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Elements from the game would be used in ''[[Final Doom]]''.
Elements from the game would be used in ''[[Final Doom]]''.

==Control Mechanics==

Doom and Doom II were the first PC games in which widespread use of the mouse and keyboard combination was popularized for first person shooters. Although Wolfenstein 3D had support for a mouse and keyboard control scheme the Doom series pushed the mouse and keyboard FPS scheme out from obscurity and into the mainstream.


==Levels==
==Levels==

Revision as of 06:37, 25 August 2005

Doom II: Hell on Earth
The cover artwork for Doom II: Hell on Earth, painted by fantasy artist Gerald Brom, depicts the Doom space marine firing a shotgun at a gigantic Cyberdemon.
Developer(s)id Software
Publisher(s)GT Interactive
EngineThe Doom engine
Platform(s)PC (Windows 95), GBA
ReleaseOctober 10, 1994
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single player
Multiplayer (cooperative)
Multiplayer (deathmatch)

Doom II: Hell on Earth is a first-person shooter video game created by id Software. It was originally released on the IBM PC on September 30th, 1994. It is the sequel to the popular and revolutionary game Doom, which was released a year earlier. In 1995, Doom II won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1994. Unlike Doom which was initially only available through shareware and mail order, "Doom II" was a commercial release sold in stores.

Story

Immediately following the events in Doom, the player once again takes the role of the nameless space marine (although named "Flynn Taggart" in the Doom novels) who has proven too tough for the forces of Hell to contain. After being killed on Phobos, and subsequently fighting his way out of Deimos and Hell itself, the Marine is back home on Earth, only to find that it too has fallen victim to the hellish invasion.

The player progresses through 30 levels (not including two secret levels), and on the way he learns that the remaining survivors of Earth's population are being held in a space port and must escape via transporter. Once the Marine accomplishes that, he is free to live out the rest of his time alone on Earth while humanity hopefully continues on elsewhere. But before long the Marine learns of a way in which he can finally thwart the invasion once and for all...

Gameplay developments

Doom II was not a dramatically different game from its predecessor. There were no major technological developments, no major graphical improvements, and no real changes in fundamental gameplay. The game still consisted of the player negotiating non-linear levels, picking up keys to unlock new areas, and of course shooting down hundreds upon hundreds of monsters.

There were several new additions in terms of monsters and enemies. A new zombie, the aptly-named Heavy Weapons Dude, was added (this one wielding a chain gun). New additions for the forces of Hell proper include the following:

  • The Mancubus, a large overweight, blob-like creature with two mega-blasters (in the place of arms) that released huge fireballs.
  • The Revenant, a skeletal creature armed with guided rockets. It was also moderately fast and could chase down the player.
  • The Arachnotron, a junior version of the Spider Mastermind, though armed with a plasma gun instead of a chain gun.
  • Quite possibly one of the most annoying monsters ever created, the Pain Elemental, which could float around and, if not killed fast enough, could spit an endless amount of Lost Souls out.
  • The Arch-Vile, a thin demon that had a means of attacking the player (or other monsters) without use of a projectile (similar to "curse" spells in fantasy RPGs), and could resurrect most types of fallen monsters. It was also very fast and could chase down the player.
  • The end boss, called the Icon of Sin. It was really nothing more than a giant wall (with a goat's skull visage) with a small hole in the forehead containing its weak spot. Inside this weak spot, as a joke, is the disembodied head of John Romero impaled on a spike. The Icon of Sin could summon an infinite number of monsters to kill the player, and spoke the words "To win this game you must kill me, John Romero" backwards in a demon-like tone.
In this screenshot from Doom II: Hell on Earth, the player has just fired the double-barrelled shotgun, thus exploding a chaingun-equipped zombie.

The SS trooper from Wolfenstein 3D appears in the two secret levels, which are throwbacks in design (and music) to the Wolfenstein 3D game. Also, a hanged Commander Keen figure makes a cameo in the second secret level.

