Let's Play Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders

[Valkhorn]

Part 032 - E4M9: The Mausoleum

The level before this one was child's play compared to what we have to deal with now. There are 212 monsters in this map, and fortunately we have enough ammo to deal with them all. You will have to keep moving in the first part of this map as there is no place to hide until you take care of at least 70 monsters in the hallways. Then you have to deal with finding all of the confusing switches and teleporters that are disguised throughout the level. I get close to dying in a few parts of the map, as well. This was a fun map to play in spite of my frustrations.

[Valkhorn]

Part 033 - E4M5: The Great Stair

For some reason I thought this level was a lot harder than it actually is - or maybe I practiced a bit before I played it? Anyway, there are a lot of stairs in this map, but none so great as the final few flights. There is a maulotaur at the end, so reserve a Tome of Power for him. Otherwise, be careful because the wereminotaurs can hurt in close quarters, as well as the barrage of ophidians you'll have to deal with.

[Gez]

Wereminotaurs?

[plums]

Gez said:

Wereminotaurs?

Hah, I keep forgetting to bring that up.
http://doomwiki.org/wiki/Weredragon

[Valkhorn]

Herpaderp. Thanks for the correction!

Let's see if it sticks. For some strange reason I can never remember the names of these things.

[Valkhorn]

Part 034 - E4M6: Halls of the Apostate

This map is far easier than The Great Stair, but is not going to be as easy as the next map. The only issue in this map are large groups of gargoyles and large groups of Disciples, but they are all manageable. For some reason, this map has a lot of strange sprite glitches when I kill some enemies, as you'll see. Also, there is a kind of tricky jump in the map, but it's not too terrible with practice.

[Valkhorn]

Part 035 - E4M7: The Ramparts of Perdition

This is a very substantial level. It's moderately difficult, and it is a nice castle level with ramparts, parapets, and even a gallows. The final secrets in this level are rather confusing, so I have made some cuts to save time. There are a TON of Disciples in this level, so keep your spray and pray weapons ready. The Iron Liches towards the end aren't too terrible, but try to attack them from the windows. Thankfully, there aren't as many gargoyles as there were the last level - but they're still annoying.

[Valkhorn]

Part 036 - E4M8: Shattered Bridge

It's finally time to end The Ossuary. The final level involves a 'shattered bridge' that rises in segments, a a whole boatload of golems and fire golems which proves that they can really be difficult in large numbers. The level has a northern and southern end to it, and if you can, save your items for the very end as much as possible. One invincibility ring and the phoenix rod should be enough for the last set of enemies, but if you do run out, bail and deal with them one by one as much as possible. What will we face in the next episode?

Part 037 - E5M1: Ochre Cliffs

Some people would argue that this level is the most difficult level in the entire game. I would argue that it is only the 2nd most difficult level. It's a pain in the neck to finish, but unlike the Catafalque, it actually gives you plenty of ammo - so I never really worried about running out as much as I did in E4M1. The enemies are hard, yes, and the first part reminds me a lot of The Mausoleum. My advice is to get the gauntlets, and get the first Tome of Power as quickly as possible. Hide and fight, rinse and repeat until you're done. The very last section is extremely difficult and will kill you if you're unprepared for it. My advice is to trigger the enemies to show up and then leave as fast as you can through one of the teleports. Even if the 'big guy' is trapped he can still kill you with one of his attacks - and he almost did.

[Valkhorn]

Part 038 - E5M2: Rapids

Yes, let's play 'the Heretic'. Apart from bumbling through my words a bit - this is a fairly easy level compared to the last two levels. As you can suggest from the title, there's a lot of moving water, but it's not so bad that it makes things too difficult. I would save your items and the final enchanted shield for the next level since we really don't need it here that much.

[Valkhorn]

Part 039 - E5M3: Quay

It's time to get back into playing Heretic. This level features a nice 'dock' with several ingresses and egresses - all blocked off by particular color keys. This level also has plenty of Iron Liches, but we're able to dispatch them without a problem. The Maulotaur in this level caught me by surprise the first time I saw it but you have plenty of open space to take care of it. Don't forget that there is a secret exit...

