Heartbreaking. After playing through the first DOOM RPG I was left genuinely at a loss when it came to thinking of what they could have possibly improved upon to create a bigger, better sequel. Maybe take out some of the level grinding, but even that wasn't too much of an issue in what is basically still the most perfect transition to another genre any franchise has ever made thus far as of this writing. So, the most I reasonably expected to get here was a follow-up that would simply end up being just more of the same. A good, fun time, but nothing to really write home about due to the familiarity. Certainly wouldn't have guessed they would try to radically redefine the experience in ways that ultimately left me highly disappointed. This is such a letdown.

Underneath its flashy exterior of impressive, stylish graphics and frequent cutscenes that make it a technical marvel by J2ME standards, lies a hollow interior where all the new features such as hacking minigames, three playable characters/classes (that really offer no distinguishable differences outside of maybe the occasional line of dialogue from NPCs), and the ability to loot dead bodies provide merely the illusion of added depth. Yeah, they got rid of the leveling grinding, but in the process made leveling up at all feel totally pointless. The change to a linear campaign structure with no option to backtrack to previously completed stages for extra EXP means there's only ever a set amount you’ll be able to acquire at any given time. Therefore, it’s essentially predetermined how strong you can be at specific points. Arrive at a particularly difficult boss or encounter and you’re supposed to rely on special “nano drink” consumables that grant massive temporary stat boosts rather than the work you put into building yourself up beforehand. It causes the whole thing to come off as cheap and overly scripted.

The same great turn-based action remains however, so it’s not a complete wash. As a result, I think my biggest problem might just be how this simply doesn’t feel like DOOM anymore. That irritating element of silly comedy that reared its ugly little head here and there in the preceding RPG has spread like a virus to every inch of this subsequent adventure. From squirt guns filled with holy water that give enemies googly eyes to searching dead bodies solely to turn up useless joke items like pocket lint or severed fingers, the tone is overall extremely goofy in a similar manner to how nearly all our modern movies and TV shows are now since the MCU reshaped the Hollywood blockbuster formula. For those such as myself who prefer the mix of ‘80s action machismo and horror the property is typically known for, this is disgraceful.

They haven't necessarily created an outright bad game here. Honestly, by all reasonable and fair standards it's entirely competent across the board. Their efforts to expand upon the original while making it more appealing to the masses though, has dreadfully stripped it of its soul. Undoubtedly among the strongest proof I've yet seen that sometimes less is in fact actually more.

6/10

A surprisingly great turn based RPG in the Doom universe. The story is the most interesting part, concerning a demonic AI that's taken over systems on the moon. You get three distinct characters to pick from. The whole gamut of the typical Doom arsenal makes an appearance, in addition to a few surprises from Doom 3, and the incredibly useful Holy Water pistol.

The game is short - it was a mobile phone game, after all - but totally sweet. I wish one of the story's characters - SAL - got a little more screentime, and some of the weapon sprites in the IOS version feel a bit phoned in, but overall I enjoyed my time with it. Huge reccomend to any Doom fan.