Doom II: Hell on Earth is a first-person shooter video game created by id Software. It was originally released on the IBM PC on October 10, 1994. It is the sequel to the popular and revolutionary game Doom, which was released a year earlier. In 1995, Doom II won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1994. Unlike Doom which was initially only available through shareware and mail order, Doom II was a commercial release sold in stores.
Doom II was not a dramatically different game from its predecessor. There were no major technological developments, no major graphical improvements, and no real changes in fundamental gameplay. The game still consisted of the player negotiating non-linear levels, picking up keys to unlock new areas, and of course shooting down hundreds upon hundreds of monsters.
The main additions to the game were the additional monsters available for the player to fight. The new enemies are as follows:
The Hell Knight.
The Heavy Weapons Dude.
The Mancubus.
The Revenant.
The Arachnotron.
The Pain Elemental.
The Arch-Vile.
The end boss, called the Icon of Sin / John Romero.
The only new weapon addition was the double-barreled shotgun, which could fire out 20 pellets instead of the regular shotgun's seven, making it very useful in dispatching Demons, Cacodemons, and any form of medium-sized monster.
There was also one new item created, the Megasphere, a tan sphere that could give the player 200% armor and health. 3-4 of these are found on the final level, The Icon of Sin.
A small change in gameplay was instituted. Instead of the player playing through three related episodes, gameplay takes place over one giant episode, albeit there are interludes for when the story develops. Instead of watching the player's progress on a map (as in the original episodes of Doom), the screens between each level simply show a background. It also meant that the player would not have to start over with a pistol every eight or nine levels (as was the case in Doom, since each episode consisted of nine levels, including bonus levels).
The level design, much like in Doom, was supposed to mimic the areas the player was going into. Now that the game was taking place on Earth, a real-world look was attempted, with some levels taking place in certain kinds of military installations, and others taking place in residential areas. Some areas do resemble places on Earth (like Downtown), but most simply seem strange due to engine limitations. Eventually level designs no longer attempt to appear realistic, but by then the player has left the normal non-warped Earth. (After level 21, the skies are crimson red with mountains, unlike previous levels which had apartment buildings.)
In general, Doom II was well-received and went on to sell 2 million copies, making it the highest-selling id Software game to date.
Elements from the game would be used in Final Doom.
