Doom II

aka: Doom II: Hell on Earth
Moby ID: 299
DOS Specs
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/18 10:21 AM )

Description official descriptions

In this sequel to the original Doom, the protagonist is still the same hero - the last remaining space marine. After having single-handedly saved Mars from demonic threat, he returns to Earth, only to find out that the demons have already invaded it, killed most of its inhabitants or possessed them. It's his task to bring down the force field around the last operational star port to allow the remnants of mankind to escape to the stars.

Doom II looks and plays very similarly to its predecessor, utilizing the same 3D graphical engine with 2D sprites for enemies. The gameplay once again consists entirely of navigating the hero from first-person view through 3D environments and shooting at the demons while attempting to find the way out by flipping switches and looking for keys. Unlike in Doom, which is divided into three episodes, the 30 levels of this game (plus the 2 secret levels) form one long episode.

The game adds one new weapon to the player's arsenal; the super shotgun, several new demon types with more advanced attacks than those of the predecessor, such as the chaingun-toting Heavy Weapon Dudes, the skeletal Revenants who launch homing missiles and the sinister Arch-Viles who have a highly damaging fire attack.

Spellings

  • ドゥームII - Japanese spelling
  • 毁灭战士2 - Simplified Chinese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

21 People (19 developers, 2 thanks)

Biz
Programming
Music / Sound Programming
Level / Scenario Design
Graphics / Artwork
3D Modelling
Music
Sound
Support
Biz Assistant
Special Thanks To
Cover Illustration
French Translation
  • Art of Words
German Manual Translation

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 82% (based on 45 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 403 ratings with 19 reviews)

You can't even get away from demons on Earth

The Good
What's good about this game? Well, this is the sequel to id Software's popular first-person shooter. There is no real plot involved, only that you return home only to find the demons that you battled before have invaded your home planet. The game has 32 levels, and as usual, you run through the level, destroying any demons that get in your way, finding the keycards needed to open certain doors, and making your way to the exit.

All the elements are there – the original monsters, power-ups, flip switches, you name it. Joining the original monsters are some new ones, and they take quite a lot of pounding before they die. The Arch-Vile is the most deadly enemy I have ever encountered in the series. Once he sets you on fire, you are thrown back several feet, and to make matters worse, he resurrects any enemies that you already killed. When you manage to nuke him, he makes a nice gurgling sound. There are also the Anachnotrons, which I like to refer to as the children of the Spider Mastermind.

I also like the addition of the super shotgun, which pumps two bullets in your target instead of one. Now it only takes three shots to dispose of the Cacodemon instead of six. The shotgun also works for the minor demons. You can also take out some of the new monsters with just three shots.

There are two secret levels in the game, and both of these play tribute to Wolfenstein 3D, id's very first first-person shooter. and they respectively center around the first and last levels of “Escape from Wolfenstein”, and the layout is exactly the same. There are monsters that we haven't seen in the original game, including the pink demons in the first secret level and the Cyberdemon in the second. I don't know, but maybe someone at id thought that it would be too hard to draw guard dogs and Hans Grosse. What's funny about the secret level is that there are actually blue SS guards, yet they yelp in pain if you shoot them.

Almost every level in DOOM II is more challenging than the last, and they can take you about 30 minutes to complete, or a little bit more if you get lost and have trouble finding things. I did not have trouble finding my way around because I referred to the level map occasionally.

Graphic-wise, some of the backgrounds look good, and they blend in with whatever theme that the level takes. One level, for instance, takes place in the suburbs, so the background represents a series of burning skyscrapers. All the new enemies and they are animated nicely. I like the way that that level is so open.

The music in the game is twice as good as the original, and there are some cool sounds coming from the new monsters, especially the Icon of Sin (the final boss, whose picture is seen on some walls in the game). When you get to the level, you teleport to the same room as him, and you hear a scary voice coming from him. You won't understand him, but you will be able to if you record what he says then play it backwards.

When I completed the game, I enjoyed flicking through the monsters that feature in the game and listening to their sounds as well as that Wolfenstein-like music. Before, I always forgot what the names of each monster was until I do this. Those funny messages appearing when you choose to leave the game are still there. My favorite is “You want to quit? Then, thou hast lost an eighth!” I read in the Trivia section that this is actually a reference to the Ultima series, but I am not a fan of RPGs.

