like-minded doom 2 review from 2005

[Hellbent]

Here's a doom 2 review put out in 2005. I post it because I think it is in line with how most of us feel about doom on this site. :>

click here for the full review: http://www.honestgamers.com/reviews/3959.html

Doom II’s devilish design isn't even its biggest selling point. It’s a game that keeps on giving, a game that I’m able to go back to and enjoy even a decade after its release. Normal mode--er, sorry, Hurt Me Plenty mode--too easy for you? Give Ultra-Violence a shot, it’s got enough enemies packed into to it give Dynasty Warriors developer Koei dick envy. Feel gypped of your hard-earned ten bucks because two or three levels were mediocre key hunts that you cheated your way past? Make up for it by downloading two- or three-thousand of the user made maps out there, some of which are so insidious that they beat the originals at their own twisted game! Or, if you’re getting tired of fighting your way through the hordes of hell all by your lonesome, grab a buddy or three and play some co-op! It'll even out the odds against those Mancubi... just make sure friendly fire's off before you go for that last box of chaingun ammo.

Even outside of the sweet bonus features, though, this is still one of the few FPS games of its era that’s worth coming back to today. Its charmingly simple graphics blow Quake’s ugly polygons out of the water, its lovably cheesy midi-rock excites and haunts, its technically poor AI works wonderfully for its sheer ferocity... but don’t kid yourself. It’s the devious design that makes this one a classic. Halo can match the scale of its battles, and Doom 3 can copy as many of the tricks as it wants, but no game since Doom II has struck a perfect balance and I doubt that any other game ever will.

[ellmo]

your homework assignment for D2TWiD? :)

[Maes]

The simplest -and truer- review I ever read about Doom was in an Italian magazine's "Top 100 games of all times" ranking:

Even though Doom is clearly no longer a Top 10 product [note: it was 1998], it still finds it place high enough in our ranking [note: 28th out of a 100]. Quite honestly, it could have been lower, if it wasn't for one little thing: it still offers the best single player gameplay out there.