John Romero Confirms Release Date for Sigil 2

In December of 1993, Doom was released upon an unprepared public. To be fair, the fledgling company that produced Doom, ID Software, wasn’t prepared either. When Doom finally went live, so many people began downloading it that the server crashed. The site went down multiple times as traffic continued to overwhelm the server. Many people played the shareware version of Doom and players jumped at the chance to purchase and play the other two episodes.

The first episode, entitled "Knee Deep In The Dead", was a free level set designed primarily by Romero himself. There were rumors that Doom was installed on more computers than Windows; prompting Bill Gates to make a green screen promo video about the merits of Microsoft’s Windows 95 as the optimized operating system for gaming.

There had been first person shooters before Doom, but Doom established the genre. Doom spawned so many games in its wake that these later games were referred to categorically as “Doom clones” until the genre produced titles that deviated from the easily recognizable Doom reskins. There were developers who grew to resent this moniker but even they would not argue with the effect of name recognition on their copy sales. Doom was hot and anything Doom adjacent had serious clout. It’s important to note that many of these later Doom clones added new features and improvements that helped improve the experience of the first person shooter genre. In the early days of the FPS genres, development studios and designers shared ideas. As the genre grew in popularity, competition became more fierce and developers stopped collaborating with other studios.

Doom has huge modding potential which is why it still has such a huge following today, thirty years after its release. Savvy players are able to create new levels and add customization and improvements that offer unique game play. Doomers have been hacking and modding this beloved classic for decades and there are multiple tools available to help players modify the game to create their own iterations of Doom. There are also a number of tutorials to help newer designers with the conceptual and the how-to of modding. If there’s a genre of FPS you want to play, chances are there’s a Doom mod out there that covers it.

In 2019 John Romero, one of the lead creators behind the original Doom, decided to create his own unique twenty-five year anniversary map set called Sigil. It was released for free or one could purchase the extra episode and the accompanying custom soundtrack by Buckethead for 6.66 Euros.

Sigil is known for being pretty difficult by most standards and is reminiscent of the visceral, heavy metal gore and violence that Doom players know and crave. The maps feature interesting and creative level design with a dark and ominous tone. This map set is a vast departure from the tech bases that Romero designed for Doom. The names of these levels also further evoke the hellish aesthetic. Like the infamous fourth episode, "Thy Flesh Consumed", released with the Ultimate Doom in 1995, Sigil levels are small and action packed. Combat is the primary gameplay focus for most of Sigil.

Sigil got mixed reviews. Critics felt it was too difficult and disliked the near total darkness of most of the levels. They also cited the unforgiving placement of traps and enemies, especially at higher difficulties. Other reviewers loved it, citing its challenging fights and dangerous environment as just what they expected from Romero. The levels do have an oppressive atmosphere and the player is starved for resources. Completing Sigil on Ultra-Violence difficulty is nearly impossible without good resource management and precise game play.

The obvious question followed. What about the twenty-fifth anniversary of Doom 2? Romero announced that there would be a Sigil 2 mod for Doom 2. Romero began working on the mod but had not mentioned a release date. ID Software fans have become accustomed to waiting as deadlines have been fluid for Romero in the past, but the end results are usually worth the wait.

In much the same way that Doom 2 level design was a departure from the tech bases and gore strewn horrorscapes of Doom; fans are wondering what Romero has in store with Sigil 2. Doom 2 featured more open outdoor areas, larger maps, nastier traps and higher enemy counts. Sandy Petersen is credited with most of the maps for Doom 2 and deserves much credit for the game’s overall change of scenery. While Romero only made three maps for Doom 2, they are three of the most notorious and, in my opinion, best maps in Doom 2. The penultimate level, “The Living End”, is not only really impressive from a design standpoint but also a sufficiently teeth-clenching challenge.

In 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Romero released one level from the map set he was working on. He called the level One Humanity and all proceeds went to help support humanitarian efforts in the war torn region. The level featured even more of the creativity and challenge we have come to expect from Romero and as a bonus, it helped refugees displaced by the fighting. It also whetted the appetite of Doomers the world over. The level was open, stuffed with monsters, and laced with nasty traps, just like Doom 2. The design was a clear departure from the cramped, dark hallways of the first Sigil, starting the player in a bright, open area. The reception was warmer than the original Sigil and the internet was abuzz within the Doom community. We all wanted to know when the complete episode was going to be released.

Later that year, in December of 2022, Romero announced a tentative release date of 10 December 2023. He also confirmed that Buckethead would be returning to record tracks for the music. On July 20th, 2023, Romero confirmed the December release date. Romero has been known to offer challenging maps that also have outstanding multiplayer deathmatching combat. As the deadline approaches, the Doom community waits anxiously to see what he has in store with Sigil 2.