Doom II (PlayStation) (Part Two) | Review

This is the second part of my review of Doom on the PlayStation, the first part is available by clicking 'here' if you haven't already read it (I highly recommend reading the first part before this).

As I mentioned in part one, the PlayStation port of Doom also features Doom II, so rather than look at both games in one review, I decided to split them up into two parts because they are technically two different games (at least their original PC versions were). This review is a lot shorter than the first part due to the fact that I went into a lot of detail with the mechanics of the first Doom in part one of my review and most of these mechanics are the same in Doom II.

But here, to celebrate the release of Doom (2016), is the second part of my review of Doom for the PlayStation, this time focusing on the Doom II section.

Expect to see yet even more torture victims on your journey through Doom II's hellscapes.

The plot of Doom II is a lot more difficult to decipher than the first game due to the fact that the end text for the PlayStation port of the original Doom conflicts slightly with the PC version of Doom II's plot synopsis found in the manual. So what little plot description there is below is my perception of what the plot of the PlayStation version of Doom II is (based on the end of the first game and the PC Doom II's manual).

The story picks up straight after the events of the original Doom, with the source of the demons being located. As the expert in demon slaughter, you are sent to end the fight once and for all by going directly to the demon's base (which was discovered by 'Earth Control' at the very end of Doom).

The source appears to be coming from Earth itself, so after just escaping your now ruined and demon infested home-planet, you head back to put an end to all this trouble. Upon fighting through Earth and killing many, many more demons, you find a portal which leads you (once again) into Hell itself.

Anyone else have a bad feeling about this room? Just me? Okay then...

This time you go to the very core of Hell rather than just scratching the surface like you did in the original Doom. Upon killing the boss of Hell (the Spider Demons) you destroy the power of the demons and stop the invasion on Earth.

Basically the plot of Doom II is the same as the original Doom only instead of being on Mars' two moons to begin with, you are on Earth for the entire first section of the game (albeit a warped demon infested version of Earth). The plot is actually more simple than it was in the first Doom, which is unexpected considering how simple the plot for the first Doom was to begin with, but as with the original Doom, the plot isn't all that important.

Something which has also been carried over from the first game is that none of the story is given to us through cutscenes or text, meaning prior knowledge of the game's plot needs to be known, or it needs to be vaguely pieced together through the game environments (which is confusing and you would never understand exactly what's happening from this alone). As with the first game this is disappointing because it would give the player more satisfaction and a greater sense of progression to have some plot details given through cutscenes (or at least text) at various points in the game. I wouldn't want a lot of plot detail but just something that tells us where we are and what we're doing would have given the player more context and added to the overall experience.

As with the first Doom, you get one bit of text at the end of the game which informs you of what happens after the final level. It's just as anti-climactic as the first game's ending.

The core gameplay of Doom II is identical to the original, you go through maze-like levels which are full of enemies to kill, you find keycards which open coloured doors and after going through these doors you find the exit, move on to the next level and repeat this over and over again.

The main differences between Doom and Doom II are the addition of a new weapon, the Super Shotgun and new enemy types. The Super Shotgun is a great addition, basically being an upgraded shotgun which uses the same ammo (but more of it), has a shorter range and is approximately three times more powerful. This new weapon is very well balanced, just like the weapons from the original Doom (which all make a return). Although it's very powerful it also has a short range (meaning the enemies need to be closer to you, therefore making them more dangerous) and it has a very bad fire rate, so you need to be sure you can kill your enemy in one shot otherwise you'll be wide open to attack until you load another shell into the gun.

Something about the animation of the Super Shotgun and the death animations of the enemies make it feel very satisfying, perhaps even more so than the weapons in the first Doom.

The new enemies are great and add an element of surprise when you first encounter them. After playing through the original Doom you might think you know what you're getting yourself into, but then you run into Former Commandos which are similar to the possessed human enemies from the first game, but these ones have chainguns, so they can deal a lot more damage to you very quickly. Later you also find Revenants who are basically skeletons that have shoulder mounted rocket launchers. The rockets move slow but they deal a lot of damage, they home in on you and they can fire quite a large number at a time too. This makes Revenants quite dangerous and on top of their offensive capabilities they also take a lot of hits to kill. There are also Arachnotrons which are brains with metallic spider legs who fire plasma bolts at you rapidly. They normally work in groups, but on their own they are quite easy to kill, the main thing that sets them apart from other enemies is their design, they look quite different to a lot of other enemies while also being similar enough to fit in with them.

