Video Game Review: Doom II

"There's nothing like a shooting gallery full of hellspawn to get the blood pumping..." - in-game story text.

Where there was one big hit game, there had to be another.  Doom II came out in pretty short time after the first game hit the market and made huge waves.  The game pretty much offers more of the same; once again, you take direct control of a soldier, literally walking in his footsteps across hellish landscapes to wipe out massive hoards of demons.  As sublime as the first game is, more is certainly welcome:  while Doom II doesn't add much to its predecessor technologically, it does offer bigger and more complex levels, and a ton more demons to fight.  If you found the first game to be too easy, the second one does provide a decent challenge.  The gameplay is still fast and smooth, and still has that undercurrent of occult horror to freak you out just slightly.

As a follow-up to the first game, the story takes off in a brave new direction, with demons pouring onto Earth and wreaking havoc.  It sounds promising, but like before, the story is not really the main point; it merely offers the layout of the levels and what order they appear in.  As before, your character is nameless, you run around and blast your way into Hell, and confront a major boss to win the game (this time in the form of shooting rockets into the wall; it would almost be like a carnival game, if the wall didn't spit bad guys at you).

The game is pretty much the exact same as before:  the gameplay and engine is the exact same.  Graphics and sound are the same.  It still runs really smoothly and without glitching, so everything that made the original great carries over.

Doom II is pretty much like an expansion on the first game, offering nothing really new in terms of gameplay or innovation.  It does contribute a lot more to the demon-slaying business, and business is booming!

4/5 (Experience:  Very Good | Content:  Average | Game:  Good)

I played this game as part of the Doom 3 BFG edition.  It includes the main campaign, plus an expansion called No Rest for the Living, which features a crap-ton of bad guys in each level.  I have no clue if free versions of this game are available to play.