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888 888 888 88 8 88 8888 8 888oo o8 88
888o 8 o888 888 88 8o oo88 888 88o 888 o8 o8ooo888o
88o8o88 888 o88 o88 o888o o888o 88o 88ooo888 o88888888
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===============================================================================
-------------------------[ Written By: LordKrell ]-------------------------
===============================================================================
Last Updated ..... February 26, 2006 : Platform ...................... PC
FAQ Version ................... 1.00 : Game Version ............... 1.0.4
===============================================================================
===============================================================================
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
: T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
===============================================================================
Introduction ...................................................... s01
Search Index ...................................................... s02
General Information ............................................... s03
Walkthrough ....................................................... s04
Story and Characters ...................................... x00
Air Defense Bunker ........................................ x01
Air Defense Trenches .................................... x02
Hangar Perimeter ........................................ x03
Interior Hangar ......................................... x04
MCC Landing Site ........................................ x05
Operation: Advantage ...................................... x06
Canyon .................................................. x07
Perimeter Defense Station ............................... x08
Aqueducts ............................................... x09
Aqueducts Annex ......................................... x10
Nexus Hub Tunnels ....................................... x11
Nexus Hub ............................................... x12
Strogg Medical Facilities ................................. x13
Construction Zone ....................................... x14
Dispersal Facilities .................................... x15
Recomposition Center .................................... x16
Putrification Center .................................... x17
Waste Processing Facility ............................... x18
Operation: Last Hope ...................................... x19
Data Storage Terminal ................................... x20
Data Storage Security ................................... x21
Data Storage Terminal (Revisited) ....................... x22
Tram Hub Station ........................................ x23
Tram Rail ............................................... x24
Data Processing Terminal ................................ x25
Data Processing Security ................................ x26
Data Processing Terminal (Revisited) .................... x27
Data Networking Terminal ................................ x28
Data Networking Security ................................ x29
Nexus Core ................................................ x30
The Nexus ............................................... x31
Version History ................................................... s05
Legal Stuff ....................................................... s06
Contact Info ...................................................... s07
Credits ........................................................... s08
----[ N O T E ]--------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to jump directly to a specific section, simply hit CTRL+F and
enter the appropriate three-character code.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
===============================================================================
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
: I N T R O D U C T I O N :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================[s01]====
Greetings, and welcome to my Quake 4 guide. If you found yourself here, perhaps
you're stuck, in need of strategic advice, or merely curious about the game. In
any case, I'm sure this document will prove useful.
This FAQ includes all the information you would normally expect from such a
guide, including a full walkthrough of the game, and detailed information about
the weapons and enemies you will encounter. But what makes this FAQ different
from others is in the way all this information is organized and presented. This
is the second FAQ I've written using this format, and I certainly hope you will
find it helpful and easy to follow. Give it a read a see for yourself!
Quake 4 is a first-person shooter, released in 2005 and currently available for
the PC and Xbox 360. The story directly follows the events of Quake 2, in which
the human race wages an all-out war against aliens known as the Strogg. While
Quake 4 didn't really revolutionize or advance the FPS genre in any way, its
excellent graphics and non-stop, fast-paced action immediately pulled me in.
It's a fun game that sticks closely to the standard FPS formula.
So in short, I hope you'll find this guide both informative and interesting. If
you'd like to see more FAQs like this one, be sure to check out my contribution
page on GameFAQs at the following address:
*
http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/61433.html
===============================================================================
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
: S E A R C H I N D E X :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================[s02]====
Because most of the information is contained within the walkthrough itself, you
won't find separate lists at the end of the document detailing every weapon,
monster, etc. However, I still want to provide a means to find any kind of
information quickly, and this is what the following tables are for. Simply look
up the relevant code, hit CTRL+F on your keyboard, type in the code and hit
enter (twice usually)! If all goes well, you'll be taken directly to whatever
it is you're seeking.
----[ N O T E ]--------------------------------------------------------------
The information contained in the following tables could be considered
spoilers. Use at your own risk!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----[ W E A P O N S ]----------------------------------------------------------
Blaster ........................ w01 : Hyperblaster ................... w06
Machinegun ..................... w02 : Rocket Launcher ................ w07
Shotgun ........................ w03 : Railgun ........................ w08
Grenade Launcher ............... w04 : Lightning Gun .................. w09
Nailgun ........................ w05 : Dark Matter Gun ................ w10
----[ V E H I C L E S ]--------------------------------------------------------
Hovertank ...................... v01 : Walker ......................... v02
----[ E N E M I E S ]----------------------------------------------------------
Strogg Marine .................. e01 : Teleport Dropper ............... e09
Grunt .......................... e02 : Tactical Transfer .............. e10
Berserker ...................... e03 : Light Tank ..................... e11
Gunner ......................... e04 : Slimy Transfer ................. e12
Gladiator ...................... e05 : Failed Transfer ................ e13
Sentry ......................... e06 : Iron Maiden .................... e14
Stream Protector ............... e07 : Heavy Hovertank ................ e15
Scientist ...................... e08
----[ B O S S E S ]------------------------------------------------------------
Strogg Voss .................... b01 : The Makron ..................... b03
Network Guardian ............... b02 : The Nexus ...................... b04
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
===============================================================================
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
: G E N E R A L I N F O R M A T I O N :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================[s03]====
Here is some information you might find useful if you're new to the game or to
first-person shooters in general.
----[ H E A L T H ]------------------------------------------------------------
You will lose a certain amount of health points whenever you get hit by enemy
attacks or various environmental hazards. If you lose all your health, you will
die and be forced to reload your latest savegame, or restart the current level.
The maximum amount of health you can have at any time is 100. To restore health
points, always be on the lookout for the following pickups:
* Small Health Pack : restores 25 health
* Large Health Pack : restores 50 health
----[ A R M O R ]--------------------------------------------------------------
Armor provides additional protection that will allow you to receive less damage
from most attacks. The more armor you wear, the less damage you will take, up
to a maximum of 100 points. Unfortunately, your armor will degrade rapidly as
you sustain damage (you will usually lose armor points faster than health
points, especially if you have lots of armor). Always try to keep your armor
rating as high as possible, as without it you'll have trouble surviving against
even the weakest of foes. To increase your armor rating, look for the following
pickups, scattered around each of the game's levels:
* Armor Shard : adds 5 armor points
* Small Armor Vest : adds 50 armor points
* Large Armor Vest : adds 100 armor points
----[ H E A D S H O T S ]------------------------------------------------------
It's important to note that in most cases, you can kill your foes faster if you
aim for their head. Usually, scoring a headshot results in double the normal
damage you would have inflicted otherwise. This obviously allows you to defeat
your enemies faster, which is especially important against the tougher ones or
when you're being attacked by several enemies at once. Practice headshots
early, and abuse them often!
----[ S C R E E N S A N D P A N E L S ]------------------------------------
Quake 4 features an interesting GUI (graphical user interface) system which
allows you to interact directly with several of the game's computer screens or
panels. To interact with a GUI, simply approach it until your crosshair changes
to a small hand cursor. Use this cursor to click on the various elements of the
GUI and produce the desired effect. This usually mean clicking on one big
obvious button.
----[ T H E M A R I N E S ]--------------------------------------------------
Because Quake 4 pits you in the middle of a war against the Strogg, you will
often be fighting alongside other marines. These marines are quite capable, and
are typically equipped with a Machinegun. Keep them alive as long as possible
and they'll make your life a little easier. But Medics and Tech marines are
especially helpful. Simply click on them and they'll fully heal you or repair
your armor, respectively. As long as they're not engaged in combat, that is.
----[ D I F F I C U L T Y L E V E L S ]--------------------------------------
Upon starting a new game, you must select a difficulty level. This will affect
the accuracy of your enemies, as well as the amount of damage they deal to you.
Be sure to pick a difficulty level that reflects your own skills and experience
with first-person shooters. The General skill level is especially brutal, as
most of your enemies can destroy you with only a few shots.
* Private (easy) : Try not to shoot yourself in the foot
* Corporal (normal) : You can hit a moving target... usually
* Lieutenant (hard) : Shoot first, ask questions later
* General (very hard) : An unstoppable death machine
===============================================================================
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
: W A L K T H R O U G H :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================[s04]====
This is by far the longest section of this document, covering everything you
need to know about Quake 4 from start to finish. Read up a bit about the
background story and characters if you want, or jump directly to any other
section of the walkthrough. While it is meant to be read in order, it is by no
means required.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: S T O R Y A N D C H A R A C T E R S :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x00]----
----[ T H E S T O R Y S O F A R ]----------------------------------------
In the mid-21st century, a barbaric alien race called the Strogg launched a
massive invasion on Earth. While the invasion was originally believed to be an
attempt to strip the planet of its natural resources, humans soon discovered
the Strogg are only after one thing: the human remains of those they kill.
Through a horrific process, the limbs and flesh of the fallen are fused with
metal and machinery to create the monstrosities that are the alien Strogg.
The Strogg battled the human race for years on Earth, but as resources became
depleted, Earth mounted a counter-assault on the Strogg homeworld. The first
assault force was launched from the fleet and encountered massive resistance -
most of the drop-ships were destroyed by the Strogg homeworld's massive defense
weapon known as "The Big Gun." One surviving Marine broke through and was able
to destroy The Big Gun and ultimately defeat the Strogg leader, the Makron.
However, the war did not end there.
The Strogg provided to be extremely resilient and as the war continued to rage,
the Strogg regrouped and constructed a new and more powerful Makron. You are
Matthew Kane, a member of the elite Rhino Squad and part of the next massive
invasion that spans across the entire Stroggos planet. Equipped with hi-tech
weapons and vehicles, and teamed with a top Marine squadron, you soon realize
this war is far from over. In fact, your worst nightmare is soon realized when
you discover to defeat the Strogg, you must become one of them.
(story taken from the manual)
----[ C H A R A C T E R S ]----------------------------------------------------
----[ Matthew Kane ]---------------------------------------------------------
You play as Matthew Kane, the newest addition to the elite Rhino Squad. Kane
has somewhat of a mysterious past and not much is known about him, except
that he's a survivor. As one of his squadmates so eloquently put it, Kane is
one "certified badass". Can one man change the course of the war?
----[ Rhino Squad ]----------------------------------------------------------
Besides Kane, Rhino Squad is made up of eight other marines, with whom you'll
interact regularly throughout the game. Each of them even has a unique and
(in some cases) interesting personality.
* Lieutenant Scott Voss, Squad Leader
* Sergeant Marian Bidwell, second-in-command
* Lance Corporal Nikolai 'Sledge' Sledjonovitch, heavy weapons specialist
* Corporal Alejandro Cortez, sniper
* Corporal Dell Morris, communications officer
* Corporal William Rhodes, demolitions expert
* Johann Strauss, tech marine (and arrogant bastard)
* Jeremiah Anderson, squad medic
----[ Other Squads ]---------------------------------------------------------
Of course, Rhino Squad can't save the world by itself. You'll always be able
to count on the support of many other marine squads, such as Badger, Cobra,
Eagle, Kodiak, Scorpion, Viper, Warthog and Wolf. However, the most
noteworthy, and by far the biggest of all the squads has got to be Raven
Squad. If you're observant enough, you might notice that every marine of this
squad is named after the various Raven Software staff members.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: A I R D E F E N S E B U N K E R :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x01]----
----[ N O T E ]--------------------------------------------------------------
This walkthrough was played on the normal (Corporal) difficulty level.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The game starts with a nice introduction sequence, featuring some sweet and
gory models. You are riding on board the battleship U.S.S. Patton, who just
arrived at planet Stroggos to help out with the ongoing war against the Strogg.
As your dropship flies down to the surface with countless others, Lieutenant
Voss will briefly uh, brief you and the rest of Rhino Squad. Following the
events of Quake 2, a lone marine was able to kill the Strogg leader called the
"Makron", and disable the planetary defense guns. Well he obviously missed a
few guns, as your dropship gets shot out of the sky and crashes on the planet's
surface. Luckily, you somehow survive the crash (as does all of Rhino Squad),
and the game begins shortly after you regain consciousness.
First, get a feel for moving around (default keys: W, A, S, D), jumping (press
SPACE) and crouching (hold C). For whatever reason, you can't pick up the
Machinegun off the dead marine at your feet (not like he'll need it), so
practice firing your pathetic BLASTER around (click the left mouse button).
----[ W E A P O N ]------------------------------------[ Default Key: 1 ]----
BLASTER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clip Size .................... n/a : Power ............... [|:::::::::]
Max Ammo ..................... n/a : Speed ............... [|||||:::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A shot from this standard Marine-issue energy pistol can barely penetrate a
sheet of paper, let alone an armored Strogg. You can fire quick, but weak
shots by pressing the fire button. You can also charge up the Blaster by
holding down the fire button for about one second and then release it. This
charged shot is much more powerful, yet still pretty useless, considering
the time it takes to fire.