An enemy introduced in the PC version of Doom II called the Arch-Vile is not in the PlayStation port at all (nor are they in the original Doom), this is because of hardware limitations of the console and it's a shame because more new enemies on top of the ones we already have would have been great.

One of the most iconic enemies of the entire Doom series is the Revenants. These demons pack quite a punch and are tough to take down. Plus they're spooky, scary skeletons.

There is a much greater enemy count in Doom II in comparison to the original. This makes it quite substantially harder (especially in the earlier stages) and means that you'll find yourself running out of ammo a lot more than you did in the first game. Although this is good because it means you have to use all of your weapons tactically, I already felt like I had to be tactical in the first Doom, so it seems like more of a case of putting a greater number of enemies into the game just to show of the improvements from the first Doom (levels being able to handle more enemies) and because of this it does seem a bit unfair and unnecessary at times. Of course, this is only speculation and it could have been a creative choice to have more enemies rather than doing it for the sake of it, but it does come across as being a bit random in some sections.

The levels seem to get more complicated a lot quicker than they did in the first game, which is fine if you've already played the first Doom but for the people that haven't I imagine it would be quite alienating. The maze-like levels in Doom II feature moving platforms a lot more, and sometimes it isn't entirely obvious as to how to activate them, so you could come to a dead end and leave to explore another area then come back later and realise it wasn't a dead end and you just needed to be standing somewhere specific in order to get a wall to move. This was something that happened in the original Doom but I found it to be less prominent and more obvious as to when something will move and where you're supposed to stand in order to get it to move.

The Arachnotrons are metallic spiders that look like they have brains for heads. They normally fight in packs too and are introduced in the first 'boss' level making them a memorable enemy. Look at their beautiful blue eyes, they'll kill you with cuteness.

The boss levels are somewhat similar to the last boss of the original Doom. Rather than featuring one (or two) specific enemies you need to concentrate on, the boss levels in Doom II mostly have you fighting against a huge horde of powerful enemies. The first boss level has you fight four Mancubus (an enemy type which was actually first introduced to Doom II but was featured in the original Doom in the PlayStation port) and upon killing them and thinking the fight is over, the outside walls slide open and lots of Arachnotrons (an enemy which until this point you haven't seen) pour into the room and try to kill you.

The final boss is slightly better than that of the original Doom but is still quite lackluster. This time you face off against a horde of Hell Knights but upon defeating them, two Spider Masterminds will appear. These enemies are basically bigger and stronger counterparts to the Arachnotrons and because they look very similar to the enemies you've seen previously, the final boss encounter feels slightly cheapened. You would expect the final boss in a Doom game to be something huge and powerful that you haven't seen before until the very last level. But this isn't the case.

The final boss of the PC version of Doom II is much better and more like what would be expected of the last boss of a Doom game. A huge demonic goat skull that spawns enemies and who's weak point is it's exposed bleeding brain.

I don't have a lot to say about the controls that I haven't already said in part one of this review. So if you haven't read part one, you can refer to that for a more detailed breakdown. The controls are identical to the original Doom, there are no new functions and nothing feels any different. Which isn't a bad thing considering this is easily the best first person shooter I've played on the PlayStation. There's not a lot wrong with the controls, even if they are simplistic by today's standards.

As with the controls, the graphics quality is identical to the original Doom, however there are a few differences in terms of the level themes. Although some assets from the first game are re-used, there are also a lot of brand new textures and assets which set Doom II apart from the original.

Just one example of re-used assets is some of the wall textures and some other textures like these boxes too, I was expecting new box textures. I expected too much. I'm a sucker for new box textures.

The first levels are somewhat castle-like (being reminiscent of the Deimos levels from the original Doom), but they also feature brand new science lab sections which looks substantially different from the counterparts from the first game. The new science lab areas look more grey and sinister than the Phobos levels from the original Doom (reflecting the fact that Hell has begun to have an effect on Earth's structures) and this adds a slight bit of visual variety, although, I do find myself wishing Doom II had featured more truly original level themes as opposed to taking one's already in Doom and changing them a bit.

Later in the game you find yourself in library areas where bookshelves line the walls, this is slightly unnerving because it acknowledges the fact that you're on Earth. These books are the first thing you've seen in a long time that reminds you that the areas you've been fighting through for so long used to belong to Humans. A grim reminder of how much Earth has been transformed.

This library area is one of the first sections of the game that actually makes you remember you're on Earth. That just shows how much the demon presence has affected the world. Though apparently it doesn't affect books... Or demons just like to read. Maybe that's why they took over Earth, they wanted more reading material.

