Doom II: Hell on Earth
Doom II: Hell on Earth is an award winning first-person shooter video game and the second title of id Software's Doom franchise.[1] It was originally released for MS-DOS computers in 1994 and Macintosh computers in 1995. The Macintosh version was developed in Austin, Texas by developers such as Brett Butler. Unlike Doom which was initially only available through shareware and mail order, Doom II was a commercial release sold in stores. Master Levels for Doom II, an expansion pack that includes 21 new levels, was released on December 26, 1995 by id Software.[2]
Due to its popularity and success, Doom II was later released for the Game Boy Advance in 2002, the Tapwave Zodiac in 2004, and on Xbox Live Arcade in 2010. The release of the original Doom source code has facilitated ports to many other platforms, including the Apple iPod, and several types of cellphones. On August 13, during the QuakeCon 2009 media conference, it was announced that Doom II would be ported to Xbox Live Arcade,[3][4] and was released in May the following year.
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Gameplay [edit]
Doom II was not dramatically different from its predecessor. There were no major technological developments, graphical improvements, or substantial gameplay changes. The game still consisted of the player navigating large non-linear levels. Each level is infested with hellish demons that can be killed with a variety of weapons that can be picked up throughout the game. Levels are completed by finding an exit, whether it be a door, elevator etc, the goal is simply to advance to the next area. The levels in Doom II can be completed in a somewhat linear fashion, however, because the levels are non-linear players can wander off the beaten path, and those that do are often rewarded with bonuses, like health pickups and more powerful weapons. Due to the larger and more complicated maps with larger groups of monsters, the game had somewhat higher system requirements than the original.
The main additions to the game were new monsters to fight. Doom II doubled the number of non-boss monster types and started using bosses from the original Doom as normal level enemies. In addition, the multiplayer functionality was greatly improved in Doom II, including "out of the box" support for a vastly increased number of dial-up modems. The two player dial-up connection allowed one player to dial in to the other player's computer in order to play either cooperatively or in deathmatch style combat. There was also LAN functionality added, which was improved upon as patches and updates were released. This functionality was later incorporated into the original Doom.
The only new weapon addition was the double-barreled sawed-off shotgun, in-game known as the "Super Shotgun". It uses two shotgun shells per fire but could fire out twenty pellets, compared to the regular pump-action shotgun that released seven pellets per shell. This gave the double-barreled shotgun much more firepower for the same ammo, making it strong enough to dispatch crowds of enemies or large monsters. However, it takes twice as long to reload and has a much wider spread which was less effective in medium to long range situations, thus allowing for the standard shotgun to still serve a purpose in the game.
Other than the Super Shotgun, there was also a new powerup named "Megasphere", which gave the player, no matter how low his/her health/armor may be, 200% health and 200% armor. It resembles the "Soulsphere" but more brown, and the facial sprites have been altered.
Rather than the player playing through three related episodes as in the first Doom, gameplay takes place over one giant episode, albeit with interludes for when the story develops. Instead of watching the player's progress on a map (as in the original episodes of Doom), the screens between each level simply show a background (as in the bonus fourth episode of Doom available on The Ultimate Doom expansion pack). This also means the player is never forced to lose all of his or her inventory after completing an episode.
Multiplayer [edit]
As with the original Doom, multiplayer games used to be played using the dial-up or LAN by the internal setup program (setup.exe), through the online service DWANGO or with once popular programs like Kali and Kahn (using SPX) in Windows 95. Nowadays, in the modern standards, Doom II can be played in almost any version of Windows across the internet using third party source ports such as Odamex,[5] Zandronum,[6] ZDaemon,[7] and and are still popular today.[8] The Xbox Live Arcade port of Doom II supports online multiplayer via Xbox Live.