The Blaster is also fitted with a Flashlight (toggle it with the F key). And
thanks to its internal nuclear battery, it will never run out of ammo.
Still, I wouldn't recommend using it against anything but Strogg Marines,
and then only when you really, really need to conserve ammo. I can pretty
much guarantee you'll never use it again once you obtain a better weapon. On
a more positive note, I do like the design of the Blaster.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[w01]----
Now head towards the guy who's desperately trying to contact headquarters on
the radio. Meet Sergeant Morris, Rhino Squad's communications officer. He'll
tell you that you need to regroup with the rest of the squad as soon as
possible, and thus give you the first mission objective of the game.
----[ Regroup With Rhino Squad ]----------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
The survivors of Rhino Squad have made their way into the Strogg fortress
ahead. Hurry up and join them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hurry up they say... but it's their fault they left you for dead in the first
place. Run past Morris to meet a second member of Rhino Squad: Medic Anderson.
After he introduces himself, Anderson will heal you back up to 100 health
points. How nice. Now run towards the fortress entrance to meet up with Private
Webb, of Badger Squad. Private is just another word for "expendable", isn't it?
Follow him inside and run through some hallways to reach a larger room. This is
where you'll sort of be ambushed by your very first STROGG MARINE. Try shooting
him down with your peashooter, or let Webb do all the work for you.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
STROGG MARINE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [ varies ] : Toughness ........... [||::::::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
These could be considered your Strogg equivalent, except you've never seen
such incompetent marines before. These bottom-of-the-food chain type of
stroggs barely constitute a threat by themselves, though they can certainly
be an annoyance in bigger groups. They can wield different types of weapons,
such as a Blaster, Machinegun or Shotgun, but their aim is generally
terrible.
----[ Blaster Marine ]-------------------------[ Power ]--[|:::::::::]----
If your own Blaster is any indication, you'd know these don't pose much of
a threat. The slow-moving projectiles they fire are easy to dodge and
don't hurt much. Just don't get caught into their line of fire too often,
as even low damage can quickly add up. These Marines are of a grey color.
----[ Machinegun Marine ]----------------------[ Power ]--[|:::::::::]----
While the Machinegun certainly is a step up from the Blaster, these
particular stroggs barely know how to use it. Their fire is wildly
inaccurate, and whatever bullets hit you will likely scratch your ego
harder than your own flesh. They appear in an orange/red color.
----[ Shotgun Marine ]-------------------------[ Power ]--[||::::::::]----
A Shotgun will only cause real damage at close range, so always keep your
distance with these Marines and you'll be fine. If one does manage to hit
you from close enough you might bleed a little, so just keep strafing.
These stroggs come in a brown/yellow color.
It's also worth noting that if a Strogg Marine gets close enough, he'll
start using you as a punching bag. They don't deal much damage in melee
either, but there's no reason you should ever let that happen. Finally,
these Marines wear little to no armor (possibly because of budget issues),
so any weapon works well to take them down.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e01]----
Follow Webb around the room, shooting up more Strogg Marines along the way.
You'll soon meet up with Private Dees and a couple more Strogg Marines. After
the last of them have been eliminated, Webb will tell you to rejoin your squad
while he and Dees stay behind to hold this room. Exit the room into another
hallway, in which you'll find two SMALL HEALTH PACKS in a crate next to the
blue flare. These will restore 25 health each, so you'll want to grab them if
you've been hurt so far.
Go through the yellow door, just in time to witness an unlucky marine getting
dragged away by a Grunt. Too bad you can't help him. Make your way around this
room, passing by a crashed drop pod, until you reach another unlocked yellow
door. This might be a good time to mention that most doors in the game that
display red lights will be locked, while the doors with green lights are
unlocked. Makes sense, though it's a good thing the Strogg attach the same
meaning to the green and red colors as most humans do. In any case, this is
always an easy way to discern where you should be headed next. Speaking of
which, proceed through that unlocked yellow door now and pick up the MACHINEGUN
next to the dead marine (there's a hidden Machinegun on the marine as well).
----[ W E A P O N ]------------------------------------[ Default Key: 2 ]----
MACHINEGUN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clip Size .................... 40 : Power ............... [||::::::::]
Max Ammo ..................... 300 : Speed ............... [||||||||::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: SPECIAL : [ Zoom ] Hold down the Special key to look through the :
: : Machinegun's scope. Though this mode features semi- :
: : automatic fire, each shot is slightly more powerful. :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Machinegun is a weapon you will rely on quite a bit, especially in the
first half of the game. Its excellent rate of fire more than makes up for
the Machinegun's relative lack of power. This gets even better once you
acquire the Extended Clip Mod, which allows you to fire up to 80 shots
without having to reload. Twice the shooting fun!
Needless to say, such a high rate of fire comes at the price of accuracy.
You won't lose much accuracy up to medium range, though beyond that you're
likely to miss more and more (unless you're shooting at a wall). It's best
to use the Zoom function if you want to hit some far away enemy. The
Machinegun is also equipped with a Flashlight (toggle it on/off with F).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: UPGRADE : [ Extended Clip Mod ] This mod increases the Clip Size :
: : to 80. Obtained in "Operation: Last Hope". :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: AMMO : Clips (50) - Machinegun (40) :
--------------------------------------------------------------------[w02]----
At last, you can say goodbye to the Blaster. Not that it took all that long.
But really, if I could throw it away, I would. Anyway, as soon as you advance
in this room, a Strogg Marine will drop down from the ceiling. Pump his head
full of lead with your shiny new Machinegun to drop him real quick like. Then
be sure to pick up the two CLIPS just ahead, as you'll want to make the most of
your Machinegun. Turn left and run through this room, and you'll find two
Strogg Marines waiting at the other end. Find some cover behind the pillars so
you can safely shoot them down.
Go through the next door to find Private Kovitch struggling with a Grunt, then
take care of the problem himself in an admirable fashion. Shotgun blasts to the
face have solved countless problems before, possibly making this one of the
most effective negotiation tactic ever. After wiping Grunt brain matter off his
armor, Kovitch will say that you need to find Badger Squad just ahead. Before
you follow him in the next room, loot this hallway to find a SMALL HEALTH PACK
and a CLIP in a nearby crate, plus two more CLIPS next to the door.
Go through the door into the next room, and through the long hallway with rows
of pipe on the left. Just a few steps in, a GRUNT will smash through the pipes
and try to take a few swipes at you. He won't hurt you if you just stay on the
other side of the hallway. Start shooting him up with the Machinegun, after
which he'll run to the end of the hallway so he can run back towards you. This
should give you plenty of time to gun him down, though be warned he'll try to
leap at you once he gets close enough.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
GRUNT
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [||||::::::] : Toughness ........... [||||::::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This short but massive alien is covered in armor that kinda gives him the
appearance of a football player. Consequently, you don't want to stay in his
path when he comes charging towards you. While the Grunt is equipped with a
shoulder-mounted chaingun, he will rarely use it. The damage it causes is
weak anyway, and he's got a terrible aim.
Instead, Grunts like to use some rather powerful melee attacks that you'll
want to avoid by staying far away from them. In addition, they can leap at
you from great distances. Dodge this attack by strafing if you can, as it's
twice as powerful as their normal melee attacks. You might notice that
Grunts sometime choose to absorb the green chemicals plugged into their
arms. I'm not actually sure if this has any effect, except perhaps allow
them to run a bit faster.
While Grunts are certainly more resilient than Strogg Marines, you should
still be able to kill them easily with most weapons save the Blaster.
Obviously, the stronger the weapon, the faster they'll die. But that matters
little if you can stay out of their melee range.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e02]----
With the Grunt dead, run to the end of the hallway and then back on the other
side of the pipes until you come up to a door. You'll see a stroyent health
station on the left wall there, but not being a Strogg yourself you can't do
anything with it. Instead, go through the door on the right to witness a Strogg
Marine get blasted in the face by Private Hillstrom. Looks like you found the
rest of Badger Squad! Just follow the path to find Sergeant Miller. Since one
of his men is badly wounded, he'll order you to run back, grab Medic Anderson,
and bring him back here. Why should you take orders from this man? You already
have your own orders. Oh well.
----[ Retrieve Medic ]--------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find Anderson, Rhino Squad's medic. Bring him back to the wounded marine near
Sgt. Miller.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before you head back, loot the nearby crates to find two CLIPS and two SMALL
HEALTH PACKS. Now time for a little backtracking. Retrace your steps into the
pipe room and run to the other end. The pipes that were previously broken off
by the Grunt will explode, setting off an alarm. You'll then be assaulted by a
Grunt and two Strogg Marines, followed by three more Marines. You shouldn't
have any problems if you stay at the other end of the hallway and pick them off
from a distance. Zoom with the Machinegun if necessary.
Keep running back, through the room with the large windows and into the room
with all the pillars. You'll spot Corporal Pierce motioning you over, but then
the door behind him opens and a BERSERKER impales him! Pierce got pierced...
get it? Um. Just unload into the Berserker with your Machinegun, and aim for
the head as much as you can. You might need to step back a bit to avoid his
attacks.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
BERSERKER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [||||||::::] : Toughness ........... [|||||:::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berserkers are the masters of melee, possessing a wide variety of harmful
close-range attacks. They have a blade on their right arm and a morning star
on the left, both of which they can use in melee to inflict much pain on
your person. If that wasn't enough, they can also leap towards you in a
similar fashion to the Grunts to inflict extra damage. And to top it all
off, Berserkers run very fast.
But that's not all! At any moment, Berserkers can choose to hit the ground
with their blade, creating a shockwave that's fairly hard to avoid. Try
jumping or running backwards. Thankfully, this attack doesn't do much
damage. They can also shoot out a beam of lightning from their blade, which
causes about as much damage as their melee attacks. Like the shockwave, this
attack doesn't have much range, but is very hard to avoid.
Not only can Berserkers dish out pain in many varied and effective ways, but
they can also withstand quite a bit of it. You'll always want to take them
down as quickly as possible, especially when they attack alongside other
stroggs. Not like they'll give you much of a choice anyway. You can't shoot
at anything else when you got a seven feet wall standing in your way.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e03]----
Go through the door where the Berserker came from, and into a small room
containing two MACHINEGUNS, a CLIP and a SMALL HEALTH PACK. Continue through
the next door and you'll be back into the room with the crashed drop pod. Run
forward to help Anderson deal with three Strogg Marines. Nice job so far, but
you still need to bring him back. Which means even more backtracking for you.
Re-backtracking? Back-backtracking? Whatever.
----[ Retrieve Medic ]----------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Escort Anderson ]-------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Protect Anderson and bring him back to the wounded marine near Sgt. Miller.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is your first escort objective of the game, meaning you must protect a
specific character until a task is accomplished. If you let that character die,
it's game over for you. Thankfully, Medic Anderson is a good shot, and you
should have no problem escorting him back. Remember that you can click on him
at any time (unless you're in battle) to have him heal you right up.
Before going back, you can look behind the door the Strogg Marines came from to
find a dead marine and a MACHINEGUN. So head back past the drop pod and through
the door straight ahead. A Grunt will smash through a floor panel in this room,
but with Anderson's help you'll have no problem gunning him down. If you want,
jump down into the hole the Grunt came from, and you'll land on a small walkway
below the floor. Follow this path (be sure to turn on your flashlight) and you
should be able to find a CLIP and a SMALL ARMOR VEST near some fire. Sweet,
some protection! Then click the interactive panel near the ladder to open up a
hatch above, and climb it up.
You'll be back in the drop pod room, so run back into the next room, and again
through the next door. In the pillars room, just run forward and this time a
Berserker will drop down from the ceiling! Again, with Anderson's help he won't
be a problem. Run through the door, through the windowed room, and you'll be in
the pipe room. A Berserker will try to ambush you from the broken pipes, and
two Strogg Marines will attack from the end of the room. Stay cool, and find
cover if necessary. You can then run to the end of the room, and you'll find a
newly-unlocked door. Beyond it lies a MACHINEGUN and several dangerously
explosive barrels.
You should now run back into the other room, where Sergeant Miller patiently
awaits your return. Anderson will take care of the injured guy, and Miller will
finally let you go by unlocking the large door in this room.
----[ Escort Anderson ]---------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Grab anything you might have missed before leaving this room, and make sure you
grab a heal from Anderson if you're hurt. Go through the large doors to see
Cortez take care of three stroggs in a rather awesome way. What nonchalance.
He'll introduce himself as Rhino Squad's sharpshooter and remind you that you
still need to regroup with the rest of the squad. Look around this place to
find a MACHINEGUN, three CLIPS and two SMALL HEALTH PACKS. You can then run
through the red door that Cortez pointed at to find the exit panel for this
level. That's what the panel says in Strogg alphabet... "Exit". Simply click it
to finish the first level!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: A I R D E F E N S E T R E N C H E S :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x02]----
What, did you think Rhino Squad would be right behind that door? Nope, still
have a little ways to go. Run into the next room, where Sergeant Bidwell will
inform you over the radio that you need to find him as soon as possible. Again.