Although Doom II does somewhat make an effort to set itself apart from the first game, I think it fails in this regard. With the first Doom, I played it all the way through and was kept interested by the new level themes and layouts, but in Doom II it felt like the same kind of level layouts were being rehashed and the level themes were often very similar and it took away from my enjoyment. There are some moments where something new is introduced and for a while it's exciting and interesting, but I found that it became repetitive again very quickly.

As with the gameplay, graphics and controls, the sound design in Doom II is identical to that of the original Doom. Now, when I say it's exactly the same, I literally mean the same tracks you hear in the original Doom are re-used in Doom II and the exact same sound effects are also present for guns, explosions and demon noises.

This is a Former Commando, easily the most dangerous of the possessed human enemies you'll come across. They are easy to kill but can deal lots of damage very quickly unless they are prioritised in a firefight.

The only new sounds in Doom II are for the new demon types which are great, I particularly like the shrieking of the Revenant enemies. The Super Shotgun also has a new sound, but it seems to simply be an edited version of the normal shotgun made slightly louder and more harsh and destructive. I can't complain too much about this because it is just another shotgun afterall.

As with the graphics, my issue with this is that Doom II doesn't really do a lot to separate itself from the first Doom, sure the sound design is still great because it was great in the original Doom, but if you play through the original Doom and Doom II in quick succession (as you're obviously supposed to do seeing as they are a part of the same package on the PlayStation) it becomes stale and uninteresting very quickly. Which is disappointing after the first Doom set the bar so high in the sound design department.

The lighting is just as effective as it was in the first game, being atmospheric when it needs to be and also giving the player a reference point in case they get lost.

While Doom II is still a good game, it also struggles to separate itself from it's predecessor. The difficulty of Doom II is much greater than the original Doom because of the number of enemies, more advanced understanding of the basic mechanics being needed (like jumping from high platforms to reach a lower ledge or running across gaps) and more complicated level design (at least if you compare the beginning levels of both games). So from this, it can be assumed you're supposed to have played the original Doom before Doom II, but because of how similar Doom II is to the original it gets boring much faster.

Doom II feels more like a mod or an expansion to the original Doom as opposed to a full-on sequel. It doesn't add enough new content to fully separate itself even though what it does add is great (like the Super Shotgun and new enemy types). But the gameplay, graphics, controls and sound design are either identical or very similar to the original which makes it a bit lacking. The original PC version of Doom II was released less than a year after the original Doom, so this probably explains the similarities and why it feels mostly the same.

Doom II features a much higher enemy count than in the previous game. It also features areas where you can move around undetected and just watch the demons go about their normal day to day business. Mostly this involves them standing and staring at their Cyber Demon friends.

Although Doom II does feel slightly 'tacked on' to the first Doom, it is a part of the same package, so even though it doesn't do much different and can get slightly boring, it is essentially a free addition on top of the first Doom so I can't complain too much. The major issue with Doom II is that it simply doesn't add enough content to make it feel like a true sequel.

I do find myself wishing that rather than including Doom II in the PlayStation port of Doom, they would have taken elements from Doom II (like the enemies, new themes and super shotgun) and simply implemented them into the first Doom (which they actually did in some cases). This would have gotten rid of some of the issues I had with the first Doom in terms of it being slightly repetitive and made the experience as a whole better, even if it had been shorter.

5/10

Pros:

- The new monster designs (both visually and mechanically) are great and fit in with all the previous game's enemy types (which all make a return).

- The controls are just as good as they are in the first Doom (because they are identical).

- Levels sometimes feel a bit less static than in the previous game. Some feature moving walls which force you to have to keep track of enemy movement without being able to see them.

- Doom II is effectively a free addition to the first Doom if you buy the PlayStation version. So you could think of it as just an added bonus.

Cons:

- The level themes are mostly the same as the ones seen in the original game (albeit slightly rehashed) which makes the experience seem a bit stale after having played the first Doom.

- Not enough new content to warrant a full sequel, it feels like more of an expansion to the first game.

- The soundtrack is literally exactly the same, although it's good, it's already all been heard.

- The number of enemies featured in levels sometimes feel excessive.

- There's a contradiction in the way that the design of the levels and the difficulty of Doom II implies you need to have played the first Doom before, but if you have played the first Doom before, Doom II comes across as being more of the same as opposed to changing the formula enough while retaining what makes a certain game that certain game like a sequel should.