Doom II: Hell on Earth

Doom II in a lot of ways feels more like an expansion than it does an entirely independent game and though I don't think it's quite as consistent as its predecessor, that doesn't stop it from being a hell of a fun time and a worthy follow up to arguably one of the most influential games of all time.

The levels are bigger, more complex. There's essentially twice the amount of demons to slaughter, both in number and variation, with inclusions such as the Revenant, Hell Knight, Pain Elemental, Mancubus, Arch-Vile and Arachnotron being introduced into the franchise. The music is just as bangin' as ever with Bobby Prince returning to compose and we get a brand new toy to play with in the form of the iconic Super Shotgun, a tool synonymous with both the franchise and its protagonist.

Step back into the gore-drenched boots of the Doomguy, avenge your beloved Daisy and save the Earth from demonic invasion.

Doom II feels like a refinement and though it's difficult to stand side by side with the cultural Goliath that was Doom (1993), its important to remember that the franchise would not be what it is today had it not been for this game.

8/10.

I was about 10 years old when I hold grasp to this game... It was like an epiphany for me. I have never played the first "Doom", but when you are a 10 year old, you don't care, let's just play the game. I just couldn't get enough of this game. Every time I played it, I was possessed! I was pretty much an insane gamer just for "Doom", and when I got the cheat codes... how delightful was that. But, enough about that part of my childhood, let's dive in.

According to the story, you are the same marine as before... the Doomguy, as we call him, finds himself on planet Earth, and he finds out that the Earth itself was taken over by demons and turned it into a hellhole. So, you take your guns and... just go to save the world. It's basically simple stuff, really. There isn't much you can do. Just run around kill monsters (with various weapons, for every occasion, of course), finding key cards to progress through the level. You have boss fights on the end of every episode (episodes are continuous), or you have a multiple large opponents. The Doomguy could just walk, or run fast and that's it. In later years, they added a jump and crouch.

So, what is exactly so good about "Doom 2", or "Doom", or "Doom Ultimate"? Why is it still holding up, even today? Well, almost 24 years ago... graphics were top notch, but today, they are just bunch of cubes... without any real, rendered form. The edge that holds even today is that graphics team were very dedicated and imaginative and they designed monsters, demons, weapons and levels the best way possible at that time. The sound effects were just awesome and they are holding up even today. Gameplay is amazing. It's dynamic and simple, and it's doesn't have time to explain itself. That's what I like about these old early 90s PC games... they were not that big and not that pretentious to give us a bunch of story details at the beginning of the game for example... and to move your character through an endless tutorial, or "story mode", that you need to follow. It was a time when games just cut the crap and start shooting. AI for the time was nothing special, it was about to get more perfected as the time goes by. So, that's it... nothing more. Everything else is so simple that is not even worthy of mentioning. We have aliens, monsters and demons... I don't know which inspirations were used for them, I think it's something from the Bible... when it comes to hell monsters and demons and other things.

That is just fascinating, that there was no some good explanation for the demons with whom are you fighting. Who are they? Are they aliens from some deep space and they came from some space hell? Did demons showed to us in the form of hellish creatures from Christian bible? Who knows. And that's what I like the best about this game. You just have to use your own imagination. The same thing goes for the level design. You just can't tell if you are on earth. There are maybe few levels that suggest that you are, in fact on earth. But the others... well not that much. And I love the design of levels in the game, just great. It also set you in the imagination and questioning yourself... "where the hell am I?"... There are of course some new weapons and enemies and they are good.

In conclusion, what to say? It IS one of the best FPS games ever made from that old time when the things were simple and it holds today far more better than you realize. How do I know that? Just look at bunch of modes and various other "Doom" versions on line. People enjoy making them and other people... enjoy playing them. Doom is one of those games that just never gets old. Play it and enjoy it...

In 1993, Doom was a big hit. It changed the face of RPGs, with its amazing true 3d walls, landscape, etc.

1994 saw the release of Doom II. Everyone expected a lot, and I bought it the day it was reported to be out in my area. Unfortunately I was disappointed. The graphics were brown and dull, and there was not much of a storyline. All you know is that you have to save Earth, nothing more. "So this story doesn't make sense, okay.", I thought, but I was still going to enjoy shooting those monsters. Unfortunately the levels were much more dull than Doom 1, and there were no major changes to weapons or enemies. Only the introduction of the Super Shotgun and about 3 more monsters.

I hope I don't feel this way about "Doom III" which is coming out fairly soon.

If you haven't got Doom 1, I recommend it over Doom II. It is more futuristic, more entertaining and there are better levels in general.

This was one great game! The soundtrack keeps you motivated to fight. The level design kind of makes up for the limited number of creatures to fight. This is kind of uneven. Some of the middle levels were harder than the latter. It could have been spaced more evenly. But the experience is gritty. Considering that this was the early 90's, I'm surprised they pulled this off. The quality is astounding for what they had to work with. All the controls are tight. The way the sprite bobs when you walk. The ending was disappointing. It just became a very hard 3D platformer, when they could have just added another character.

Take the excellent base game of the original DOOM and add more weapons, new levels, new soundtrack, enemies and basically everything a good sequel needs to create an arguably perfect shooter with everything being balanced and improved upon to make a even more fast paced and better experience. Often seen as "Just more of the original", my personal favorite of the two, it shouldn't just be ignored whichever one is your favorite of the two however, they are both equally worth playing for fantastic games with once again incredible mod support and you have a duo-logy of games that have became a staple of video game culture for very good reasons.