Game:

Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994)

Duration: 28:51

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This is Hell Revealed 2 MAP29: Hell's Cauldron done 100% on Ultra-Violence - played through PRBoom+ v2.5.1.4.

Hell's Cauldron is the penultimate level of Hell Revealed 2 and it was designed by Jonas Feragen. This map is one big action packed climb. It is a funny coincidence that Hell Revealed-series have both, "descending" (MAP31) and "climbing" levels.

I had more takes on this than majority of other HR2 levels. This was due to variety of reasons, first being my almost "Doom-free" month. Maps like this aren't exactly the best way to shake off the rust for a player like me, but I kept trying anyway. Ironically, I found the first half of the level way more difficult than any of the other sections, and most of my deaths occured during the first few minutes as I was struggling to deal with those Revenant hordes near the first Megasphere secret. I was experimenting quite a lot and trying to find different ways to deal with those Revenants, but needless to say, most of those attempts were destined to be short and fatal.

Fortunately, the first Cyberdemon is a big help here. The sooner you can get him to infight, the better. That way, his services can be used to decimate almost everything up to end of the first tunnel where a much of Arch-Viles are guarding the first staircase leading with to Mt. Imp & In Your Face Revenants & Co.

The stairclimb is not that bad as long as you keep moving, and be mindful of surprises like Arch-Viles a few times. I got a little cocky and thought that I could SSG the second Arch-Vile, but I got blasted instead. Before you can reach Mt. Imp, you must deal with a horde of Arachnotrons. I played it safe and BFG'd & SSG'd them. The In Your Face Revenants on top of Mt. Imp did some damage, but as long as you don't get stuck and you stay calm, it should work out for you.

The second cave area wasn't too difficult, but I got careless and got blasted by an Arch-Vile so it could have been better. The third cave was somewhat problematic, but this was due to me forgetting to open the bars blocking and losing some valuable Invulnerability time of mine. Even so, I had a pretty decent foothold near the Megasphere. I had to backtrack for some Health & Ammo so I left the Cyberdemon be for a while and dealt with him and the Revenants guarding the last half of the level shortly after.

The toughest part of last half would without a doubt be the first trap that is triggered when you exit the third cave and begind your "last climb" to the top. I tried to be careful with my Rocket & Cell usage (Rockets in particular), knowing how easily you tend to run out of Rockets during this level. I had some close calls with a handful of Arch-Viles, and random fireball hit, leaving me 16% health for a short period of time. During the last 5-7 minutes of this video, I was a nervous wreck, which shows in different ways, switching weapons, overcareful play, etc.

The last area was by far the easiest area of the entire level, circlestrafe deal with the remaining enemies and reach the Exit.

Despite my hard time recording this and shaking of my rust, it is a fun and challenging level, and I can see why this level is one of the most recognized levels of Hell Revealed 2 out there. Don't let the intimidating nature of this level scare you, it is not as hard as you think. With some practice, even seemingly very difficult levels can be beaten.

Next stop, the last map of HR2.

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