HELL REVEALED - DEAN OF DOOM - S1E19

After beating Post Mortem save less, I can confirm that there is no way in hell anyone should do so. It's just painful

D- for The Path is incredibly generous lol

The Hell Revealed splash screen is SOOOO 90s. Every time I see it, it makes me smile.

YOU GOT ME! That Civvie11 reference was just too good.

It's like Nazi Aufrustung but actually hard.

This WAD deserves a Vice President in "City in the Clouds", from pistol start you'd have a better time ramming your head through a brick wall. I've never done it and I have no idea how you managed to, but bravo!!

I know UV is a channel rule and all, but maybe there could be more fun to find in wads like this on easier difficulties?

I'm fine with playing normal wads with vanilla Doom, but playing slaughter maps in vanilla is so booooriing....

the descent no f :(

After having finished Hell Revealed, I think the most intriguing aspect about this wad is the uptick in quality in the final third. I found the stretch from 21 to 26 to be genuinely enjoyable and felt more developed visual and combat-wise, even Map23 which I found to be way more interesting visually and to an extent, gameplay wise, compared to the obscenity of something like City in the Clouds (which I maintain to be the worst in the entire set) or The Path. It's quite a shame Donner and Niv basically quit mapping after Hell Revealed, I think they had a lot of potential to grow as mappers.

Gonna share a couple of my thoughts on a few levels which stood out during my playthrough.

Map14 sucked ass. Withdrawing the ssg was a dick move and most of the traps were more abrasive and tedious to clear out. Going for all kills here was awful.

I mostly agree with your statement and grading on Map31 but I found the actual descent portion to be a way bigger mess, mainly due to the shortage of health supplies. Couple that with the awful chaingunners and massive specter crowds, this was another tedious offering. Map32 was great though, no ifs or buts.

Map22 is very enjoyable but I found that, compared to its successors (av Map32, ks Map31, and to an extent sod's Map32), is much more pushy towards using the RL as your primary weapon here, the disparity between the number of rocket boxes and cell packs here is pretty big.
Granted, this was a more tame and manageable level relatively.

I found Map23 to largely be more of a time sink than anything excessively tedious. There's a large supply of ammo throughout, infighting is easy to get going with the large hell noble room being particularly a meme. The clear star here was the visuals though and it had a sense of progression with the idea of infiltrating the "radioactive" blue sector and the level ending by destroying a Romero head in the "core". I also liked the default Doom2 music, BBAP was a pretty good fit. I'd give it something around a C or C+.

Map24 was a solid outing, infact, compared to its subterranean sequels in alien vendetta and especially kama sutra (I dunno if you played ks yet Dean, so no spoilers but it's something), is quite enjoyable. It doesn't drag itself out, most of the level is gonna be spent around the bridges compared to Dark Dome's slugfest on the bottom of the cavern. The action is sharp from that hot start, the progression is straightforward and all around enjoyable. Although, I find the decision to keep the MIDI as is to be strange, it doesn't fit in the slightest. I replaced it with MIDTWID's Map 07 track and it fit quite well. It still has a few plans, the worst being that baron teleport ambush at the end because I had to be reminded which wad I was playing but this was probably the best display of HR's combat.

Map26 (which I played with MIDTWID's Map27 due to its foreboding nature) is probably HR's best aesthetic offering but it's combat isn't all that enjoyable if I'm being honest. I did pull off the RL archie jump and that made some of encounters more interesting. But either way, the visual theming and the usage of ghosts was great and quite a standout. I think HR's final third benefits a lot from the starry night skybox, small touches.

I disagree with you on Map27, this map isn't anything too bad and is just another mediocre offering. I found the D- is too harsh for a map which doesn't do anything awful in my opinion.

On the other hand, I don't like Map29, it drags out far too long to leave a good impression on me. The pentagram genuinely looked cool tho :). And surprisingly, I ended up pulling off Map30 without it becoming a circus so it didn't leave too sour of an impression on me.

MTPain - "and lets add a baron count, just for the fun of it"
Me who has never seen the wad - Something is going to happen with this I just know it
binge watching your series and am loving it so far.

Edit - ok that "ok Doomer" bit really got to me ngl

Started playing this WAD recently despite being turned off by Slaughter wads years ago. The first 10 maps so far have been fun. As soon who has played a number of 90s WADs, Barons used to get a lot more love in the early days of Doom map making. The Memento Mori series and Requiem loved Barons. I can't imagine pistol starting this entire WAD. Shotgunning Barons brings back memories of playing Doom 1 for years and finishing them slowly with that.

you updated the thumbnail or am I crazy?

Weird, when I play this wad I just get the regular Doom 2 music in each map, does the music come from a seperate file like in Plutonia?

Hell Revealed was created by speedrunners and needs to be approached with a speedrunning mentality: playing the levels blind with saves is pretty much the most miserable way to approach the WAD. Instead you need to learn the maps and try different routes, until you develop a strategy for systematically dismantling them. This is especially true for map14 and map24 (two of the best maps in the set).

