Doom: The Golden Souls 2

Doom: The Golden Souls 2 (or Golden Souls 2 for short) is an platformer-themed Doom II mod created by Andrea Gori (Batandy) for the GZDoom source port. A direct sequel to the first Golden Souls, it continues to merge the first person shooter gameplay from Doom with gameplay elements commonly found in 3D and 2D platformers, as well as visual themes strongly influenced by the games, among others.

Work on the mod began shortly after the release of its predecessor, with the aim of producing a more comprehensive overhaul of the base mechanics compared to what the first entry had accomplished. As a result, the mod is more sophisticated, with once again an entirely new arsenal of weapons (most of which can this time be upgraded at shops), new and changed enemies (such as the revenants firing bullet bill-like projectiles), and a larger selection of maps than what the first mod offered. Generally speaking, the maps tend to be more wide open than its predecessor's, thus allowing more opportunities to utilize the platforming elements in the mod.

Golden Souls 2 received one of the 2018 Cacowards.

Gameplay
Just like its predecessor, Golden Souls is heavily influenced by several elements found in the series of games, as well as other popular platformer console franchises of the '90s. There are however some key differences in the gameplay. As mentioned before, all the weapons available at your disposal are brand new, with none returning from the first mod, and the amount of coins that can be collected is now 1999. There is also unlimited air supply in underwater sections.

Unlike the first mod, where each level is accessed through a -inspired mansion, this time the game uses an overworld map very similar to that featured in, following an identical method of progression where each exit in a level unlocks a new path in the overworld map allowing access to new levels. Some of the maps contain secret exits which may unlock a different path on the map, but level progression is otherwise linear, although the mod is still hub-based as its predecessor was.

This time, Golden Souls are only obtained after defeating the boss at the end of each "world" (a bunch of similarly-themed levels close together, akin to Doom II's episodes), and collecting them all is necessary for opening the portal to Hell which contains the last chapter of the game. The Big Coins also return: this time, collecting all the Big Coins in each world will allow you to purchase a unique "golden" upgrade for one of your weapons at the corresponding shop, for which there is also one in each world where generic supplies such as health, ammo and armor may likewise be purchased.

A new collectible is the "Spider Jewels", which are obtained by killing Golden Spiders found in all of the game's ghost mansion-themed levels. Collecting all 80 of them grants access to new levels and a unique boss. The skull keys from Doom II also make a return, each of them being found in a different secret level and granting access to some unique areas in the main levels.

Levels
(listed as they appear in MAPINFO)


 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void
 * MAP115: The Void