Could they stop reminding you for like, five whole minutes? Follow the path to
an elevator, and click the yellow panel to ride it up. Follow this path through
a door and into a large room. A Grunt will run up some stairs to tackle you,
but you should have little problem shooting him down. Look into the small
computer room on the left side to find a SMALL ARMOR VEST.
Run down the stairs and through a door. Follow this path until you reach
another dead marine (seems to be a lot of those around here) near a red flare.
Pick up his MACHINEGUN and CLIP if you dare, then walk through the door. You're
now back into the room with the large windows from the first level, though on
the upper ledge. If you look down, you can see a marine shooting down some
Strogg with a Hyperblaster. Cool weapon. Follow this hallway which will lead
you outside, where you'll find a SMALL HEALTH PACK and a LARGE HEALTH PACK
sitting in a crate. You can also climb down the pipes on the right to find four
ARMOR SHARDS.
You can then run through the tunnel until you reach the trenches. Woo, lots of
action out here. Thankfully, you're pretty safe where you're standing. That's
what trenches are for. Run forward, past Sergeant Dischler, to find a SMALL
HEALTH PACK and three CLIPS in a crate. Notice how all this ammo and health is
just lying around when you don't really need it? Ah well. Turn right and follow
the red and yellow cables into another short tunnel to meet Damato. Quickly
follow him outside.
You should first notice two Strogg Marines and a Berserker, which you should
swiftly take down with Damato's help. Three more Strogg Marines will then come
in, UNLESS Damato dies, in which case you'll have to face six more Marines. As
you can see, it's best to protect Damato, especially from the Berserker (he's
basically the only one who can kill him). By the way, this is the first time
you'll encounter the Shotgun Marines. You'll find a CLIP by looking around in
this area, and you can then run through the next tunnel. Bidwell is getting
really impatient!
You'll meet with Corporal Rhodes in the tunnel, who seems a little disappointed
to see you alive. That'll teach him to bet against you. Regardless, you can
grab the CLIP at his feet, then exit the tunnel to finally meet up with
Sergeant Bidwell - Rhino Squad's second-in-command - as well as Sledge.
----[ Regroup With Rhino Squad ]------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Time to get some new orders, which you'll receive from Voss himself over the
radio. Seems like the Strogg air defense cannon is keeping the fighters pinned
down, so you need to take it out from the hangars. You're to go with Morris and
rendezvous with Viper Squad there. Wait, Morris? Where the hell did he-- *turns
around* Aaahh! No seriously, where did he come from? Why didn't he help you
sooner if he was following you? Anyway.
----[ Destroy Strogg Aircraft Hangars ]---------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Marine ground units are being shredded by Strogg air support. Find a way to
take out the Strogg hangars.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well then, get a CLIP and SMALL HEALTH PACK in the crate that was behind
Bidwell. Follow the trenches until you come to a fork, where you should get
attacked by a Berserker. Should be easy for you and Morris. Up to five Strogg
Marines will also attack you from the right, so find some cover behind the
crates and snipe them with your Machinegun. You can also explode the barrels
near those Marines for fun and profit. Follow the trenches along the path that
should be nearest to you (where the Berserker came from). You'll encounter two
more Strogg Marines on the way and soon find the red exit door for this level.
Now that was short.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: H A N G A R P E R I M E T E R :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x03]----
You're now inside a tunnel again, and Morris is still with you. So far so good.
Proceed through the next door to get a glimpse at a new enemy: the Strogg
GUNNER. These enemies can be pretty tough in confined spaces like this, so stay
in cover near the door and take your shots from there. Be sure to run away if
he throws a grenade your way! The Gunner also has two Strogg Marines supporting
him from behind, though you should only take care of those afterward.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
GUNNER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [|||||:::::] : Toughness ........... [|||||:::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A tall, heavily armored Strogg with a massive gun grafted to his right arm.
You can tell right away this guy isn't kidding around. His gun effectively
doubles as a nailgun and a grenade launcher. Most of the time he'll be
firing the nailgun, which doesn't hit as hard as you might think. The nail
projectiles aren't too hard to dodge by strafing, though if you do get hit
by a lot of them you'll find yourself hurting.
Once in a while, the Gunner will launch a grenade towards you, provided
you're far enough. The grenade will typically land close to you, giving you
only a few seconds to move away before it explodes. If you do get caught in
the grenade's explosion radius, you'll be taking a hefty amount of damage,
especially if you're unarmored. Ouch. It's easy to tell when a Gunner is
about to launch a grenade, because he'll pump his gun first.
I should also note that if you get close enough, Gunners can punch the crap
out of you. But why would they get close in the first place? Anyway, Gunners
are pretty tough, thanks to all that armor I guess. Strong weapons are
advised, though even the Machinegun will work if you're so inclined.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e04]----
With the nasty Gunner and his bodyguards down, run through the hallway until
you meet two more Strogg Marines and a Berserker. With plenty of space between
you and them, they should pose no problem. Now go through the door at the end
of this hallway to meet up with Viper Squad. Corporal Mahler will resume the
situation and kindly give you his SHOTGUN! Seems like you're to clear the way
for the demolitions team. Makes sense. Too bad Morris will have to stay behind
and re-establish communications (that's what he does best, after all).
----[ W E A P O N ]------------------------------------[ Default Key: 3 ]----
SHOTGUN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clip Size .................... 8 : Power ............... [||||||::::]
Max Ammo ..................... 50 : Speed ............... [|||:::::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
While Shotguns are often king in first-person shooters, it's actually not
all that great in Quake 4. At least, before you get to upgrade it. It has a
slow rate of fire (as you would expect from a pump-action shotgun) and a
horrible reload speed. On the plus side, it is fairly powerful, but only at
close range. When you can get close enough to your foes, the Shotgun is
certainly a solid choice, especially when aimed between the eyes.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: UPGRADE : [ Extended Clip Mod ] Increases the Clip Size to 10. :
: : Also adds clip-based reloading, which is much faster. :
: : Obtained in "Operation: Last Hope". :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: AMMO : Shells (12) - Shotgun (10) :
--------------------------------------------------------------------[w03]----
So you now get to travel with three members of Viper Squad for a while, with
one of them being a Medic and another a Tech marine. This has obvious
advantages, because as long as they're alive you can use them to stay at full
health and armor. As far as I know, none of these marines can be killed in the
first portion of your little adventure together. That doesn't mean you
shouldn't try to protect them as you go along though, if only to practice your
escorting skills. But before you go anywhere, pilfer the Vipers' reserves,
which consist of a SMALL ARMOR VEST, two MACHINEGUNS, a CLIP and three boxes of
SHELLS for your new Shotgun.
So ready your Machinegun (you'll see why in a sec) and go through the doors to
enter a cool looking area. A Gunner will appear far ahead of you, so try to
snipe him with your Machinegun. You'll also face about six Strogg Marines in
this area, though with three teammates helping you out they'll go down quick.
Viper Squad is awesome. Walk around this area and up some steps to find a door.
You'll also find a CLIP and SMALL HEALTH PACK where the Gunner was standing. Go
through this door, then do like the others and take cover behind a crate.
You'll fight off two Strogg Marines initially, then four more will come from
the door at the other end of the room. Again, the Machinegun works best here.
Speaking of which, you can pick one up form a nearby dead marine.
Now equip your Shotgun! Go through the door, pick up the SHOTGUN in front of
you, then run down the stairs ahead. You'll meet up with a Berserker halfway
down, but with a Shotgun in hand he should go down quick. Your marine buddies
should take care of two Strogg Marines below. Downstairs you'll find a
MACHINEGUN, a CLIP and a LARGE HEALTH PACK. Go into the next room, where you
can check a few repair bots working on the busted engine of a Strogg Flyer.
Kinda neat. Enter the next room and turn right into the first hallway. Or you
can keep going to find three ARMOR SHARDS near a locked door if you want, but
with Li around, why would you need them?
Anyways, follow this hallway to reach a large elevator, but you'll first have
to go through a Grunt and two Strogg Marines. There's also a MACHINEGUN and two
SMALL HEALTH PACKS near a large screen to the left. Once everyone is on the
elevator, Mahler will activate it. Follow this new hallway to reach another
large room where the Strogg store a few engines. This room is packed full of
enemies, including a Gunner up above and about ten Strogg Marines total. Sounds
like a lot, but you still have Viper help. This is a nice place to practice
using the Shotgun.
After looking around, Mahler will come to the conclusion that you need to find
a way to break through that reinforced bulletproof glass. Hmm, maybe those
engines could help. Note that as of this point, Li and Hayes can be killed
pretty easily (they no longer appear immortal), so PROTECT THEM if you still
want to use their services in the near-future.
----[ Circumvent Glass ]------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find a way to get to the other side of the glass.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After you receive your objective, the door to the far end of the room will
unlock and a Berserker will come through. Kill it quickly before he decides to
kill Li or Hayes. Heal up if you're hurt, then go through the door the
Berserker came from. You'll find one Strogg Marine on your right here, and two
more will come from the door ahead. You'll also get to see a Strogg Flyer get
transfered to another part of the hangar. Cool stuff. Head through the other
door to find a small storage room with a ladder. Climb it up, and exit back
into the large room you just crossed.
Now you need to extend the bridge to proceed, so click the button on the panel
on your right. Cross the platform, and get ready to take down a Berserker and
Strogg Marine. Walk into the next room, and you'll no doubt notice the orange
panel right in front of you. Click the button to lower an engine in front of
the window. You can then turn right and follow this path to a lift. Ride it
down so you can rejoin Viper Squad. Ask the Medic and Tech to heal you if
you're hurt. Look behind the engine and you'll see a small panel. Click it to</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
fire the engine, and the glass will literally melt away. Success!
----[ Circumvent Glass ]--------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Morris will contact Mahler and inform him that the demolitions guy is ready.
Alright, so walk in the room behind the melted glass to find two MACHINEGUNS, a
CLIP, SHELLS and three ARMOR SHARDS. Walk into the next room to face a
Berserker and two Strogg Marines on the platform above. Your teammates will
then get into position, and wait for you to do something. Huh? Well, look for a
green panel near the edge of the room and click it. This will start extending
another bridge, but as it happens eight Strogg Marines will walk into the room.
Piece of cake with your Machinegun. Once the bridge is fully extended, a
Berserker and two more Marines will walk onto it.
Now you can cross the bridge until you reach a door. Before you take it, drop
onto a lower platform on either side. Someone apparently forgot some stuff down
there, such as a LARGE ARMOR VEST, two CLIPS and SHELLS. Climb back up using
the ladder, and enter the next room. You'll first face three Strogg Marines
coming up from the left, and then a Gunner will walk through a door straight
ahead. If you go down where the Marines were you can find more SHELLS and a
SMALL HEALTH PACK tucked away in a corner. Go back up and through the door the
Gunner came from to discover another elevator. This one will take you deeper
into the hangar. Once everyone is on board, click the panel.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: I N T E R I O R H A N G A R :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x04]----
You now have to wait through a rather long elevator ride, so check out the
somewhat impressive Strogg hangar while you do. Follow the squad into the next
room once you reach the top, and you'll receive new orders from Morris.
----[ Clear Area of Enemies ]-------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Prepare this floor for the demolition team by sweeping the area and clearing
it of all hostiles.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well your objective's clear enough, so start sweeping already. Walk around this
room and through a door to reach a small hallway. As soon as you enter an alarm
will go off, so it appears the stroggs know you're coming. Grab the two CLIPS
in front of the locked door, and ready your Machinegun and flashlight. Once
Mahler gives the go, charge into the next room to find... no one?
A few seconds later, Strogg Marines start showing up, as well as four defense
Turrets (two on each sides of the hallway). You should concentrate on
destroying the turrets first (they can hurt you a bit if you let them, but they
have low health), then start shooting down the Strogg. I suggest you simply
stay at the far end of the hallway and take them out as they appear. You'll
have to take out about a half-dozen Strogg Marines and the four turrets to
complete the objective. This is obviously quite a bit easier if Li and Hayes
are still alive at this point. You are then ordered to return to the elevator.
----[ Clear Area of Enemies ]---------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Meet Rhodes ]-----------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Return to the elevator and meet Rhodes, the Rhino Squad Engineer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So backtrack all the way to the elevator which, well, consists of traveling
through one short hallway. Whew, that was hard. You might wanna have Hayes and
Li patch you up before you return, though.
----[ Meet Rhodes ]-------------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Protect Rhodes ]--------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Lead Rhodes to the hangars and protect him as he sets to the demolition
charges.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morris will recall Viper Squad back to him, so you can no longer count on their
support now. But two questions immediately cross my mind. First, Rhodes is the
demolition team? As in, he forms a team by himself? He must be pretty damn good
then. Second, did he haul up all those heavy-looking crates up there by
himself? That'd be even more impressive. There's a lot of loot in those crates,
such as two MACHINEGUNS, four CLIPS, two SHOTGUNS, two SHELLS, two LARGE HEALTH
PACKS and one LARGE ARMOR VEST. If that doesn't get you back into shape,
nothing will.
