Almost 30 years after its original release, Doom II is receiving a new game stage to help raise money for humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine.
The stage comes from John Romero, one of the original designers to Doom II, which was first released as an MS-DOS game in 1994. It's on sale now via his website for €5 ($5.53).
“To support the people of Ukraine and the humanitarian efforts of the Red Cross and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, I’m releasing a new Doom II level,” he said in a tweet. “100% of the proceeds go toward these agencies.”
The new stage is called “One Humanity,” and it works as a .WAD file, which can be run over a modern source port of Doom II. The free utility Doom Launcher seems to be capable of launching it as a mod.
Already, gamers have been trying out One Humanity, and the new stage looks tough. The level immediately drops you behind a trio of enemies. Your goal is to eliminate the rest of the monsters across the maze-like stage. However, Romero included an ultra-powerful BFG weapon to help you take on the level's Cyberdemon.
The new stage from Romero arrives as some in the gaming community have been rallying to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion. On Thursday, Polish game studio CD Projekt RED announced it would suspend all game sales to Russia and Belarus. Meanwhile, German esports organizer ESL has decided to bar any individuals or groups with ties to the Russian government from participating at its events.