With the help of mods and DLSS 4.5, the 1994 game Doom 2 shines in a whole new light.
Game graphics have changed and evolved significantly over the past 30 years. But with a series of mods and NVIDIA’s DLSS 4.5, the 1994 release Doom 2: Hell on Earth is now getting the ray tracing treatment as well.
Classics with a New Look
Porting classic games to new engines or sprucing them up using new tools has been a major trend in the modding community in recent years. NVIDIA brand ambassador Jacob Freeman has now shown what Doom 2 looks like with high-resolution textures and ray tracing.
To achieve the result he shared in a post on X, he used the modDOOM II Ray Tracedand the texture pack DHTP HD Texturesas well as NVIDIA’s DLSS 4.5. This gives the classic shooter a completely new look:
DOOM II Ray Traced + DHTP High Res Textures + DLSS 4.5 = pic.twitter.com/r5AEE0Cpxo
— Jacob Freeman (@GeForce_JacobF) May 4, 2026
Doom 2: Hell on Earth was released in 1994 as the sequel to the first Doom and has been ported to numerous other platforms and, in some cases, technically improved over the nearly 31 years since.
Compared to its direct predecessor, which is considered a milestone for both 3D graphics and the shooter genre, Doom 2 offers only a few changes. Technically, there are hardly any differences; instead, new missions and content were added.
The original game looks correspondingly pixelated and simplified compared to today’s games. With high-resolution textures and revamped lighting, the classic now looks significantly better.
However, not all players seem to share this opinion. Under Jacob Freeman’s post, there are also some users who feel that the DLSS 4.5 version of Doom 2 looks worse than the original.
Of course, we mustn’t forget that the original look went down in gaming history for a reason, and many fans still prefer a retro aesthetic to modern 3D games. Technically, however, the project is certainly impressive.
What do you think of ray tracing in older gaming classics? Let us know in the comments!
