Doom II Walkthrough

Doom II was a direct sequel to Doom, following the chronicles of the central character on Earth and in Hell as they work to avenge the planet's humanity against the perpetrators of the demonic attack. It was released on 10 October 1994 as a retail title, with no shareware version.

Even though Doom II features modest enhancements and brings the storyline to a satisfying conclusion, I've always felt that it was inferior to the original Doom. The reasons for this are megafold:

Doom I was divided into satisfying, self-contained episodes that could be played in any order. Doom II was structured as a single episode of overbearing length, with the player given no choice but to slog through all 30-32 levels in sequential order. (Rise of the Triad, Tom Hall's next major project after Doom, was afflicted by the same problem.)
Doom II was released a full year after Tom Hall's departure from Id, and the game suffered from his lack of input into cohesive level design. Roughly half the game's maps were created by Sandy Petersen...and while Petersen had a knack in Doom I for capturing the psychological horror of Hell, many of his earthbound levels suffered from confusing progressions and unconvincing details.
Doom II's potential for interesting secret levels was wasted on a pair of unimaginative retreads of maps from Wolfenstein 3D.
Doom II's final boss battle was irredeemably contrived and excruciating. Defeating the boss could only be done in a single manner with a single weapon from a single spot, requiring precise timing not needed anywhere else in the game.
Worse, the final boss level had a tendency to crash the game and corrupt any game saves made on that level. There are few experiences more discouraging than blazing through 30 levels of advancing difficulty, saving your progress, and making it to a stone's throw of the finish line...only to have your entire slate of progress wiped out in an instant by a ridiculous bug. Yet, that's exactly what hundreds of thousands of people playing Doom II for the first time experienced!

This walkthrough is focused on the objective of exploring all areas. Throughout the page, ▶ points to "official" secrets counted in the end-of-level tally, and ▶ points to other hidden areas.

MAP01: Entryway

The plot of Doom II begins with the revelation that the inhabitants of Earth, fleeing the planet to escape the invasion from Hell, have been grounded by demons blockading the starport with a flame barrier. The Earth's military forces try and fail to fend off the occupation, and you're the only one left who can stop it. Déjà vu?

You enter the spaceport through a shaft, overlooking a distinctive triangular staircase. Don't drop down immediately, though: ▶ Instead turn around and follow the shaft outside, and you'll find a chainsaw. Now drop down, proceed up the stairs, and follow the corridor. Turn left through the door flanked by blue triangles, where you'll see two pillars straddled by black cabinets. 1 ▶ Hit the switch on the right cabinet, and it'll open a hidden door in the corner revealing some armour. ▶ Hit the switch on the left cabinet, and all four cabinets will retract into the floor.

Exit the room, turn left, and follow the corridor past the health bonuses to a dark room with an exterior window. You'll find the exit portal here...and secrets galore. Hit the switch at right to lower a lift. 2 ▶ Ride the lift to the top, then open the wall panel behind: It's a secret door revealing a second switch. 3 ▶ Hit this switch, then run off the platform, landing on the steel box in line with the lift. Walk back to the room where you saw the health bonuses: A secret door will have opened, revealing a rocket launcher. 4 ▶ Return to the room with the window, and look behind the pillar in the far corner: There's an exterior door that's now open, and you'll find a shotgun outside. 5 ▶ There's yet another secret door on the east wall of the room, opposite from the jail cell. A small compartment with a stimpack is within. Take the exit when you're done.

Gallery

The player begins Doom II from this vantage point, overlooking an inviting triangular staircase.

MAP02: Underhalls

"Underhalls" is a small but dense level set around a loop-shaped drainage shaft. Since the shaft from your starting position is blocked off by barriers left and right, proceed into the control area on the opposite side and hit the switch in the left corner. This causes the left barrier to retract. Follow the drainage shaft clockwise around the loop: You'll find a niche with armour bonuses on the right, and a set of stairs leading to a control room on the left. This control room also contains a Super Shotgun: The exclusive weapon added in Doom II.