Loved the Too many Barons bit.

Personally, I think it's poor design to lock the player in a box and deluge them with chaingun fire and revenant missiles.

Do the holy version

So that 50 minutes of footage assuming you record at 60 fps would be worth 180,000,000 words

“Profoundly Brown, Religiously Square” is a title just waiting for a midi

Map:32 mostly harmful - reference to mostly harmless, which is a line from Douglas adams book hitchhikers guide to the galaxy?

pEaK fUn.

"I'm not a doom god"
y'know, on the opposite end of the dunning-kruger effect, it's said that professionals usually underestimate themselves by a lot, so Id be willing to be you might actually be one

It's weird; I never thought about how bad the Baron spam was in HR1 until I watched this video. I knew Map 16 had a lot of the little shits in UV, but I didn't recall it being that bad.

Fuck this wad with a pineaple

i have been playing hell revealed in the easiest diff setting (Im too young to die) and honestly, on easier difficulties the wad becomes actually quite enjoyable, although later levels do get slaughter-ry but it never gets as devilish as it does on the higher settings.

except for random cyberdemon traps

It might have been a "good" wad in 1997 kind of like a 56k modem at the time was a good connection to the internet. I played until City in the clouds and the sheer ugliness made me quit

Do you think you would have enjoyed mapsets like Hell Revealed 1/2, or even BTSX E2 more had you decided not to go for UV-Max Pistol Start all the time? HR1 on HMP has a much lower enemy count and is much more generous with stronger weapons.(ex. getting an SSG at the start of Map 13 instead of making a mad dash for it)

Playing Continuously could help mitigate the grind as well, even on UV. Even if the maps were designed around pistol start, if bringing in rockets/cells from a previous level to mow through the Baron waves would make it less tedious, why not give it a shot?

I get how nice that 100% can be to look at, but it doesn't seem worth dealing with the excess cleanup. You brought up "monster window dressing" a lot in BTSX E2, but you don't need to spend time killing every enemy if they're not a threat, especially if it doesn't get you anything beyond a fancy number at the end of the level. If a monster's stuck on a perch and can't get to you, just ignore it.

There's still plenty wrong with Hell Revealed, but often times it feels like you make playing through the levels harder on yourself out of obligation, especially if you're playing through a mapset twice. Perhaps you could mix it up in between playthroughs, do one with Pistol Start and one with Continuous?

It's funny how after almost 30 years, Rise of the Triad's greatest contribution to gaming is still in its music, which was awesome. I remember as a kid making WADs in the mid 90s, and getting RotT as a gift. Moreso than actually playing the game, I was excited that the game's music was just in a folder on the CD, a collection of MIDI files waiting to be used for Doom WADs. RADAGIO was my favorite; I thought it made for good boss battle music.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO I'M TELLING CIVVIE ON YOU OOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I saw decino play map 13 and I gave his failed blue key room a shot, and it totally works if you just hug the back wall. the annoying thing is you have to wait to grab the blue key until the door is *opening* again. if the door has fully opened it shuts again and you've failed the trick

blue key room in last look at eden looks like something plutonia would do tbh ngl

Hell Revealed also made part of my "DOOM MegaWAD Starter Pack" like the other classics I mentioned in the Requiem video, and to me it's also another MegaWAD that left an impression on me, in special Map 26, which might be the only saving grace from this WAD. Man, what a gorgeous and strange map. I think this was the one map that made me fall in love with DOOM and keep playing it ever since.
I admit that this MegaWAD is much more appropiate as a piece of DOOM history than something you keep coming back to play on an endless loop like Nostalgia 2 but it's worth at least one gameplay, even with cheats enabled and/or mods like Guncaster and Russian Overkill to even the odds.

My personal grades:

1:C
2:B
3:C+
4:B-
5:C-
6:C+
7:B-
8:C-
9:B
10:D
11:B
12:D+
13:B+ (Kickass level with a kickass Midi)
14:D- (SSG would've been nice to have)
15:A- (Fun layout. had there been less barons or have been Hell knights instead, would have been an A)
31:C- (Quit bitching, MtPain27. It's not THAT bad. Not great by any means but still.)
32:A- (Lot like map 15 without the baron snipers and more symmetrical.)
16:B+ (I'll die on this hill. Bring it on.)
17:F (FUCK THIS MAP TO HELL AND BACK)
18:D+ (Has some fun moments, but it also has SERIOUS flaws that ruin it for me.)
19:C+(Had potential to be one of the highlights)
20:D- (Boring AF)
21:B- (It's like a prototype for The Mucus Flow.)
22:A (Awesome level)
23:F (Just Don't)
24:B (Hot start, but the spawning mancubi and pain elementals drag it down for me.)
25:B- (Chill map, enough said)
26:A (MtPain27 said it best)
27:C- (Cyberdemon maze was the only thing memorable, but other than that nothing special.)
28:C+
29:C-
30:D