The Bad
Anyone who thinks this game has anything bad needs to flush their head down the toilet.

The Bottom Line
In DOOM II, you do the same thing that you did in the original game, only this time you battle it out on Earth. There are some improvements like new monsters and the super shotgun (which is better than the original shotgun). One monster that I liked over most is the Icon of Sin. Each level of the game has its own theme, and they are good enough that you have to play them again. The background music on most levels is excellent. If you were impressed with the original game, then you should be impressed with DOOM II. Like the original, there are user-created maps out there ready to be downloaded by those that completed the game but just want more action.

DOS · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2009

Back to Earth, Back to Hell

The Good
Just a secret to tell

It's not a secret but well, unless you're also on the same site where parts of this review are already published, you can't know that since February, I'm reviewing (The Ultimate) Doom, Doom II and Final Doom, one per month. February was for Doom, March was for Doom II and April will be for Final Doom.

What you'll find weird is that I'm submitting it in April here. Well, before Doom II, I had reviewed Christmasville. When I wanted to submit my written words here, I was confronted to the fact that nobody created an entry for that themed hidden object games. So, I did. I've waited for it being approved. So, that explains why you'll see only Doom II in April. And probably Final Doom in May, because I've two more reviews about casual games.

So you know now that you'll read a review about Final Doom. It's not written yet though.

Nearly 15 years of FPS gaming

If it weren't for Doom II, I wouldn't be here today. Doom II is the first FPS game I've played and my memory tells me that I didn't finish it. I was stuck at Downtown. Since, I've beaten it. It has influenced my life, I admit it.

Doom II is as mythic as Doom (or the Ultimate Doom). It's also the FPS who really did hook me to the genre. Without it, I wouldn't be playing Half-Life, Vietcong, Call of Duty or other FEAR. Without it, my life would have been different and I wouldn't be here on MobyGames.

But Doom II is also similar to Doom and that's why you shouldn't be surprised to see some familiar words here. Not that I'm lazy but if I already wrote about the gameplay, why not taking the short way?

An experiment going wrong having some consequences on Earth

Well, no, I'm not speaking about dear Half-Life 2 whose story is also about the consequences of an experiment having gone wrong in the past.

In Doom II, you're going back to Earth, being the only survivor of an hellish invasion on Phobos, being the only one able to kick demons' asses on Deimos, having made a point by showing you were too tough for Hell to handle and for the Ultimate Doom players, having taken revenge for your pet's death. So, now, it's the time for a vacation, waiting eagerly for it, knowing that it will come after your report.

Going back to Earth was easy, surviving on it is another story. Because, poor soul you are, you will have to fight your way again because demons decided to invade Earth as well. You've been proven too tough for Hell to handle, so, it's now to prove that as long as you will live, Hell will not be at peace.

So, you have to deliver the human kind first before messing up at the source of Hell on Earth, near your hometown. Oh yeah, Hell should have been careful when it comes to you.

Doom II is still dealing with the UAC though. I don't know why but it seems that UAC is really owning every place you're going. Here, that corporation is just a detail, something not really important, comparing to what will be done for Doom³.

It will be too pretentious for me to affirm that Doom II did establish another basic storyline: the consequences of a previous game described in a sequel. Yeah, FEAR is perhaps using a little of it in Project Origin or Extraction Point, yeah, Half-Life 2 is following that plot deeper than we can imagine, yeah, Painkiller Battle out of Hell or Overdose is also using the same idea. What happened after your actions in a first game?

Well, we know in FEAR alternate storyline that the Pointman must fight against an Alma not pleased about what he has done, that in Project Origin, Beckett is dealing with the aftermath of FEAR, that in Half-Life 2, Gordon Freeman is trying to free a world post-Black Mesa which he created, that in PK BooH, Daniel Garner must deal with Alastor becoming the new king of Hell and that in PK Overdose, Belial, being freed by Daniel Garner (who isn't aware of it), is taking a revenge on Hell and Paradise.