The shaft eventually leads to an open-air platform surrounding a beige building. Run into the building through the window on the side, and snatch the [red key] red key at the top of the stairs. 1 ▶ On the side wall of the landing, you'll find a secret door revealing a room with megaarmour and a teleport that will return you to the starting area. You can go this way if you like...or follow the drainage shaft, mindful of the ambush rooms that have opened along the way.

Walk to the control area you were facing at the start of the level, open the [red door] red gate in the right corner, and hit the switch behind. The right barrier (relative to your starting position) will retract, letting you complete the loop. Follow the shaft counterclockwise past the blue doors to a chamber inset on the south wall. There are two drainage holes on the floor. Drop through the south hole, and you'll be in a lower drainage chamber with the [blue key] blue key at the far end.

Leave through the only available door, followed by the [blue door] blue door at the far end of the chamber beyond. You're now back in the loop-shaped shaft. Open the other blue door just to the left on the opposite wall: The exit portal is inside.

Gallery

The Super Shotgun makes its first appearance in this level.

MAP03: The Gantlet

You begin in a claustrophobic chamber. Go through the door at the far end, drop into the storeroom, then follow the door to the right: It leads up a set of stairs to a passage that wraps around. ▶ Collect the megaarmour from the elevated water basin: When you do so, a door will open on the opposite wall, revealing a medikit within.

Return to the passageway, and take the lift on the east face to an outdoor area with torches and staircases flanking a moat. Proceed to the other side: You'll find a waterlogged area containing a chaingun. The [blue key] blue key is at the top of the staircase beyond. Collect it, proceed through the left of the two [blue door] blue doors on the wall behind, and follow the passageway to a switch. Hit it, and a platform in the moat will rise. ▶ Go out the adjacent blue door, and follow the platform to the matching blue door on the opposite wall of this area. Go through, then step through the teleport on the right. This transports you to a pillar in the moat with a rocket launcher on it.

There are quite a few teleports on this level...some of which are quite hidden. ▶ Proceed up the stairs on the west side of the moat, and return to the storeroom you were in earlier: A door will have opened in the room with the hidden medikit, revealing an even-more-hidden teleport. Walk through, and you'll be taken to a niche in the southwest corner of the moat with a ammunition backpack. Open the panel on the opposite wall to get out. ▶ A niche with a teleport will have opened in the northwest corner of the moat as well, but all it does is transport you to the pillar.

Return to the west side of the moat, and walk onto the narrow platform that leads to the teleport recessed on the north wall. 1 ▶ Don't go through it yet, though: Instead, turn around and run south as fast as you can, leaping across the water into the well on the south wall. You'll find several desirable items down here, including soul and invisibility spheres. Take the teleport back when you're done.

Retrace your steps to the teleport on the north wall...and this time, go through. This brings you to a room southwest of the storeroom you were in earlier. Walk out the door, and you'll find yourself on a ledge overlooking an outdoor area with steel boxes. ▶ Follow the ledge to the left wall, and drop down: You'll land on a lower ledge with a package of ammunition. Two boxes will open: One revealing the [red key] red key, and one revealing demons. The second "demon box" will retract as you retrieve the key. On the side wall, you'll see two switches: The one on the left opens an ambush room on the back wall with armour bonuses, while the one on the right triggers a lift in the southwest corner.

Hit the right switch, and ride the lift to the south ledge. If you'd like to go back, take the teleport on the end. Otherwise, open the [red door] red door: It leads to the exit.

MAP04: The Focus

"The Focus" is the smallest level of Doom II. Walk through the door, down the passage past the flapping shutters, and up the stairs to a caged observation platform. Hit the switch on the wall to lower a pedestal containing the blue key. 1 ▶ Exit the platform, and look for a panel with blue triangles to the right of the shutters: It's a hidden door granting access to two rooms behind.

Go through the narrow door on the east end of the passage: It leads past a blue door to a platform overlooking a pit of toxic waste, leading to the [blue key] blue key. As you return, you'll see that an ambush room has opened. 2 ▶ Look for a misaligned panel in the toxic waste pit: This is a secret door leading to a room with a Super Shotgun.