For some reason the map3 on my version of the wad is called "the Gantlet"

Re-watching this I actually realise I got as far as MAP16 in here. I took a single look at The Path, had feeling of "this looks like too much work for today, will do it later", and never did it.

jesus christ man, took me some time to finally finish it. map30 can eat a dick, fucking mastered it

Thanks once again Dean. Would've never tried this one out if not your video. After Alien Vendetta I felt up to the challenge, and was surprised to find Hell Revealed's not THAT much harder than AV. Only a few levels gave me excessive trouble. Then again, I wasn't going for 100% kills, but I did play UV saveless. Overall I agree that a lot of the maps are dated and kinda bad, but the feeling of accomplishment was worth it, and there were a few diamonds in the rough (maps 32 and 22 especially). Many of them were fairly harmless, especially the first ten maps and the last 5 or so... except map 30 >_<

Map 16 is indeed terrible, I agree.

I just love the music in Hell Revealed.

Finally got to finish this wad, and…yeah, it’s dated. It feels and looks like a 97 megawad in the worst way possible, with visuals that are rough to look at, and gameplay that can be tedious if not outright painful sometimes…having said that, I’d be lying if I said there weren’t any bright spots in this, not just in the later levels, I think the early levels are rough but fun, and even Mostly Harmful has some intensity and fun to be had. Other than that, I can only call the wad Okay. It’s not outright bad, but again, it’s aged,

Really, the hell revealed series hasn’t been giving me much hope that I’ll enjoy it, especially since what little I’ve played of HR2 is like rubbing your face with sandpaper. I will say the slotter team’s Hell Revealations is the one hell revealed related project that, while not perfect, is pretty top notch. Might want to give that a spin if you’re in the mood for it.

Best Maps: Afterlife (yeah, this is the standout in terms of visuals and combat design. I don’t know what else to say. Pair it with “Pull me under” and it’s miles better.), Post Mortem (I was kind of surprised by how much fun this was having from this. Yeah, it’s brutal, but it was pretty tightly designed and figuring out how to deal with this map’s cruelty was ultra satisfying.), Resistance Is Futile (Yeah, this map is pretty awesome as well. I prefer No Guts, No Glory, but as an early bit of slaughter goodness, it’s really tightly designed.), Mostly Harmful (yeah, this is a straight up adrenaline rush and way more fun than it has any right to be, especially considering…)
Worst Maps: The Descent (Yeah, I’d say this is more deserving of a Dunce Cap than Judgement Day. Considering I played Hell Revealations before this with Descending from the stars showing me the concept can be done well, this is impossible to defend, and that secret exit can go to hell and gives me more ammo to throw at the chasm), Hell Revealed (aaand this might as well give you more ammo to throw at the icon of sin. I can defend the icon of sin due to restricted technology and limited time, and this has no excuse. This is just dumb and awful.), Judgement Day (I did continuous play so I made it easier for myself, but…yeah, no, this is still bad. More boring than outright infuriating, but it’s still dumb.)

Just compilited it (saveless, mostly UV-Max). What can I say...

Knockout gives too much to beat to death. Slugger
City in the Clouds is the second most unfair piece of pie
Hard Attack is good, but the clean up is tidious
Judgement Day and Path were pretty enjoyable for me. Idk, maybe I just built differently
Map 23 has good cool parts, my favorite being the cyberdemon fight where he is stuck and you need to dodge some rockets, but the start, mancubi ring and the ending cyber is TOO MUCH
Favorite one: Post Mortem -- ballbusting, but fair. Only one thing I dream about HR is being fair
Afterlife is...weird. I loved it, then I hated it, then I love it, idk. It's a rollercoaster. Side note: there is in fact a rocketlaucher for the final fight :)
Map 29 secret is awful, I had to resort to MARKINGS to get to it.
Aaaaand....Hell Revealed can go fuck itself. I absolutely hate this map, but I really grateful that it exist solely because I like to imagine this is what you think classic Icon of Sin (I'm still salty to this day you called it "not a Doom map", while praising it's missalined cousin from TNT). As Russians say: "Everything is learned in comparison".

I've gotta admit Hell Revealed had been the first megawad i have ever completed its not perfect but taking into account that was released in 1997 It was incredible it has some boring levels but for today standards is really good !! i've been playing Hell Revealed 2 and i hated it idk if i'm going to complete it (not for the difficulty) since its not memorable its boring the maps are not good there is no balance in HR2 The maps are just full with monsters with horrible placements Hell Revealed 1 for me is a masterpiece but Hell Revealed 2 is just ... Mid the only thing that i enjoy is the Soundtrack in HR2

The only thing that i found bad in this wad is the abuse of Barons why the f*ck are so many barons ?!?