Disappointingly, the only new addition in terms of weapons was the double-barreled shotgun, which could fire out 20 pellets instead of the regular shotgun's seven. It was very useful in dispatching Demons, Cacodemons, and any form of medium-sized monster.

There was also one new item created, the Megasphere, a tan sphere that could give the player 200% armor and health.

A small change in gameplay was instituted. Instead of the player playing through three related episodes, gameplay takes place over one giant episode, albeit there are 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. It also meant that the player would not have to start over with a pistol every nine levels or so.

The level design, much like in Doom, was supposed to mimic the areas the player was going into. Now that the game was taking place on Earth, a real-world look was attempted at, with some levels taking place in certain kinds of military installations, and others taking place in residential areas. Some areas do resemble places on Earth (like Downtown), but most simply seem strange. Eventually level designs no longer attempt to appear realistic, but by then the player has reached a place where Hell is merging with our reality so it makes sense.

In general, Doom II was well-received and went on to sell 2 million copies, making it the highest-selling id Software game to date.

Elements from the game would be used in Final Doom.

Control Mechanics

Doom and Doom II were the first PC games in which widespread use of the mouse and keyboard combination was popularized for first person shooters. Although Wolfenstein 3D had support for a mouse and keyboard control scheme the Doom series pushed the mouse and keyboard FPS scheme out from obscurity and into the mainstream.

Levels

Name Level design Music
MAP01: Entryway Sandy Petersen Running from Evil
MAP02: Underhalls American McGee The Healer Stalks
MAP03: The Gantlet American McGee Countdown to Death
MAP04: The Focus American McGee Between Levels
MAP05: The Waste Tunnels American McGee DOOM
MAP06: The Crusher American McGee In the Dark
MAP07: Dead Simple American McGee/Sandy Petersen Shawn's got the Shotgun
MAP08: Tricks and Traps Sandy Petersen The Dave D. Taylor Blues
MAP09: The Pit Sandy Petersen Into Sandy's City
MAP10: Refueling Base Sandy Petersen/Tom Hall The Demon's Dead
MAP11: Circle of Death/The 'O' of Destruction John Romero The Healer Stalks
MAP12: The Factory Sandy Petersen In the Dark
MAP13: Downtown Sandy Petersen DOOM
MAP14: The Inmost Dens Sandy Petersen The Dave D. Taylor Blues
MAP15: Industrial Zone John Romero Running from Evil
MAP16: Suburbs Sandy Petersen The Demon's Dead
MAP17: Tenements John Romero The Healer Stalks
MAP18: The Courtyard Sandy Petersen Waiting for Romero to Play
MAP19: The Citadel Sandy Petersen Shawn's got the Shotgun
MAP20: Gotcha! John Romero Message for the Archvile
MAP21: Nirvana Sandy Petersen Countdown to Death
MAP22: The Catacombs Sandy Petersen The Dave D. Taylor Blues
MAP23: Barrels o' Fun Sandy Petersen Bye Bye American Pie
MAP24: The Chasm Sandy Petersen In the Dark
MAP25: Bloodfalls Shawn Green Adrian's Asleep
MAP26: The Abandoned Mines John Romero Message for the Archvile
MAP27: Monster Condo Sandy Petersen Waiting for Romero to Play
MAP28: The Spirit World Sandy Petersen Getting Too Tense
MAP29: The Living End John Romero Shawn's got the Shotgun
MAP30: Icon of Sin Sandy Petersen Opening to Hell
MAP31: Wolfenstein Sandy Petersen Evil Incarnate
MAP32: Grosse Sandy Petersen The Ultimate Conquest

See also

  • 30uv1441 All-time fastest playthrough of all 32 levels

References

  • Level credits: "Doom Credits" (last updated 7 January, 1998, retrieved 27 October, 2004) by John Romero, available as part of the archived copy of Lee Killough's Doom pages on Romero's website.
Official product websites
Fan sites
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