Doom 3 in Unreal Engine 5 almost makes it look like a decent game

Doom 3: a divisive game to say the least. Some call it the best in the series, believe it or not, while others, myself included, see it as a bit of a one-trick pony that lacked the staying power and surprise factor of its predecessors. The argument is all rather moot now because, ultimately, Doom 3 put the series on hiatus for a long time before the widely appreciated 2016 reboot. But for some, the candle flame remains lit.

One of those is coder François Montagud, a 3D modeller and designer, who decided to remake a small slice of Doom 3 in Unreal Engine 5. It feels a bit wrong seeing a Doom that isn't on idtech but nevertheless this is a seriously committed piece of work: Montagud has built his own 3D models, textures, animations, and lighting, and the whole thing is being played live in the video. He's not going to release it, obviously, because he doesn't want to be sued into oblivion.

What this reimagining does is zero-in on the horror angle of Doom 3, which was probably one of its strong points. It is brighter than the original game, but the original was too dark anyway (remember the duct tape mod? Essential stuff, you shoulda been there), and obviously the enemy models are not quite of a standard to what a dedicated AAA team might produce. And if you think it looks like they were running a blue light special at the Lens Flare Store, you're not alone: Creator Montagud admits that "indeed, there is too much lens flare, I will change that." But despite those quibbles, it gets the atmosphere alright.

This is actually making me nostalgic for Doom 3, which is weird. As for the contemporary Doom happenings, Eternal got what will probably be its last significant update just under a year ago. As for the never-ending game of 'will this thing run Doom', the latest examples are entirely within a motherboard BIOS and, rather sweetly, on a Lego brick PC.