Proceed through the [blue door] blue door you passed earlier. It opens to a very dark passageway, with the red key blinking on the opposite wall. Turn on the lights by hitting the switch just right of the door, then proceed through the opposite end of the passage into a stockroom. You'll see a small box on the floor: Step on it, and a crate will be lowered to the floor. Ride the crate to the top, and retrieve the [red key] red key. 3 ▶ Step off the left edge of the crate it's on, and you'll find a teleport that transports you back to the caged observation platform.

From here, follow the passageway north, then turn left through the [red door] red door. It opens to a vestibule with a second red door at the other end, followed by the [yellow key] yellow key. Retrieve it (minding the ambush that opens), drop down to the floor below, and take the passageway on the left: It leads to a teleport taking you to an alcove with a wall switch. Hit the switch to engage a rising platform, then either hop on or teleport back. There's a second passageway and platform on the right, but it's inessential to completion.

When you're ready, proceed through the [yellow door] yellow door to the exit.

MAP05: The Waste Tunnels

The player begins in a roofless chamber connecting to a dark corridor. ▶ ▶ ▶ Within the corridor, there are three pairs of torches that have drop-down lifts hidden between them, yielding items. ▶ If you run through the leftmost window on the south wall, you can reach a battlement-like platform with an ambush room behind. ▶ To return to the corridor, open the north wall: It's a hidden one-way door. 1 ▶ Opening this door also triggers a drop-down platform on the opposite wall. Run to the north end, and drop into the secret room: You'll find a plasma gun here, and a switch that lets you get out.

Walk over to the "door" on the east end of the corridor: Yet another lift will drop down, leading you to a vehicular tunnel below. ▶ Look for a flashing arrow on the pavement: This points to a hidden door that leads to a soul sphere. 2 ▶ Once you get to the sphere, open the panel behind: It's a secret door that reveals a Berserk pack.

Return to the tunnel, and take the south fork dead ahead. The tunnel will end at a cul-de-sac, and a barrier will be lowered behind you. To get out of this trap, you'll need to scrutinize the black panels on the walls: The four on the right contain items and enemies, while the three on the left contain switches. Each switch opens a portal in the direction indicated by the arrow on the floor:

Left arrow switch: Reopens the door at the entrance of the tunnel.
Right arrow switch: Opens a door at the far end of the tunnel, with a megaarmour within.
Down arrow switch: Opens a door at the back of the closet directly opposite, leading to the sewers. (We'll be back here later.)

Return to the tunnel, and this time take the north fork. It leads to a gallery of caged zombies and mutilated bodies. Look for a door to the "jail" on the left wall. Follow the passage around, and it will lead to the sewers...and the [red key] red key. You'll notice that the sewer tunnel progresses beyond...so follow it until it levels out and branches in three directions. Take the left branch until it turns, then look down the tunnel to the right: You'll see a side chamber with a rocket launcher, and a door at the far end opening into a damp, dirty room with medikits within. Continue to feel the left wall until you reach a dry platform: The portal activated by the "down arrow" switch leads here, and the [red door] red door is at the end.

Walk up the stairs, grab the [blue key] blue key, and head through the [red door] red door on the other side: It opens to a corridor opposite the courtyard from the one we were in earlier. Hang a left through the [blue door] blue door, and walk to the left or right edge of the precipice: 3 ▶ There's a secret area with a few rockets and other power-ups recessed into an alcove on the back wall, and you can get there by running across the chasm. Drop down, and teleport back to the north platform when you're done.

Now it's time to retrieve the [yellow key] yellow key from the edge of the precipice. In a reprise of the final scene of the level before, a thin platform will rise, bridging the gap and letting you access the [yellow door] yellow door and exit.

MAP06: The Crusher

"The Crusher" begins at the cusp of a steel-panelled room marred by vertical pillars behind which enemies hide. 1 ▶ The second pillar straight in front of you has yellow and red buttons on the side. Press them and it will lower to the floor, revealing a megasphere: An item exclusive to Doom II, boosting both armour and health to 200%.

