Difference between revisions of "Doom II"

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Unlike Doom, Doom II takes place over a single continuous sequence of linked levels, with brief textual interludes in order to advance the story. The [[intermission screen]]s following each level show a simple background image instead of a map. The player can carry his weapons throughout the entire game (unless he is killed, of course), rather than starting from scratch several times as one episode ends and another begins.
 
Unlike Doom, Doom II takes place over a single continuous sequence of linked levels, with brief textual interludes in order to advance the story. The [[intermission screen]]s following each level show a simple background image instead of a map. The player can carry his weapons throughout the entire game (unless he is killed, of course), rather than starting from scratch several times as one episode ends and another begins.
  
The level design, as with Doom, is only loosely based on the areas the player travels through. The initial third of the maps have a [[STAR|techbase]] theme as the player moves through the different military installations of the starport. Afterwards, as the player roams the cities and residential areas searching for the source of the infestation, the levels have an urban look and somewhat resembling terrestrial locations. Toward the end of the game, Hell has begun to merge with reality, and the final levels take place in a nightmarish, [[Wikipedia:Dante|Dante]]-esque subterranean miasma of flowing lava and hot springs.
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The level design, as with Doom, is only loosely based on the areas the player is supposed to travel through. The initial third of the maps have a [[STAR|techbase]] theme as the player moves through the different military installations of the starport. Afterwards, as the player roams the cities and residential areas searching for the source of the infestation, the levels have an urban look and somewhat resembling terrestrial locations. Toward the end of the game, Hell has begun to merge with reality, and the final levels take place in a nightmarish, [[Wikipedia:Dante|Dante]]-esque subterranean miasma of flowing lava and hot springs.
  
 
New enemies include the [[Chaingunner]], [[Hell Knight]], [[Mancubus]], [[Revenant]], [[Arachnotron]], [[Pain Elemental]], [[Arch-Vile]], and a new boss, the [[Icon of Sin]]. Being far more varied and innovative than the original Doom monsters, these dramatically changed the single player story gameplay.
 
New enemies include the [[Chaingunner]], [[Hell Knight]], [[Mancubus]], [[Revenant]], [[Arachnotron]], [[Pain Elemental]], [[Arch-Vile]], and a new boss, the [[Icon of Sin]]. Being far more varied and innovative than the original Doom monsters, these dramatically changed the single player story gameplay.

Revision as of 19:17, 28 October 2007

Doom II title screen

Doom II: Hell on Earth, released September 30, 1994, is the sequel to Doom.

Story

The player once again takes the role of the Doomguy, who, after being stranded on Phobos and subsequently fighting his way out of Deimos and Hell itself, returns home to Earth — only to find that it too has fallen victim to the hellish invasion. His previous adventure on the Mars moon bases has been retconned to defeating the alien invasion.

With all the major cities in the world in ruins, the remaining leaders plan to use spacecraft to transport the survivors of Earth's population. However, the starport is the only way for the ships to depart and the demons have protected it with a force field. All of humanity's remaining soldiers make a desperate assault on the starport, but eventually they are decimated and only the player remains. He continuous on doggedly and selflessly, despite knowing that he will be left behind in order to save the rest of his race.

Once the Marine accomplishes this, he is free to live out the rest of his time alone on Earth while humanity hopefully continues on elsewhere. But along the way, he begins to learn how he might finally thwart the invasion once and for all...

Doom II CD from the Depths of Doom collection.

Gameplay

Doom II is not a dramatically different game from its predecessor. There were no significant technological developments and no major graphical improvements; gameplay still consists of the player negotiating non-linear levels, picking up keys to unlock new areas, and of course shooting hundreds upon hundreds of monsters.

Unlike Doom, Doom II takes place over a single continuous sequence of linked levels, with brief textual interludes in order to advance the story. The intermission screens following each level show a simple background image instead of a map. The player can carry his weapons throughout the entire game (unless he is killed, of course), rather than starting from scratch several times as one episode ends and another begins.

The level design, as with Doom, is only loosely based on the areas the player is supposed to travel through. The initial third of the maps have a techbase theme as the player moves through the different military installations of the starport. Afterwards, as the player roams the cities and residential areas searching for the source of the infestation, the levels have an urban look and somewhat resembling terrestrial locations. Toward the end of the game, Hell has begun to merge with reality, and the final levels take place in a nightmarish, Dante-esque subterranean miasma of flowing lava and hot springs.

New enemies include the Chaingunner, Hell Knight, Mancubus, Revenant, Arachnotron, Pain Elemental, Arch-Vile, and a new boss, the Icon of Sin. Being far more varied and innovative than the original Doom monsters, these dramatically changed the single player story gameplay.

