Doom 2

Doom II: Hell on Earth, released by id Software in 1994, was the commercial sequel to the game that had defined the first-person shooter a year earlier. Where the original Doom had been distributed largely as shareware, Doom II went straight to retail boxes, bringing the demon-slaying carnage back to Earth as you fought to save the last survivors of humanity from a full-scale infernal invasion.

Rather than reinvent the formula, Doom II refined and expanded it. It kept the blistering pace and the same beloved arsenal but added the mighty Super Shotgun, a double-barrelled monster that became an instant fan favourite for its close-range stopping power. New enemies broadened the bestiary, including the Arch-vile that could resurrect the dead, the Mancubus, the Revenant and the Pain Elemental, and the level design pushed toward larger, more sprawling and sometimes maze-like maps.

Doom II endures thanks to that razor-sharp gunplay and, just as importantly, the vast modding community it inspired. Decades of custom levels and total conversions have kept it alive far beyond its original release, and the core game still plays wonderfully fast and satisfying today. It is both a superb shooter in its own right and one of the most important foundations of PC gaming culture.