Hell (Doom 3 level)

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"Welcome to my domain! Behold the shape of things to come. The time has come for the forces of Hell to escape their prison and drive Mankind into darkness. Your darkest fears will soon be realized as your soul burns in Hell! There's nowhere to run. I am everywhere. And you will never find the thing you seek!"

― Dr. Betruger to the Marine 

Hell is the twentieth level of Doom 3. Upon arriving in Hell, the player is granted unlimited stamina, at the cost of losing all of their weapons at the start. The player must trek through Hell in order to defeat the Guardian and retrieve the Soul Cube. This is the second level where the player can utilize the berserker powerup.

AREAS IN HELL:

• Unidentified
• Unknown

Walkthrough

At the very beginning, since you have nothing, turn immediately to the right and grab a Pistol, a Shotgun, and some shells. You don't even have the flashlight, but on the upside, you do have unlimited stamina (known as the Hercules Complex), so take advantage of that to increase your speed while fighting demons.

Go down the pathway in front of you, up the stairs, and into the teleporter after Betruger finishes his speech. Once in the teleporter, you will hear the screams of tortured souls before a cage will form around the player, as you will be in the there for a while. Suddenly, the cage will begin falling and does not stop.

After falling roughly 330 feet (100 meters), the cage will break and you will be released, and a trio of Imps will be revealed. Kill them.

After that, a bridge will form, so cross it. Continue down the hellish corridor and, at the end, a Hell Knight will appear alongside some demonic moaning. Kill him, being aware that a wall formed behind you, forbidding any escape. Watch out for any Cherubs nearby, though. They can easily be identified by their baby-like babbling, but as long as you don't go in side niches, they won't interfere. If you explore the niche, you'll fight a Cherub and a surprising Imp in a corner near the right side, guarding 2 Stimpacks, along with 2 Cherubs guarding an armor pickup on the left side. Don't forget to collect the Chainsaw near the exit of the room. It is near a third Stimpack, and almost invisible. Then continue. A wall will form again to prevent any backtracking.

In this room, you can see that there are rooms to your left and right; go into both of them and walk into the pentagrams. You will hear whispers, then the walls will shift. In the left room, where the word "life" can be heard, there is a Chaingun, along with ammo and two Stimpacks. In the right room, where cries are heard as soon as you enter, touching the rune on the back wall will spawn two Imps (one on the spot and the other behind the pillars). Once the two runes have been touched, two new paths open in the central room, releasing many Lost Souls and allowing to continue. Both paths lead to the same place, and as usual, a wall will form behind you.

After exiting this set of rooms, you will be out in the open, seeing floating stone platforms that you must jump through. Beware of any Lost Souls that appear (you'll hear them appear as you step on the yellow runes), as these can be daring enough to knock you off the platforms to your death, so kill them before they have a chance to decommission you from battle. You can collect an armor pickup and a Medkit at the start, along with two additional Medkits on the path. Also, a forth one is located at the end. The platforms lead to another room, where two final Lost Souls will ambush you. Continuing here will both make the door close behind you and a niche behind you to open up, revealing another Hell Knight (who can easily be destroyed with sustained Chaingun sprays to the head) and two Stimpacks near the end of the corridor. After he is eliminated, about 3 Imps appear, in various points of the corridor. Another niche also opens, revealing another Imp, some Ammo Belts, and two Medkits. Kill all the Imps to open the gate into the next area. A Mancubus then appears at the end of the newly opened zone. Unless he is killed quickly enough (i.e. with a Chaingun), Cherubs will constantly spawn alongside him. A stone platform awaits behind him with a collectable Plasma Gun placed on top of an orange-glowing pentagram. Once this is collected, you will descend into a green room full of pillars. You don't need to kill the Mancubus to proceed. Naturally, once down in the pillars room, there is no return.

