Ah, the sweet, sweet smell of crisping demon flesh. The delightful clink of spent bullet casings rattling to the marble floor. The baroque tone of the chainsaw. The delicate sensual recoil of the shotgun. And wonderful, wonderful hellslime as far as the eye can see. It evokes a warm feeling, a homey feeling, like Christmas. I play Doom too much. Can you tell?

	October 10 is Doomsday, the day when software retailers across the country will be ransacked by the most vile, unstoppable sub-class of human being ever to own a floppy drive: the Doom freak. Doom II is big news for fans of first-person shooters, even though it doesn't represent a real technological leap from Id's original monstrosity. Minor bugs – mostly having to do with modem play – have been fixed, but the engine remains the same. What this next installment will offer is MORE. One more weapon, a few more monsters, and over 30 new diabolical levels which will warp the craniums of any Doom junkie to stumble through them.

	The one new weapon offered isn't really new, but is a heftier version of an old friend. The super shotgun is a double-barreled weapon, which fires two shells at a time, which gives approximately double the damage of the regular shotgun and twice the spread at long distances. Naturally, it also re-loads a little slower, but it's definitely a good all-purpose weapon for those of us who know the danger of wandering through a dark winding hallway with a rocket launcher sticking out in front of us.

	The inclusion of new monsters is obviously an area of great interest for Doom veterans. Players of the original game remember the fear of rounding a corner and seeing a cacodemon shooting ball lighting for the first time, and it's no surprise that they'll be looking for the same thrills in the new package. They won't encounter a whole new monster set, but they shouldn't be disappointed.

	None of the new monsters are pushovers, although two creatures from the first Doom will be altered to make them easier to kill. The barons of hell (you know, those pig-faced guys who bellow and shoot green bolts from their hands) will be back, but drastically reduced in "hit points," or whatever term Doom uses to determine when something dies. The altered pigs will get messy after about three hits with a rocket launcher. A new, smaller spiderdemon with about the same life span will also appear, although its larger and much tougher parent will also be present, giving us all two sizes of bug to kill.

	Along with the regular cast of possessed humans is a new chaingun-toting figure, a beefy guy who's fed up with his life and wants the whole world to know about it. Although he may not seem like a very important new figure, Chaingun Boy can reduce you to a stain on the floor in a big hurry, especially if he pops out of the wall behind you, which he does seem prone to doing.

	Repeat Doominators who wish they had someone to trade heavy-caliber fire with aren't likely to feel left out. There's an as-yet unnamed monster I will refer to as Mr. Big Fat Ugly Dude whose arms are capped by two rapid-fire plasma cannons. He may not be able to open a Diet Coke with the greatest of ease, but I don't think he really cares that much. His shots can be avoided easily enough at a distance, just don't step on his feet and ask him for a match.

	Another new member of the Big Gun Club is a large skeleton. He makes your life fun by firing guided missiles from two launchers strapped to his shoulders. These missiles aren't as nasty as they could have been – they don't chase you around corners, but they will add a lot more excitement to that old game of dodgeball you're used to playing with the imps.

	The crowning glory of the new beasts is the arch-vile, the most terrifying computer creation since Microsoft Doublespace. Presently appearing for the first time on level 22, this mutated skeletal figure wanders around, resurrecting any dead monster it comes across. One look at you is all it takes to summon up a barrage of guided attacks that roughly equal getting hit in the face with a BFG. He's just not a very nice guy. Once you meet him, you'll understand.

	As fun as the new monsters are, gamers will remain knocked out by the stunning new levels long after the novelty of the new creatures has worn off. Anyone who admired the craftiness and sickness of the old game will be absolutely floored by the malevolent, highly intelligent examples of architectural madness that await. In the first Doom game, the guys at id were just experimenting with level design, getting a feel for what could be done and what would make a more challenging game. In Doom II, the levels will include puzzles and truly sickening new traps that should have even the most combat-hardened Doom veteran scrambling desperately for a soul sphere.

	Like a fine chalice filled with the boiling blood of a rabid cyberdemon, Doom II will surely be a well-received addition to what has already become one of the most popular and successful titles in the history of computer games. Until October 10, you should make it your personal goal to kill every monster, grab every item, and discover every secret contained in the first installment of Doom. It doesn't get any prettier from here on out.