Computer Graphics Memory Disk Space
Minimum 486/25 320x200x256 4mb 15.8mb
Max/Rec. 486/66 8mb
Control: Keyboard, Joystick, Mouse, Cyberman, and Gravis GamePad.
Sound: All major General MIDI compatible sound cards including the
Adlib, Sound Blaster, Gravis UltraSound, WaveBlaster,
Pro Audio Spectrum, and AWE32.
Notes: A 9600 baud (or higher) modem is useful to play DeathMatch or
Cooperative modes.
Previewed Beta version on: 486/33, 16mb RAM, Sound Blaster v2.0,
Logitech Mouse, and Gravis UltraSound card.
Previewer recommends: A General MIDI wavetable synthesis sound card,
a mouse, a 14.4k baud (or higher) modem,
a rockin' stereo system, and incredible
reflexes. (grin)As most of you know, DOOM II's premise is simple. Walk around looking through a first person, 3-D view, and use your gun to blow away everything that moves. The great thing about DOOM II is that now, all the things that move are even more difficult to kill. You may remember that in my DOOM review, I complained that the game did not have enough enemies. This has definitely changed in DOOM II.
The first new enemy you will encounter is what DOOM II calls the "Heavy Weapon Dude." This guy is essentially a more obese sergeant toting a chain gun. He can usually be killed in one or two shotgun blasts. Next is the Hell Knight, which is simply a brown colored Baron of Hell. He is slightly easier to kill, but appears more often than our friend the Baron. Moving through the game, you will come across the Arachnotron. This is another robotic spider, similar to the Spider Mastermind, but much smaller. Instead of firing bullets, the Archnotron enjoys firing BFG9000- like green plasma. Of course, this plasma is not as powerful as your own gun's. Next, you will encounter one of the most annoying enemies in the game, the Pain Elemental. These huge blobs look similar to Cacodemons, but instead of firing flaming gas balls, they fire Lost Souls. These guys can be a real pain if you do not destroy them quickly.
The Revenant is next, which bares a striking resemblance to the fighting skeleton in the original Prince of Persia. They take a few shotgun blasts to kill, but they are worth killing. They enjoy punching and kicking the brains out of you, and fire a flaming rocket or two when necessary. When you see the Mancubus, you will only think of one thing: "This guy needs a shake for breakfast, another for lunch, and a sensible dinner." Being the most overweight enemy in DOOM, he makes up for his size with his arms-- they are huge guns that fire enormous fireballs. If you are not careful, you will be cooked chicken rather quickly. When you meet the Arch Vile, you will wish you had not. This is no doubt my favorite new enemy. The Arch Vile seems to summon the magic of the fire elementals, and sets you on fire for a brief period (check out the screen shot with the enemy seemingly summoning fire). You then fly into the air, backwards, for a brief second. This inhumane torture is repeated again and again until you demolish him with a significant amount of plasma. If you are not careful, the Arch Vile will seem to revive some of the dead enemies he touches. DOOM II's final boss is just incredible. I will not go into the details too much as not to spoil it, but he's big, huge, enormous, spectacular, and looks like someone with the initials J.R.
DOOM II's new weapon quickly became my favorite DOOM weapon. The double barreled shotgun is extremely powerful, and can take out five to fifteen Troopers in one shot. Oh, yes! It fires two shells (approximately twenty pellets), and has new animation for the reload sequence. Although this gun takes about one and a half times longer to reload and uses two shells at a time, it is definitely the most used weapon in the game.
All of the thirty levels (plus two secret levels) have great designs. Some worried that the plethora of add-on levels available for DOOM would decrease the value of DOOM II; they were wrong. DOOM II's levels are extremely well designed; it is obvious that id spent a lot of time on them. They look as though they were created with a lot more thought going into DeathMatch and Cooperative play, which is a definite plus over DOOM. The new graphics are defined and colorful. Some of the most notable are the new outdoor and sky scenes. One of my favorites is the city in the background which is breathtaking (see the screen shot with the Archnotron). The new textures and enemy graphics really give a whole new feel to the game. All of the new enemies look even more realistic than the old enemies did in DOOM.
Snarl. Growl. Grrrr. Scream. All of these sounds were trademarks of DOOM. Who could forget the Marine's scream at his death, or the Imps' growl that always made you jump? DOOM II added more of these great effects. The snarls are scarier, the growls more realistic, and the screams more frightening. I almost wonder if id did some sound sampling at P.O.W. torture camps! The music is what really "pushed me over the edge." The music on my Gravis UltraSound made me really start to like DOOM II more than DOOM. It was beautifully done, although beautiful is hardly the word for it. Ominous and thrilling are really the best two descriptions for it. When are they releasing the CD soundtrack?! On a Sound Blaster, the engine uses only FM Synthesis, of course, but the music is still impressive.
As usual, DeathMatch mode is loads of fun, and the new shotgun makes it even more exciting. The modem serial driver now works perfectly (unlike v1.2 of DOOM) and I got it working the first time I tried. The new DeathMatch v2.0 (also available for DOOM) makes the game more fair, and the timer mode (you can set a time limit on how long to play each level) really makes DeathMatch a "blast." Cooperative mode is also hours of entertainment due to the new enemies and complicated levels (not to mention my partner always ends up turning it into a DeathMatch!).
As with all games, DOOM II does have a few bad points. The environment is still not quite as interactive as I would like; you cannot blow up torches or shoot holes in hanging bodies, and there are still no bullet holes in the walls. I wish they had put in at least one more new weapon; although the new shotgun is great, I am sure everyone would like grenades or a flame thrower. And lastly, it is still not a real 3-D game, but I guess we will have to wait for Quake for that!
Overall, the five disks of never ending excitement are definitely worth their $44.95 list price, as long as you have a 486, about sixteen megabytes free on your hard drive, and perfect eye-to-hand coordination.