Game:

Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994)

Duration: 36:30

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1

IWAD: Doom 2
PWAD: Alien Vendetta (1st release): https://dsdarchive.com/wads/av_old
Alien Vendetta MIDI pack: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/music/avmidi
Port: PrBoom v2.62 (um)
Skill: Ultra-Violence

Valley Of Echoes is a map that was rejected from the final version of Alien Vendetta. It was later replaced by the famous Demonic Hordes (MAP25). Valley Of Echoes may not visually live up to the overall quality of AV, but it sure delivers in the difficulty deparment. I wanted to experience this map the way it was meant to be, and it was quite fun ride I must say.

I've been playing this map daily, for a few days, and I've had my ups and downs. Good runs (failed) and terrible deaths took while learning the ways of this map, but beating it from scratch does feel pretty good. I got a little lucky with those 2 Cyberdemons, because I hardly had to do anything to make them infight with the huge Mancubus horde across the bloody river. The outcome of that particular fight was also very favourable. Those Mancubi barely won, which allowed me to just finish off what was left behind.

I spent some time around the dam-like area near the Exit, making sure that the monsters were infighting properly. The most dangerous moments of my walkthrough also took place there, during the final fight. Those Cyberdemons on the island were infighting and firing rockets towards the Exit area, and I (almost) rain into one, but fortunately I only received some splash damage, and there was a Megasphere nearby which I grabbed soon after. From there, it wasn't too bad.

The new Midi-pack made this even more fun, because I wasn't using it until today. It made my attempts feel more fresh than they otherwise would have been, had I continued to listed to Heretic E1M9 theme for another 30+ minutes. Nothing wrong with that song either, but it was the new music that gave me some extra motivation.

All in all, Valley Of Echoes might have never gotten the kind of attention that some other, more famous AV maps have, but luckily it wasn't lost forever. This has to one of the most memorable pistol starts I've done in a long time. It was really fun to get to know this map, and experience it the way it was meant to be, about...20+ years after it was released. I've known this map by name for years, but for some reason it stood out to me just now. This is one of those maps I'll play again later for sure. It is a good challenge and playing it has been fun.

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