A winner gameplay

Doom II isn't a brain game. Well, perhaps a little more than its predecessor. But it's still a matter of activating switches and opening doors. It's just a pure shooter, with no one to protect than yourself, without need to worry about casualties, well, something that is different from a lot of FPS today, where you find a passage where you'll have to protect someone. You're fighting for you..., also for the humanity but mainly for you.

When you have played Doom, you'll be not surprised to see the following.

The mouse gameplay, used for looking around or for firing (some can also bind the right-click to zoom or to jump or to run), is missing here, meaning that you will have to learn to use only the keyboard (or a pad). It can frustrating the first time, unless you're coming directly from a round on Doom. For me, at that time, it wasn't bothering. But now, as I've acquired modern FPS reflex (mouse + keyboard), everytime I'm playing an old Doom game on PC, well, I'm making the mistake to take my mouse before remembering that I didn't change the gameplay in the Collector Edition menu and that I will never change it. So, you have to use fully your arrow keys for moving around, your CTRL key for just shooting, your 1-7 keys for changing weapons, your SHIFT key for running and your SPACE key for opening doors or for activating switches. It's the main mechanics of FPS that you're finding in Doom and except for the jumping part and the zooming weapon, you'll find in nearly all FPS a running function or a walking slowly one, you'll find your weapons binded to the number, you'll find also the TAB key bind for some actions (in Doom, it's for getting a map view), etc.. So, as you see, it's an intuitive gameplay, an efficient combination of keys, not too hard to master.

I mentioned that there weren't any zooming possibility but the reason is that there are not sniper weapons. And I'm not sure that it was technically possible to do it at that time, with that engine. Yes, I'm missing it when you have far away enemies firing at you but I don't regret the lack of it. That's the way I love playing the old Doom and I'm not sure that a modification adding sniper rifles would be appreciated by my own person.

I need to mention the HUD because everything is already there. Your protection (armor) percentage is taken in count, as your health, you can see if you have the needing keys or not, you can also see your ammo or the weapons you've collected (symbolized by the key number). Even the face of the Doomguy is represented and it's also showing emotions or current health state. If you're playing with it with gold eyes, well, that means that you've entered the cheat for the god mode.

Same good old enemy A.I.

The enemy AI is still the same. You're perhaps shooting demons or zombies that aren't working as a team or aren't trying to duck or to take covers, sometimes, you can be in their line of view, but they're not reacting, but that doesn't mean that Doom is having a mediocre enemy AI. Each enemy is trying to approach you. Even when they're far away from you, they're not giving up shooting at you. And perhaps the most important, they don't like friendly fire. If another demon is hurting them, they're going to attack it, mainly when you're playing in higher levels, with a massive amount of demons. I was playing Tricks and Traps from this game in Ultra-Violence (and in god mode - I will play it without cheating in Hurt me Plenty). A Cyber-demon were surrounded by Hell Barons. Believe me or not but the Hell Barons hurt by the rocket of the Cyber-demon were shooting plasma balls at him. It doesn't help me much as the Cyber-demon did kill them but it was very great to see that enemies can react to friendly fire.

New asses to kick

Doom II is introducing new demons and a new human zombie. If you're still finding all the enemies from Doom, whether it's Cyber-demon or the Spider Mastermind, you're gonna cry when you'll discover new enemies that will got you under your skin.

First of all, the only human turned zombie is tough and well armed. The Commando Zombie is using a chaingun for killing you, so, you can understand that when you're in front of 10 guys like that, you can only pray that you'll get out alive of the fight.

For the demons, two of them are just a mini-version of already existing enemies. The Hell Knight is just an inferior Baron of Hell and the Arachnotron is a baby of the Spider Mastermind, with a plasma weapon instead of a minigun.

One of the new demons is a sort of source for an existing one. The Pain Elemental is just throwing out to you Lost Souls. I swear that this one is really carrying well his name because he's really a pain in the ass, if I may use that expression.

And then, you have the new enemies. The Revenant is a skeleton sending rockets with a guttural scream, the Mancubus is sending deadly fireballs, beware when he's with other Mancubi, the Icon of Sin is the boss, difficult to kill normally as it's sending trapped boxes with enemies when you're trying to send some rockets in his brain. Well, you have another way to beat it, yeah, Doom II is proud to say that the easier way to kill it and to see the surprise behind it is to cheat. It is highly recommended anyway.

