Doom 3 BFG Edition Cuts PC Multiplayer From Original Games

The Doom 3 BFG Edition FAQ reveals a few surprises about the upcoming re-issue of the classic shooter series.

There's just no possible way to fully appreciate the impact of Doom multiplayer if you weren't around to experience it. I played it as often as I could - which, being a small-town boy, wasn't nearly as often as I'd have liked - struggling to set up ancient networks for all-night Doomfests and connecting modem-to-modem with other fans for one-on-one deathmatch action. It was exciting, it was intense; we take it for granted today, but 20 years ago, frantically blasting the crap out of three other humans was nothing short of crazy voodoo magic.

Alas, you won't be doing it in the upcoming Doom 3 BFG Edition - at least, not if you own a PC. According to the recently-released FAQ, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game will support 2-4 players at a time, online and off, in both Doom and Doom 2, "but on PC there is no multiplayer options for Doom and Doom 2."

I suppose it's not really a big deal, since I don't see Knee Deep in the Dead deathmatches making a big comeback in the near future, but given the roots of the game, it's a bit odd, isn't it? Doom 3 co-op gameplay has been cut too, from all platforms, since it was only included with the Xbox version of the game and the BFG Edition is based on the PC release. PC gamers can take some solace in the fact that their versions of Doom 3 and Resurrection of Evil will support up to eight players while the console versions top out at four, and that it will support the Oculus Rift VR headset, which consoles cannot.

One more bit of potential disappointment: The Doom 3 BFG Edition will include Doom, Doom 2, Doom 3, Resurrection of Evil and The Lost Mission, but not Final Doom or Master Levels for Doom 2. Which is a pity, since every serious fan knows that's where the real action is.

The Doom 3 BFG Edition comes out at retail and via digital distribution on October 16.

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ViperGTI said:

Hey... I remember those days. "Borrowing" a hub (8 port, 10Mbps) from the school for the weekend, buying up 2nd hand network cards or sometimes even struggling with a coax network. Fun times. Doom did die out pretty quickly on our side with the release of Duke 3D though.

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Uberutang said:

So no MP for Doom 1 or Doom 2, but it is there in Doom 3... who the hell still wants to play doom 1 or 2 mp?

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Pr⊕phet said:

Why not? There few changes if you've read what I've been posting instead of just no mp. Clearly you are a post-quake baby...

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During the early development of Doom 3, musician Trent Reznor was brought on to help with the sound design. Unfortunately he didn't stay on the project to the end, but with this sound mod you'll be able to patch his contributions back into Doom 3 as originally intended. Warning: these sounds will increase the awesome factor of Doom 3.

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