Take the lift on the far side of the room: It will lower you into an enormous hall where a Hell Knight, weaker cousin of the Baron, presides. (On high difficulty levels, a Spider Mastermind will appear instead.) At the base of the lift is a wall switch: Hit it and a crushing ceiling will activate, making quick work of the knight. When the cycle completes, run onto the platform and grab the [blue key] blue key (on lower difficulty levels) and plasma gun. 2 ▶ Fall into the toxic river, and head east: There's an alcove here with stimpacks and a teleport out.

▶ Summon the lift...but instead of stepping off when it reaches the top, run through the gap on the south side of the cage. You should land on a platform on the south wall, in front of a switch. (On midrange difficulty, you'll also find the [blue key] blue key here.) Hit the switch, and a platform on the west end will lower for four seconds. Run to it, and hop on before it rises again! (This is where the blue key is hidden on the highest difficulty levels.) It'll carry you to a tough-to-find passage with a soul sphere.

▶ Drop down, take the lift up, and leap over to the platform on the south wall again. There are several jail cells along a lower platform on the same wall, and you'll find some energy cells. ▶ Finally take the lift back to the top, and enter the pillar room once more. You'll discover that a hidden alcove with armour and health bonuses has opened on the north wall. Just to the right of the alcove is the [blue door] blue door. ▶ Go through, then hit the switch on the left wall: A lift will lower, revealing a hidden area with armour bonuses. Hit the satyr switch and the lift will lower again, letting you climb aboard. Follow the passage down the stairs and through the door at the end until you see a gargoyle switch on the right. Activate it and a lift will lower, revealing yet another door.

The room that follows has a massive spiral staircase wrapped around a poison pit. Be cautious as you ascend the stairs, as several ambush rooms will open. One contains a Revenant: A lanky monster with a missile launcher exclusive to Doom II. 3 ▶ Another contains a secret area...although it's tricky to get to. As you approach the fifth turn of the stairs, run off the right edge one step before the top. If you aim right, you'll land on the alcove in the west wall. The electrical panel is a secret door, revealing a room with a megasphere, multiple weapons, and a backpack.

When you reach the top of the stairs, step across to the box-shaped platform with the [red key] red key, which will lower to the floor. Backtrack to the [red door] red door, which you passed on the way to the staircase room. It opens to an outdoor area punctuated by peculiar Stonehenge-like rings and lava pits. Find your way to the door in the southwest corner, which opens to an electric generator surrounded by a pool of toxic waste. Walk to the southeast corner, hit the switch on the wall, and retrieve the [yellow key] yellow key. The generator will open, causing enemies to spill out and teleport around the room. A portal will also open on the west wall, providing a connection back to the pillar room.

Walk through one of the four teleports in the wall: You'll be transported to a corner of the generator interior. Hit the switch on the wall: A platform leading to the yellow door will rise. Teleport back, and exit through the [yellow door] yellow door.

Gallery

The megasphere makes its first appearance in this level.

MAP06 also marks the first appearance of the Revenant, a skull-faced adversary with herky-jerky movements.

MAP07: Dead Simple

"Dead Simple" is preceded by a text screen indicating a transition to a Hell-corrupted inner area of the starport, analogous to the Deimos techbase in Doom I. It also happens to be the first level in Doom II to contain a BFG9000.

Hit the gargoyle switch. The barrier around you retracts, revealing your position along the edge of a square arena. Two or more Mancubi will shoot at you from the platforms ahead: They look hideous, but they're not particularly strong or difficult to defeat. There are plenty of resources available: You'll find four invisibility spheres, a Berserk pack, and numerous ammunition pickups on the ground. In addition, there are four switches on the outside walls that will lower the platforms in the inner arena, giving access to three weapons and a megasphere.

Unfortunately, the Mancubi are only the first part of a two-phase boss attack. Once they're gone, the outside gates will open, and four or more Arachnotrons will storm the arena. These are weaker cousins of the Spider Mastermind from Doom Episodes 3 and 4, equipped with plasma guns. But they're not too difficult in the great scheme of things, either: Dodge their attacks, and you should come out on top.

