Anyone else feel like Doom 3's weapons are underappreciated?

[Samz707]

I haven't used all of them yet but I've people give them a bad rep, really the only "bad" one is the shotgun and even then it just needs a slightly more consistent spread since sometimes even point-blank shots fail to instant kill zombies if you're really unlucky, as so far each weapon feels like it has it's own distinct role more than any other game in the series.

 

Fists: Honestly the only true redundant, if you're kinda bad at melee I guess the faster time before you can attack again might be useful, Berserker packs exist but they're extremely rare so it's extremely rare you'll use your fists in Doom 3.

 

Flashlight: Doubles as a tool, also hits harder than Fists, while the Chainsaw makes it redundant, it'll be a long while before you get it and even then you still need the flashlight to find items tucked away in dark sections of the map. (which is a mechanic I like and wish came back, Doom 1 had the occasional section where it'd be super-dark so I wish we'd get a Doom game that, while mostly bright, does dip into darkness every now and then.)

 

Chainsaw: Kills things good, not much more to say, I really like how Chainsaw Zombies are a thing now and it honestly flat-out terrified me to see the classic weapon being used against me.

 

Pistol: It's surprisingly powerful and capable of two-shot kills on handful of enemies if you have good aim as it's quite accurate too, it can be used as a some-what weak sniper weapon due to the fact it doesn't seem to have much spread at all, ammo is abundant, I've seen people claim the pistol in Doom is always bad, and while that's kinda true in 1/2016, (1 because it's just a slower firing mini-gun that's only good if you're low on ammo and have an itchy trigger finger to force you to conserve ammo and 2016 because it's gimmick of unlimited ammo is pointless since Glory Kills practically make ammo conservation a non-issue and it's alt-fire is done better by literally every other explosive weapon in the game.) I feel Doom 3's Pistol (And the Holy Water Pistol from Doom 2 RPG for different reasons) actually fills a viable role for most of the game, (in this case as your "sniper" against weaker foes.), it actually does more damage than the Machine Gun and really only comes across as weak I think since Imps are actually more durable in this game compared to 1 and 2016, the Pistol actually gets to fill it's own role now rather than "Chaingun but slower for those with itchy trigger fingers who use up too much ammo or because you haven't got the Chaingun yet."

 

Shotgun: Powerful close-range tool, it's spread is admittingly a bit too spread out but shoving the muzzle of this thing in a zombie/Imp's face and pulling the trigger tends to take them out pretty effectively, ammo is also really abundant (and Doom 3 Marine can actually carry a rather high amount of spare shells.) so having to take a second shot isn't too bad most of the time.

 

Machine Gun: Full auto goodness, aim for the face and Imps/Z-Sec stop being a problem, it's accurate, fires fast and just fits a good assault rifle role, my only complaint is that it kinda has too much ammo in certain sections of the game to the point where you can practically use the thing exclusively. (and unlike the shotgun, it doesn't have a real trade-off aside from it's bullet spread compared to the pistol, which generally admittingly isn't a problem and the high amount of ammo means that wasting ammo isn't a big concern.)

 

Chaingun: It uses it's own rare ammo now but it hits like a truck (Doing essentially double the damage of the already powerful pistol.), Doom 1's Minigun was just the pistol with a faster fire-rate (and I haven't got to the chaingun in 2016 yet but I know it shares Heavy Assault Rifle Ammo so I wouldn't surprise me if it's the Doom 1 problem all over again.) but this feels like it's own distinct weapon from the pistol and the fact it uses it's own rare ammo means it can stand on it's own now instead of just "Pistol but faster.", after feeling like just an almost straight upgrade for the pistol, it's great to have the Chaingun actually be able to be it's own weapon where it can have both the damage and rate of fire of a chaingun that you have to consider if it's limited ammo is worth using during encounters, this thing IMO manages to provide the thrill of being in a tough spot and bailing yourself out via whipping out your powerful rare weapon trump card you've been saving for this exact moment that the BFG provides.

 

Plasma Gun: Ammo while not always common, outright blocks enemy projectiles, this gives it a surprisingly effective use as a way to negate enemy projectiles, that said ,I do think it's a bit OP. (since demons don't say, dodge around and instead try to go for melee when they know their projectiles are going to be blocked by the Plasma shots and while ammo is somewhat rare, its really only to the point where you can't exclusively use this thing.)

 

Grenades: These things are only 20 points of damage (according to the Doom wiki) less than the Rocket Launcher, they make a great tool as an early "Kill this thing NOW" weapon as they can one-shot a surprisingly large amount of enemies but Grenades are rare enough to the point where you'll want to somewhat conserve them as using them in every fight is impractical, they're a bit of a skill-weapon since thrown uncooked and without a direct impact they bounce around and probably will miss their target, take the time to actually cook them/line up a direct impact though and if the thing you're fighting isn't dead yet, it's going to be heavily injured, they're great as well for dealing with Shield/hiding behind cover Z-Sec while reducing damage to yourself (Shame Z-Sec never throw them at you though, that'd be quite terrifying.) or if you want to quickly terminate an Imp from a distance.

 

So while I've not used all the weapons yet, I feel like every weapon manages to fit it's own role in combat, even the pistol which usually is overshadowed by everything else.

