Doom 3 for PSVR is a solid showcase for Sony’s aim controller

Doom 3 has a long history with VR, so it’s a bit of a surprise that this week’s PlayStation VR release is the first version to ever go on sale. Almost nine years ago, we visited Id Software luminary John Carmack to see for the first time his prototype “Oculus Rift” headset with tape, and Doom 3 was the game he used to show off.

Carmack then moved to Oculus, of course, and I never sent an official Doom 3 VR version until now. Having said that, it’s not like you couldn’t play Doom 3 in VR before – the game is open source and various third-party mods are available, including a recent port to Oculus Quest. So why Doom 3: VR Edition landing only now as a PS4 exclusive?

After playing it for a while, I think I got the answer: the PSVR aim controller is a really good shotgun.

For the best or for the worst, Doom 3: VR Edition is a simple port of Doom 3, including its extensions. That means there’s a lot more content here than most VR shooters, but it also means you spend quite a bit of time watching 2D cutscenes rendered with the kind of quality you expect from a game released in Canada. 2004. PSVR games are not. t known for their visual pyrotechnics, however, and Doom 3The limited technology in the PS4 Pro at least means it can run at a reasonable frame rate and resolution.

Doom 3 itself is a somewhat divisive game that Id struggled to keep up with for a long time before relaunching the series with a great reboot and last year’s sequel. Eternal doom. I decided to focus on the atmosphere and the horror with Doom 3, leaning on the show’s more gloomy moments rather than the rampant monster explosions. You spend a lot of your time sneaking through the hallways, anticipating the next fear of jumping where a demon springs out of nowhere.

In theory, this makes Doom 3 a much better fit for RV than the newer Loss games, which are based on frantic combat that are difficult enough to follow on a regular monitor. (I adapted the reboot into a separate game called Doom VFR in 2017, but it suffered from clunky controls and didn’t play anything like the original.) VR is often all about the atmosphere, and Doom 3 has a lot, even 17 years later.

That said, it’s still an old-fashioned PC first-person shooter. The sprawling levels are designed to be walked through quickly, and they wouldn’t really work with typical solutions for VR locomotion like teleportation. Doom 3: VR Edition forces you to be comfortable with analog stick movement and its possibilities designed to prevent nausea, such as a vignette that limits the field of view and the use of instant rotation instead of free movement on the right stick.

I haven’t had any nausea issues myself, however Doom 3: VR Edition is definitely on the intense side of VR games. It is useful that the PSVR is generally focused on sitting experiences, since it is likely to be used in living rooms. You can play with a regular DualShock controller, which works reasonably well, but there’s no option for Move motion controllers – probably for the best.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Really, however, the only way to play Doom 3: VR Edition is the PlayStation VR aim controller. Sony’s abstract gun-shaped device doesn’t have much support, but it could just as easily have been designed for this version of Doom 3. It gives you all the controls you need, including independent movement and the ability to aim, and – most importantly – it makes you feel like you’re holding a Super Shotgun. The game immediately becomes more immersive and easier to play.

Not all weapons work perfectly with the controller. The starting pistol looks a bit out of step with the two-handed setup of the aim controller, for example, and the machine gun sights don’t quite follow the controller itself. Overall, however, the aim controller is great to use, and this is the only time the PSVR has beaten competing VR systems on the control front. If you have one, that’s the only reason to check out this version of Doom 3.

Yet the original Doom 3Combat wasn’t designed for virtual reality, and it shows. You’ll have to constantly use the 180 degree rotate button when enemies are moving behind you, which really takes a toll on the otherwise smooth controls. There’s no escaping the fact that the game has always been designed to be played with a mouse and keyboard, as long as this version makes the most of its best control option.

Doom 3: VR Edition is a good port, but it’s also a 2004 PC shooter that’s been adapted for VR, and there’s really not much you can do with that. If you’re okay with an experience that ignores most of what we’ve learned about modern VR game design and has an aim controller, this is a reasonable way to spend a few hours destroying demons. But there are better VR shooters – and there are better ways to play Doom 3.

Doom 3: VR Edition is now available on PlayStation 4. A PlayStation VR headset is required.