MAP30: Icon of Sin (Doom II)

MAP30: Icon of Sin is the thirtieth and final map of Doom II. It was designed by Sandy Petersen and uses the music track "Opening To Hell".

After completing MAP30, the cast of game characters is shown.

Walkthrough
Pick up the weapons and powerups and go through the teleporter (A). The player will arrive at the lowest of a series of large step-like platforms (B). Each step is a lift which can be activated by pressing on the demonic face on its side. Be ready to defeat or bypass the first monsters created by the boss, and be careful with the incoming cubes, as they may telefrag the player. Get to the top step and use the demonic switch found there. A small platform in the blood pool at the bottom of the steps will rise up (C).

When the pillar-like platform in the slime has stopped rising, press on its side. The square pillar will lower down to the floor (a lift). Stand on the pillar and select the rocket launcher (D). Turn to face the huge cybernetic face of the boss on the wall over the platform across the series of steps. The platform will rise; slightly before the elevator reaches the top. Launch a rocket toward the exposed brain. If timed correctly, the rocket will enter the opening exposing the brain (E) and an echoing pain sound will be heard. This takes practice to time correctly, although it can be said that firing as the tip of the rocket launcher reaches the gigantic demon's chin is reliable. Three direct hits are generally necessary to defeat the boss. When defeated, explosions occur in front of its hideous visage and the game exits to the intermission screen.

Advanced techniques to destroy the boss quickly include running down to the rising pillar from the switch atop the huge steps, lowering the pillar from the edge once it has reached the top to fire again, and firing while jumping off the pillar, possibly towards the platform below the face to acquire some powerups.

Dodging the horde of monsters spawned by the boss is a challenge, and often one must lure a group of monsters away from the platform before jumping on it again, or kill them with the BFG or another high powered weapon. Arch-viles, pain elementals, arachnotrons, and revenants are particularly disruptive as their advanced attack modes can easily hinder or damage the vulnerable player atop the pillar.

Two radiation suits are located on the platform directly below the evil visage. These are a convenience against the damaging slime at the foot of the pillar, although lower skill levels provide invulnerability powerups in the slime to ease the task for novices. Monster infighting and some monster telefragging will occur and help to limit how dense the horde becomes.

Secrets
There are no official secrets in this level. Using the idclip cheat code to pass into the head of the final boss reveals the violently severed head of John Romero, impaled on a spike. This is unreachable by normal means and does not register as a secret, but can be considered an easter egg. Shooting it also ends the level.

A side note to this Romero-on-a-stick, when you enter the main battlefield the player is greeted with some backwards sounding dialogue. If recorded and played backwards (making it the 'correct' playback) it is really saying "To win the game you must kill me, John Romero."

Bugs

 * Due to a mapping error, the rightmost part of the final boss head textures is slightly disjointed. This can best be seen on its right horn, which is clearly separated from the rest of the head.


 * There is an unaccesable single linedef unclosed sector outside the map on the eastern side.

Records
The Compet-n records for the map are:

Trivia
This level features John Romero's head on a spike as the hidden Boss brain. When the final boss wakes up, it plays the message "To win the game you must kill me, John Romero", reversed.