I always found Doom II to be an odd sequel, doing little to build upon the gameplay of the first, only adding a single new weapon and a number of new enemy types. On top of that, I remembered the level-design being pretty bad, featuring sprawling maps that failed to capitalise on the action-focused mechanical draw of Doom. However, upon a second playthrough I have amended my position considerably.
Regarding level-design, most of the game is far more focused than I remembered. The first and third chapters are mostly fine, with the worst offenders lying in Hell on Earth's second chapter, one contextually established to be set in Earth's cities. While, yes, these levels are annoyingly obtuse, I think I appreciate them in the context of the series. What these levels bring to the table are a move towards representationalism, attempting to de-abstract the human cost of the conflict by setting it on city streets. It's an ambitious attempt at environmental storytelling, one not fully realised due to a lack of environmental detail. In this respect, these otherwise poorly designed maps bring something valuable to the table.
Moving straight from Doom to Doom II, it becomes clear how incomplete the series would be without this title. Sure, it only added a single weapon, but that weapon was the Super Shotgun, arguably the most recognisable weapon in the series aside from the BFG. Enemy-wise, imagine the Doom series without Revenants, Mancubi, or Pain Elementals. It just wouldn't be complete.
This was my first time playing the expansions, so I'll cover those briefly. Master Levels for Doom II is generally regarded as being quite poor, but I think this is a case of recency bias. I found the early levels to be generally quite good, with large, convoluted levels mostly being relegated to the back-end (one of them took me 45mins to complete). Taken as a whole it's not great (probably a 3/5), but I was happy to have played it.
More interesting than it's design, the Master Levels are notable for elevating fan-made content to official status. While I have mixed feelings on the ethics, it's nice that such an enormous part of Doom received official recognition. If this mixed bag was able to receive this status, I think they should just canonise Sigil (and the upcoming Sigil 2) already. This elevation of fan-made content was taken to a new extreme with Final Doom, which I look forward to playing soon.
Finally, Nerve Software's No Rest for the Living was an expansion released in 2010, and to date is the final officially released Doom campaign. I don't have too much to say about it, other than that it's a quality piece of Doom content, if one that is less ambitious than Hell on Earth.
Regarding level-design, most of the game is far more focused than I remembered. The first and third chapters are mostly fine, with the worst offenders lying in Hell on Earth's second chapter, one contextually established to be set in Earth's cities. While, yes, these levels are annoyingly obtuse, I think I appreciate them in the context of the series. What these levels bring to the table are a move towards representationalism, attempting to de-abstract the human cost of the conflict by setting it on city streets. It's an ambitious attempt at environmental storytelling, one not fully realised due to a lack of environmental detail. In this respect, these otherwise poorly designed maps bring something valuable to the table.
Moving straight from Doom to Doom II, it becomes clear how incomplete the series would be without this title. Sure, it only added a single weapon, but that weapon was the Super Shotgun, arguably the most recognisable weapon in the series aside from the BFG. Enemy-wise, imagine the Doom series without Revenants, Mancubi, or Pain Elementals. It just wouldn't be complete.
This was my first time playing the expansions, so I'll cover those briefly. Master Levels for Doom II is generally regarded as being quite poor, but I think this is a case of recency bias. I found the early levels to be generally quite good, with large, convoluted levels mostly being relegated to the back-end (one of them took me 45mins to complete). Taken as a whole it's not great (probably a 3/5), but I was happy to have played it.
More interesting than it's design, the Master Levels are notable for elevating fan-made content to official status. While I have mixed feelings on the ethics, it's nice that such an enormous part of Doom received official recognition. If this mixed bag was able to receive this status, I think they should just canonise Sigil (and the upcoming Sigil 2) already. This elevation of fan-made content was taken to a new extreme with Final Doom, which I look forward to playing soon.
Finally, Nerve Software's No Rest for the Living was an expansion released in 2010, and to date is the final officially released Doom campaign. I don't have too much to say about it, other than that it's a quality piece of Doom content, if one that is less ambitious than Hell on Earth.