But Doom 3 BFG is bound to Steam, I thought. At least this is stated at the box.

I would recommend against these versions as they are censored and I would instead recommend Doom Classic Complete, which contains the original uncensored versions.

This is the first time I hear about that. In what way are they censored?
As far as I know, the uncensored versions of Doom and Doom 2 (minus the Wolfenstein levels) were rated USK 16 after they got off the index.
I'm certain that Doom 3 BFG itself does require Steam to play, and I'm not sure how it handles Doom 1 & 2. They'll probably have to be activated as separate games on Steam or something. However, all you need to actually play the original two Doom games are the .wad files, which you can simply copy from the installation directory and then play them in one of the numerous source ports out there.

The original Doom games are sold completely uncensored on Steam (yes, even with the Wolfenstein levels unaltered). The BFG Edition, instead, edits the Wolfenstein levels internationally.

Well, that's just odd.

Once you activate and install Doom 3 BFG on Steam, you can just grab the wad files from the game's installation folder, use a source port to run them and not bother with Steam ever again.

Ah, I almost suspected it to work like that. Thanks.

Although, thanks to my dislike for both Steam and the Brutal Doom mod, I'll just stick with FreeDoom for now.

Hm, maybe I'm missing the point but this seems a bit silly. If someone just wants heavier, more explicit gore effects, there's any number of better games they could play for that. Or does this add more to the game? Any actual gameplay changes?

I used to love playing gory games as a kid/teenager, especially since they were generally rated 18+ around here, but it eventually lost its novelty appeal as I grew older. Played so many Mortal Kombat and FPS games, that seeing a few extra blood fountains and flying body parts in a game fails to make me feel shocked or excited in any way.

For a specific example: Outlast makes heavy use of gore for shock value ( even a few fairly good/unique scenes ), but the developers make such inflationary use of it, that after you encounter the 20th or so pile of mutilated corpses, it only gets a mild yawn out of you, maybe you'll even laugh about it, but it's certainly no longer scary.

On the other hand, I still remember various creepy and shocking scenes from "Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth", because it used these effects much more sparingly and subtly. Sometimes less is indeed more.

It does. Brutal Doom started out as a gore mod, but it's also a gameplay overhaul mod that changes a lot.

The mod adds reloading mechanics, alternate fire modes for the guns, some new player weapons, new melee attacks (kicks and melee fatalities), more aggressive enemy behaviour and new enemy attacks. The game is also more challenging. Seriously, Thy Flesh Consumed on Ultra Violence is friggin' hard with that mod installed. O_O

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I can think of right now.

Oh, all right, that's actually pretty cool then.

Never really been a hardcore Doom fan, so I'd probably get my ass kicked on the highest difficulty levels, even without the mod. :P

I think my favorite version, and the one I played the most, was Doom 64 on the N64. I also tried some PC fan projects, which update graphics and other elements of the old Doom games. Can't think of the name right now... I think there's several of them.

I don't know. Can't ged rid off a picture of bizarre shotgun with big balls out of my mind. Very bad designer's move IMO.

I'm playing Ultra Brutal Doom via GZDoom .

http://www.moddb.com/mods/ultra-brutal-doom