30 years have now passed since the official launch ofDOOM 2on July 23, 2025, with the game standing today as one of the most recognizable and influential titles to ever be released in the first-person shooter genre. Coming off the back of the dizzying and industry-altering success of its predecessor, the 1994 title had a huge amount of pressure and expectations surrounding it, yet it still managed to largely capture audiences and write its own legacy in the same vein as the original game.
Of course, the largest challenge thatDOOM 2faced was making the title significantly stand out from the firstDOOM, which itself had only been released one year prior in 1993.DOOM 2did well to introduce some iconic new monsters and weapons to the franchise, but the level design for the title is one aspect in particular that has drawn some criticism over the years.DOOM 2has received plenty of expansions since its initial launch, with one even being released as recently as 2024, and they each make it clear thatDOOM 2could have done more with itself despite the huge success that it rightfully enjoyed.
DOOM 2 Has a 30-Year Legacy of Distinct Highs and Lows
It is difficult to overstatejust how successful and influential the originalDOOMwas, with the title rewriting the expectations of the FPS genre and the gaming industry as a whole. Not many projects fit the term of “overnight sensation” better thanDOOM, with the game having been played by an estimated 20 million people just two years after its initial launch. This intense and rapid commercial and cultural success predictably led to iD Software quickly releasing a successor, withDOOM 2releasing to great fanfare on July 27, 2025.
Despite releasing so close to the original, it was clear thatDOOM 2needed to set itself apart from its predecessor, with the game smartly introducing a range of new weapons and demons to the franchise. These demons include the Chain Gunner, Hell Knight, Mancubus, Revenant, Arachnotron, Pain Elemental, Arch-Vile, with the famousIcon of Sin boss also being first introduced inDOOM 2. The title also was the first to feature the iconic double-barreled Super Shotgun, as well as brand-new power-ups like the life-saving Megasphere.
Interestingly, many of these demons were intended to appear in the originalDOOM, meaning the vision forDOOM 2’s new content was present from the very outset of the franchise. While these new demons and weapons are a huge part ofwhat makesDOOM 2stand out, the game has inevitably faced some criticism over the years, with the standard of its level design being a particular point of contention within the community.
DOOM 2 Could Have Reached Greater Heights with More Traditional Level Design
The rapid turnaround ofDOOM 2’s development meant that many of its 32 levels were created quite hastily, with many players lamenting how confusing and needlessly complex some of them are to navigate. Having to spend so much time retracing steps and searching for exits takes away from thehigh-octane and tense gameplay that helpsDOOMthrive, andDOOM 2may have strayed too far away from this concept in the fundamentals of its level design.
DOOM 2has released a number of expansions since 1994 that really flesh out the game, with the community-led Master Levels expansion releasing as early as 1995. The year after that saw the launch of two ofDOOM 2’s most infamous DLC, TNT: Evilution and The Plutonia Experiment, with the former being renowned for its inconsistent maps and the latter for its intense difficulty. There was a lull in officially releasedDOOM 2content following this, with No Rest For the Living being a nine-map expansion releasing in 2010, andSigil releasing in 2019 as an unofficial fifth episode for the game.
Sigil was released to celebrateDOOM 2’s 25th anniversary, and the game recently received the same treatment for its 30th.August 2024 saw the release of the Legacy of Rust expansion, being one of the most interesting officialDOOM 2expansions ever made. Most notably, Legacy of Rust actually introduces new official demons and weapons to the game, with players encountering the Banshee, Ghoul, Mindweaver, Shocktrooper, Tyrant, and Vassago. These new enemies can be vanquished with the Incinerator and the powerful Calamity Blade, which replaces the iconic BFG.
Legacy of Rust’s Greater Variety and Consistent Level Design is DOOM 2 At its Best
This even wider selection of demons and equipment makes for a much more engaging and memorable overall experience, being a testament to how important fresh content can be inmaking newDOOMexperiences truly stand out. The level design for Legacy of Rust is also grand and expressive, and while it is true that the expansion has had three decades of development refinement to help fuel it, LoR puts an even larger spotlight on the fairly lackluster level designs of the base game.
The base game ofDOOM 2still remains as a highly enjoyable and iconic experience, with its fresh content being quite commendable given how quickly it was released following the launch of the first title. The many expansions that have been released over the years paint a picture of just how more the base game could have been, however, especially from the perspective of gameplay flow and pacing. It seems remiss that it took 30 years for an official expansion to introduce new weapons and demons toDOOM 2, for example, yet the new additions that fans originally got in 1994 still did extremely well in cementing the franchise as an unforgettable FPS experience.
Doom 2
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This beloved sequel to the groundbreaking DOOM (1993) gave players the brutal Super Shotgun to bear against deadlier demons, and the infamous boss, the Icon of Sin.The re-release of DOOM II includes:- The Master Levels, 20 additional levels made by the community and supervised by the developers- Local 4 player multiplayer- Local 4 player co-opTo save Earth, you must descend into the depths of hell, survive demon hordes, and take part in the fiercest battle ever.
