If you’ve a VR-ready machine and a penchant for jump scares in dark corridors, you’ll be happy to know that a virtual reality version of 2004’s Doom 3 is one short download away.
Wondering which games to buy for your expensive new headset? Check out the best VR games on PC.
Acouple of YouTubers have uploaded gameplay so you can see what it’s like: check outJoshDub– who can be seen walking around his room with an HTC Vive – orThe VR Viking, who says “there is some latency in some areas, but it’s not too bad… Doom 3 is very much playable in VR and I recommend it. I haven’t experienced any discomfort or simulator sickness while playing yet.”
This is something of a surprise since Doom 3 is an old, conventional FPS and the VR version doesn’t use teleportation for movement – an increasingly common solution to simulator sickness in first-person VR design. Reactions do vary from person to person so take care if you’ve felt nauseous in VR before.
Doom 3 was the last title in id Software’s seminal shooter series to be developed with the involvement of company co-founder John Carmack. Carmack has had a noted interest in virtual reality and 3D for many years now, and indeed demoed a version of Doom 3 for Oculus Rift back in 2012, so perhaps the modders have just unlocked existing functionality. In 2013, Carmack left id for Oculus to work on VR full-time.
The mod is available to download nowcourtesy of AerowynX and Codes4Fun on GitHub, so many thanks to them. You’ll need the Doom 3 BFG Edition to play, which you can grab from Steam for £14.99 ($19.99 US).
Bethesda, publishers of this year’s successful Doom reboot, said at E3 this year that both Fallout 4 and Doom 2016 will also be coming to VR, though Fallout 4 seems to be their priority, with a release due by June next year.
It’s a piece of industry received wisdom that VR has yet to find a “killer app” that will make the platform truly indispensible. Will Doom 3 convince you to splash out on a Rift or a Vive?