So follow Rhodes back to the room where you cleared out all the Strogg, and
he'll lead you to a door. Go through this door to find a very large room with
many doors, but first things first. Pick up the two CLIPS and SMALL HEALTH PACK
to your right if you need them (you shouldn't), then go through the unlocked
door to the right. Take out the three Strogg Marines in this hangar (remember,
if Rhodes die you die), and don't get too startled if the Strogg Flyer um,
flies off. Once all the Marines are dead, Rhodes will go place his first
demolition charge. Nothing else to do here but pickup a CLIP and SMALL HEALTH
PACK if you need 'em, then head back in the large room.
Run around this room to find and destroy two Gunners and about seven Strogg
Marines. Your life is more expendable than Rhode's at this point (in a sense),
so keep an eye on him at all times. Sometimes he has the bad habit of running
off on his own. Then search around to find a door on the opposite side of the
first hangar you went to. This would be left from where you first entered. This
hangar is very similar to the other one, except it contains a Gunner in
addition to three Strogg Marines. Clear 'em all out, and Rhodes will place the
second and final charge.
----[ Protect Rhodes ]----------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Sweet, you no longer have to protect him! Being a Rhino Squad member, you know
he can take care of himself (when he's not carrying several pounds of
explosives on his back). Follow Rhodes back into the large room, then into
another room. He'll unlock the door leading you into some sort of control room.
Look through the window to witness the cool explosion. Ka-blam-o! Now that's a
job well done. Morris now wants you to head back down and regroup, but Rhodes
will stay up here. What else could he possibly need to do? No matter.
----[ Destroy Strogg Aircraft Hangars ]-----------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Regroup with Voss ]-----------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Return to the Air Defense Cannon and regroup with Lt. Voss and the members of
Rhino Squad.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, so all the doors are locked in this room, leaving you no choice to ride
down the elevator. This also marks the end of this level.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: M C C L A N D I N G S I T E :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x05]----
After a boring elevator ride, you'll meet up with Raven Squad. Looks like
they've taken over the area and started cleaning up a little. You'll also meet
with Tech Marine Strauss for the first time, probably the most arrogant member
of Rhino Squad. Get him to fix your armor while you're there. You can pick up
the MACHINEGUN, SHOTGUN and SHELLS nearby if you want, then exit this room
through the door.
Back outside, you'll see more members of Raven doing stuff (and a MACHINEGUN on
a crate). Go around this familiar area to find more guys analyzing one of those
Strogg Flyer engines. Apparently their technology is impressive. Funnily
enough, you can steal those marines' MACHINEGUNS if you want, and help yourself
to SMALL HEALTH PACKS in the crate. Exit this area, and you'll see Private
Salmon getting yelled at by Strauss. He also has a MACHINEGUN. *cough* Meet
Morris again in the next room, and follow him back to the trenches. Open the
door to finally meet up with Voss and Sledge.
----[ Regroup with Voss ]-------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Capture the Air Defense Cannon ]----------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Fight your way to the cannon's controls and take it offline to clear the skies
for the Mobile Command Center.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voss will start by awarding you a GRENADE LAUNCHER. I suppose he's been pleased
with your work so far. And with the Strogg Flyers out of commission, you now
have to disable that Air Defense Cannon,
----[ W E A P O N ]------------------------------------[ Default Key: 5 ]----
GRENADE LAUNCHER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clip Size .................... 8 : Power ............... [|||||||:::]
Max Ammo ..................... 50 : Speed ............... [||||::::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
While the Grenade Launcher is among the most powerful weapons in the game,
it's far from being the most useful. This mainly comes form the fact that
it's a little hard to use. Grenades will travel along the arc in which you
fired and bounce around once they hit obstacles, exploding after about 3
seconds (or coming into contact with an enemy). The explosions are quite
powerful, and have a very large blast radius.
Problems can arise when grenades don't bounce the way you wanted them to
(such as bouncing back at your feet), or when you get caught in the blast
radius. Which, by the way, can happen often in the small rooms and narrow
corridors of the various Strogg facilities. Plus, you have many foes who
just love running towards you, such as the Grunt and Berserker. For all
these reasons, you'll find that the Grenade Launcher is rather limited in
its usefulness, but that doesn't mean it's completely useless either. It's a
wonderful tool for clearing up a room of enemies from above.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: AMMO : Grenades (10) - Grenade Launcher (10) :
--------------------------------------------------------------------[w04]----
Pick up the CLIPS and GRENADES from the nearby crates, then follow your squad
around the trenches. Since your teammates are invincible for the time being,
and Voss is armed with a powerful Hyperblaster, you'll probably find this part
rather easy. Simply follow the trio, taking down Strogg Marines and Gunners
along the way. Find cover when the going gets tough and you'll be fine. Soon
enough you'll reach a locked door, and Voss will order you to find a way to
open it. Well, you're the boss, Voss. You'll find many goodies around here,
such as two CLIPS, a MACHINEGUN, a SMALL ARMOR VEST and two LARGE HEALTH PACKS.
To continue, you need to climb on the stacked crates just right of the locked
door. You can then jump on top of the door frame and on higher ground. Take a
few steps and a Grunt will come out of a hole to assault you. Take him out with
the Shotgun and drop down this hole, grabbing the SMALL HEALTH PACK nearby if
you got hurt. You'll be in a small hallway with three doors, two SMALL HEALTH
PACKS, one LARGE HEALTH PACK and a SMALL ARMOR VEST. Why are they giving you
all this stuff for? It's not like the single Grunt was such a menace. Now find
the door with a green panel besides it, and unlock it by clicking said panel.
You're now back with your squad, sans Morris who must stay behind.
Once Voss and Sledge are inside, a Strogg Marine will drop down from the hole
in the ceiling, followed by two more coming from a door. Go through this door
to enter a large room with many doors from which Strogg Marines will come. Make
your way through this room, killing about ten Marines along the way. With Voss
and Sledge at your back this is a walk in the park. Enter the next room and
kill the lone Strogg Marine ahead. Then focus your attention to the right side.
Strogg Marines will start pouring out of four doors up and down there, as well
as one Gunner. Stay to the far side of the room and safely take out the dozen
or so Strogg with your Machinegun.
Jump down into this room and exit through the only door you can access to find
another hallway. Hey this is Quake. It's mostly made up of hallways and rooms.
So follow this hallway and turn right to find the Air Defense Cannon controls.
You'll first have to kill the two Strogg Marines and the Gunner protecting it,
then run up to the controls to claim the cannon. Score another victory for the
marines! Voss will then want you to use the cannon to blow some sh--tuff up
yourself. Sweetness.
----[ Capture the Air Defense Cannon ]------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Fire Away ]-------------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Use the commandeered cannon to make your own path to the Hannibal's landing
site.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Approach the seat until your cursor changes to "Enter", and click the left
mouse button to use it. Now this couldn't be easier. Simply aim the cannon at
the large structure in front of you, and fire once to blow open the doors. I
like things that go boom. So uh, press the Jump key to exit.
----[ Fire Away ]---------------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Locate the MCC Landing Zone ]-------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Go to the Mobile Command Center's landing zone and rendezvous with the
Hannibal as it lands.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So you must now run to the landing zone and help secure it for the MCC's
arrival. Can't they have someone else do it? Why does it always have to be you?
Alright, so run back through the hallway, and just as you get near the door
you'll hear an elevator. A single Strogg Marine is riding it, so welcome him
with your Shotgun in hand. Get on that elevator and ride it to the upper level.
As you go through the door, you'll see Rhodes running in the room below as he's
on his way to rejoin Voss. Turn left and go through that door, into a hallway
containing a Berserker, Gunner and Strogg Marine. You'll certainly want to
shoot down the Berserker first.
Grab a SMALL HEALTH PACK near the door if you need it, and run to the other end
of this hallway (the room on the left side contains nothing of interest).
Unlock this door by using the green panel, and walk through it to find yourself
back near the trenches. Grab any stuff you might have missed earlier, and run
through the trenches until you reach a large platform marked "SMC". Can't
really miss it. Climb it up onto the ground level and meet up with two Raven
Squad members. Turn around now if you want, and witness the destruction of the
Air Defense Cannon, thanks to Rhodes' handiwork.
Now run into the Strogg building ahead, the one where you so elegantly blew
open the front door. Just, you know, don't run into any fires. Turn right at
the end to find a door, and go through it to find a small hallway. Private Law
should be waiting for you there, so ready your Machinegun and go into the next
room. You'll face off with four Strogg Marines in this large, mostly busted-up
tunnel, which is almost an insult to your skills. Go through the large doors at
the end of this tunnel to continue along, this time facing a Grunt and one
Marine. Exit this tunnel by going through the large doors at the end.
You're now back outside, but you'll notice some stroggs are shooting at the
road ahead from some towers on the right. Law will promptly show you what NOT
to do and get shot down by the Strogg. What you SHOULD do, is run behind the
crates on the right side of the road for some cover. Now run besides the next
crate up ahead and CROUCH behind it to stay in cover. Repeat this two more
times, until you meet up with more Raven Squad members hiding behind a truck.
Just as you get there, the awesome-looking Hannibal will arrive and destroy the
Strogg towers and turrets. Did I mention this ship looks awesome? It acts as a
Mobile Command Center, and this is where you need to be headed next.
----[ Locate the MCC Landing Zone ]---------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Board the Hannibal ]----------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Board the Hannibal via the main lift, then report to mission briefing for your
next deployment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pick up the MACHINEGUN of Private Nicholson if you want - he's wounded anyway.
Then start running towards the Hannibal as it makes its slow decent. Under it
and towards the back is where you'll find the lift. Step on it to complete this
level, and your first mission.
----[ Board the Hannibal ]------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: O P E R A T I O N : A D V A N T A G E :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x06]----
Sounds like a rather cheesy name to me, for a big operation. You'll immediately
notice you have no HUD and you can't use any weapons aboard the Hannibal. Once
you ride up the lift, you'll get told you can look around the ship for a while,
but you need to go through decontamination first. I wonder if the Strogg blood
splattered all over your armor has anything to do with it.
----[ Report to Briefing ]----------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Make your way through the Hannibal and find Rhino Squad's briefing room for
your next mission.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Look around the hangar bay to see some marines working on Walkers. Look for the
door called "D.4 Decontamination", and naturally go through it. After you're
done here, you're free to enter the ship. As you walk around you'll see plenty
of marines just doing their jobs and gossiping like little school girls. Turn
right here and go through another door. From this hallway you can turn right
where it says "Drop Pod Command", or keep going straight. Both path will
eventually take you to the same place, just through different section. I
suggest explore both paths anyway, just to see the sights and listen to the
different conversations.
You'll know you're on the right path once you see "Sector D.4 Medical Bay".
Look through the different windows to see what kind of research the world's
most brilliant (no doubt) doctors are currently working on. Proceed into a
hallway with three doors and enter the one marked "D.4 Briefing | Armory". Go
through this noisy room and you'll see a "D.4 Rhino Briefing Room" sign. This
is obviously where you want to be. Not only that, but also the fact that pretty
much every other door on the ship are locked, except the ones you need to use.
Strangely enough, Viper Squad members are guarding your briefing room.
----[ Report to Briefing ]------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
You will be briefed by General Harper and Lieutenant Voss. The General will
actually take the time to explain why they named this operation "Advantage",
because it's so crucial to the success of the mission. Thanks General. Voss
will then tell you about the Strogg communication network called the Nexus, and
the importance of disabling it. You will do so by bringing an EMP bomb inside
the Hub which houses the Nexus.
----[ Gear Up ]---------------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find the armory and resupply.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now the fun part, in which you get new stuff. Talk to your fellow squad
members if you want, or head directly to the Armory. If you can't find it, you
need to look at the big green signs. Walk through the locker room (notice how
the lockers retract neatly into the floor to form benches) and find the armory
in the back. As you approach Sergeant Swekel, he'll give you the EXTENDED CLIP
MOD for your Machinegun. Very nice!
----[ Gear Up ]-----------------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Locate Ride to Death Convoy ]-------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Meet up with CPL Spencer and get a ride to Rhino Squad's convoy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To get there, exit the locker room through the other door (the one you came in
from is conveniently locked, as if the ship's computer is tracking your every
movements). You see "D.4 Walker Hangar"? Well, enter it. Straight ahead you'll
meet General Harper again, who kindly informs you that your transport is ready.
What's he doing here anyway? Step on the lift in the hangar to exit the
Hannibal and complete the game's hardest level! Ahem.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: C A N Y O N :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x07]----
As you're riding down, select your Machinegun to confirm the new clip size.
Sexy. Step off the lift, then do as Corporal Pitman says and "haul ass in that
direction" to catch your ride. Run along the whole length of the Hannibal to
find your truck waiting on the road. Now that I think about it, the Hannibal
ship model is totally not up to scale. Anyway, enter the front truck.
