Doom II was not dramatically different from its predecessor. There were no major technological developments,
graphical improvements, or substantial gameplay changes. Instead, the development team took advantage of advances in computer
hardware since the release of the
original game that allowed them to do more with their game
engine by making much larger and more intricate levels. The game still consists of the player navigating large nonlinear levels. Each level is infested with demons that can be killed with a variety of weapons that can be picked up throughout the game. Levels are completed by finding an exit, whether it be a switch or a teleporter; the goal is simply to advance to the next area. As with its predecessor, ''Doom II's'' levels can be completed in a straightforward fashion. However, because the levels are
nonlinear, players can wander off the beaten path, and those who do are often rewarded with bonuses like health pickups and more powerful weapons. Due to the larger and more complicated maps with larger groups of monsters, the game had somewhat higher system requirements than the original. Rather than the player playing through three related episodes as in the first
Doom, gameplay takes place over 32 levels (two of which are secret levels that can be accessed from level 15), albeit with 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 (a style carried over to the bonus fourth episode of
Doom available in
The Ultimate Doom, the
retail re-release of the original
Doom). This also means the player is never forced to lose all of their inventory after completing an episode.
Doom II doubled the number of non-
boss monster types and started using bosses from the original
Doom as normal level enemies, in addition to adding a new weapon, the Super Shotgun (a very powerful
double-barreled shotgun), and a new
power-up, the Megasphere.
Multiplayer Dooms
multiplayer functionality was greatly improved in
Doom II, including "out of the box" support for a vastly increased number of dial-up modems. The two-player dial-up connection allowed one player to dial into the other player's computer in order to play either cooperatively or in
deathmatch-style combat. There was also
local area network (LAN) functionality added, which was improved upon as patches and updates were released. This functionality was later incorporated into the original
Doom. As with the original
Doom, multiplayer games used to be played using the dial-up or LAN by the internal setup program (setup.exe), through the online service
DWANGO or with once-popular programs like
Kali and Kahn (using SPX) in Windows 95. Nowadays, there are countless third-party
source ports of the
Doom engine, such as
Odamex,
Zandronum, and
ZDaemon, that are able to play
Doom II multiplayer across different operating systems. The
Xbox Live Arcade port of
Doom II supports online multiplayer via
Xbox Live. ==Plot==