Is that a BFG in your pocket or are you just berserk to see me?
Doom II is close to my heart. It remains among my favorite video games of all time. It is such a classic that any time it gets re-released I get both excited and scared. I’ve tried all the official releases (though the game has been unofficially ported to countless platforms by now) and now theres a new one to add to the list: Xbox Live Arcade. Yes, they’re still releasing incarnations of Doom II and it’s still subject to change so let’s dive in and see what we’ve got this time.
The first thing you’ll notice is that the game is not ‘revamped’ in the way many Xbox Live Arcade re-releases are with all new graphics, sound, and crazy modifications from what fans of the original expect. That isn’t to say that this is identical to the original but the differences are subtle relative to the metamorphosis many games tend to take upon release.
This may make you think that this game is paying tribute to the classic, reissuing this as a sort of historic recreation, letting new generations experience what earlier ones loved. You would be wrong though. There are indeed changes here. Sure we can’t have a 1:1 translation of the first incarnation of the game but some of the changes seem pointless and not helpful at all. It’s a facsimile of Doom II, just not a recreation of the original PC incarnation as we all learned to love it.
Don’t get me wrong, most of the things they changed are either for the better or pretty subtle. Many players won’t even notice them. It’s just unfortunate for me (and this review) that some of the changes are to things I previously loved like the loading, title, and scoreboard screens. Nothing that significantly effects game-play has been messed with.
The controls are unfortunate as they’re not as intuitive as you might hope for and the D-Pad is inexplicably not utilized for player movement so it feels a lot less like the original than it really ought to. The worst change, though, is the addition of a map. It removes all the exploration and mystery of the game. Part of the game is supposed to be figuring out where to go and trying to remember your route. That’s gone now. Kids today (yes, I said it; Kids today) would benefit from trying to play the game through without such a crutch.
HD display of LD pixels - I love it.
As for new stuff, they’ve made a few notable additions to the game. Theres a whole new chapter to play through (‘No Rest For The Living‘) and a handfull of new enemies to slaughter. Best of all it’s got 5.1 Surround Sound now too.That’s great and makes for a good purchase incentive for those of us who know every corner and hidden door from our first play-through. Overall it runs and plays quite solid and despite some of the hiccups in translation, the game is as fun and exhilarating as you remember; Still better than Doom III. Supplement that with some achievements, and a couple of Xbox Avatar Awards (including a Doom II T-shirt, ever so slightly grayed as if you’ve owned it since 1994) and you’ve got enough novel additions to justify the purchase.
Now as an aside, I’ve read some other reviews of this release and frankly you have to read those with a grain of salt. Some of these game critics are really showing their lack of pedigree with their reviews of the title, making it clear they they never played the original and have no clue what they’re talking about. Daemon Hatfield of IGN, I’m looking at you specificly. The music is not “cheesy, MIDI Lounge music” and you don’t need to jump or look up. That’s not relevant to the game-play. Nobody can call themselves a professional game critic if they don’t have enough experience to have even been exposed to such a classic game until now. It’s embarrassing for all of us.
If you enjoyed the original incarnations of Doom or are curious about what a classic FPS was like for us old-timers, you should consider checking this out. Even with it’s few problems it’s not a bad facsimile and retains all the fun of years past while supplementing it with some refreshing new content. Sure, it’s dated, but that’s to be expected and for the most part this release shines and transfers well to your Xbox 360. You may have said goodbye to your 468 but you don’t have to say goodbye to Doom II.
