Pirate Doom 2

Pirate Doom 2 is a large-scale, meticulously crafted sequel to the cult 2012 mod Pirate Doom. A decade later, the author returned to deliver a full 32-level campaign (30 story maps and 2 secret levels) that, in execution quality, interactivity, and visual style, stakes a claim as one of the best fan projects of recent years.

The mod is built around classic rules: levels are balanced both for continuous play and pistol starts, while jumping and crouching are strictly disabled — the level design is fully built around this restriction (though free mouselook remains up to the player).

The mod commits to a deliberately cartoonish, caricature-pirate aesthetic reminiscent of Monkey Island or Banjo-Kazooie. The game world feels remarkably alive thanks to constant on-screen movement: crabs scuttle along the docks, gulls shuffle on pilings, fish swim past the windows of underwater bases, and clouds drift across the sky beneath the moonlight.

Starting as a simple stroll along a beach by a ship, the campaign quickly picks up steam, flowing seamlessly from one location to the next. A grand journey awaits through wildly varied and inventive settings:

• Cozy port towns, grim fortresses, and warehouses.

• Sunken cities, coral reefs, and a unique level set inside the belly of a giant shark.

• A mysterious two-part lighthouse level with rotating beams of light cutting through the dark.

• Ghost ships sailing through fog, abandoned native temples, and erupting volcanoes leading straight into pirate hell.

The entire combat system of classic Doom has been completely redrawn and re-scored to fit the setting:

• In place of the pistol — a flintlock pistol; the shotgun is replaced by a musket, and the super shotgun by a powerful blunderbuss. The plasma gun's role is taken by an acid grog cannon, the rocket launcher has become a genuine portable cannon firing cannonballs, and the legendary BFG is now a grog bomb, which the hero dramatically lights from his own cigar.

• All the canonical demons have donned pirate hats and bandanas. Zombies comically lose their tricorns on death and shout themed lines like "Abandoned ship!" or "Blow the man down!" New, dangerous enemies also appear, such as ultra-fast cannibal savages.

Technically, the mod squeezes the most out of GZDoom. The author uses invisible teleports to create the illusion of "impossible" room geometry, dynamically shifts the music mid-level, and builds massive open arenas. Progressing through levels often requires custom key items: a digging shovel, voodoo powder, or ritual statue heads.

Almost every level feels like a unique attraction. On the Tavern map, for instance, you'll have to start a massive drunken brawl against the Cyberpirate, where instead of standard health kits you need to drink ale and wine straight from barrels.

The mod offers a smooth difficulty curve, though it throws down a serious hardcore challenge near the end. On higher difficulties, some maps can leave you with a brutal ammo shortage against huge crowds of dead-accurate enemies. Still, if you carry powerful weapons between levels and hunt down secrets in time, the playthrough leaves an overwhelmingly positive impression.

The final note is an interactive epilogue/credits sequence, where in a peaceful setting you can chat with the characters you've rescued and choose the ship the hero will sail off on toward future adventures in Pirate Doom 3? Who knows.