Doom II (Classic)

Genre: First-Person Shooter

Players: 1-4 Competitive / Co-Op (Local Split-Screen)

Game Company Bad Behavior Profile Page: ZeniMax Media Inc

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Doom + Doom II, along with Doom II Classic. It is also included in the Compilation Doom Slayers Collection, along with Doom (1993), Doom 64, Doom 3, and Doom (2016). All of these games are also included in the physical-only Compilation, Doom Anthology, along with Doom Eternal.)

Doom II is a classic First-Person Shooter, and a direct follow-up to the game that codified the entire genre. While not nearly as influential as its predecessor, Doom II packs every bit as much quality gameplay as the first game.

That said, upon its initial release on Switch, Doom II was plagued with problems. The game harassed players to sign into a Bethesda.net account any time they wanted to play, and poor emulation left the gameplay slightly messy and the music slowed-down.

Thankfully, in the time since, the game has been patched, and as a result these issues have largely been done away with. The game still prompts players to sign into a Bethesda.net account, but this can now be quickly dismissed and ignored if you so choose. The emulation issues have also been patched, and as a result the issues with the gameplay and music are resolved. The game now plays smooth and fluid, as good as ever on the Switch.

The Nintendo Switch version of the game includes the entire original game, as well as Master Levels, a collection of 20 user-made stages, and there are additional maps made available via free DLC after the game launched, including the No Rest for the Wicked expansion originally released in the Xbox 360 version. Players can also play in local split-screen deathmatches or tackle the levels in co-op, but the game lacks both local wireless and online play, which is especially frustrating given that other versions of the game are playable online – both the PC and Xbox 360 versions have it beat in that regard. Oh, and I suppose I should mention that this game doesn’t feature gyro aiming, although given the lack of vertical look I’m not sure how that would work here anyway.

As for the gameplay, this is classic Doom, which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. On the one hand, this game is supercharged nostalgia, with fast-paced gameplay and some memorable levels that have become iconic. On the other hand, it’s clear that the First-Person Shooter genre has progressed quite a lot since this game was released, and as a result it can seem a bit archaic by today’s standards, in many ways.

Firstly, of course, there’s the inability to look up or down which was just accepted at the time, but seems awkward and stiff now. Also, the game’s labyrinthine level design and keycard-hunting seem really frustrating and tedious, and the levels feel really monotonous. And while the game’s classic graphics are presented flawlessly now, those classic graphics haven’t aged especially well, looking really pixelated with minimal animation. Also, the lack of options in the game’s multiplayer is disappointing – you can’t even turn off friendly fire in co-op.

There’s also the other issue, which has kinda’ been hinted at with me copy-pasting content here from my review of the original Doom – Doom II is extremely similar to its predecessor. Those who are not familiar with the two games could easily mistake them for being the exact same thing. For the record, Doom II is notorious for having even more labyrinthine level design than its predecessor, more wide-open areas, and a greatly-expanded variety of enemies to fight. However, otherwise the gameplay here is very much the same, albeit lacking the novelty the original had, at least when originally released.

Doom II is still, well, Doom. It’s still a classic, it’s still fun to play, and it’s wonderful to have it on the Switch. At the same time, there are definitely elements of this game that have aged poorly, and even though the worst problems with this port have been fixed with a patch, the lack of local wireless and online multiplayer feels like a huge oversight. Plus, the game’s derivative nature is hard to ignore. Still, if you’re just looking to play the classic on the Switch, or want to throw down in local multiplayer, this game represents a solid port of a legendary game, and well worth playing if you’re up for revisiting a classic.

tl;dr – Doom II is a First-Person Shooter that follows directly in the footsteps of the first Doom, and after the game’s initial problems were patched out, the Switch version plays beautifully. That said, there are definitely elements of the game that have aged poorly, and the lack of online multiplayer in particular is disappointing. Plus, it’s hard to ignore the fact that this game is largely a retread of ground broken in the original Doom. Still, this is nevertheless a solid port of a classic well worth playing.

Grade: B-

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