The Eldritch horde returns in Shrine II! Shrine II is a total conversion mod for Doom 2. Tusk is back, and his rage won't be quelled! Journey through five dimensions to find the source of the corruption in this 32 level total conversion for doom 2! Including: -Over 20 unique Demons to slay -Boss Battles Galore -Over 20 unique weapons -32 levels -Tons of secrets and replayability -A challenging yet fair difficulty
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If you liked the first Shrine, you should play this one as well. Alternatively, if you played this first (looks to be more popular in general), I recommend you go back and give the first one a try. This one ironed out a few growing pains and is generally better, but both are solid games at the best possible price. And if you liked both Shrine and Shrine II, go check out Vomitoreum, as it's a newer effort from the developer, and basically the evolved form of these both.
my review on steam from 17oct23:
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a bit too good for a free game!!
aesthetics are superb: 90s/00s edgy "its-not-just a-phase-mom"/anthony soprano jr wearing that marilyn manson tee - groove blended with those intoxicating splashes of lovecraft, cronenberg (weapons feel like they are straight from existenz) and hr giger.
in short: smells like musky teen outcast spirit!!
gameplay is straightforward but hella fun, the gameplay loop started making sense in the 2nd level for me, has depth/strategy and rewards backtracking for ammo/health/etc.. remember to (abuse) saves (no auto save or checkpoints).
just try it, it's free after all!!
_
a bit too good for a free game!!
aesthetics are superb: 90s/00s edgy "its-not-just a-phase-mom"/anthony soprano jr wearing that marilyn manson tee - groove blended with those intoxicating splashes of lovecraft, cronenberg (weapons feel like they are straight from existenz) and hr giger.
in short: smells like musky teen outcast spirit!!
gameplay is straightforward but hella fun, the gameplay loop started making sense in the 2nd level for me, has depth/strategy and rewards backtracking for ammo/health/etc.. remember to (abuse) saves (no auto save or checkpoints).
just try it, it's free after all!!
This is one of the best if not THE BEST Mod for GZDoom. It's not even a debate. It TOWERS over part one which already was really good. I thought that such big improvement would be impossible, I was horrendously wrong. There were locations which climate and atmosphere would cause chills to run down my spine. Bosses who made me say 'that's so fking cool' more times than I could count. Weapon upgrades, Special abilities, gameplay changing constantly from start to finish, you simply CAN NOT get bored. The Locations are beautiful, the sprites and enemies too. Even the OST is done amazingly well for a mod. It's shocking that all this is available completely for free.
Huge improvement on the original. Has all of its same strengths—the beautiful art, the great atmosphere—and fixes nearly every one of its weaknesses.
Smartest change is to ammunition, which is no longer universal (a baffling decision in the original). This means ammo scarcity now pushes you to think better about which weapons to use in which situation. Enemies also force situational weapon usage—there's enemies that multiply on death, but not if you freeze them first, for instance. Altogether it's a smarter, better package with all the original's strengths. And it's still just as expensive ($0).
Smartest change is to ammunition, which is no longer universal (a baffling decision in the original). This means ammo scarcity now pushes you to think better about which weapons to use in which situation. Enemies also force situational weapon usage—there's enemies that multiply on death, but not if you freeze them first, for instance. Altogether it's a smarter, better package with all the original's strengths. And it's still just as expensive ($0).
I dunno, on paper it's a big step forward but I didn't really care for it too much? I guess it's because it's pretty long, level design is kinda samey and some enemies are a massive pain. Very good style though.
Quite a bit better than the first game, notably where it does go from just a proof-of-concept game into something with more of a cohesive story. Doom WADS like this tend to be quite interesting because they can be quite daring, and I think this one does really work in terms of its art-style, genuinely creepy atmosphere at points that reminds me a bit of Quake and Blood, and some more inventive platforming and puzzle mechanics that really sticks out. Also the weapons in this one are also quite fun to use, like the freeze ray or the multi-barrelled shotgun, rail gun etc, they feel very impactful in terms of what they can do to people; that and it is also a whole lot more balanced and challenging than Shrine was.
Some niggling flaws in this though, like I think the levels in this aren't quite polished at points, lots of just throwing whatever ideas come and seeing what sticks, and I think also various points in the game where you can very easily softlock the game (game seems to love spawning you in levels right next to unavoidable hazards where you have to take damage, or one bit where you need a grenade to solve a puzzle, only the level itself never provides you one - you have to hold over one from the previous levels.) But yeah, I suppose it is definitely a mark-up from the original. Definitely way more expansive with about a total of 30 levels to plough through, and of surprisingly good quality considering that it's a free product. Can't complain either way. Overly ambitious DOOM WADs like this tend to offer way more than you'd expect, even if they can have their niggling faults here and there.
Some niggling flaws in this though, like I think the levels in this aren't quite polished at points, lots of just throwing whatever ideas come and seeing what sticks, and I think also various points in the game where you can very easily softlock the game (game seems to love spawning you in levels right next to unavoidable hazards where you have to take damage, or one bit where you need a grenade to solve a puzzle, only the level itself never provides you one - you have to hold over one from the previous levels.) But yeah, I suppose it is definitely a mark-up from the original. Definitely way more expansive with about a total of 30 levels to plough through, and of surprisingly good quality considering that it's a free product. Can't complain either way. Overly ambitious DOOM WADs like this tend to offer way more than you'd expect, even if they can have their niggling faults here and there.