But the most frustrating enemy I've ever seen is in Doom II. The Arch-Vile. That demon with a whisper that is sending you some chills in your spine is simply the most annoying demon. Not only he's burning you and pushing you back with fire but also he's resurrecting dead enemies. And trust me, it's not limited to poor Imps or Zombies. I saw him resurrecting tougher enemies. You do know now why I hate Arch-Viles in the Doom saga and why it was one of my many aliases.

Hurt Me Plenty

No, I'm not that kind of girl. It's just a name for the third level of difficulty. The easiest level is called I'm Too Young to Die. You don't have so many enemies to kill, you can have more items or more weapons present (not the ones dropped, I mean, the already scripted one), ammo is much important by item and well, you're not really taking damage. Then, you have Not Too Rough, then Hurt me Plenty, which is the average difficulty and the one that you should take when you're a FPS player. It's also with HMP that you can sense the difference in difficulty: more enemies, sometimes, some enemies which are not appearing in the previous difficulties, are spawning, you can find less items, you can also find less weapons. With Ultra-Violence and Nightmare, it's a real challenge to take for hardcore players.

Double-Barreled Gun

Doom being a FPS, you can see your weapon on the screen and the action of reloading. Oh yeah, it's an automatic reload and that's really great. I think that it was the only way to play FPS at that time but you don't have to worry to use 8 bullets for your shotgun then to reload. The only thing that is frustrating with weapons is that some share the same ammo. The pistol is using clips, like the gatling, the BFG 9000 is sharing the cell packs with the Plasma Gun.

Anyway, Doom II is really varied in the weapons areas, well I know, they're all coming from Doom. Yes, it has still no sniper rifle. But you can find your own fists (with a knuckleduster) that will be very useful combined with a berserk pack (an hit = dead demon for the weakest ones). You have your pistol for beginning the game though it's not really powerful. You'll find a shotgun, your main weapon throughout the game, a gatling, very useful when you have a lot of demons, a rocket launcher which can be devastating on bosses or on you if you're near the explosion, a Plasma Gun, with a high fire speed and also very deadly against bosses and the famous BFG 9000 aka the Bio Force Gun 9000 or the Big bleepin' Gun. You can also find the spelling BFG 9K. That weapon is indeed synonym of immediate death. It has a high range for damage but it's consuming a lot of cell packs. Doom II is also getting back to the chainsaw, mostly because it was one of the greatest weapons in Doom. Now that we're on Earth, you'll find trees in theory. Because in reality, Earth in Doom II is lacking of trees. You can also note that the chainsaw and the BFG 9K are the trademark for Doom. Mythic weapons they are, mythic weapons they'll stay.

But Doom II is introducing a new mythic weapon. The double-barreled gun. Yeah, it's also sharing its ammo with the shotgun. But that weapon is really something I was using the most on Doom II. You're firing two bullets instead of one. But after each shoot, you will have to reload and trust me, it's taking some seconds and your ammo... well, it's going down quickly than using the shotgun. It doesn't change something. The double-barreled gun is a great weapon. That's all.

Pixels? Yes but it's not really bothering

Doom II isn't improving a bit the graphics, they're still the same. Yeah, you have new textures for making new levels (like in Suburbs, where you'll find libraries) but it's not like an improvement of the game engine. Anyway, you do know that Doom II is belonging to the middle of the nineties. So, you'll find many pixels.

But can we sincerely reprimand Doom II for providing pixelised graphics because the modern standards are about 3D? Can we say to a game released in the first half of the nineties that it's just ugly comparing to some of our modern games?

It will be ugly for some but you can't bring down Doom like that. As I've said, Doom II is 15-20 years old. The graphics were the best back then. And you can't deny that it's already detailed. I loved the computer with the Mars picture. I love the way you can see the muscles in the Pinky's back. And I loved the way the weapons are modeled. Even the arms have hair. And you know what? I'm loving the difference between each level, the fact that we're heading toward a demonic world, with Satan's face on the wall, with bloody rivers, with tortured souls, etc..

But where Doom was failing in terms of correspondence between names and level design, Doom II isn't. Now, when you're going to Downtown, you're going to a town, with buildings making you feel that you're indeed in a town. So, yeah, it has improved in that domain.