Part 040 - E5M9: Skein of D'Sparil

This level may look short on paper, but with its winding corridors and keys at the opposite ends of the level, it can be very long. I suppose it does look like a bit of yard on the map, but maybe they were running out of ideas for titles? D'Sparil is dead right now anyway so I'm not sure what he needs knitting for anyways. There are a ton of ophidians in this level, so be on the lookout for that.

[Valkhorn]

Part 041 - E5M4: Courtyard

Unlike the Doom II level of the same name, there isn't really much of a courtyard in this level. There are plenty of Iron Liches, and our old friend The Maulotaur returns. I also waste a wings of wrath attempting to get one item, but oh well, that's life. The levels are really getting to be much better in the way of design, and I'm really starting to enjoy this episode.

Part 042 - E5M5: Hydratyr

This level is difficult namely due to the fact that there are so many damned enemies (over 200). The fire golems en masse can cause a lot of damage, and of course most of the other enemies have the ghost flag set as well. Coupled with the fact that there are a lot of narrow corridors with doors that can trap you, you really have to watch your toes in this map.

[Valkhorn]

Part 043 - E5M6: Collonade

Apparently, a collonade is a row of columns supporting a roof, and I suppose we have that in a manner of speaking. There are a LOT of enemies in this level, and some are quite hidden. Thankfully there are no maulotaurs, but maybe the game will make up for that later? This level can be very confusing with the switch puzzles, but thankfully it's nowhere near as bad as Hexen.

[Valkhorn]

Part 044 - E5M7: Foetid Manse

This is by far one of the most stunning levels in the entire episode, if not the entire game. It's moderately challenging, well thought out, and is just long enough to not be too tedious - if you know where the switches are. Don't worry about conserving ammo, but do conserve at least one of each of all your items...

[Valkhorn]

Part 045 - E5M8: Field of Judgement

It's finally time to wrap up this game. This video is in two parts. The first part was recorded a few days ago and covers the final level of Heretic. It's not too tricky as long as you use your items wisely and keep moving. Just erode the maulotaurs one by one and you'll make it without a problem. The second part (recorded on another mic, sorry) covers the other three levels of Heretic included with the game, as well as the cheat codes. Somehow the developers liked chickens? Anyway, thank you for watching this LP and sticking through to the end!

This wraps up the Let's Play, so thank you again for watching!

[Gez]

Valkhorn said:

Part 043 - E5M6: Collonade

That's colonnade. Like in "column", one L, and two N (even if one of those N is an M in column, but nevermind that). :)

[Cupboard]

Thanks for posting the complete series.

Did you know the maulotaur is invincible while doing a charging attack? Don't bother shooting it when it rushes forward.

[Valkhorn]

I wasn't aware, thanks. But, in the last level, one cannot afford to really be too choosy. I had the best luck just praying and spraying.

[plums]

Well done. Haven't had time to watch any lately but I'll go over a few at least.

If it's not already in one of the videos, how did you find Heretic overall? Think it holds up as well as Doom after all these years? And the last two episodes, an exercise in frustration or a nice challenge?

[Valkhorn]

I found it was visually an amazing game for 1994. The only things I didn't like were the enemies and the weapons, as it seemed they could have been a little better. The levels themselves were amazing - both VERY challenging in spots, and relaxing in others.

I just wish there were more pwads and wad packs for Heretic.

[LorcanWard]

Awesome , thanks for upload these. I always wanted to play these levels but I could never get them working in Dosbox and as far as I can remember the Steam bundle I bought didn't have these add-on.

[Gez]

LorcanWard said:

as far as I can remember the Steam bundle I bought didn't have these add-on.

But they do! They're an integral part of Heretic on Steam. And even if they weren't, the update patch from registered Heretic to SOTSR is free. Raven themselves released it freely, kinda like Id released freely a registered to Ultimate Doom patch.

[Rubilacxe]

Nice series! Subscribed!