Once all the monsters are gone, head to the grass loop outside the arena to scoop up medikits and other items. Hit the four-sided eye switch in the centre of the map to end the level: 1 ▶ The lower step that surrounds it counts as a secret, for some reason. The map also contains an alcove in the northwest corner that is only accessible in multi-player Deathmatch play.

Gallery

The Mancubus and Arachnotron, two new enemies that form the basis of MAP07's boss conflict.

MAP08: Tricks and Traps

The player begins in a blue-carpeted room with doors extending in eight directions. You may choose to go through most of these doors in any order...but we'll start to the left of the locked red and yellow doors, and work our way around.

The first door opens southwest, and leads to a simple passageway. 1 ▶ The back wall will open as you approach, revealing a Cacodemon that will teleport behind you. (On higher difficulties, you'll also find additional enemies and a chainsaw.) It's your first taste of the tricks on this level.

Return to the central room and open the next door, which faces south. It opens to a room with one Cyberdemon and numerous Barons of Hell. The Cyberdemon will attack the Barons, leading to infighting. There's also a soul sphere and several invulnerability spheres to pick up. Wait for the enemies to clear, and you'll find the [yellow key] yellow key and an eye switch that opens the door.

Return to the central room and open the next door, which faces southeast. It opens to a room of imps that will teleport near the door. Drop down into the pit, hit the switch on the back wall to reopen the door, then walk straight into the ledge you dropped from: You'll get teleported just like the imps!

Proceed through the next door, which faces east. It opens into a small room with two visible teleports, both of which transport you to an octagonal room with hundreds of wall-mounted video screens. 2 ▶ Shoot the panel with the lion portrait and the panel will rise, revealing a third teleport transporting you to a raised platform with medikits. 3 ▶ Drop into the toxic pit that surrounds the platform: There's a secret door on the northeast wall, opening to a maze-like cavern where you'll find two radiation shielding suits, an invisibility sphere, ammunition, and a teleport leading back. There is a gargoyle pillar in the middle of the room. 4 ▶ Shoot the south face of the pillar, and a panel will open in the north alcove revealing a chaingun. An ambush will also open, revealing a new monster: The Pain Elemental, essentially a brown Cacodemon spewing Lost Souls at you. 5 ▶ Shooting the north face of the pillar will do the same thing for the south alcove, with ammunition and a second Pain Elemental in tow. Step into the teleporter on the west wall when you're done, and you'll get transported to the entrance of the southeast room.

Continue to the next door, which faces northeast. It opens to a room with pink demons on an upper gallery. Approaching the rocket boxes or rocket launcher on the back wall will cause a series of steps to rise, allowing the demons to roam on the floor. There are two switches in the upper gallery, one of which opens the door you came in from, and the other of which opens a door on the back wall...although it doesn't lead anywhere yet.

Continue to the next door, which faces north. It opens to a large corridor with hellish columns in the back, and square-shaped alcoves in the walls. As you proceed, demons will emerge from the alcoves. Find your way to the end of the corridor, where you'll find a plasma gun and a switch that enables a secret in another room.

We've worked our way through all six unlocked doors...and now it's time to pay some of them a second visit. 6 ▶ Return to the northeast room, where you saw the pink demons. A second door in the back wall will have opened, revealing an area with a soul sphere and four ammunition backpacks. 7 ▶ As you leave the area, you'll see that a wing has opened with a baron portrait on the east wall. This panel will open if you shoot it, revealing a BFG9000.

Now, walk through the [yellow door] yellow door and follow the passageway to the [red key] red key. As you approach it, the passageway entrance will recede...then several ambushes of imps will spill out of the walls. An invulnerability sphere will be exposed in one corner, and a switch exposed in the other. Hit it, and you'll be able to get back out.

Now it's time to end the level. Approach the [red door] red door...and save your game. ⚠ To reach the exit, you'll have to run across five pillars as they collapse under you into a toxic pit. If you fall off a pillar or miss the landing, you cannot escape.