Level design

It's very interesting to see the level design. You're really feeling that you're going from the Starport to the Town, before going to Hell. I'll point some levels that are interesting here. I'll begin with the secret levels.

Indeed, these ones are just a reference to Wolfenstein 3D with Nazis soldier trying to stop you, with a soundtrack clearly military and with Nazi symbols everywhere, when it's not Hitler's picture that is hanging on the walls. Also, note that Grosse is also having a reference to Commander Keen, another hero from id Software.

The sixth level, the Crusher, is also interesting. With a first part that contains a high room, with a possibility of crushing a Spider Mastermind, with the fact that you need to do a running jump, mainly in the high part of the room, it is also there that you'll find Revenants, in a room where you can't fall.

The eight level, Tricks and Traps, is having a central room with doors. You already understood that you have to try all the rooms behind these ones for exiting. You don't know what will happen.

The famous Downtown, or the thirteenth level, is a level with buildings, buildings and buildings. Like you were in a real city. That's a great feeling. It's also the first Doom II level to put you in the reality of Earth, as the previous levels aren't giving that feeling.

Gotcha!, the 20th level, is reminding of the E3M6 Mt Erebus in Doom. Full of lava, full of enemies. But where Mt Erebus was containing regular enemies, Gotcha! is letting you fight against a Cyber-Demon and a Spider Mastermind at the same time, in the same room.

Barrels O'Fun, the 23th level, is linear, very linear. But it's not an easy level: you will find a lot of barrels, so much that you can be killed by them. But you can also trigger a chain reaction and kill enemies.

The following level, The Chasm, is full of acid but it wouldn't be so deadly if you haven't thin passages, pillars to jump, Lost Souls in every corner without forgetting hidden Cacodemons. The last thing you needed is the lack of suits for protection.

Mythic Music

Doom II is introducing new tracks while recycling old ones. The music is still sticking to the game and I love it. What do you want me to tell you? That sounds are really great? That the normal growls coming from enemies are still indicating which kind of them you'll meet? That the Arch-Vile whisper is just sending me chills in my spine because I don't want to meet him?

Fun factory?

If Doom was fun to play, Doom II is in the same line. It's perhaps just shooter but it's very addictive. Some players are still playing it in multiplayer. That's Doom for you, always thinking about fun to play! Some modern games should take example on it.

The replay value is high if you're playing all difficulties levels. Nightmare is really hard. Its lifetime is high, you can play it again and again. It was even released on GBA, so, if you want to compare the versions... I'm still crying over the fact that I can't find Doom II on GBA. Snif.

The Bad
The same question is coming again. Is Doom II scary? So, will it be scary? After all, you're arriving in a new world, a world you're not even knowing. Half-Life 2 did have some scary moments (Ravenholm mainly) and FEAR is also scary when Alma is beginning to mess up with you. But Doom II? Like Doom, the answer is no. You're perhaps kicking demons' asses, you're perhaps going to Hell, you're perhaps trying to get a way through some dark areas but being scary? Hell, no! Despite not having played it as much as Doom, I still find Doom II not really scary. Perhaps the colors? Perhaps the fact that I'm used to Doom? I don't know why.

From the gameplay, it's just that the jumping is still missing. A lot of players will probably be deceived by the lack of it. Myself, playing now, I wish that a jumping gameplay was included. But id Software takes the option of "running can make you jump holes", which is not bad but can be really frustrating as sometimes, the running is too fast and that you can't do only that from a higher or same edge.

If you read the enemy part, you already know that I hate with every fiber of my body the Arch-Vile. His whisper is sending some chills in my spine. His attack and his power are simply annoying. Yet, it's a challenge to kill him. But that challenge is always going along with a feeling of annoyance to do it.

If I can do a last complaint, it's about the hardness of some levels, like the Chasm or the Icon of Sin when you don't know what to do. I know that if Doom II was easiest, it wouldn't be fun to play. But sometimes, I wish that you don't have to walk on thin passages with enemies able to push you out. Yet, it's a logical level design but I don't like to be pressured like that.

