Realm of Chaos 2: The Revenge of '96!
By Neo-TMT - 40 Maps
Format: Boom
[Download]
Started: September 9th 2026
Finished: September 15th 2026
Status: Completed
At the same time as Cammy's remastering project for the original Realm of Chaos was announced, the same two original TMT members who gave that project their blessing gathered up several very prolific mappers to create an official sequel nearly 30 years later. Realm of Chaos 2 retains a ton of the original's charm and 90s-ness, but with over two decades of improvement on Doom mapping tools it has FAR more visual polish than RoC ever could have had. Realm of Chaos 2 seems to have gotten even less attention than Realm of Chaos 25th Anniversary Edition, which is a shame considering how polished it is. RoC 2 trades in snappy action and Cammy's juiced up enemy placements for sprawl and exploration, which might not be everyone's cup of tea, but combined with Neo-TMT's aptitude for visuals at least makes for very enjoyable places to wander around in. Steve D's blocky and militaristic Doomcute makes his early maps especially fun to look at, and RoC 2's visual storytelling makes up for the very bland story text after each episode. Things do start a bit slow, Neo-TMT seemingly using the opening moments of RoC2 to flaunt their new visual skill, but there's plenty of high points throughout. "The Tank Factory" is easily the highlight of Steve's environmental storytelling, and "The Bleeding City" has a surprising amount of impact despite its extreme visual simplicity. Episode 4's snowy theme is easily the visual highlight of RoC 2, and Cammy and antares031's "Oneironaut" will likely be the crowd favorite for those who don't go out of their way to play the secret maps. The hell episode does unfortunately drop the ball a bit, and Map 30 is a painfully exhausting slog of repetitive interconnected rooms, nowhere near enough health laying around, and cheap hitscanners slowly chipping away at you for a map that feels far longer than it actually is, while Map 36's not-quite Icon of Sin fight is weirdly finnicky and underwhelming considering the heights of creativity RoC2 has shown off several times earlier. Neo-TMT also got several well established composers to make a full original (almost, the current version still has some placeholder tracks) set of midis, many of which are VERY fantastic, though it doesn't quite reach the highs of RoC25th's own original soundtrack. The secret maps are especially cool and interesting, with DocBob and dobu gabu maru teaming up for maps 37 and 38 to great effect, Cammy channeling the best of RoC25th alongside a dark twist finale for Map 39, and... Map 40 is something else entirely. It easily steals the show from everything else in the entire set, as dobu embodies the raw idea of chaos in a mindbending adventure that only he could have crafted. Its tricks will stick with you for the rest of your playthrough, always leaving you just a little bit uneasy after you ventured to the furthest reaches of Doomguy's fractured mind. "Sanity is a Prison" pays for RoC2's price of admission all by itself, and does an admirable job making up for many of my overall complaints. On average these maps are a tad overly long and meandering, and I question the need to bloat the overall length to 40 maps total. Considering there's 12 hell maps and 18 techbase maps you could easily cut a few from episodes 1-3 and 5-6 to bring things down to a more reasonable number. Many of the earlier maps feel a bit generic and uninteresting, which can be a pace killer for those expecting something more like RoC25th. Despite some stumbles, Realm of Chaos 2 is one of the best modern sequels to a 90s wad in all of Doom mapping history (right up there with TNT: Revilution), and really deserves more attention... even if I still think RoC25th is still better.
Rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Favorite Map - Map 40: "Sanity is a Prison"
Least Favorite Map - Map 30: "Fearsome Engine"