Edited April 16, 2021 by Samz707

[Mayomancer]

Yeah

[D4NUK1]

For me the problem with Doom 3 that dont happens with same games of the style, it's their redundancy with their upgrades, it's just make you go with the weapons that do more damage instead of the weapon that could be more usseful in their situation.

 

Fist and Flashligth could be their same slot. So normally, the marine would use the metal flashligth to bang out the zombies and keep them away. With Berseker, the marine can see better in the darkness ("Instead of blurry of your screen") and go with Punches that make yours enemies a bloat of blood, brain and skeletons. That would make at least the punching more memorable.

 

Chainsaw then it's good it's outclass any meele weapon, including the Shotgun, a fuel meter could be used for a balance of how OP is (Fuel system more like KF2 one, not the NuDoom style).

 

Pistol and Machine Gun: It's so Slooow but fits with the Survival horror style of game, maybe if the machine gun was more like 40 bullets instead of 60, and the ammo pool less that the original numbers, could be used in deciding if it is better to attack fast or far (That would be if the Machine Gun was so accuarate, so i just dich the pistol.

Pistol and Flashligth: But other game with Flashligth as a Tool for progress it's Dementium the Ward and Cry of Fear. In this game you can dual wield the pistol and their respective flashligths. So it's another factor to deciding if it is better to attack fast or see what to attack precisely in the Dark at cost of low damage weapons.

ChainGun and Plasma Rifle: This is in reallity a fitting chose. You can use the plasma to bring slow projectiles that can ligth the place and hallways across the fire. Or you can go Brrrr to the horde of enemies or that Overpowered enemie that you want to kill as soon. Both with they own ammo pool so that's cool.

 

Grenade and Rocket: If the trow of the grenade was not so WACKY sometimes, this could be a cool sidegrade to the rocket launcher likes it's does in Half Life 2. In a game where it's a lot of corners or strech places, Grenades are more usefuls that rockets if you can trow and bouce it rigth. It's just need the It's works here place more expanded across the game, and also lower the rockets that you have. It's just make me rocket the ground in places where enemies can spawn instead of trowing grenades where they wil walk.

 

BFG and Soul Cube: Very different Power weapons, so no comparation.

 

Opinion for someone that happens to beat Doom 3 like 5 times at least (and others 2 in BFG version just to see the changes)

[Maes]

The Chainsaw is kinda meh in Doom 3, IMO. OK, it's a heavy hitting weapon, but it's also a pure melee weapon only, and does not always protect you from retaliation.

 

Which is something to consider, when most monsters are far more more agile than you are at melee (and generally at moving around). Even a zombie's sucker punch does quite a lot of damage and can combo you before you realize it, and you sure don't want to trade claws/bites with anything more powerful.

 

I only ever used it in the warehouse area where you first get it, and after a couple of encounters, realized its limitations and put it away. I didn't feel the need to use it or think it'd fit better in any other part of the game after that. Now, if you got it WAY earlier in the game and mostly used it against slow moving zombies and ambushed imps, then OK, maybe.

[snapshot]

Doom 3's chainsaw is so overpowered it can tear through almost anything the game throws at you if you master the movement mechanics.

Edited April 21, 2021 by sluggard

[Maes]

Well, in the original Doom it was quite a low-risk, low-effort, medium reward weapon, at least against specific enemies. Pinkies/Spectres and Lost Souls (unless charging) were no brainers, while you could even use it against Cacos and PEs in the right circumstances. Just point it towards the enemy and give it some gas. The "medium reward" part comes from it taking relatively long to kill most enemies, so basically you traded ammo/skill for time.

 

In Doom 3 it's more of a high-risk, high-reward weapon, closer to how you'd use the Berserk fist in the original..against Barons. Even one mistake in melee costs dearly.

 

Edit: now that I think of it, I did use it regularly against Cacodemons, and it did kill them quite fast. Worked OK against Commandos too, if you dodged their whip attack (but then again, EVERYTHING would work well at that point). But against pretty much anything else...the rest of the bestiary was just too unpredictable at melee range, and simply outperformed the player at mobility. Not a weapon to have selected all of the time, by any means.

Edited April 21, 2021 by Maes

[xdarkmasterx]

Pistol - Junk

 

Shotgun - The best shotgun in doom history lol

 

Machine gun - Only good for lost souls

 

Plasma gun - Rubbish

 

Grenades - Decent, would be better if they didn't bounce back into your face if you missed

 

Chaingun and rocket launcher - God

 

BFG - Disappointing

 

Chainsaw - Would be great if the melee hitboxes weren't god awful, but they are, so it's shit :p

 

Soul Cube - Helps tedious fights go by quicker

 

Artifact - Super OP, ruins the game

[whatup876]

I kinda like the BFG's charge mechanic because it made it unique and even fitting.

It also relates to how even that weapon has reloading and there's the limit that, if you cross it, it explodes on you.

It's also when the tendril system from Quake 2 is borrowed.

The Sabaoth is an interesting boss because of this: We went from "possessed soldiers with ingame guns" to "your possessed boss with THE BFG" and he's a tank man. (and the sawyer also counts but instead of BFG, it's the chainsaw)

 

edit: oh and the BFG's sounds were memorable too

Edited January 22, 2022 by whatup876
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