KMGR of Doom 2 RPG

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Doom 2 RPG is both MOTS (more of the same), and yet it is a lot more. You get to play through this game now with THREE viewpoints: major, scientist, or sarge. While they go through the same levels, the tactics will be slightly different. There are more cinematic "cutscenes", presenting more of a story. There are now sentry drones, which you can control to fight or explore. There is also a bit about UAC's evil experiments, and how they have unleashed the "hell" onto Earth by actually trying to harness the forces they have unleashed on Mars. All in all, it is a masterpiece of mobile gaming.

When I say "more of the same", I mean this is the same mechanics. The rooms are actually square grids, and you can face in only 4 directions. The game plays with that illusion by adding a bit of up/down looking and a bit of 2D displacement to add ladders, ramps, and so on to give an illusion of 3D. Combat is actually turn-based. You choose among the various weapons you have, and shoot at enemies, and they shoot at you, of course. You can use your turn to use medic pack, or eat some snack. You can use "nano drinks" (Doom-speak for "potions", which gives you special bonuses), and you find them as loot, or buy them from vending machines. Different enemies are more vulnerable or even immune from certain attacks.



The new stuff are additional ways to combat, including "virtual combat" (let's just say the main "boss" is inside a computer), ways to improve some of your stats by doing some activities within the game (treadmill to improve agility, target practice to improve accuracy, use chainsaw a lot of improve strength, and so on), and some "hacking" (guess the number puzzles, which improves IQ). There is even a new weapon: holy water pistol, which can cause some monsters to "fear" you. You can even frisk the corpses for additional stuff now. And what's more, you can now deploy sentry drones to fight for you and grab stuff where you can't go.

The graphics are even improved from the original Doom RPG, as there are better camera angles moving about, esp. in the cutscenes, and the secrets are of course, hidden pretty well, but obvious enough if you really look for them. Let's just say you will travel to various locations, including hell, in order to battle this new menace to society. Sound is appropriate, as this is not real-time, so the Java-based single-sound is very appropriate, and fidelity is good. Chainsaw sounds like a chainsaw, and shotgun sounds like a shotgun. And yet, you do get to deploy the soul cube by the end. Make kills, and power the cube by the souls.

The fun part is Doom never really takes itself too seriously. You read the various e-mails and messages from the computer terminals and you get stuff like tech support jokes that reads as if they come out of a Dilbert strip, complaints about the higher ups, missing lunch in the cafeteria, misrouted shipments, and so on. There are also secrets on every map, and those are really hard to find on the "hell" maps, as you need a rocket to break open the entrances... if you find them. The various ways to "improve" oneself are also quite funny. And really... holy water pistol? (refill from ANY water sources, including ripping out a toilet!)

The three starting choices aren't really as different as they are made out to be. The "major" is about average, good for a bit of everything. The scientist is smarter and use the sentry drones a bit more to make up for his slight lack of physical prowess. And the sarge is more about guns and fighting. However, the plot is mostly the same, very few differences. (Yes, I've played through all three).

If you really need more challenge, start a game in the two tougher difficulty levels (in additional to the default "normal"), but you need to unlock it by completing it in the easier level(s) first.

In a way, the game feels the same, but different, and the three ways to pay through isn't really THAT different. On the other hand, this is better than before. Thus, this is a hall of fame game. To NOT spoil the whole thing, you will need to go through a lot of places to defeat the ultimate evil. Enough said. :)

Overall rating: 9 out of 10 HALL OF FAME!!!!!
Pros: same mechanics, turn-based action, with additions
Cons: same-o, same-o stuff, really...
Verdict: another classic to enjoy from id...

Some hints

* Use the holy water pistol to keep the really damaging enemies off you while you kill the weak ones.
* Use those nano drinks... the super damage works great with double speed (smoothie), and so on. It'll get you out of those jams
* Destroy every chair / table, etc. you come across. There's 5 XP each for you
* Extinguishing fires with the holy water pistol will get you 5 XP each as well
* When you see those resurrectors (Apolyton and others) kill it first. Use holy water pistol to keep the others off you while you go after the resurrector with your strongest weapons. Kill it first, and you can worry about killing the rest later. If you can't, (i.e. surrounded) use smoothie (double-speed) to give you time to kill the enemy AND still have time to destroy the body with the chainsaw so there's nothing to resurrect. Watch out for a spot where there are TWO Apolytons resurrecting each other!
* Use walls and corridors to your advantage. Most enemies can only attack when they are in-line of you (i.e. directly in front, sides, or back), but not diagonal, all except one. So if you back into a corridor, then only enemies in front or rear can attack you. You can even use holy water pistol to help you make room.
* Each enemy is really vulnerable to a certain type of weapon, and resistant/immune to a certain type of weapon. A lot of it is actually quite obvious. You'll have to learn that to not spend too much ammo