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 Commander Keen figure makes a cameo in the second secret level.

The player's only new weapon is the Super shotgun. There is also one new powerup, the Megasphere.

Reviews and sales

Doom II went on to sell two million copies, making it the highest-selling id Software game to date. There was praise for its many new and varied enemies, and its innovative map design which aimed to be more non-linear than its predecessor. It also introduced the FPS multi-player world to MAP07: Dead Simple, which is regarded as one of the best deathmatch maps ever published.

In general, Doom II was well-received by the gaming community but was regarded in some areas as a disappointment. Its lack of major new features and its fairly homogeneous, sometimes drab level design were the biggest complaints. This was especially in comparisons made to later games such as Star Wars: Dark Forces and Duke Nukem 3D. Some have considered Doom II an expansion pack rather than a true sequel, akin to the future Serious Sam: The Second Encounter to Serious Sam.

Unlike the original game, Doom II had no demo or shareware versions, and was available only through retail stores. Doom II was thus also known as the commercial version of the game, while the registered version was only available via mail order. However, in 1995, the original was upgraded and received a retail release.

Speedrunning

Current records

The Compet-N episode records for Doom II are:

Run Time Player Date File Notes
UV Episode, MAP01-MAP10 06:32 Drew "stx-Vile" DeVore 2002-12-02 0632uv01.zip
UV Episode, MAP11-MAP20 09:52 Radek Pecka 2003-08-08 0952uv11.zip
UV Episode, MAP21-MAP30 08:59 Radek Pecka 2004-09-28 0859uv21.zip
UV Run 26:09 Radek Pecka 2003-12-28 30uv2609.zip
NM Episode, MAP01-MAP10 07:11 Juho "ocelot" Ruohonen 2003-09-03 0711nm01.zip
NM Episode, MAP11-MAP20 11:19 Drew "stx-Vile" DeVore 2002-03-24 1119nm11.zip
NM Episode, MAP21-MAP30 13:35 Vincent Catalaá 2002-07-22 1335nm21.zip
NM Run 29:56 Drew "stx-Vile" DeVore 2004-10-18 30nm2956.zip
UV Max Episode, MAP01-MAP10 25:50 Radek Pecka 2001-06-15 2550uv01.zip
UV Max Episode, MAP11-MAP20 47:10 Radek Pecka 2002-04-18 4710uv11.zip
UV Max Episode, MAP21-MAP30 39:16 Radek Pecka 2002-08-29 3916uv21.zip
UV Max Run 113:18 Radek Pecka 2002-04-22 30uvmax4.zip
NS Episode, MAP01-MAP10 14:25 Drew "stx-Vile" DeVore 2002-01-27 1425ns01.zip
NS Episode, MAP11-MAP20 23:48 Drew "stx-Vile" DeVore 2002-01-11 2348ns11.zip
NS Episode, MAP21-MAP30 18:27 Jan "Doomgeek" Vida 2002-07-15 1827ns21.zip
NS Run 56:00 Drew "stx-Vile" DeVore 2004-05-30 30ns5600.zip
UV -fast Episode, MAP01-MAP10 25:52 Ian Sabourin 2002-04-27 2552fa01.zip
UV -fast Episode, MAP11-MAP20 57:44 Radek Pecka 2002-08-31 5744fa11.zip
UV -fast Episode, MAP21-MAP30 61:35 Vincent Catalaá 2001-02-15 6135fa21.zip
UV -fast Run 128:04 Radek Pecka 2003-06-24 30famax2.zip

TAS runs

See also

Levels

The levels are divided up into three sets, separated by a textual intermission in addition to the standard intermission screen; as well as two secret levels. (Additional textual interludes appear before levels 7, 31, and 32, and at the end of the game.)

First "episode" (subterranean/starport levels):

Second "episode" (hellish outpost levels):

Third "episode" (city levels):

Final "episode" (inside hell levels):

Secret levels:

Weapons

Doom weapons
Fists Pistol Shotgun Chaingun Rocket launcher Plasma rifle BFG 9000
Chainsaw Super shotgun

Monsters

Doom monsters
Arachnotron | Arch-Vile | Baron of Hell | Cacodemon | Chaingunner | Commander Keen | Cyberdemon | Demon | Hell Knight | Icon of Sin | Imp | Lost Soul | Mancubus | Pain Elemental | Revenant | Sergeant | Spectre | Spider Mastermind | Trooper | Wolfenstein SS

Sources

  • This article incorporates text from the open-content Wikipedia online encyclopedia article Doom II.

External links