This place resembles a catacomb. Immediately in front of you lies the second and last Berserker powerup of the game, which can be collected to help kill all the Imps and the Hell Knight that appear. Once they are dead, a second Hell Knight will appear, and once he's dead, a new smaller room will open next to the place from where you came. Grab all bonuses inside the catacomb before exploring the smaller room.

• If you play on PC version, this small area contains a large door decorated with skulls. Also, Plasma Cells, Rockets, Rocket Launchers, and a PDA will be near this door. As usual, a wall will form behind you.
• If you play on Xbox version, this small area just contains a teleporter, which is the exit of the current level. Actually, Hell is divided into two levels in this version.

The new room (the starting room of second Hell level if you play the Xbox version) looks like a jail at first.

• If you play the Xbox version, Plasma Cells, Rocket Launchers, Rockets, Medkits, and the PDA are here.
• If you play on PC version, this area is empty.

The path quickly leads to a bridge over lava. If you walk towards it, a wall will form behind you and a Mancubus appears on the right ledge. The best strategy here is, once again against a Mancubus, to run straight forward. Two additional Mancubi will appear on the left ledge in the process, but you are now in the (relative) safety of a stairway. Kill the two Lost Souls here, and climb the stairs. Atop, there is an Imp and a balcony above the Mancubi room. Luckily, there are iron bars on both sides which prevents Mancubi's fireballs from reaching you if you stay behind. You can either kill these obese monsters or ignore them. If you want to kill them, start with the ones on your right. The closest one can be killed with the Shotgun, while the farther one can be killed with about 30 Pistol rounds. You can also kill the further one more easily by walking down the stairs and hitting him from afar, from where you can easily avoid his flames. The third Mancubus, alone on his ledge, can be killed by strafing between iron bars, pillar, and open section of the balcony, with whatever weapon you want. If the 3 Mancubi are killed, a fourth one will sometimes appear on the left ledge. Once the place is safe, you can jump from the balcony to reach the right ledge and grab the pick ups that are here (Health and Ammo Belt). Whatever your choice, grab the 2 Medkits, Rocket Box, Ammo Belt, and the Cell Packs at the bottom of the balcony. Then, venture in the corridor starting from the balcony. As you walk a bit, you'll hear 2 additional Imps coming at you from the left. At the end is a jumping third Imp from the left, and a second decorated door.

When the door opens, inoffensive flames burst from below and a swarm of Lost Souls attack. Right behind the door are one niche on each side, containing both an Imp. In the left niche, there is also an additional hidden Imp, along with a Stimpack and Ammo Belt. Then the path leads to a cave with lava at the bottom. A Lost Soul is on the ossuary niche on your left, and a second one is floating on the right. You can walk down a stairway to grab a Stimpack, 2 Cell Packs, an additional Plasma Gun, and the armor shards if you need them. You'll hear more enemies, but actually theses are just aesthetic sounds. You have to walk up a spiral staircase (again, you'll hear Lost Souls, but will be safe), and kill another pair of Lost Souls coming from the front once your are upstairs. You'll then see a third large door on the right, with an Ammo Belt and Medkit on the left. Backtrack and pick all you can collect, because the final wall will form behind you when you approach the door. Beware of the Health and Ammo packs too, as it will cause the unique Hell Zombies to appear from both behind you and in the next room (the Chainsaw is usable here).

Behind the door is a small room with a pillar at its center. As you walk in, a Hell Knight and a trio of Lost Souls teleports in. The room also contains two Stimpacks and a fourth big door.

Right behind the door is the sixth Hell Knight of the level, with a charged plasma ball in his hand, so be ready once again. You are now in some sort of cavern with a large opening at the bottom, a hole in the middle with lava at the bottom, and a large pillar in the center. On the left side are a Stimpack and some armor shards. Walk up a bit to awake two Imps, and kill them without walking too far, as it will cause another Hell Knight to appear from the previous room and an additional Imp from near the bottom opening. When this occurs, it's advised to quickly dispatch the Imp first. The bottom opening offer a view on the hellish void, and has a balcony where Cell Packs, an Ammo Belt, a BFG Cell, a Stimpack, and a Medkit lie. Approaching it cause an additional Hell Knight to teleport in right behind. Behind the BFG cell is the BFG 9000 (the third of the game, but the first one obtainable without needing opening a locker). Picking it up cause 2-3 Lost Souls to teleport in nearby.