----[ Locate Ride to Death Convoy ]---------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Enjoy the ride as you follow the road and proceed through a somewhat long
tunnel. Once you get out, an explosion will make everyone panic and the convoy
will start going twice as fast. I suppose they want to avoid getting bombarded
by Strogg Flyers, which is a good enough reason. After some hi-speed tunnel
action, the trucks will stop so you can help out squads on both sides of the
road. Just use your Machinegun to snipe Strogg Marines until they're all dead.
The trucks will then ride outside as some crazy stuff goes on all around you.
Watch as a pair of Hovertanks take out a Strogg Flyer. After going into another
tunnel the trucks will finally come to a stop and you'll get off automatically.
----[ Locate Bidwell ]--------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find Bidwell in the corridors ahead to receive your next mission objective.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So run to the end of this tunnel and through the small corridor on the left.
You'll see a couple Wolf Squad members guarding a truck. Run past them, then
past Sledge into another corridor. You'll find Cortez here, which you can talk
to a few times to learn about one of Sledge's past exploit. Impressive. Enter
the large tunnel ahead and run past Morris to find Bidwell. Happy to see you as
always, he'll just order you to get on the front truck. Looks like you're in
charge of protecting Death Convoy on its long trek towards the Nexus Hub. Grab
the two MACHINEGUNS nearby, then click on the truck to man the only turret.
Seems like they didn't think protecting the convoys was all that important.
----[ Locate Bidwell ]----------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Protect the Convoy ]----------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Use the mounted weaponry on the truck to protect the convoy from Strogg
attack.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I should note that the mounted machine gun on this truck cannot run out of ammo
nor will it overheat. The truck is also equipped with a shield to protect it
from attacks (thankfully), as indicated on the lower left corner of the screen.
While the shield will deplete rapidly as the truck sustains damage, it will
also regenerate whenever you're not under attack (think Halo/Halo 2). Off you
go then.
At first you'll only encounter Strogg Marines, which can do very little against
the truck's shield. This is good target practice for your machine gun. There
are also many explosive containers along the way which you can use to your
advantage. You'll emerge outside after riding through a long Strogg-filled
tunnel. A Flying Turret will soon drop from above on your right and start
shooting you with its machine guns. These guns can cause serious damage over
time, so you want to shoot it down quickly. While Flying Turrets are also
equipped with a shield, they're very easy to destroy.
Soon after, the convoy will be forced to stop because four mines are blocking
the road ahead. Rhodes will be sent out by himself to disarm the mines, with
only you to protect him (as always). You'll have to defend him from oncoming
Grunts and Berserkers. They'll come at him from both sides of the road, so just
keep looking in both directions. Thankfully, Rhodes is a pretty tough guy and
can take quite a bit of punishment. He can still die though, so always focus on
the stroggs closest to him first, especially Berserkers. Don't let yourself get
overwhelmed and let a steady stream of hot lead flying. After disarming all
four mines, Rhodes will run back and the convoy can resume its course.
In the next area, a Flying Turret will drop on the left side, then right side.
You'll ride through a long tunnel with nothing but a few Strogg Marines, so
relax and listen to the radio chatter. The convoy will stop again once you exit
the tunnel. This time your truck is sent out alone to take out the defenses
ahead. This next part can actually be pretty tough.
----[ Clear Area of Turrets ]-------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Clear out the emplaced turrets surrounding the building ahead of you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You'll be facing a lot of Gun Turrets along the walls of the area, Rocket
Turrets in the middle, and Flying Turrets dropping all over the place. First,
you should take care of the two Gun Turrets on your left, as well as two Rocket
Turrets on the right. A Flying Turret will also drop in front of you along the
way. The truck will run into a dead end and be forced to turn around, giving
you plenty of time to take care of all those turrets. Next you'll encounter two
more Gun Turrets along the right wall and a Rocket Turret on the left. Destroy
those as quickly as possible, though be warned a Flying Turret will also drop
in front of you. As you keep going, you'll soon spot the last of the Rocket
Turrets on the left, but as you try to destroy it three more Flying Turrets
will drop behind you.
You eventually stop near a red barrier, but it's apparently impossible to
destroy it from here. You'll have to go inside the nearby building and disable
it from there. When the truck starts moving again, Flying Turrets will
immediately drop to your left and right. Take care of them, as well as the last
two Gun Turrets in the right wall. You'll face one more Flying Turret ahead,
and if you destroyed all the other turrets so far your objective will be
complete. If not, you'll still head over to the building and the objectives
will be completed anyway.
----[ Clear Area of Turrets ]---------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Protect the Convoy ]------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Locate Voss ]-----------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Locate Voss for your next mission.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, enough of this silly shooting gallery thing. Time for some on-foot action
again. Once you get off the truck, simply run into the building ahead. There's
nothing to be found in this hangar-type room, so just head through the door on
the left side to find this level's exit panel.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: P E R I M E T E R D E F E N S E S T A T I O N :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x08]----
You will enter a small room, already occupied by several marines. You'll find a
CLIP, some SHELLS and a LARGE HEALTH PACK nearby, and you should also ask Tech
Newquist to repair your armor if needed. You must then approach Corporal
Schilder, who holds a gift to you from Voss: a Strogg NAILGUN. Awesome.
----[ W E A P O N ]------------------------------------[ Default Key: 6 ]----
NAILGUN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clip Size .................... 50 : Power ............... [|||||:::::]
Max Ammo ..................... 300 : Speed ............... [|||||||:::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This fine piece of Strogg engineering shoots oversized nails at an alarming
rate. Presumably, the Strogg realized the Nailgun's offensive capabilities
after dozens of construction workers got nailed to a wall. Regardless, it's
a great all-around weapon for use against most enemies in the game. As long
as you can find ammo for it that is, which is pretty rare initially.
As good as the Nailgun is, it only gets better once you acquire one or two
upgrade mods. The first one will increase the rate of fire, as well as allow
you to load up two clips at once. While this means double the clip size, it
also means double the reload time, so be careful and reload often. The
second upgrade will even take care of the Nailgun's biggest problem:
accuracy. Simply hold down the Special key to look through the scope and
lock-on to the nearest target. All the nails you fire will automatically
seek your target! Perfect against quick enemies.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: UPGRADE : [ Firepower Mod ] Increases Rate of Fire by 25%. Also :
: : increases Clip Size to 100. Obtained in "Aqueducts". :
: : [ Nail Seeker Mod ] Hold Special key to look through :
: : scope and lock-on to target. Nails will seek target :
: : automatically. Obtained in "Recomposition Center". :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: AMMO : Nails (40) - Nailgun (50) :
--------------------------------------------------------------------[w05]----
Get on the elevator where Schilder was standing and ride it down. Steal the
MACHINEGUN from the dead marine if you want, then go into the next room. You'll
meet with Sledge, who reminds you to meet up with Voss. As if you have anything
better to do. Head through the next door to find a SHOTGUN and MACHINEGUN in
this small hallway. Finally head through the unlocked door at the end to rejoin
Voss. Strauss is working on taking over control of the facility, but first you
need to find and rescue a team of engineers who are trapped down below. Hrm. At
least you get a couple of marines to help you out.
----[ Locate Voss ]-------------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Retrieve Engineer ]-----------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Enter the basement of this building and locate the convoy that is pinned down
there. Locate the engineer that is attached to the squad.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loot the control room to find Strauss' MACHINEGUN, a CLIP, SHELLS, NAILS and a
LARGE HEALTH PACK. Exit the room and head through the left door to rejoin your
new buddies (steal the SHOTGUN if you're heartless). After Strauss unlocks the
door, rush in the next room and help Singer and Rodriguez take out about seven
Strogg Marines. AS the Nailgun would be overkill against such puny opponents,
just use your Machinegun. Go to the far end of this room (don't fall into the
pit) and locate the "Call Lift" panel, written in Stroggese or whatever you
call their crazy moon language. So call it up, and ride it down, if that makes
sense.
You'll find three SMALL HEALTH PACKS and one ARMOR SHARD in the room below, as
well as a couple locked doors. Strauss will unlock the left door, so follow
your squadmates through it. You need to open the large blast door in this room,
and obviously you're the only one qualified enough to do so. So do so. The
panel is somewhere around the room, obviously. Once the door opens, you'll have
to gun down a Grunt and two Strogg Marines. There's another blast door in this
room, so climb up the right side to find the required panel, as well as a LARGE
HEALTH PACK and four ARMOR SHARDS.
With the final blast door open, you'll be able to meet up with the engineer,
Tech Marine Newberry. His truck will flatten a few Strogg Marines before he and
Sergeant Shaw climb out, but you'll still have to defeat about ten of them to
clear out the area. Won't be a problem with so many marines helping you out.
You can find two SMALL HEALTH PACKS near the truck and two CLIPS near a door on
the right side of this tunnel. When you're ready, approach Newberry to begin
the second part of this mission.
----[ Retrieve Engineer ]-------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Escort Newberry ]-------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Guide Newberry back up the elevator and locate the locked door that he needs
to open.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you should know by now, if you let Newberry die you'll fail the mission. Of
course, you killed all the Strogg on your way down, so he can't actually die.
Easiest escort mission ever? I think so. So head back through the two blast
doors and backtrack to the elevator. Ride it up, exit the room and follow
Newberry outside the control room. A new door will be unlocked on the left, so
head through it. Go down this hallway, paying no mind to the Grunt. Head
through the right door, and run past the jumpy marines. Follow the hallway into
the next room, where Private First Class Pupino will show you where you need to
head next.
----[ Shut Down the Defense Grid ]--------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find a way to the Perimeter Control Room and shut down the laser grid to allow
the convoy to proceed to the Nexus Hub.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow this hallway into another room and meet up with three fine members of
Warthog Squad. Power goes out briefly, but it looks like another false alarm.
Or is it? Head into the next room and the lights turn red. Uh oh. Still, this
is where you'll find the door Newberry needs to open, so let him to his thing.
Meanwhile, grab the CLIP, SHELLS and LARGE HEALTH PACK on your right.
----[ Escort Newberry ]---------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
After the door opens, Jones will bravely scout whatever lies beyond. Which is
to say, a Grunt. Seems Jones failed his Grunt 101 training, so quickly rush in
and take it down with the Shotgun. If you're not quick enough, the Grunt will
also kill Newberry. You don't want his death on your conscience do you? I mean,
after you've "escorted" him all this way. So look in the back of the room to
find a "Call Lift" panel and use it. Ride the lift to the upper level, while
everyone else stays to protect the already cleared out lower level.
Follow this path through two doors to reach the coveted control room. Drop down
on the lower level to find two LARGE HEALTH PACKS and a panel. Click the button
to make the real laser grid control panel appear in a rather elaborate way. You
see a map and a blue button, so you automatically assume this will shut down
the correct laser grid. Click it.
----[ Shut Down the Defense Grid ]----------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Well as it turns out, this disabled all of the laser grids. The marine behind
the window will try to attract your attention, so approach him. Another Grunt
101 drop-out. How sad. Though this time the Grunt will come running at you, so
face the door and get ready. Well, your job is done here, and your orders are
to return to the convoy.
----[ Regroup with Rhino Squad ]----------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find a way out of the building and regroup with Rhino Squad at the Nexus Hub.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exit this room through the door the Grunt came from, and turn left into another
door. You'll find SHELLS and a CLIP in this small room. Exit this room, turn
left and you'll get to see some cool machinery in action. Don't stare at it too
long though, and kill the three Strogg Marines with your Machinegun or Shotgun.
Find the elevator in this room and ride it to the upper level, where you'll
face two more Marines. Make your way around the room and you'll encounter a
Gunner next. Now's a good time to try out the Nailgun! Go through the door the
Gunner came from, and follow the hallway through another door.
Now if you would kindly direct your attention to the level below, you will get
an EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK at a fantastical specimen known as the Gladiator. No
hands-on for you I'm afraid, though the unlucky marine below might disagree
with this sentiment. Never fear, something tells me you might get to meet one
soon enough. In the meantime, follow the path around this room, making sure to
pick up the two boxes of NAILS behind some barrels. Go through the next
unlocked door and follow the hallway to an elevator, finding SHELLS, a LARGE
HEALTH PACK and one more dead marine on the way. Ride it down and face off with
five Strogg Marines, in a room with plenty of cover for everyone.
Exit the room into a hallway to witness another marine getting killed by a
Grunt. You'll have to take care of this Grunt yourself, since someone around
here obviously didn't think of others before they went and got themselves
killed. Follow the hallway and leave it through the only unlocked door. Ready
your Nailgun, run through this new hallway until you reach a larger room and--
HOLY CRAP A GLADIATOR. Since you don't have much room here, your best bet is
probably to shoot it in the head with your Nailgun while strafing. Besides, you
should have plenty of health and armor at this point.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
GLADIATOR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [||||||::::] : Toughness ........... [|||||||:::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This massive Strogg is certainly more machine than man. Well at least in
appearance. Gladiators are equipped with an imposing shoulder-mounted
railgun, as well as a blaster and an energy shield (hence the name, I
suppose). So as you can see, this guy is not only equipped to dish out the
pain, but absorb it as well.
