DOOM II: Classic

 Switch
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 57 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 57
  3. Negative: 11 out of 57

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  1. Revelation
    Apr 22, 2020
    0
    Doom 2 is a game that probably needs no introduction. Doom and Doom 2 fundamentally revolutionised first person multiplayer games through its local and dial-up play. It created the deathmatch genre and gave rise to the concept of a LAN party. If you play any networked computer game, you are fundamentally playing something that is built on the foundations started in Doom and Doom 2.

    So    Doom 2 is a game that probably needs no introduction. Doom and Doom 2 fundamentally revolutionised first person multiplayer games through its local and dial-up play. It created the deathmatch genre and gave rise to the concept of a LAN party. If you play any networked computer game, you are fundamentally playing something that is built on the foundations started in Doom and Doom 2.

    So how is Doom 2, one of the worlds greatest first person shooters, on the Switch? Absolute garbage. NO dial-up/Internet multiplayer. NO local network multiplayer. NEW: Split screen death match. Yes, in one of the dumbest moves in the history of all gaming, Bethesda have broken all of the parts of Doom 2 that made it good and added the multiplayer from N64's Golden Eye.

    I should point out that the split-screen multiplayer in N64's Golden Eye was an absolute joke, especially at the time. Now, we know why N64's Golden Eye was multiplayer - Nintendo 64 didn't have a network adapter. That didn't make setting up blankets and bits of cardboard to try to split the screen any less ridiculous.

    Unfortunately the game is only distributed from the Nintendo eShop, so its not until you've bought it that you realise all of these massive features are missing. And, as always with the Nintendo eShop, they don't allow returns, only returns on physical media (for which this game is not made available).

    So I guess I should review what actually is there. Well, its vanilla Doom 2, there are a couple of commercial add-ons, but you can't use your own WADs, you can't run up a copy of Aliens TC Doom or anything like that.

    Uh, for input.... to be honest, consoles have worthless input methods for first person shooters. Joysticks are no substitute for a mouse and keyboard (a control combination that was born out of Doom and Doom 2, so another thing missing here). That said, I'd happily put up with the broken console controls to play other Switch players in Doom 2 deathmatch, since we would all have the same handicap.... except that the multiplayer features are missing, so you can't do that.

    So, because the controls are reasonably borked, I would say that playing Doom 2, single player, against the computer, is an exercise in pain - there is no pleasure playing the game this way, no elegance, and as mentioned a few times already, no multiplayer.

    (full disclosure: I've also played the game co-op in split screen.... for about 1 minute. The problem is that the geniuses that ported this didn't seem to put a dead-zone on the joycons.... so joycons that don't normally drift in any game.... drift in this game. So you are always moving and turning to an extent... but the problem only seems to occur in split-screen multiplayer)

    This game has entirely earned a 0/10. Well done Bethesda!    … Expand
  2. SchindlersFist
    Aug 3, 2019
    0
    Can't log in even when connected to the internet, all my other switch games work online. Nintendo needs a refund system for digital content. Basically paid $5 for a data collection app, don't waste your time, just pirate it on PC, they don't deserve your money. **** Bethesda

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
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No score yet - based on 3 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Apr 28, 2020
    90
    Give the original DOOM a go first and finish every episode. Then, if you find yourself wanting more, grab DOOM II. [Issue #42 – October 2019, p. 20]
  2. Cubed3
    Mar 10, 2020
    70
    Doom II, or Doom II (Classic) as Nerve Software's version for the Switch is called, is basically the port of Doom (1993) all over again: highly enjoyable, very cheap (at least for the moment) but far from a perfect version of the game. Just make sure to lower your expectations a bit, because in terms of level design this is the inferior sibling.
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  3. Nintendo Life
    Aug 2, 2019
    80
    Much like the port of the first game, Doom II on Switch delivers a solid rendition of a classic FPS with only a handful of audio and visual issues preventing it from being perfect. It holds up just as well the original Doom does, and its price is similarly reasonable: as a result, we naturally recommend this one just as much as we do its predecessor.
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