DOOM II by id Software

Reviewed by Scott Sumner

          Computer Graphics  Memory  Disk Space Required 
Minimum:    386SX    VGA       4 MB         16M 
Max/Rec:    486DX    VGA       8 MB 
Control:  Mouse, Keyboard, Joystick 
Sound:    Music = SB AWE32, SB, Sound Canvas, Gravis,Pro Audio Spectrum,
                  Wave Blaster, Adlib
          Sound = SB, Pro Audio Spectrum, Gravis, PC Speaker 
Notes:    CD-ROM version also available

Reviewed Version 1.666 on: 486/50, 16 MB, SoundBlaster Pro, Mouse
                           386/40, 8 MB, SoundBlaster Pro, Mouse

DOOM II requires little or no introduction. It's predecessor was ballyhooed almost a year prior to it's release, and exceeded anyone's expectations. DOOM was the largest reason for loss of productivity on networked machines in the United States. No one had seen anything remotely like this before and the sequel was eagerly awaited. This is kind of unfortunate, in that it led people to believe that DOOM II would be an equivalent jump over DOOM, as DOOM was over it's predecessor, WOLFENSTEIN. So it's a little bit natural a small amount of disappointment since DOOM II seems to be almost an add-on, rather than a new game. My answer is that this is a different episode, and the up-coming QUAKE will be this quantum leap we are expecting from John Romero and his team.

As for the game itself, the premise is that the player is continuing on from the last episode of DOOM (INFERNO) and is fighting evil on earth itself. The goal is to get to the last level to "flip the switch" which should banish this hellish horde back to whence it came. Many new monsters (like the one that shoot lost souls at you) fill out the thirty levels. The individual levels are thought out much better (I love the level which you drop through the floor to get to the next level), and the textures are used to full advantage.

One item seen throughout the game is that the lighting is a lot more dim. You can use the gamma correction key (or even the light-amp cheat key sequence) to help, but I feel that it does detract from the game a bit. All but one of the key cheats that were found in the original are intact. Also, you get a new "super" shotgun that does a great deal of damage at the cost of additional shells.

Installation was a breeze, using the same type of process as the original DOOM. It took about 10 minutes and took up a bit more space on the hard drive than I thought it would. Starting the game took about 45 seconds on the 386, and about 18 seconds on the 486/50. Documentation was better than the original, but still a bit sparse. I kind of like LucasArts approach in that documentation is as important as the program itself.

ID cleaned up the engine, so the game runs pretty well, even on the 386. Network play also seems to work a little better. It took a while to that right with the original, largely since no-one had ever done any network gaming on that kind of scale.

It sounds like I'm picking this game apart, and I hate it. On the contrary, all in all, this game is fantastic. I didn't buy it as a pre-release, but I actually waited until it hit the shelves. It was worth the wait and it is one of the few games that I feel is worth the asking price.