Labyrinth

                           DOOM II's level design lets all that sweet movement I was just raving about shine. DOOM II came from a day when a handful of talented staff could make the entire level design of a video game. Because of this it takes on an artistic quality once you become familiar with the game. Personality takes hold be it John Romero's lovecraftian hallways with horror shows flickering in the light or Sandy Peterson's often chaotic and demon horde focused mosh pits like my first favorite level of the game "Tricks and Traps". Sandy Petersen. Shawn Green. American McGee. and of course John Romero made magic happen.
                     
DOOM II easily could have been a failure if these young industry innovators hadn't had a grip on the future. DOOM's movement system as I've said is utterly brilliant but it'd completely when to waste in the wrong play ground. These maps have an arcade quality to them. Your timed, there's often all or most of the weapons littered or hidden about the level. We all know the DOOM key card staple made possible by the often maze like design of intersecting rooms, hallways, elevated platforms and later even a city. In the mid 2000's and well into the Xbox360/PS3/DX9 generation of games shooters often saw very linear style levels. But DOOM can often get you lost. It makes the game so interesting. While some levels like ever boring spotty encounters in "Waste Tunnels" didn't do much for me but the game picked up quick and I found favorites with every level designer, looking for secrets, more BFG ammo and enemies the game has a great bar of quality it rarely falls below.
                      The DOOM engine, Id Tech 1, was something incredible for its day. But despite that artist still have very little pixel and color space to work in. The price of true 3d gaming becomes apparent. Where artistic wonders like Donkey Kong Country came out in all its 2D glory, DOOM was letting us run through rooms shredding down demons. The cost though of this shows. Often the same metal walls, gross dirt, or textured goop your walking through repeats itself so much the entire environment looks the same. Its great to see the buildings show up in the second chapter of the game.The game obviously cant render much of a city but the game suddenly shifts into using much more verticality and planes of it which makes it pretty fun and maintains the "illusion" well for its setting.
                       Putting on the historical glasses and I have to stress just how innovative these guys had to think. There wasn't much of a FPS genre to build from, no real set rules or accepted general quality of life practices.  I found EGM's vintage 1994 review of the game and Chris Nashawaty puts its perfectly,

                         

"But while a slew of other point-and-shoot game titles like Ground Zero Texas and Lethal Enforcers provide the same time-killing high of mindlessly blowing opponents to a pulp, what really sets Doom and Doom II apart from the pack is their graphics. Using 3-D modeling and scrolling, Doom II gives you a real feeling of space and speed as you zoom down the game’s claustrophobic, mazelike hallways. Maybe even too much speed."

                           

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