MAP16: Tower of Babel (Console Doom)

MAP16: Hell Gate is a map that appears in the PlayStation, Saturn, Jaguar, 3DO, and Game Boy Advance versions of Doom. In the Jaguar, 3DO, and Game Boy Advance versions, it is titled Tower of Babel.

In the PlayStation and Saturn versions, it uses the music track "Beyond Fear" by Aubrey Hodges.

Essentials
There are no keys in the level. In the starting room, take a soulsphere and a megaarmor in front of you, and there will be a door opening sound. Drop ahead to the room below. Pick up the plasma gun and take either left or right. Come closer to the wide door ahead that leads to the south. This will open revealing you a large south area where the major action takes place. However, two doors behind you will lock preventing you access to the initial area and two alcoves containing demons will open. Kill them and enter the alcoves where they waited in ambush, and you will find a shotgun and a shell box.

Now, visit the southern area. Kill a demon, two or three demons depending on your skill level. At the east you can see an alcove containing a large number of imps and barrels. Blow up one barrel to obliterate all the imps there. At the southeast there is another alcove containing imps and barrels. Again, destroy one barrel to kill all the imps inside. At the west there is the third alcove containing imps but no barrels. So, you need to destroy them one by one. Now, when the area is cleaned up, notice a gargoyle switch at the south. Flip it or simply approach it and two baron panels at the west and east should open revealing more hellspawn - a baron of hell, a demon and one or two cacodemons. Dispatch them. After this, take the eastern alcove where there were cacodemons. Press the gargoyle panel. Return back and enter the last door at the southwest. Kill two demons and press the gargoyle switch. Now take the northeastern door and press the switch to end the level.

Other points of interest
Taking the berserk pack in the southern area will open one of the doors containing baron and demons (or no one in the ITYTD and HNTR skills). The barrels surrounding it can be accidentally destroyed by imps that throw fireballs and hide in the three alcoves, so it is advised to kill them first and spare the barrels for packs of hellspawn that will be unleashed later.

The button at the south of the southern area actually unlocks the northern area (as mentioned above, it is enough to approach the switch without pressing in order to make progress on the level). Return to that northern - starting - area to discover two open doors containing ammo and, in one of them, a powerful weapon, rocket launcher.

Secrets
There are no official secrets in this level.

Trivia
This is considered one of the hardest official maps to play from a pistol start, especially on higher skill levels, due to a thorough paucity of ammo, armor, and weapons. The map does not appear to have been designed with such play in mind.