Doom II and Final Doom (DOS)

By: The J Man

I'm including Doom 2 and Final Doom in the same review, because they altogether make up a total of 96 levels of the very same thing. I also have very few unique points to bring up about Doom 2, which weren't already covered in the original Doom review. So, how long this review will be is currently a mystery to both you and me.

Doom 2 came out hot on the heels of the original. The public was rioting for more, the engine could still be considered cutting-edge, and there was apparently plenty of life left in the game's simplistic concepts. Faced with this knowledge and responsibility, iD bravely stepped up and let fly the sequel - using the same engine and the same gameplay as the first. Only because Doom was so good, was iD able to get away with something like this. Few developers can successfully rehash their old material like these guys.

Luckily, Doom 2 came with a handful of improvements from the first game. The action was now set on Earth, with a mix of human facilities and demonic renovations. Many levels were set in Earth's complexes and factories, giving the team free license to reuse textures and atmosphere from the original's Martian base. However, there were also a substantial number of levels that took place in the great outdoors, with some attempt to make the "Hell on Earth" mean something more than just idle words on the box. Some of the best were the city blocks, with towering skyscrapers that you could ride lifts to the top of, interconnected buildings, courtyards full of zombies, and monsters in the streets. Of course, these are still the same industrial and castle textures, so every building looks like brown stone, and the streets are the same dirt and grass from before, but you get the idea of what it's supposed to be. A killer sky texture of a ruined Earth city sells it further.

New demons make debuts in the game, all of which are considerably tougher than the originals. There's a tough zombie who packs a chaingun, which can shred you in seconds. There's the skeleton with homing rocket launchers on its shoulders. There's the obese behemoth with twin flame guns for hands. There's the floating brown beach ball that belches out the damned flying skulls, which chase you individually. And of course, the aptly named Arch-Vile, who not only regenerates the demons you just splattered, but also charges up pyrokinesis to blast you across the room and sap over half of your health.

One of the reasonably cool city levels.

You're going to need some serious firepower to take these fuckers down, and that's why Doom 2 opens up the arsenal and provides you with loads of brand new weapons to fry demons with. Weapons like the duck gun, and... ah... no, that's it. Apparently after stepping off the shuttle from Mars, the National Guard base was miles away, but the K-Mart was right there. As the only new weapon to the game, the double-barreled shotgun might not be the BFG upgrade you were hoping for. Instead, it's a shotgun that shoots two shells at once, you know, from both barrels. Doesn't seem like much, but it can take down groups of zombies or imps at close range, and puts the hurt on the larger monsters as well. It's thunderous bark is a delight as well, and with a subwoofer attatched to your setup, it sounds like God's own handcannon. Though it would be nice to have seen an additional, well, anything, the weapons from the first game are so well-balanced that you have enough tools for the job, and new shotgun rounds it all out nicely.

Doom 2 is about as difficult as the first game, and doesn't bother seriously upping the challenge. Instead, it leaves that to Final Doom. This was supposed to be the swan song for the franchise (of which there was about as much chance as Jason staying dead in Part 4), and so iD stepped aside and let the best of Doom and Doom 2's fanatically active mod community provide the content. Final Doom consists of two, 32 level episodes created by two prominent mod groups in the community. Evilution comes from team TNT, and the Plutonia Experiment comes from the Casali Brothers, who were formerly members of Team TNT themselves. Both episodes are only for the most devoted of Doom players, and show what happens when your average gamer gets a hold of some mod tools: wild design, and uneven levels.

I will admit however, that I was stupid enough to invest the time on the whole deal until I beat it, and did somewhat enjoy it along the way. The fact that it can be completed on its second-highest difficulty (Nightmare is for nutjobs) is a testament to more skilled level design than I give them credit for. They know how to grab your nuts and squeeze, but never give you truly impossible odds. It was a tough road though, and where the game turned into a puzzle, as I talked about in the review of the original Doom. As vocal and serious as the Casalis apparently were about tactics, this is probably no accident. Still, I've heard that most people who bought Final Doom didn't finish it, and this is probably the reason why.

So, umm, is there really TNT in the box? Cause I could use some of that.

Evilution is much more restrained, and focused on giving you an enjoyable experience, instead of determining the limits of your skill and/or patience. The episode takes place across a moon base, but quickly degenerates into a potpourri of levels tossed in by the guys at Team TNT. This results in no real ramp up in difficulty, or any kind of linear sequence. Most levels are all decent enough and well designed, it's just that they feel like a detached collection, and most aren't as good as iD's originals. Eviliution does offer a few unique additions other than levels, namely some rockin' new level music. Textures for this episode have also been redesigned, mostly to display "TNT" prominently on every monitor, crate, and some walls - just in case you forgot who made it. I hope this little spot of masturbation was good for them, cause it did nothing for me.

Personally, I think it was a mistake for iD to give away the "last" game to the fans, or perhaps they just picked the wrong fans. Granted, iD pulled out all the stops on Doom 2 and probably had nothing left, but Final Doom fails as a standalone pack. The "hard" game is too hard, even coming from someone who finished it, and the "new campaign" really isn't. This one should have just been another exapansion disc at a Master Levels price, and that would have been that. Except that had already been done, and I'm sure GT-Interactive wanted to give the impression that Final Doom was a proper Doom 3.

So what are we left with here? Let's see. Doom II - basically the same game as the first, but with enough new improvements to make it the best. Double-barrel shotgun really helps out, new monsters are formidable and solid additions. If you can, play both Doom and Doom 2, as they compliment each other well. If you only get the chance to play one, Doom 2 is the way to go.

Final Doom - Like a blast of methadone for people who just can't give up Doom. Its absurd difficulty, and level design that rapidly oscillates between great and average, will probably convince most Doom aficionados that they have indeed reached their saturation point. Between this and the Master Levels CD (a scant 1,850 levels of the countless ones available on the Internet), I think that's more Doom than anyone can take. If you're only a casual fan, don't even think about picking up Final Doom, and no matter which classification you fall under, don't actually expect to finish the game.

-reviewed 8/20/04 - game copyright 1994, 1996 GT Interactive

Doom II is the game. The definitive title in the series, not counting any modern or future ones.

Final Doom is good, but a bit too much. Both of the game's episodes seem to be targeted only to true Doom masters, and as such, will be too much to handle for casual players or newcomers.

	8
	9
	8
	8
	Doom II - 95% Final Doom - 75%

Doom II on MobyGames
Final Doom on MobyGames
Gameplay video on YouTube