Doom II: Hell on Earth
While this will probably come across as sacrilegious to most old school first person shooter fans, I’ve never held the 1994 sequel to Doom in high regard. Released by id software just ten months after its predecessor, the lack of significant game play or technical improvements, and a serious demise in level design quality stand out to make Doom II feel like a poor extension of the original game.
Released only a few years before calling such a product a sequel instead of an expansion pack would have been met with outcry, Doom II contains very little new content. One new weapon and seven additional monsters do produce some new and satisfying encounters, but the bulk of the game play is identical to the original Doom. To make matters worse, while the game boasts 32 unique levels, surpassing the length of the original, every one of them comes across as left over scraps from the first game. At best they equal the handful of mediocre levels from Doom. At worst they just feel amateurish and gimmicky.
What can’t be faulted is the core game play. Just like the original, Doom II is a fast paced, balls-to-the-wall first person action experience, involving nothing more than mowing down a legion of undead and demonic foes with a collection of increasing powerful weaponry through a linear succession of levels. The new double barrelled shotgun is wonderfully meaty, both to use and hear, and the new monsters types are well designed, tough and menacing, easily surpassing many of the original demons to become fan favourites. The new graphics and sound effects are also top notch (for the time) with exception to the new musical tracks which, like the new levels, come across as disappointing B-Sides.
Just like the original, Doom II has been updated by a devoted fan community to modernize the interface and even the graphics to some extent with free replacement game engines such as Doomsday and GZDoom. Even so, there is very little to recommend this game over its predecessor. If you feel like some all school Doom action, play the original instead. Three stars.