The Bottom Line
I'm getting straight to the final note: 9/10 or 4.5/5. Why? Because even if Doom II is really enjoyable, I didn't feel the transition between Earth and Hell. You have the Arch-Vile also. If the demon wasn't in, I wouldn't be so frustrated sometimes. And also because the Pain Elemental is just giving me aches with all the Lost Souls.

I can summarized Doom II like this: fun, high replay value, mythic weapons and mostly, the main mechanics of FPS except jumping established.

I'm not saying that playing Doom II is adopting it. I just want you to try the sequel of the game who did a great revolution in the FPS word. If you liked Doom, you will like Doom II.

Windows · by vicrabb (7272) · 2009

Doom2!! That was cool!!

The Good
When I first saw Doom, I couldn't believe it. Great graphics, great sound. It was amazing!! I played it and I loved it. Then it came the obvious sequel. And, far beyond my expectations, it was even better than the original one. Now you don't have three episodes, you must take a long journey to save the Earth from the alien guys that you fought in the martian moons. And, this time, they are coming with a couple of new friend, like the Mancubus, or the Arch Ville. The game was great for its time, with very advanced graphics, an improved gameplay from the original Doom, and in some places, very huge levels. And the sound!! I still remember the giants footsteps of the Cyberdemon, the shots from the spiders, the bullets from a nearby room every time I managed to start a fight between the enemies. Doom 2 was one of the best games in history, absolutely.

The Bad
Not too much to say. The only bad thing it was that there was only one new weapon.

The Bottom Line
Totally surprising!!

DOS · by Emepol (212) · 2011

[ View all 19 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Original floppies just sold by Romero for $3150 on eBay Cavalary (11445) Jun 28, 2017
The ultimate DOOM weapon chirinea (47504) Jun 26, 2010

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Doom II: Hell on Earth appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Arcade Version

In the 1997 film Grosse Point Blank a store clerk can be seen playing on a DOOM II arcade cabinet. An arcade version was however never released and the game seen in the film is a film prop with a PC inside.

Boss' Sound File

If you play the boss' sound file backwards, it says "To win the game, you must beat me, John Romero." John Romero is one of the developers.

Columbine High-School Shooting

While it's a well-known fact today, it is worth mentioning that after the much-publicized Columbine high-school shooting, DOOM II became a showcase for media finger-pointing and for a collective lawsuit by parents of teenagers killed in the shooting. The reason was that the shooters, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, were both into DOOM and Quake; Harris even made some amateur levels for DOOM II. He went under the names RebDooMer, Rebldomakr and Rebdomine, and hosted a set of WADs on AOL. In his AOL profile he listed himself as a "professional DOOM and DOOM II creator", although all of his WADs appeared to be for DOOM II, mostly deathmatch, and he was not paid for them. The most polished one is uaclabs.wad, a simple pair of levels. They are short, crude but entertaining, and give no clue as to Harris' later actions. Also of note is that the text file for Bricks.wad credits "My good friend Dylan Klebold for helping me play-test this WAD".

Harris' AOL directory, which was mirrored at http://columbine.free2host.net/aolhp.html, also includes what appears to be a menu image reading "Quake Files", although no Harris-designed Quake levels have surfaced; he seems to have hosted a Quake level designed by another person, and a utility for viewing and altering Quake sprites. Harris seemed to lose interest in DOOM at the end of 1996.

Soon after the shootings, rumors surfaced that Harris made some levels which bear an uncanny resemblance to Columbine High School. According to the rumor, Harris and his friend Klebold modeled the levels after the school, filled it with enemies meant to represent students and teachers, and played through it again and again... until the day they decided to do it for real. However, if such levels ever really existed, they have not surfaced on the internet and none of Harris's known levels bear resemblance to real-world architecture.

Development

MAP10: Refueling Base, was originally started by Tom Hall as a level in the original DOOM, and even appeared as E1M6 in DOOM 0.5, but did not make it to the final game. Instead, it was completed by Sandy Petersen for this game. This game took 8 months to make (unlike its predecessor which spent a year in production).