The Gladiator's biggest threat obviously comes from its railgun. A direct
hit from this puppy will likely rearrange some of your internal organs in
ways you may not completely agree with, or at the very least punch a big
hole in your armor. The good news is that the Gladiator is not terribly
accurate with the Railgun, and shots can often be dodged simply by strafing.
In addition, you can destroy the Railgun if you shoot it enough, denying the
Gladiator his strongest weapon. When not busy firing his Railgun, or if you
destroyed it already, the Gladiator will use his arm blaster. As expected,
these blaster shots are fairly weak and easily avoided. Just don't soak up
too many of those and you'll be fine.
But the biggest problem when facing a Gladiator is the shield. When it's up,
it can absorb and deflect pretty much everything you throw at it. You can
still aim at any exposed body parts (including the head), but it's not
always easy. The Nailgun and Hyperblaster both work well, or something even
bigger if you can spare it. A Gladiator will lower his shield every time he
fires his railgun, and sometimes for no apparent reason, making it an ideal
time to strike. Note that you can fire your Lightning Gun at the shield to
temporarily disrupt it, leaving the Gladiator completely defenseless for a
while. Sort of.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e05]----
Before you proceed through the hallway the Gladiator came from, run into the
other room on the right side to find a CLIP. Head back and run through the door
at the end of this short hallway to find another Grunt happily munching on an
ex-marine. Happily shoot it down. You'll notice that things aren't going so
well around here anymore, as it looks like the marines have lost control of the
building. Grab the two MACHINEGUNS around here if you need them, then start
backtracking towards the exit (this area should be quite familiar). You'll see
a lot more dead marines along the way, and hear some worrying radio chatter.
Once you reach the elevator, ride it to the surface level. Finish this level by
clicking the exit panel.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: A Q U E D U C T S :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x09]----
Before you can even do anything, Tech Holtz from Raven Squad will come over to
you and upgrade your Nailgun with the FIREPOWER MOD. This mod will give it a
nice boost through an increased rate of fire and doubled clip size. Very nice
indeed. While he's in such a generous mood, why don't you ask Holtz to repair
your armor as well? You can then head downstairs and ask Medic Morte to fix you
up. There, all better. Exit this building through the large orange door, and
board the HOVERTANK just ahead. Time for some vehicular combat action!
----[ V E H I C L E ]--------------------------------------------------------
HOVERTANK
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armor ............... [|||||:::::] : Shield .............. [||||||||||]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Marine Hovertank is powerful, yet surprisingly quick and agile. Its
armor is relatively weak, but it uses a powerful shield to compensate. Both
the armor and shield will regenerate over time, as long as you don't get hit
for six seconds. The Hovertank can move forward, backward and strafe using
the movement keys, while you aim the turret with your mouse. It's equipped
with two weapons, which you can switch using the mousewheel.
----[ Main Cannon ]-------------------------------------------------------
This cannon fires powerful shells that can destroy most of your enemies in
a single hit. Its main drawback is the rather long reload time. The shells
can be difficult to aim, especially against fast-moving or flying enemies.
But you can hold down the Special key at any time to use the Zoom function
for more precise aiming.
----[ Machine Gun ]-------------------------------------------------------
The machine gun not only packs quite a punch, but it'll never run out of
ammo either. Ideal for mowing down Strogg infantry and quick enemies.
Because of its inherent inaccuracy, the machine gun shouldn't be used at
extremely long range.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[v01]----
As soon as you get out, you'll have to destroy three Strogg Flyers around the
area. Or Hornets rather, since they sort of look like insects. Hornets can
attack you with machine guns, rockets and even by dropping bombs, but none of
those cause serious damage. One direct hit from your cannon should take care of
them. Simply wait until they stop moving (usually to attack you) before you
take your shot. Or you can use your machine gun if you're having trouble
hitting them. After the first three Hornets are destroyed, one more will come
from the now-disabled laser grid. Take it out and enter the tunnel behind.
After emerging outside, you'll face up to six Flying Turrets on the road ahead.
You should remember these from before, which you can easily blow up with your
main cannon. Go through the next tunnel, running over some Strogg Marines in
the process. Three Hornets are waiting for you in the next area, as well as one
rather large Strogg known as a Heavy Hovertank. You'll see more of these on
foot, though this one is a bigger, badder version. You can try to avoid the
rockets by moving from side to side, or by destroying them with your machine
gun. Once you're close enough, either finish him off with the machine gun or
shoot him twice with the cannon.
Go through the tunnel and into a rather large area where you'll encounter some
Rolling Turrets. They're turrets that... roll. They can ram you if you get
close, or shoot you with their machine gun from a distance. Just wait until
they stop moving and shoot them once with the cannon, though the machine gun
works equally well. You'll face two of those turrets and the two Hornets that
dropped them, followed by four more. Finally, one more Rolling Turret and two
Heavy Hovertanks will show up. Remember that if your tank gets badly damaged,
you can just wait until it's fully regenerated before moving on.
So head through the next tunnel and into another, longish area (starting to see
a pattern here?). You'll be attacked by about four Rolling Turrets at first,
while some Strogg Flyers try to pointlessly bombard you. Further ahead are four
Gun Turrets (you can pretty much ignore them) and a bunch of Strogg Marines. I
always find that running them over is more fun than gunning them down. You'll
then see a small tunnel on the right side where the stroggs were. Head through
it to complete this short and easy level.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: A Q U E D U C T S A N N E X :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x10]----
Head outside to witness a cutscene featuring the awesome looking Harvester. I
love this model. You'll of course have to defeat it yourself, which isn't as
hard as it sounds. The Harvester has a variety of attacks, including a powerful
nailgun and devastating homing rockets. It can also try to impale you or whip
you with its tentacles at close range. Kinky. Your best option is to always
keep moving, especially to avoid those rockets. When a rocket is close enough
you can try to shoot it down with your machine gun or even the cannon, though
beware of their very large explosion radius.
An easy way to defeat the Harvester is to get as far away from it as possible
(drive to the other end of this area), and use the Zoom function to shoot it
down. About a dozen hits from your cannon should suffice (usually less) to
destroy this spider-like robot. Oh, and try not to fall down the huge pit in
the middle.
With the Harvester defeated, you can now head through another tunnel (opposite
from the one you arrived from). You'll be facing some Strogg infantry and
Flying Turrets on the way, none of which pose much of a threat to you. Once
back outside, you'll find four Hornets waiting for you... to destroy them. Go
through another tunnel and another area, killing Strogg infantry, a Flying
Turret and a Hornet. Go through a couple more tunnels, again filled with Strogg
and Flying Turrets. Though honestly, I don't know why they're even trying. Do
they not know you can just regenerate at any time?
Soon enough, you'll emerge outside again and the Nexus Hub will be in plain
view. At last! Oh but wait, two Harvesters stand between you and your goal.
Two?! Yes, two. They won't be much harder than the first one you faced, if you
just concentrate on one at a time. You'll certainly have to dodge more rockets,
so keep that machine gun hot and ready. You can even run behind cover if your
Hovertank gets too damaged. With those out of your way, you can then ride
inside the building ahead and exit your Hovertank.
----[ Regroup with Rhino Squad ]------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Walk forward to meet up with your squadmates and proceed to the next level.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: N E X U S H U B T U N N E L S :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x11]----
You're gonna ride this elevator a looooong way down with Morris and Strauss.
Listen up and learn about latest happenings. As it turns out, you're the last
hope for this mission to succeed. Figures.
----[ Destroy the Tetranode ]-------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Escort the EMP to directly under the Tetranode and destroy it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your mission sounds simple enough, at least. Once you're at the bottom, pilfer
the crates to obtain plenty of ammo for all your guns, as well as health and
armor. Take out your Machinegun and flashlight, and follow Morris, Strauss and
Voss in the hallway. You'll be attacked by several Strogg Marines and a Grunt,
all of which are no challenge for the might of Rhino Squad. Once you reach the
control room, Strauss will find out that the temperature in the tunnels is too
cold for the convoy to proceed. And of course he's the only one who can fix
that. And of course, you're the only one who can protect him.
----[ Protect Strauss ]-------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Escort Strauss to the temperature controls.</pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wait until Strauss unlocks a door, and go through it. Don't mind the creepy men
hooked up to creepy machines, and go through the next door. This large room is
dark at first, but a few steps in a Gladiator will come down the center. Whoa,
take out your Nailgun and make sure to direct his attention away from Strauss.
After you kill it, two Strogg Marines will show up. Have Strauss repair your
armor after all this. Go to the opposite end of the room and leave through the
door. Follow this hallway through another door, in which you'll face Strogg
Marines and a Grunt. Then go around this room to find the temperature controls,
as well as SHELLS and a SMALL HEALTH PACK. Just don't let your guard down yet,
because as Strauss starts messing with the controls, you will have to protect
him from Strogg SENTRIES.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
SENTRY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [||::::::::] : Toughness ........... [|||:::::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Strogg Sentries are pretty easy to recognize. They have machine guns instead
of arms, they hover, and have a tank of bright green liquid at their base.
Compared to most other stroggs you've faced to far, Sentries are rather
simple foes to defeat. They have very low endurance, and their machine guns
don't cause much damage at all. Still, even low damage will add up,
especially when they attack you in groups (which they often will).
Because Sentries have such low health, pretty much any weapon works well
against them. I'd recommend the Machinegun, Shotgun or, if you have it, the
Lightning Gun. The latter will destroy a Sentry in less than a second.
Unlike other enemies, Sentries take extra damage if you aim for the tank at
their base, rather than the head. Note that they also have this annoying
tendency to circle strafe around you if they get close enough, so try to
kill them from a distance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e06]----
Kill the five Sentries before they can kill Strauss (or you). Use the nearby
cover to your advantage, since their machine gun fire is hard to avoid. Use
your Machinegun or Shotgun to get through this part.
----[ Protect Strauss ]---------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Return to Rhino Squad ]-------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Return to Rhino Squad.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Return" is a nicer word than "backtrack", I suppose. Get Strauss to repair
your armor one last time, then exit this room. You'll face a Strogg Marine and
a Berserker in the hallway, against which the Shotgun or Nailgun would be a
good idea. Head to the next room, where you'll face about six Strogg Marines
and a Grunt. I like using the Shotgun here, and stay behind the pillars for
over. Dunno about you, but my computer takes a pretty big framerate hit in that
room. Run back through the room with the creepy men, and face one more
Berserker. Finally exit this room to rejoin Voss and Morris, and help them take
out any remaining Strogg Marines.
----[ Return to Rhino Squad ]---------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
You'll also find two CLIPS and two LARGE HEALTH PACKS in a nearby crate (how
did that crate get there?). Follow your squadmates around the room, facing a
Grunt and more Marines, then through another hallway and even more Marines.
Exit this hallway into a large tunnel, in which two Berserkers will immediately
attack. Be sure to stand back and let Voss and Morris help. Follow them into
the tunnel until you encounter Strogg Marines, as well as a Gladiator. Kill as
many Marines as you can before the Gladiator shows up, then take it down with
your Nailgun while Rhino Squad handles the rest. You'll find a couple SMALL
HEALTH PACKS just past the bridge on the left side of the tunnel.
Now follow the tunnel until you reach a forcefield. You'll find two much-needed
CLIPS and a SMALL ARMOR VEST close-by. Voss wants you to go ahead and disable
the forcefield by yourself, because there's obviously no good reason the three
of you should go.
----[ Deactivate the Forcefield ]---------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find the console that will deactivate the forcefield and allow the convoy to
pull forward.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So go through the door next to that jerk Voss. Run through an empty hallway to
reach another room, which contains two Sentries. Use the door frame as cover to
take them down. Now before you move forward, you can jump down on the very
large pipes on the right side. Follow these pipes to a small niche in which
rest two SMALL HEALTH PACKS and a SMALL ARMOR VEST. Head back, climb back up
using the pipes and exit this room. Two more Sentries await you in the next
room, as well as a console. Jump on the pipes on the left and walk up to it so
you can deactivate the forcefield.
----[ Deactivate the Forcefield ]-----------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Return to the Convoy ]--------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Return to the convoy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As soon as the forcefield is down, two Strogg Marines will walk into the room
from the upper door. Shoot them down and run through the door they came from. A
Berserker will come at you from the opposite end of the room, giving you plenty
of time to kill him. Head through the other door to find a secret room
containing NAILS, SHELLS and two SMALL HEALTH PACKS. Exit this room, jump down
on the lower level and backtrack into the large tunnel to find the convoy.
----[ Return to the Convoy ]----------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Destroy the Tetranode ]---------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Well the EMP's in place, so it looks like everything's going according to plan.