▶ If you're unnerved by the pillars, there is a "Plan B" way out of this level. Slowly and carefully, poke your nose through the red door. After you clear the threshold and before you trigger the first collapsing pillar, you should hear the sound of machinery whirring. Turn around, and go through the door to the north passage: Two teleports in the corridor are now open. The one on the right takes you to the room where you found the red key earlier. The one on the left transports you directly to the exit switch.

Gallery

The Pain Elemental, easily one of the most frustrating enemies in Doom II, makes its first appearance on this level.

The booby-trapped exit portal, with pillars that will collapse under the player.

MAP09: The Pit

"The Pit" places the player in...well, a pit, surrounded by lifts on all four sides. Turn left, and ride the west lift to the highest platform in the room. 1-2 ▶ Approach the lion panel on the wall: It will lead to a passageway with three more lions, followed by a soul sphere. Hit the switch at the end of the passage to reveal a room with a rocket launcher. Both the square with the launcher and the ledge behind it count are secret sectors...so touch them both, then go out the way you came.

Next, follow the west platform to the end and drop into the vaulted room. The platform with the blue circle will trigger a set of stairs to nowhere. Take the door in the southeast corner: It leads out onto the north platform, where you'll find a switch in the corner that causes a platform to rise. Take the lift on the facing wall, and hit the second switch on the top: It opens a wall panel concealing a Berserk pack. Run off the corner of the lift to the elevated platform: You can now access a passage on the east wall that leads to an outdoor arena. 3 ▶ Fall into the moat that surrounds the monument in the centre, and a ring-shape lift will lower. Hop on. 4 ▶ Go inside the monument through the door on the north side: You'll find several items here. 5 ▶ Next, look for a panel with lights on the baseboard: It's a secret door that conceals a BFG9000.

When you return to the north platform, you'll find that an ambush room has opened, revealing a switch on the wall. Hit it and a second wall panel will rise, revealing a second switch that lets you access a platform in the vaulted room. Of course, this will reveal a third switch that raises a stairstep next to you. Step off the platform and a lift on the opposite side of the room will lower, revealing the [blue key] blue key. ▶ Ride the blue key lift to the top, and jump off the south edge to reach a passage with armour and a medikit.

The [blue door] blue door is located in the northeast corner of the vaulted room, on the platform you were on earlier. Open it, and hit the switch: The wall panel next to the "stairs to nowhere" will open, revealing a room with a bank of skull switches in the middle conveying access to adjacent areas:

Front switch: Opens rear door, revealing a pit of toxic waste. ▶ Dive into the pit, and bear left: You'll find a backpack and computer area map, as well as a switch that lowers the platform and lets you out.
Left switch: Opens a right door, leading to a pit surrounded by a ring of lifts and stairsteps. 6 ▶ Follow this ring clockwise, and you'll reach a platform with a soul sphere, megaarmour, and Berserk pack. Take the teleport out when you're done.
Right switch: Opens left door, leading to a dimly-lit pit surrounded by platforms on four sides. Drop down, pick up the radiation suit, and enter the lowest platform: You'll find a switch that causes another platform to drop, letting you pick up the yellow key. Hit both of the switches on this level: One reopens the door you came in from, and one drops a third platform. Work your way to the third platform, hit the next switch, then leave by way of the platform you came in on.

Now it's time to bring this level to a close. Return to the pit where you started the level, and take the east or south lifts through one of the two [yellow door] yellow doors. They open into a corrupted room with a four-pointed star on the floor, and the exit portal.

Gallery

The distinctive four-pointed star with health bonuses, seen near the exit portal.

MAP10: Refueling Base

"Refueling Base" is Tom Hall's sole contribution to the level design of Doom II, being a retouch of a map originally intended for Doom I's first episode. An early version appeared in the May 1993 alpha, where it served as the UAC's "Enlisted Quarters" as spelled out in the Doom Bible. Evidence for this survives in the final map, which retains sleeping barracks that betray its original purpose.

MAP10 contains 18 officially-designated secret areas: The most of any map in Doom II. The level's structure is also interconnected, so its sections and rooms can be explored in any order.

