I knew that Nerve Software has been working on a port of DOOM II for Xbox LIVE Arcade since last summer, however details have been few and far between. So surprise, surprise when the game was actually released this past Wednesday! Of course, I immediately downloaded the Trial version and fired it up to see what, if anything has changed with this legendary classic.
The Trial version includes two levels to play, the opening level from DOOM II, and the opening level of the new Xbox 360 exclusive bonus chapter, "No Rest for the Living." I loaded up the new level first and immediately started running around kicking ass. Regrettably, there are no graphical upgrades on offer, it's the same pixelated sprites from 1994, but then again this is DOOM II, we're talking about and that hardly matters.
Running around the new level, which was rather large, reminded me just how much I love the franchise and simply how much fun DOOM II was. True to its basic roots, you can look left and right but not up and down (bullets auto aim for you), there's no jumping, crouching, and you run really, really fast. DOOM II is just as intense and bloody as I remember, and I simply love it!
Once I finished the new level, I loaded up the original DOOM II level and blew through that fairly quickly since I've already played through it about a billion times. The only thing that's really stopped me from buying the game outright, which sells for 800 Microsoft Points, is that I already own it on another platform.
Sure, there's Achievements, a couple of Avatar awards, 9 new levels, and Xbox LIVE multiplayer, but at its core it is the exact same game. Still, that didn't stop me from buying the original a few years back and I am very, very tempted.
If I don't cave by the time it ultimately drops to 400 Microsoft Points (like two years from year), I'll likely pick this up and enjoy a nice taste of nostalgia once again.
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