HAHA. Yeah no. Before the EMP can be detonated, a Harvester will walk into the
room and destroy it. Talk about bad luck. Obviously, your puny guns cannot take
down a Harvester, so just wait for it to pass through the tunnel. Things are
looking pretty grim however... as Sergeant Bidwell didn't survive the
encounter. Whoops. Anyways Strauss has a new plan, but you'll need to rejoin
him first. Wait for Voss to kick down a floor panel and jump through it.
Crawl through this small tunnel for a while and climb the ladder at the end.
You'll see a Harvester and marines fighting above you, but there's nothing you
can do to help. Crawl through this new tunnel to claim a new weapon for
yourself, the HYPERBLASTER. I'm sure the marine it belonged to won't mind.
----[ W E A P O N ]------------------------------------[ Default Key: 4 ]----
HYPERBLASTER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clip Size .................... 60 : Power ............... [||||::::::]
Max Ammo ..................... 400 : Speed ............... [|||||||||:]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't let the "blaster" part fool you - the Hyperblaster is a great weapon.
It can fire hot plasma projectiles at an insanely high rate, perfect for
dealing with all but the toughest stroggs. Think of it as an upgrade to the
Machinegun, minus the scope. The downside to having such a high rate of fire
is that you can burn through ammo without even realizing it, so always keep
an eye out for more batteries. Even though the Hyperblaster is an extremely
accurate weapon, the shots can easily be dodged by a moving enemy. Always be
sure to lead your enemies.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: UPGRADE : [ Bounce Shot Mod ] Hyperblaster shots can bounce from :
: : walls and other obstacles. Obtained in "Data Storage :
: : Terminal (Revisited)". :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: AMMO : Batteries (60) - Hyperblaster (60) :
--------------------------------------------------------------------[w06]----
With your new toy in hand, crawl through the rest of the tunnel and drop down
one level. Run forward and take care of the Sentry ahead. Climb up the pipes
into another tunnel, taking you to a small room. Climb up the ladder here and
quickly take care of the two Sentries above. You'll find four ARMOR SHARDS here
near the health station. You should then follow the large blue pipes on the
right side into another room. Pick up two BATTERIES here and a SMALL HEALTH
PACK. There's also a SMALL HEALTH PACK and LARGE HEALTH PACK near the only door
in this room. Go through the door to find yourself on that bridge you saw
before in the tunnel. Take out the three Sentries here and cross the bridge
into another hallway.
You'll certainly notice the two Sentries here, as well as two SMALL HEALTH
PACKS, three ARMOR SHARDS, SHELLS and two CLIPS. Go through the next door and
enter a large room in which you'll immediately face a Berserker and two Strogg
Marines. I suggest retreating into the hallway behind you to take them down.
You'll also see a Gunner on a bridge above you in this room. Just take him out
from either sides with the Nailgun or Hyperblaster. On the left side of this
room is a crate with three SMALL HEALTH PACKS, BATTERIES, a SMALL ARMOR VEST
and NAILS. Good good. Exit this room by going up on the bridge the Gunner was
on, at which point a Strogg Marine and one Sentry will show up. At the end of
this bridge is an elevator and a LARGE HEALTH PACK. Click the exit panel to
complete this rather long level.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: N E X U S H U B :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x12]----
Looks like you're getting close to your ultimate goal. Can Operation: Advantage
truly succeed? Only you and Strauss remain to answer that.
----[ Destroy the Tetranode with Strauss ]------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Take the crawlspace to meet up with Strauss and destroy the Tetranode by hand.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, you'll find another elevator in this room, as well as a LARGE HEALTH PACK
and a CLIP. Ride it down and you'll get your first look at the Tetranode. Exit
the elevator and take a right to rejoin Strauss. It seems you can't destroy the
Tetranode from here, unfortunately. Couldn't you just shoot the crap out of it?
----[ Activate the Power Plant ]----------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Escort and protect Strauss to the Tetranode's power plant.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before you go anywhere else, ask Strauss to repair your armor. It's time for
another escort mission, so be sure to always keep an eye on him. Go through the
nearby door to enter a short hallway. You can go down a ladder on the left side
here to the floor below. All you're gonna find there are four ARMOR SHARDS,
though. Go through the next door and across a bridge, fighting the two Sentries
that show up. This is a kinda neat looking place, because it appears to be so
huge. Through the next door is a hallway in which you'll meet three Strogg
Marines and two Grunts, for your killing pleasure. There's also two BATTERIES
and a LARGE HEALTH PACK in a corner.
Run past the bodies hooked up to machinery and into another hallway, in which
you'll find lots of ammo including SHELLS, CLIPS and BATTERIES. Exit this
hallway through the door to find the power plant, although two Sentries, Strogg
Marines and a Gunner await within. Be sure you don't let the Gunner throw a
grenade too close to Strauss. Find some SHELLS in a corner of the room, as well
as a LARGE HEALTH PACK, SMALL ARMOR VEST, BATTERIES and two CLIPS near the
control panel. After messing with the controls, Strauss will realize you have
to find some other controls. Great.
----[ Activate the Power Plant ]------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Find the Emergency Shutoff Controls ]-----------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Escort and protect Strauss to the Emergency Shutoff Controls.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before you can even leave the room, a Gladiator will walk in. While Strauss
stays safely behind cover, go ahead and take it out with the Nailgun or
Hyperblaster. You must now backtrack all the way to the Tetranode. You'll
encounter a couple Strogg Marines, a Berserker and a Sentry along the way. In
other words, nothing you can't handle. Once in the Tetranode room, you'll
notice the door at the opposite end has been unlocked. Run towards it, but do
take care of the two Strogg Marines who come out of it. Through this door is a
short hallway, leading to another, much longer hallway.
Run through it, and fight it out with a Strogg Marine, a Grunt and a Gunner.
You'll find a CLIP, SHELLS and a SMALL/LARGE HEALTH PACK on the right near a
window. Then enter the large room ahead to face a Strogg Marine, Grunt and a
Gladiator. Quickly take out the first two, then take care of the Gladiator with
your Hyperblaster if you can. You'll find SHELLS and two LARGE HEALTH PACKS in
a corner of the room, should you get badly hurt. Climb up the stairs, turn left
and head through the door to find a LARGE HEALTH PACK and SMALL ARMOR VEST.
Otherwise, head right and follow the hallway. You'll encounter a Grunt,
followed by two Strogg Marines and another Grunt. I find that the Shotgun works
pretty well in such close quarters.
Run to the end of this hallway to find three CLIPS on the right side, then take
a left and follow this path until you reach another hallway on the right
(there's a LARGE HEALTH PACK and some SHELLS near the barrels here). Anyways,
if you took the right path you'll soon reach a lift. Ride it up (man that's a
fast lift) and enter a pretty cool-looking control room. Strauss can do his
thing here and initiate the emergency shutoff.
----[ Find the Emergency Shutoff Controls ]-------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Shut Down the Coolant Pumps ]-------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find the coolant pumps used to keep the Tetranode from overheating and shut
them down.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You've got one final task to do, but it looks like Strauss isn't coming along
this time. Hmm why not? Look on the right side of this room (well, right of the
computers), to get... holy crap! Enough ammo and health to fully replenish
yourself and your guns. Pretty awesome. Exit this room through the only door
and follow the hallway. When you reach a fork, keep going straight to find some
SMALL HEALTH PACKS, ARMOR SHARDS and even a LARGE ARMOR VEST. Head back and
follow the other path until you reach the coolant pumps. I dunno about you, but
there's something odd about this room. Save your game - um, just in case - and
activate the panel in the middle of the room.
----[ Shut Down the Coolant Pumps ]---------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Okay, so it seems you've just made yourself some new enemies among the Strogg.
As if you needed that. The two spider-like monsters you see now are called
STREAM PROTECTORS. One must assume they can protect streams, but not rivers or
oceans. I guess technically this could sort of be considered a boss fight, but
they're not even bosses. Or hard. My advice? Get out your Grenade Launcher and
throw grenades at the nearest one, while always strafing from side to side. As
long as you don't stop moving or don't let them get close to you, you shouldn't
get hurt. It'll take about ten grenades per Stream Protector. Alternatives
include the Nailgun and Hyperblaster. If the Protectors are really giving you
trouble, you can always duck behind the large pipes for cover.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
STREAM PROTECTOR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [|||||||:::] : Toughness ........... [||||||||||]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This spider-like cyborg certainly isn't kidding around, judging by the
impressive arsenal it's packing. Quadruple homing rocket launcher? Check.
Twin heavy blasters? Check. Normal blaster? Yup, why not. Flamethrower? Oh
yeah. And if all this wasn't enough, it's got a few nasty melee attacks and
a whole lot of armor.
Fortunately, most of the Protector's attacks are easily dodged. Simply
strafe to avoid any blaster and heavy blaster shots (don't get caught by the
latter - they hurt). The rockets, while having small homing capabilities,
can also be avoided in the same way. The flamethrower can kill you very
quickly and will even leave small fires on the ground, but has a rather
short range. The Stream Protector moves slowly and will rarely advance
towards you. Coupled with the fact that it can't move when firing, you'll
find it easy enough to stay out of range of the dreaded flamethrower.
Attack with the Nailgun, Hyperblaster or Rocket Launcher and you shouldn't
have too much trouble taking it down. The Lightning Gun is also an
interesting option, as it will leave the Stream Protector shocked and unable
to strike back. You'll waste quite a bit of ammo doing so however. It's up
to you to decide if it's worth it at the time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e07]----
Alright, so you managed to defeat the spiders, but this isn't over yet. It
seems something else is coming for you, and it's BIG. It's noisy. It's the
Makron! What a shocking plot twist! Yeah, anyway. You're still too weak to
defeat the Makron just yet. I mean, the lone marine from Quake 2 had to go
through the whole game before beating him at the end, and you're just, what,
halfway through? Not even that. So yeah.
No need to go into details now, but suffice to say his attacks are fairly hard
to dodge. Let's hope you did well against the Stream Protectors and are still
in decent shape. I suggest using your Hyperblaster or Nailgun (whichever has
enough ammo) and shoot the Makron in the head for a little while. After you've
inflicted enough damage, the Makron will shoot a huge and unavoidable lightning
beam at you. Uh oh, is this the end of Matthew Kane?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: S T R O G G M E D I C A L F A C I L I T I E S :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x13]----
Okay. You're still alive, in your undies, and about to experience a whole new
level of pain. You're also solidly tied down with no means of escape. So I
suppose there's nothing else to do but relax and enjoy the ride. Well, not
"enjoy" enjoy, but, more li-- OH MY GOD WHAT DID THEY JUST DO TO THE GUY IN
FRONT? See, kinda like that. Honestly, I don't understand how a human being can
survive that long with a large hole in his chest, let alone live through
various mutilations and torture. Then again, I suppose that when only the
strong survive, you automatically end up with stronger warriors. Ah, the
miracles of modern science.
Thankfully, before the Strogg manage to mess with your brain too much, Rhino
Squad comes in and rescues you! Why are they here? How did they find you? Who
knows. Perhaps all marines have some sort of beacon chip implanted for such
eventualities. Regardless, you are now a Strogg Tactical Transfer, minus the
activated Neurocyte chip in your brain. This means you gain several enhanced
abilities without going crazy. Here are the benefits of being a Strogg:
* Maximum Health is raised to 125
* Maximum Armor is raised to 125
* Run Speed is increased by about 40%
* You can now understand Strogg language (and read some panels)
* You can now use Stroyent Health Stations
I'd say this is a pretty sweet deal, all for only a few minutes of suffering.
Unfortunately you've lost all your weapons, but this won't be a problem for too
long. Alright, time to get out of here.
----[ Follow Anderson ]-------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Follow the marine escort to safety.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You're usually the one doing the escorting, so this is nice for a change. Move
forward to exit this room, and pick up the BLASTER, SHOTGUN and GRENADE
LAUNCHER. See? That didn't take long. You can also check out your new sexy look
in the mirror ahead. Follow your squad around, until you come up to locked
doors. Notice how Morris got promoted to Sergeant after Bidwell's death. Heh.
Looks like the squad has to split up here, and they'll send the guy least
likely to be a good escort along with you: Medic Anderson. You can tell this is
gonna go really well.
Follow Anderson in the other room, and stare in horror as your ride out of here
gets shot down. Off to a good start. Take the SHELLS in the nearby crate as a
consolation prize.
----[ Follow Anderson ]---------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Regroup with Rhino Squad ]----------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Regroup with Voss and the rest of the Rhino Squad somewhere deeper in the
medical laboratories facility.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So much for Plan A. Follow Anderson outside this room and into a hallway. Stay
on the right side and follow it to the end to find two CLIPS. Backtrack a
little and take the left path instead, which leads to an unlocked door. Run
through it to trigger a cutscene. Watch as Anderson's curiosity predictably
gets him ambushed by a Strogg Scientist. Anderson! NOOOOOOO! Ahem. Are they
gonna turn him into a Strogg Tactical Transfer too? Poor guy, he was so young.