Plot [edit]
Immediately following the events in Doom, the player once again assumes the role of the nameless space marine. After returning home from Hell, the marine discovers that Earth has also been invaded by the demons, who have killed millions of people.[9]
The humans who survived the attack have developed a plan to build massive spaceships which will carry the remaining survivors into space. Unfortunately, the only space port that's capable of launching such ships has been taken hostage by the demonic invaders, who have placed a force field over it, causing it to malfunction.[9] The marine then battles millions of demons and is able to deactivate the force field, allowing the remaining humans to escape. Once all the survivors escape Earth, the marine is the only human left on the planet.[10]
Just as he sits down to await death, knowing that he saved mankind, the marine then receives an off-planet transmission from humans in orbit, who have managed to find out where the armies of Hell are coming from. The message reveals that the alien base is in the center of the marine's own hometown. The marine then fights through the city until he reaches the base, but sees there is no way to stop the invasion on this side. He then decides to step into the portal to attempt deactivating it from the other side.
After fighting through the hordes of Hell, the marine reaches the house of the biggest demon he has ever seen, called the Icon of Sin. He kills the Icon of Sin by firing rockets into its exposed brain. The Icon of Sin's death results in the destruction of the Hellish portal. Now with Hell in ruins, the marine joins with the other humans in an effort to restore life on Earth.[10]
Expansions [edit]
Master Levels for Doom II [edit]
Master Levels for Doom II is an expansion pack for Doom II which was released officially on 26 December 1995 by id Software. The CD contains 20 WAD files created by various authors under contract. The file teeth.wad contains a secret level, so there are a total of 21 levels. As a bonus, 1,830 amateur WAD files downloaded from the Internet are also included, collectively called "Maximum Doom".
Final Doom [edit]
Final Doom consists of two 32-level megawads (level files), The Plutonia Experiment by the Casali brothers, and TNT: Evilution by TeamTNT. Final Doom was released on May 31, 1996 and distributed as an official id Software product.
No Rest for the Living [edit]
No Rest for the Living is the title of an expansion pack developed by Nerve Software for the release of Doom II on Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360. It consists of eight regular levels and one secret level. It is also included in the latest Doom II release from Doom 3: BFG Edition and as a part of Doom Classic Complete for the PlayStation Network.
Reception [edit]
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This section requires expansion. (December 2009) |
The reception of Doom II was very positive, and it is widely regarded as a refinement of everything that made the original Doom good.[11] According to Dragon, "if mindless but intense carnage is what you want, you'll get your money's worth. It's not just a must-have game; it's a keep-on-the-hard-drive-forever game. If you need to have more Doom, get this."[12]
References [edit]
- ^ "1994 - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, List of Winners". Archived from the original on June 14, 2008. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
- ^ Larsen, Henrik; John W. "Dr.Sleep" Anderson, Jim Flynn, Shawn Green, Chris Klie, Sverre Kvernmo, Ledmeister, Rez, Rob Hayward, Tom Mustaine and John Romero. "The Un-official Master Levels for Doom II FAQ". Retrieved 2009-06-28.
- ^ Brahmin, Mad. "Shacknews". Shacknews. Retrieved 2012-06-15.
- ^ var authorId = "192818379" by Jim Reilly. "IGN". Uk.xboxlive.ign.com. Retrieved 2012-06-15.
- ^ "Online Multiplayer Doom, Doom 2, and Quex Quest". odamex.net. 2013-02-19. Retrieved 2013-02-19.
- ^ "Zandronum - Multiplayer ZDoom". Zandronum.com. Retrieved 2013-02-9.
- ^ "Online Multiplayer Doom - ZDaemon.org". Zdaemon.org. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
- ^ "Classic Doom Online". Doom.wyesoft.com. Retrieved 2012-06-15.
- ^ a b Transcripts from printed manuals by Ledmeister (Date of publication unknown). "DOOMTEXT.HTM: Storylines for Doom, Doom II, Final Doom, Doom 64". Retrieved June 25 2011.
- ^ a b Tim Brastow (May 13 2009). "Doom II FAQ/Walkthrough". Retrieved June 25 2011.
- ^ "Doom II for PC". GameRankings. 1994-09-30. Retrieved 2012-06-15.
- ^ Cook, David (April 1995). "Eye of the Monitor". Dragon (216): 63–66.
External links [edit]
- Doom II at id Software's official website
- Doom II at the Internet Movie Database
- Doom II (PC) at GameFAQs
- Playing the Game: DOOM II, a list of academic texts about the game
- Classic Doom Online - online multiplayer set up instructions
- Doom II article at the Doom Wiki
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