Doom 2 RPG Review

From the first-person shooter series that gave us double-barreled shotguns, chainsaw melees, and the B.F.G. 9000, the best weapon in most of Doom 2 RPG is a squirt gun full of holy water. This little toy does more damage to most demons than your rifle, and it sends cacodemons and imps scurrying away with giant googly eyes wide in terror.

If that sounds awfully silly for Doom, you’d be right. Doom 2 RPG is more amusing than terrifying, and if you’re looking for a far less serious take on battling monsters on Mars, it works. We don’t think it’s quite as fun as Wolfenstein RPG, though, because you’ll end up in a lot of the same gameplay situations over and over again.

You play as one of three different characters who are sent to investigate a Mars base in distress. As has been the case in nearly every Doom game, scientists have been using portal technology to open a gateway to Hell, and evil things have crawled out. Like in Wolf RPG, you’ll take turns trading fire with monsters, searching for items, and solving simple environmental puzzles as you work through each level.

The story is meant to be Doom 2 RPG’s strong point, but we found it to be a bit lacking compared to Wolf RPG. The main villain in Doom 2 RPG is a virtual avatar of evil, who you will fight nearly a dozen times throughout the game, always in a cramped holodeck. A few of the other big bosses are more exciting, and the game will regularly ambush you with minor monsters. The ambush tactic does start to wear thin, as it will cut down on your ability to plan ahead.

Various minigames for hacking vending machines, sentry droid dispensers, and doorways are scattered throughout the game, but none of them are particularly engaging for very long. We were more interested in making it through each level, partly because the other characters you meet (who are usually eviscerated quickly after talking with you) have some pretty hilarious dialogue to share. The sense of humor is great throughout, even if it is very un-Doom like.

Doom 2 RPG is a solid buy if you bought Wolfenstein RPG and liked that style of game. However, Doom Classic is also available on the iPhone, and that’s a much more exciting action experience. Doom 2 RPG is a tad too slow to be worthy of the name, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying it if you love trading rocket fire with pinky demons, even if you do have to take stop and take turns.