In July 1969, Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning. A rare and unfortunate occurrence to be sure, but Sullivan had been struck by lightning before while working in a fire lookout tower (think Firewatch) in 1942. Sullivan was living proof that the old adage “lightning never strikes twice” isn’t true. And if you want a video game example, look no further than Doom II.
Released on October 10, 1994, Doom II: Hell on Earth took the foundation built by its predecessor and cranked the dial to eleven. By all accounts, Doom was a massive success that pioneered a new genre and changed the gaming landscape. The pressure to follow up on something like that was tremendous. But the team at id Software channeled their inner Sullivan. And while Doom II didn't radically overhaul the formula, it did something just as important: it perfected it.
