At first you think the game is a joke. Did someone seriously take one of gaming's most action-oriented and visceral franchises, and turn it into a turn-based RPG for smartphones? Well, quite surprisingly, they did. And even more surprisingly, the Doom 2 RPG delivers.

Make no mistake: “Doom RPG” is an oxymoron. The background of the Doom series goes like this: something something “space marine”; something something “teleportation”; something something “demons from hell”; something something “kill anything that moves”. Across several titles, sequels, and updates the “Doom guy” is never given a canonical name.

Yet despite the vague setting of Doom, the Doom 2 RPG fills in the blanks where necessary to deliver a bare-bones RPG experience. There are characters you can talk to, killing monsters gives you experience points to level up, and you can even play mini games to increase your character’s attributes. The only catch with this RPG is that rather than taking on quests to save villagers from brigands, you kill demon spawn. But the gameplay isn’t based around RPG features. Rather, the crux of the game is moving around, strafing, and shooting monsters... at a turn-by-turn pace. Take a look for yourself (start at 1:30): Doom 2 RPG gameplay.

Transforming Doom from a twitch-style experience into a relaxed turn-by-turn setting puts the Doom 2 RPG pleasantly in the “casual” game camp. The Doom 2 RPG loads in seconds and can be saved/resumed at a moment’s notice. You can easily squeeze a few turns in between meetings or while waiting for the bus.

Unfortunately, like most casual titles, there isn’t a lot of depth. The campaign only takes about five hours to beat and features no side quests. Other than the ability to find secret areas containing items, the game is essentially one (really) long level; punctuated by brief conversations with NPCs.

In fact, as innovative as the “action game RPG” mechanics are, the Doom 2 RPG doesn’t really take advantage of them. Over the course of the entire game you only level up about five times. In fact, I’m not quite sure what some of the character’s stats actually did anyways. For example, what was I.Q. used for?

Part of me wants to give the game designers a break, but NetHack managed deliver a better turn-by-turn RPG over two decades ago.

But my faults with the game aren’t about where it was lacking but rather what rather what it could have been. If you are looking for a casual game that you can pick up and put down at a moment's notice, and an engaging way to kill time, the Doom 2 RPG is a great title to pick up.

4/5. Same great Doom taste, half the calories.