DOSBox Controversy

The Steam download version of the game is listed as running on Windows 2000/XP/Vista because the executables are modified to use a DOSBox variant (v 0.70); additionally the traditional setup.exe is missing. It is confirmed that neither Valve nor id Software contacted the DOSBox project staff and initially the game didn't even include the txt files that must be present under the GPL license (so they failed to fulfill 2 points of the GPL license). Two days after the launch, there was an update that included COPYING, AUTHORS and THANKS.txt of DOSBox 0.71.

ESRB Ratings

DOOM II was the first game to be rated by the ESRB, as its predecessor naturally inspired it due to the violence controversy.

German Ratings

On December 31, 1994, DOOM II was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. Indexed products by the BPjS/BPjM are illegal to sell or make available to minors in Germany and it is illegal to advertise for it in any form. But there is absolutely no law forbidding any adult to buy such a product. The only exception is when a game was in addition also confiscated (or put on the so-called "List B" for BPjM games), but this is rather seldom the case. In this particularly case here, DOOM II was just indexed, but not confiscated. However, due to the fact that advertisement also means the presence of a product on the shelves of a store, the product will disappear from the public. But it can be bought in supporting stores "under the desk" (per request).

DOOM and the German version of DOOM II were removed from the German index on August 4, 2011 following a request of the license holder of these games. The BPjM board of 12 did not secure a 2/3 majority vote to prevent the removal from the index. The board justified their decision stating among other things that "Due to the distancing effect of the graphics the player is no longer emotionally engaged in the combat action. There remains both on the visual as well as on the auditory level the impression of abstract depictions, which are therefore also bluntly recognisable as fictional and unrealistic." This decision does not include the US version of DOOM II. This version remains on the index because it includes two levels from Wolfenstein 3D which has been banned and confiscated nationwide in Germany.

The Game Boy Advance version is the only one not banned in Germany, as the color of blood in that version was changed to green in an attempt to preserve the GBA's kid-friendly reputation.

References

  • Like in its predecessor, some soundtracks in DOOM II are similar and were likely inspired to be created after songs by famous heavy metal bands. For example, the soundtrack for the first level, Entryway, is similar to Megadeth's Hangar 18, the soundtrack for MAP07: Dead Simple is very similar to South of Heaven by Slayer.
  • DOOM II has a few references to Ultima games. One of the quit messages is "You want to quit? Then, thou hast lost an eighth!", which is a reference to Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, and the automap title of MAP11: Circle of Death is The 'O' of Destruction, which is a reference to the Ultima VII weapon Hoe of Destruction.
  • In MAP13: Downtown, a very big black building can be seen. id Software's offices in Texas are in a building that looks like this one.
  • MAP21: Nirvana may be an homage to Kurt Cobain and the band Nirvana. Cobain committed suicide the same year DOOM II was released and used a shotgun to do so. As a possible reference, the level starts out with a double barreled shotgun in front of the player.
  • The final boss of the game shoots out cubes, which contain demons, from his brain. This is similar to how Satan gives birth to his daughter Sin in John Milton's Paradise Lost, where she is born out of his head (a parthenogenesis based on Zeus and his daughter, Athena).

Retail Release

DOOM II actually preceded the retail release of its predecessor. While the shareware version of DOOM was available before DOOM II's box release, it wasn't until the release of The Ultimate DOOM in 1995 that the full version of DOOM was finally available on retail shelves.

Secret Levels

DOOM II features two secret levels. Both pay homage to earlier id Software titles. MAP31: Wolfenstein (accessible from MAP15: Industrial Zone) is a recreation of the first level of the first episode of id's Wolfenstein 3D using the DOOM engine. The map layout is almost identical. Even the secret areas from the original game can be found in the same places, and some additional secret areas have been added. The brown-uniformed guards from the original are replaced by blue-uniformed SS troopers (complete with re-recordings of their original exclamations "Schutzstaffel!" and "Mein Leben!") and dogs are replaced by pinky demons.

When using the secret exit (also present in the original), MAP32: Grosse can be accessed. This is a recreation of the last level of Wolfenstein 3D's first episode. The end boss Hans Grosse (hence the level name) is replaced by a Cyberdemon. In the room behind him, there is another reference to an earlier id title: four Commander Keens are hanging by their necks on ropes. They have to be shot and killed to reveal the button that exits the level. The sound effects heard when shooting at them are renditions of PC speaker effects from the first three Commander Keen games. According to John Romero (source), this gag was artist Adrian Carmack's idea, who never wanted to work on Keen again.

