul 7th 2009 4:25PM

I've found Doom Resurrection for the iPhone to have superb graphics and a surprisingly enjoyable control mechanism.

However, I'm not sure if the game will have much replay value in its current form. A less constrained environment like the traditional Doom titles might make the game more appealing for long-term use.

Otsego_Undead @ Jul 7th 2009 4:31PM

+1 Agreed. Deffinitely dont see replay value.
It runs fantastic on my 3GS btw.

Danny F. @ Jul 7th 2009 4:32PM

Being bored one afternoon i went ahead and got it for my 3GS and can definitely confirm that it runs very smooth on the new hardware, but with graphics its putting out I can see why its choppy on the old iphones.
Worth $10? kiiiiiinda.
A must buy when price drops? yes, definitely.

Cellien @ Jul 7th 2009 4:35PM

I definitely want the game, but $10... I have an issue getting over that price hurdle. However, Ironically I agree with Carmack about what he said in regards to pricing needs to float at around $10 so the App store can be taken seriously and get multi-million dollar funded games. He has a good point.. I guess I am just cheap.

www.blackhivemedia.com

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Jul 7th 2009 4:45PM

There is a spot inside your profile page that you can put your web site address in, please don't spam us with it.

Cellien @ Jul 7th 2009 5:10PM

Spam would be excessive posting. But I understand, and thanks for the tip! :)

Kattleox @ Jul 7th 2009 4:46PM

Didn't id say that the iPhone was more powerful than the PSP or even the PS2? That it was a snapshot of the future of handheld gaming? I'm sorry, but I'm really not feeling that with this game.

profeteer @ Jul 7th 2009 4:50PM

I played it on the train, and it wasn't too bad (thought I do get to work by 7 so sunlight isn't a huge issue). I'd say it's definitely worth around 6 bucks. I wouldn't recommend it for full price, though.

Ben Moore @ Jul 7th 2009 9:45PM

Works smooth as silk on the 3GS, and loads very quickly.

However, I don't get why you claim the glare issue is somehow the game's or the game control scheme's fault. It's clearly a horrific design choice by Apple - as are all glossy screens by any manufacturer. Pretty big "duh" imo.

Don't dig on id or any other game maker because the iPhone high-gloss choice makes it a massive pain to use in almost every lighting scenario.

ShomerMaster @ Jul 7th 2009 5:10PM

I bought Super Monkey Ball for $10, played it for maybe a couple of hours, have never gone back. A new game? Got Peggle for $2, that was just about perfect, probably would have paid $3-$4. Unless it was an AMAZING game, I can't imagine paying any more than $5.