Doom Name: Mini Doom II
Developer: Fingus
Publisher: Calavera Studio
Release Date: March 9th, 2018
Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Introduction
I was looking to play a game that could hold me off between my play through of BioShock and the new game The Outer Worlds. I heard about this game on Cinemassacre on a video by Mike Matei.
I was really intrigued when I went to the Calavera website. This was a retro style Doom platformer. The best part, it was a free download. So I decided to try it out.
Let us see if it is as good as I expected.
Gameplay
This game is really just like its 3D counterpart. The sounds, enemies and main character are taken directly from the original game. The feel that comes into mind when playing it is the AVGN Video Game and Contra.
I did not realize that this is a sequel to the Mini Doom game that came out a few years prior. It is surprisingly cool and fun. I did not complete the game so I do not actually know how long it is. However from the videos that I have seen, it would seem that it takes about 3 to 4 hours to complete, if you know what you are doing. May be double that on your first play through, at harder difficulties.
You have the choice of the following modes when playing
1) Hey, Not Too Rough
2) Bring It On!
3) Ultra-Violence
4) Watch Me Die
5) Nightmare
I played it on Hey, Not Too Rough as I just wanted to see how the gameplay was. Next time I will choose something more difficult.
I played this game with the keyboard and it feels like a typical PC game. There are a few head scratchers as to the choice of buttons, but since you can change it, it is not much of an issue.
This seems to be a throwback to the old school Apogee plat formers from the early 90's like Commander Keen and Duke Nukem.
I do not really have much to say in terms of the gameplay as it is very straight forward and easy to pick up. Below you will find some sample gameplay of the game.
Mini Doom 2 (PC) - Sample Gameplay
Bottomline
I love this game. I am a huge fan of classic plat formers and this actually scratched that itch.
I have to start with the graphics. They are very stunning. I loved the detail on each level and the switches and doors are exactly as they are in the original game. Even the sounds are the same.
Speaking of the sounds, the soundtrack is awesome. The hard rock, metal vibe is really cool and adds to the atmosphere. It is what you would expect from a Doom game.
There are some really cool animations. for example, you have switches that can be activated and it will crush your enemies. For whatever reason that felt so satisfying when you were stuck in a difficult situation.
Something that I thought, that was a nice touch, was the fact that in the Options menu, you can choose the screen size. This is very convenient for those that stream or have different sized screens. You are not limited to a fixed Windowed mode or full screen.
One thing that I can say is that there are sections of the game where, the gameplay seems uneven. I was at the final boss at a mini stage, and I was having a real hard time with it. It was brutal. However, when I managed to beat them it was super easy. it seems the difficulty of the boss lessoned as I died. Even the chat on my stream were stunned at how easy it was, after I had struggled so much on the same spot for numerous minutes.
Other than that particular section, the game was extremely fun and the viewers watching it, enjoyed it as well. It has that nostalgia feeling but also feels new.
I would recommend this to everyone that is a fan of the Doom franchise. It is a different take on a classic and you will have a lot of fun with it. You also cannot argue with the price. It is a free download, but I would try to support them in any way that you can. Indie games are awesome and they keep the freshness of the games alive.
What do you think? Did you play this game? Did you like it? Let us know.
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