I really love the polish, design style, and consistent theme of Romero's shareware episode, but it gets tiresome to hear or experience so many players/mappers praise and follow its example with little deviation. If i am remembering that correctly, it sort of makes sense since Doom II feels like its breaking allot of the rules that the first game set.ĭoom II is better overall, though I say that within context of the fan community. Not that it matters but i think American Mcgee designed allot of 2's levels as Romero and the rest were working on Quake. They're both great games that kind of compliment one another, but Doom 1 is more pure i guess. Doom 1 has more exploratory level design that builds up to some classic encounters with the Cyber Demo and the Spider Mastermind. Even Tricks and Traps is a classic example of how much they were playing with the very limited rule set of Doom. Or the level that has a portal that locks you in a room with a Cyber Demon. Example being the level that pits you against a Cyber Demon and a Spider Mastermind, only to have the fight inevitably turn into the two of them fighting each other.
I do think some of the encounters are more exciting in Doom II though. Doom 2's levels rely too much on secrets and switches that activate a random door on the other side of the level in order to beat them.