You enter the facility above a stairway in the northwest corner. ▶ Before you head down the stairs, look for a wall panel on the right with blue triangles: It's a secret door leading to a shotgun and health bonuses. Take the staircase down to the first bend in the corridor, and look for a doorway leading to a dim room encrusted with vines. Follow this room to an rectangular courtyard, then go through the door on the left: It opens to the barracks, with bunk walls still bearing the UAC logo.

The barracks contain plenty of enemies...and plenty of secrets. Your foremost priority is the [yellow key] yellow key: It's hiding on the east bunk in the southeast "island." 1 ▶ Near the key, the rightmost bunk on the east wall contains a switch that opens a hidden passageway with numerous armour bonuses within. Follow this passage to the next room, and walk up the stairs to the alcove directly ahead: A hidden door will open, revealing the [blue key] blue key.

We'll be coming back to this room again...but we have still have secrets to explore, so turn around and head back to the barracks. Look for bunks with oversized UAC logos: These are retractable doors that reveal secret areas when hit or shot.

2 ▶ Inset west wall, leftmost bunk: Reveals a Berserk pack.
3 ▶ Southeast "island," west side: Reveals an energy cell pack.
4 ▶ Northwest "island," east side: Reveals megaarmour and a light amplification visor.
5 ▶ North wall, sixth bunk from the left: Reveals a soul sphere.
6 ▶ East wall, fourth bunk from the left: Reveals a secret passage, leading to an ammunition backpack and a door with two baron portraits.

7 ▶ The door with the portraits opens to a hidden teleport, which transports you to an elevated shaft overlooking a Baron of Hell in the opposite corner of the map. ▶ An ammunition box and invulnerability sphere are hidden in forks of the shaft...so look around before you drop down. The room below contains a second invulnerability sphere, and windows which overlook the exit. Follow the passageway out through the [blue door] blue door when you're done. (Although marked with tiles on both sides, this door requires a key from the outside face only.)

Once emerging from the blue door, you'll find yourself in a dark room spot-lit by two square ceiling fixtures. Feel your way to the room's northwest corner, where you'll find a passageway leading to a rounded room surfaced in tile. A second passage extends north, leading to a room with toxic waste pools. ▶ A rocket and chainsaw are hidden behind the pipes. 8-10 ▶ Stand next to the panel with the triangle on the left wall: It will trigger a hidden door in the left pit, exposing a slime-logged passageway leading to a megasphere. (Both the pedestal and the two steps that surround it are flagged as secret sectors.)

On your way out, follow the left wall of the passage: It will lead to a circular open-air atrium where still more secrets can be found. 11 ▶ As you enter from the west, an oblong fuel tank on the east end will open, revealing a few items. 12 ▶ Walk over the step of the passageway leading out on the east side and a tank on the west end will open, with similar contents to the last. 13 ▶ 14 ▶ Approach the door on the south end of the room and each of the two fuel tanks in the centre will open, revealing two ambushes, health bonuses, and a radiation shielding suit.

The east passageway leads to the rectangular courtyard we were in earlier. Turn right, and go through the door on the south end: It leads back to the pitch-black room where we found the blue key. ▶ Watch out for Revenants and Arachnotrons, and look for a small square on the floor illuminated from above: Stepping on it will cause two doors in the north wall to open, revealing demons and a BFG9000. 15 ▶ Next, look for a hidden door in the southeast corner: It opens to yet another hidden passageway, leading to a light amplification visor and a room that looks as if it were hollowed out of a limestone quarry.

16 ▶ After entering the quarry, look for an alcove to the right with a cracked wall between two marble pillars: This is a secret door behind which you'll find armour bonuses and a second Berserk pack. Over on the south side of the room, you'll find an invisibility sphere and a second light amplification visor behind a column. Next head over to the north side, where you'll find the door to a room with a rocket launcher. (In alpha development, this served as a keycard pickup spot.) 17 ▶ Run up onto the platform with the medikits: It's a secret sector. 18 ▶ This room also contains a hidden lift on the south wall that lets you access the rockets on the ledge. ▶ In the southwest corner of the quarry, you'll find a passageway leading to a soul sphere and plasma gun...although picking them up is a multi-stage process. First hit the switch in the left wall: It lowers a lift before you. Next, run over to the niche on the right wall: It will trigger a second lift behind the first, lowering the items to the floor. But be fast: You'll only have three seconds before the lifts rise back up again!

