DLC Review: Doom I & II – SIGIL II & Legacy of Rust

Over the next few weeks I’m going to be diving into the heralded Doom 3. Before jumping into that classic, I wanted a brief refresher on the first two entries in the Doom series. After all, it has been a little while since I played and discussed the original Doom games. Lots has changed since I last talked about Doom on this site. For starters, both Doom and Doom II have been re-released in a bundle. That collection has been enhanced for modern systems. This means all of the old front-ends and gimmicks needed to best enjoy Doom on a modern PC are no longer needed. Not only that, but all previous expansions (including SIGIL) are now included in this new bundle. In addition, two new downloadable chapters have been released for both Doom and Doom II as well. In truth, I actually played these shortly after they were released. But, I realized that I never took the time to discuss them on this site. For this reason, I figured now would be a good time to put them under the spotlight. The first chapter I looked at for this post was SIGIL II, the newest episode for the original Doom. I posted about the first SIGIL back in 2019. Since that time, it has come to be accepted as the fifth canonical episode in the original game. SIGIL quickly earned a reputation for being some of the most brutal levels Doom players would ever encounter. That is, until now… SIGIL II takes everything that made the first SIGIL so unique and builds on it even further. Seriously, who knew that Doom level design could evolve any further than it already had? Well, SIGIL II proves that it is not only possible, but that we had barely scratched the surface. I credit this to John Romero. After all, he was the original creator of Doom and he’s also the brains behind the level design for both of the SIGIL episodes. Yes, these levels are that good. Romero knows the ins and outs of the Doom engine and it shows in this newest episode. The levels themselves are masterfully crafted, and they showcase the true power of the engine in which they were designed. An engine that’s now decades old, but somehow still has a few surprised tucked away. All that being said, I don’t expect many players will actually get experience all of the magic these new levels have in store. To do so, you’ll have to be able to progress through them. Considering how absolutely brutal this episode is, that’s quite a task. Even on the lowest difficulty settings, these new levels are no walk in the park. But, considering that this new episode was designed for only the most fanatical Doom players, I think that’s perfectly acceptable.

The next new chapter that I want to discuss is an expansion for Doom II. It’s titled Legacy of Rust. This new playable chapter not only includes new levels for players to explore, but it also adds two entirely new weapons to the arsenal – The Incinerator (flame thrower) and the Calamity Blade (a weapon that hurls a wave of fireballs at your enemies – perfect for crowd control). In this way, Legacy of Rust feels more like an actual addition to the game, whereas SIGIL II feels a bit more like a collection of challenging levels. Still, at the end of the day, that’s really what this add-on is as well when you get right down to it.

The difference in design philosophy is quite apparent in Legacy. You can tell that these levels were created by someone other than Romero. For example, levels in Legacy, while extremely difficult, tend to focus more on being swarmed and overwhelmed by enemies. Whereas, SIGIL II levels tend to focus on things like resource management and and using the level design to your personal advantage. It’s still Doom, but it’s Doom with a slightly different mindset. Despite being somewhat different than some of the addons we’ve seen before, Legacy of Rust is without a doubt a welcome addition to the Doom family. I should mention that both of these new chapters are available absolutely free for anyone who purchases the new Doom and Doom II bundle. This fact only adds more value to a collection of games t hat was already worth every penny. Seriously, if you don’t have Doom and Doom II, go get them. This is classic FPS action and it’s never been easier to enjoy than it is today.

Overall Impression: Great expansions to two legendary games. These new episodes add a fresh challenge and they do so in completely different ways. Excellent stuff here.

Value: SIGIL II is available for free for anyone that own any version of Doom. Legacy of Rust is exclusive to the Doom and Doom II collection, but seriously, if you don’t have this version of Doom already, you should. It’s the best bang for your buck.

Other Reviews In This Series:

Doom I & II  –  Sigil –  Sigil II  – Legacy of Rust  –  Doom 64  –  Doom 3  

Doom (Remake) –  Doom Eternal  –  Doom: The Dark Ages