Both levels also feature music taken from Wolfenstein 3D, rearranged from the original FM sound to General MIDI.

The levels are included in the version of the game sold in Germany but are inaccessible during regular game-play. The secret exit in the game that leads to the secret levels has been blocked but it is possible to use the cheat code for map selection to enter these levels. This was probably done to avoid more controversy due to restrictions on the use of swastikas and other Nazi symbols in Germany, however all game graphics and sounds are in the German version as well.

The Game Boy Advance version also features the levels, but removes all Nazi symbolism.

Sound Effects

The shee-koufff noise heard when the final boss spawns a flying cube has been continuously used since the game's release, in TV shows, movies and commercials. This sound effect is the Fireball sound effect from the Sound Ideas General Series. id Software was the first game company to use that sound effect (unaltered).

User Created Content

  • The jDoom port features a 1024x768x32 resolution with dynamic colored lighting, completely customizable controls, mouselook, and 3D sound. See the related sites section for a link.
  • The US Marine Core created their own DOOM II WAD files for training in four-player co-op levels. More information was available at http://www.tec.army.mil/TD/tvd/survey/Marine_Doom.html .

Xbox release

In April 2005 a full port of this game was brought to Xbox as part of the DOOM³ (Limited Collector's Edition) special edition.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • 1994 - Game of the Year
  • PC Gamer
    • 1994 - Game of the Year
  • Power Play
    • Issue 02/1995 – Best Doom Clone in 1994

Information also contributed by ApTyp, Ashley Pomeroy, DarkDante, Dragoon, Emepol, James1, John Romero, jTrippy, Kalirion, Maw, MegaMegaMan, Sam Jeffreys, Scott Monster, Steve ., Terok Nor, The Cliffe, WWWWolf, Xoleras, Zack Green and theclue.

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Doom
Released 1993 on DOS, Linux, 1995 on Windows...
Doom³
Released 2004 on Windows, Linux, 2005 on Xbox
Final Doom
Released 1996 on DOS, Windows, Macintosh
Doom
Released 2016 on Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One...
Doom³: Resurrection of Evil
Released 2005 on Windows, Linux, Xbox
Doom II + Final Doom
Released 2015 on Windows
Doom
Released 1995 on PlayStation, 1997 on SEGA Saturn
Doom 64
Released 1997 on Nintendo 64, Windows, 2020 on PlayStation 4...
ZorkQuest: The Crystal of Doom
Released 1988 on PC Booter, Commodore 64, Apple II

Related Sites +

  • ClassicDOOM.com
    Walkthroughs, cheat codes, passwords, demos, FAQs, reference files and more, for game-console and PC Doom games.
  • DOOMWORLD
    It is a site dedicated to DOOM, and especially to the total conversions of DOOM2, done with these marvelous wad editors. You need only DOOMWORLD if you want to be informed about the DOOM community!
  • Doom II EPK at archive.org
    Electronic Press Kit for Doom II: Hell on Earth. Features gameplay demonstration and developer interviews.
  • Doom Wiki
    A Wiki site for the Doom series.
  • JDoom
    Arguably the best revisited Doom engine. Take your original WAD files from Doom 1, 2 etc. and run them on this D3D/OpenGL and A3D enabled engine.
  • NewDoom
    A big fansite dedicated to the Doom series.
  • OC ReMix Game Profile
    Fan remixes of music from DOOM II: Hell on Earth, including the albums "Delta-Q-Delta" and "The American Album".
  • S&F Prod.'s Doom Page
    Here you'll find a Duke Nukem in Doom add-on and more.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 299
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tomer Gabel.

Game Boy Advance added by Corn Popper. Zodiac added by Kabushi. PC-98, Macintosh added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: Optimus, Kate Jones, Ledmeister, Unicorn Lynx, Frenkel, Corn Popper, Guy Chapman, Alaka, Pseudo_Intellectual, Havoc Crow, vedder, Cantillon, Medicine Man, Patrick Bregger, Thomas Thompson, Éiregamer94, Rik Hideto, FatherJack, theclue.

Game added February 19, 2020. Last modified March 15, 2024.