The path then leads to a corridor with a burning flame, where you can hear Cherubs. The 8th Hell Knight of the level will walk from here. Kill him and proceed safely; there are indeed Cherubs, and some Lost Souls also teleport in as you walk in, making a deadly combination if you don't eliminate them quickly from a safe distance.

The corridor then leads to an armor pickup and a massive well-lit room, with a pillar in the middle once again. There is a Mancubus behind the pillar, you can actually hear him. The holes in the floor are purely cosmetic, since you are completely safe in this room. There is an Ammo Belt, a Box of Shells, and 2 Medkits here, alongside a fifth decorated door. Be warned, however, as there is a Mancubus right behind it.

The door then leads to a small dark room with two burning flames. If you walk a bit, the 8th and final Mancubus of this level will awake on the left, causing Cherubs to spawn in this room, along with the previous one and even the previous corridor. Be sure to eliminate all enemies, pick the bonus hidden in the dark near the fires, and exit slowly : you'll see a strange greenish structure above you, in a dark small corridor. The 9th and final Hell Knight is waiting for you to the left side, with a plasma ball ready at hand. Once he's dead, you have completed the level. Just check for a Stimpack and an Ammo Belt in a niche on the left just before the Hell Knight's cache, and follow the path; it leads to the 6th and last decorative door.

Behind, just follow the path until you see the teleporter (and a body, presumably that of Simon Garrick). Take all health and ammunition here (especially the 20 Rockets). Don't jump right on the teleporter, but circle around to discover a hidden path which leads to 2 additional Cell Packs and a BFG Cell. It will come handy. When all is set, enter the teleporter; you'll be transported to a boss battle: The Guardian. Check his section for tips.

Once the Guardian is dead, reclaim the Soul Cube. You'll then be teleported back on the very first section of Hell, from where you will be able to activate the monitor and teleport back to Mars via the Delta Complex.

PDAs

• Simon Garlick
• Joshua Hebert (Not collectable in normal gameplay)

Characters

• Malcolm Betruger (voice only)

Enemies

• Guardian of Hell (boss)
  • Guardian's Seekers
• Imps
• Hell Knights
• Cherubs
• Lost Souls
• Mancubi
• Hell Zombies (removed in BFG Edition)

Weapons / Items

• Pistol
• Shotgun
• Machine Gun (BFG Edition)
• Grenade (BFG Edition)
• Chaingun
• Chainsaw
• Plasma Gun
• Rocket Launcher
• BFG-9000
• Soul Cube
• Security Armor
• Medkits
• Armor Shards
• Bullets
• Shells
• Clips (BFG Edition)
• Ammo Belts
• Plasma Cells
• Rockets
• BFG Cell
• Berserker

Cabinet Codes

None

Trivia

• All of the weapons that were in the classic Doom games can be found in Hell (with the exception of the Super Shotgun, which similarly was in Doom II but not in the original Doom). In the BFG Edition, this was changed, as a Machine Gun and Grenades can also be found in the beginning of the level.
• Shortly after being caged and then teleporting to a platform, you are instantly surrounded by three Imps and bits of ammo on all sides of you. This is very similar to the start of the first level of Episode 3 "Inferno" in The Ultimate Doom, which also has three Imps and ammo on all sides of you. (This is assuming that the difficulty setting is on "Ultra-Violence" or "Nightmare".)
• In the original game, this loading screen for this level was not given any pre-texts. Since the pre-texts were written through UAC perspectives, this level appropriately takes place in a foreign, unidentified environment.
• In the BFG Edition, the text for the loading screen of Hell reads as "For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" This statement is taken from the text in Revelation 6:17.
• On the Xbox version, this level is divided into two levels.