Now, you're free to make your way to the exit. Leave the quarry room through the door on the west end, then look for the [yellow door] yellow door on the opposite wall of the next room. The yellow door leads out through a [blue door] blue door, then the exit.

Gallery

May 1993 alpha map. Despite predating Doom II by an entire year, this map changed little in adaptation, with most post-Hall alterations limited to objects, textures, and added hidden areas.

Sleeping barracks, the map's most obvious throwback to Tom Hall's Doom Bible and Doom's alpha days.

MAP11: Circle of Death, 'O' of Destruction!

For reasons unknown, Doom II's intermission screen and automap refer to this level by two different names. Either way, the player is thrust to the edge of the titular circle (or 'O'), a covered platform overlooking an outdoor pit of toxic waste. ▶ You'll find health bonuses, an energy cell pack, and a radiation suit scattered around the south half of the outer pit, along with a handy platform and staircase. The inner and north outer pits contain no such bonuses...but should you fall in, there's a switch-operated platform on the northwest side of the 'O' that will help you get out.

On the east side of the 'O,' there is a bridge connecting the loop to another platform. ▶ After clearing the first 'gate,' turn right and look to the right of the torch by the wall: There's a holographic wall panel covering a soul sphere. Continue to the fortification at the top of the stairs, where you'll find the [blue key] blue key...but be careful! ⚠ An Arch-vile, the flame-spitting "boss" of the level, will emerge from an enclosure and turn you into crispy critters.

▶ Head down the stairs again. When you cross between the green torches, a lift will lower to the left. Hop on the lift and ride it to a hidden platform, where you'll find a chaingun and armour bonuses. 1 ▶ Next, look for an embossed panel on the left wall: It leads to a ledge with an invisibility sphere, overlooking the 'O.'

The [blue door] blue door is located on the west side of the 'O,' opposite the bridge you crossed earlier. Follow the passageway to a column with a skull switch. Hit the switch and a platform will rise along the cliff wall behind, letting you scale the pit to reach a crevice with megaarmour. The crevice also contains a satyr switch that will raise a platform connecting the 'O' to the central pillar with the red key.

If you look closely, you'll notice that some hidden areas around the perimeter of the 'O' are now accessible. 2 ▶ Drop into the north side of the outer pit, and look for an opening on the east wall: It will lead to a passage ending at a teleport, transporting you to a ledge in the inner pit with energy cell packs. You can drop down directly onto the central pillar, and retrieve the [red key] red key.

The [red door] red door is a little more hidden than the red one: It's in the northwest corner of the outer pit, flanked by a pair of torches. A set of bars will retract as you enter, with a cracked wall panel to the left of them. 3 ▶ Open this panel: It's a secret door leading to an area with an invulnerability sphere. Return to the main passage, and follow it to the left: It will lead up a set of stairs, then end at a skull switch by a window. Press the switch: A pedistal will lower (along with a connecting ledge in version 1.9), giving access to a rocket launcher and ammunition backpack. The backpack sits atop a free-standing platform leading to a grotto with dead trees. Drop down into the grotto, drop into the waterlogged pit between the torches, and take the lift to your left: It carries you to a tower platform with a lion switch that activates a lift on the opposite side. Take the right lift into the right tower, and hit the gargoyle switch on the wall: Several barriers will retract, letting you exit through a waterlogged "back door." ▶ Follow the tunnel to a teleport in the right wall: It transports you to a finger of rock with a soul sphere overlooking the 'O.' Drop down through the dark hole in the cliff wall behind you, and you'll be back in the grotto again. ▶ Now follow the right wall: You'll find an impaled body and a BFG.

Return to the lower tunnel where you used the teleport earlier, and hit the switch on the enormous skull on the back wall. This presumably releases the flame barrier, and serves as the exit to the level.