So ready your Shotgun and shoot down the three STROGG SCIENTISTS that will show
up around the room. Just run close and shoot them twice. You might notice that
your improved run speed is great for closing in with the Shotgun.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
SCIENTIST
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [|||:::::::] : Toughness ........... [||||::::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fat and ugly, Strogg Scientists prefer to hover around rather than use the
legs they don't have. They are equipped to perform delicate surgery, what
with the rusty saws and needles. Scientists will mainly try to poison you,
either at close range or from a distance. Poison damage will slowly drain
your health and even ignores armor. Still, the damage is pretty weak and the
effect will quickly wear off as long as you don't just stand in a poison
cloud. Scientists aren't very tough, so most weapons are effective against
them. I like to simply get close with the Shotgun.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e08]----
Along the left wall in this room you should notice a Strogg Health Station,
which is actually named "Stroyent Health Station". What... is stroyent? Do you
even want to know? What you do need to know is that each of these stations can
restore about 80 health points before they run out of "stroyent". To leave this
room, you need to go pick up Anderson's MACHINEGUN, and click the green panel
nearby to unlock the doors. Go through either of the unlocked doors and follow
the hallway into a larger room. Navigate this room to find a NAILGUN and some
NAILS. As soon as you pick it up, two Strogg Marines and a Gunner will attack,
so make good use of it. You can then find a SMALL HEALTH PACK behind the door
on the left, and/or go through the other door ahead to continue.
You'll be in a small room with no other exits but a conveyor belt. Get on it
and let it ride you into the next room. Get off the conveyor belt here and take
care of the three Strogg Marines with your Shotgun or Machinegun. You'll find a
LARGE HEALTH PACK in a corner and a lift panel in the center of the room. Call
the lift, and ready your Shotgun or Nailgun since a Gunner is riding down with
it. Then step on the lift and ride it back up. Step outside and kill the two
Strogg Marines. You'll immediately notice a dead marine here, who happened to
be carrying a most excellent weapon: the ROCKET LAUNCHER. Pick it up! Oh, and
the nearby CLIP and SMALL HEALTH PACK. Though be warned that a Berserker will
run in... berserking.
----[ W E A P O N ]------------------------------------[ Default Key: 7 ]----
ROCKET LAUNCHER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clip Size .................... 1 : Power ............... [|||||||||:]
Max Ammo ..................... 40 : Speed ............... [||||||::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
When all else fails, you sometimes have to look into a more explosive
solution. This is where the Rocket Launcher comes in. It can fire powerful
rockets that are bound to make even your strongest foes beg for mercy. Just
be careful where you point this thing at, and don't get caught in the blast
radius. You could lose a limb, or worse.
The upgrade mod not only allows you to load up to three rockets at once, but
also gives them homing capabilities. Simply target an enemy and hold down
the Special key. As long as you keep your crosshair over that enemy, any
rockets you fire will automatically seek him out (even behind cover). Now
you have no excuse to ever waste a rocket again.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: UPGRADE : [ Rocket Homing Mod ] Increases the Clip Size to 3. :
: : Rockets will seek target enemy as long as you hold down :
: : the Special key. Found in "Waste Processing Facility". :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: AMMO : Rockets (6) - Rocket Launcher (10) :
--------------------------------------------------------------------[w07]----
Run into the next area to come across a Gladiator and two Strogg Marines. This
is as good a place as any to try out your new weapon. Just be sure to only fire
rockets at the Gladiator when his shield is down, otherwise you're just wasting
them. Grab a LARGE HEALTH PACK or two here, then run inside through the large
door. A Strogg Scientist will come at you from the left, so be careful. Go up
the stairs on the right, though back off a little once the Berserker comes
charging at you. Shotgun, Nailgun... whatever. Your choice. Once upstairs, you
should face two more Strogg Marines and a Gunner further ahead. You might want
to use the Nailgun on the Gunner or simply snipe him with the Machinegun.
You'll notice a HEALTH STATION in this room, so use it if you're hurt. Head for
the path leading out of this room, though a Berserker and two more Strogg
Marines will try blocking it. But they won't, because that's how good you are.
Keep following this path, and run past the door in the right wall. Go up to
where the Gunner was to find a MACHINEGUN, ROCKETS and a SMALL ARMOR VEST.
Doing so will unfortunately summon a Gladiator, so you might want to jump over
the railing to find some cover. Now go through the door you passed earlier into
a short hallway. Before opening the other door, jump over the pipe on the right
side here to find the SMALL ARMOR VEST forgotten on the ledge.
Leave this hallway for another one. Face the two Strogg Marines and the Gunner
here with your Nailgun or Machinegun. Rockets are overkill. Climb the stairs
all the way up to meet with Voss, sort of, behind a broken door. He somehow
managed to lose the rest of the squad, but he still needs you to find your way
back to him. Climb back down and take the right path, in which you'll be
attacked by a Berserker again. Run through that door to find an elevator and
ride it down. You'll be in a small room full of all kinds of creepy body parts
and a box of SHELLS. Exit the room to face two Strogg Marines and a Gunner.
Seems like a popular combo around here.
Climb the stairs in this room, but before you turn left at the top you'll want
to crawl underneath the low wall on the right. Climb the ladder on the other
side to gain access to a GRENADE LAUNCHER, SMALL ARMOR VEST and ROCKETS. Jump
down and follow the path up to a SMALL HEALTH PACK and another conveyor belt.
This time you'll want to wait until a capsule rides past you and follow it into
the next room. Get on the platform there, which will rotate and lead you to
another conveyor belt. Step off immediately and follow this conveyor belt into
another room. Meet up with Lieutenant Voss at last.
----[ Regroup with Rhino Squad ]------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
So, first Anderson, and now Voss gets taken away. VOSS. I mean he has a scar,
which automatically makes him better than everyone. Well except you. In any
case, things aren't going too well for the Rhinos. Notice the voice that says
the sample is to be taken for prototype testing and assembling? Huh. Never mind
that, and take care of the Berserker that comes barging in. You've got a
mission to do after all which is... um... well. Your boss just got abducted, so
who knows. Head downstairs and into the next room. Command HQ will contact
everyone with an order to evacuate. Does that include partly-stroggified
marines? Seems so.
----[ Regroup ]---------------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Meet up with the rest of the marines at the Waste center of the Stroyent
Dispersal Facility.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey guys, let's evacuate through filthy waste! Who came up with that brilliant
plan? Run through this room and through either doors at the end. You can grab a
SMALL ARMOR VEST, CLIP and LARGE HEALTH PACK in the small room beyond. Head
back in the previous room, go around the machinery and through the next door.
You'll reach an elevator offering you a nice outside view, which you must ride
up. Run into the next room and face off against three Strogg Marines, a
Scientist and a Gunner. Find some cover and you'll be fine. From the room's
entrance, head right and go through the door you see there. Run down some
stairs and you'll encounter two Gunners! Since you have a height advantage, I
suggest using the Grenade Launcher.
Down in this room you can grab a LARGE HEALTH PACK and LARGE ARMOR VEST. Very
nice, but that's not all. You'll also find a ROCKET LAUNCHER in a small room
just behind the door here. Alright, head back up to the large room from before.
Run straight ahead and you should find another door on your right, so enter it.
Run downstairs to interrupt two Scientists doing some important research about
human anatomy. Or maybe they were just hungry. Use the HEALTH STATION here if
you need, then leave the room through the only other door. You'll be in a
semi-circular hallway, up above an area you might recognize.
Go left first and into a room containing a SMALL ARMOR VEST and two SMALL
HEALTH PACKS. Go back in the hallway and follow it to the other side, though
watch your back for an incoming Berserker. Go through the door to find ROCKETS
and a lift. Call it up, ride it back down... to freedom! But not yet. Grab a
SMALL HEALTH PACK nearby, then go ahead and battle three Strogg Marines and a
Berserker. You'll notice you're in another semi-circular hallway, though both
ways lead to dead-ends. Hmm. You must instead crawl through the ventilation
duct in the center, in which you'll find a HYPERBLASTER. If the Hyperblaster
could talk, it would probably say "Miss me?"
Now crawl around this tunnel full of creepy noises. Aargh. Did you just see a
dog run by? Grab a LARGE HEALTH PACK on the way if you need it. When you reach
an intersection, go straight to reach a dead-end. You can grab up two six ARMOR
SHARDS and a SHOTGUN here. Turn around, then turn right at the intersection,
grabbing a second HYPERBLASTER.
Equip your Rocket Launcher now and crawl out of this tunnel. You'll be attacked
by a new enemy in this room, the TELEPORT DROPPER. It may have a silly name,
but this dog has the annoying tendency spawning Strogg friends to help out. In
this case, it should teleport in some Berserkers and some Strogg Marines. You
should ALWAYS kill the Teleport Dropper first, or else it can just keep
summoning more Strogg. However, by shooting at it with your Rocket Launcher,
you can often destroy the teleport pods before they hit the ground, saving you
a whole lot of trouble. Four or five rockets should do it, then you can clear
out any surviving stroggs.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
TELEPORT DROPPER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [::::::::::] : Toughness ........... [|||||||:::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unlike your typical Strogg, Teleport Droppers will never try to attack you
directly (unless you get close enough, in which case they may try to bite
you). Instead, they will drop up to five teleport pods, which will usually
summon a mix of Strogg Marines and Grunts. As such, you'll always want to
kill the Teleport Dropper first.
To easily rid yourself of one, simply use weapons who have a large blast
radius, such as the Grenade Launcher, Rocket Launcher or Dark Matter Gun.
Teleport pods caught in the explosions will often be destroyed before they
can summon any Strogg, leaving you with a lot less enemies to deal with.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e09]----
Once the freaky dog and its little pals are all dead, a door will open on one
side of the room. Proceed through this hallway to exit this somewhat disturbing
and long level.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: C O N S T R U C T I O N Z O N E :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x14]----
Ahh, fresh air. Look along the railing on your left to grab a SMALL and LARGE
HEALTH PACK, SMALL ARMOR VEST, BATTERIES, GRENADES and a HYPERBLASTER. You can
then run down the ramp to find a MACHINEGUN, LARGE HEALTH PACK and a WALKER.
Yep, this level also features vehicular combat. Click the Walker to enter it.
----[ Locate the Dispersal Facility ]-----------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
The most direct path to the Waste facility is through the bowels of a nearby
Strogg industrial processing complex, the Dispersal facility. Fight your way
to the Dispersal entrance.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----[ V E H I C L E ]--------------------------------------------------------
WALKER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armor ............... [||||||||||] : Shield .............. [||::::::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Walker is the second vehicle you will have the chance of piloting in the
game. Unlike the Hovertank, it is slow and clunky, meaning you might have a
hard time avoiding incoming attacks. Kill your enemies quickly to avoid
taking too much damage. The Walker also has a much weaker shield, though its
armor is thicker to compensate. So your shield will go down often, but this
is no reason to panic. Like the Hovertank, both the armor and shield will
regenerate slowly over time.
The Walker is equipped with two weapons: a rocket launcher and a machine
gun. You can switch between those weapons with the mousewheel.
----[ Rocket Launcher ]---------------------------------------------------
The rocket launcher can load up to six rockets at a time and fire them in
rapid succession. Each rocket is fairly powerful and will knock out most
foes in two or three hits. Unfortunately, the rockets are so slow that
it's sometimes hard to hit anything at all. It also takes several seconds
to fully reload the Rocket Launcher, during which time I recommend you
simply switch out to the machine gun.
----[ Machine Gun ]-------------------------------------------------------
This is the exact same machine gun you previously used on the Hovertank.
Decent damage over time, perfect for mowing down Strogg infantry and fast
enemies that your rockets can't hit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[v02]----
So walk (get it? walk? sigh) forward and gun down the Gunner on your right.
Worst sentence ever. Two Hornets will then drop two Rolling Turrets just ahead.
I suggest you take care of the Turrets first, since they pose a more immediate
threat, then the Hornets. The machine gun works better than rockets against all
those. Enter the tunnel at the end of this area to face against some Strogg
infantry and two Gladiators. It's fun to kill the latter at close range with
your Rocket Launcher. Exit this tunnel and follow the road in the next area,
where you'll face three Strogg Marines and two Flying Turrets. None of those
are a significant threat to you and your machine gun.
Further ahead you'll be attacked by a Hornet, followed by two Heavy Hovertanks
as you cross the bridge. Again, I suggest simply using the machine gun against
these foes, especially if you want to destroy the missiles they launch at you.
Which you do. Amusingly enough, you can fall off the bridge here and get thrown
way up in the air. It makes no sense, but it's funny. Anyway walk through the
gate and kill the two Flying Turrets beyond. Go through the next tunnel, which
is filled with more stupid Strogg infantry. They probably didn't notice you're
like two times as tall as they are. In the next area, you'll be bombarded by
some Strogg Flyers, and then encounter one Heavy Hovertank. Just keep walking
and shooting... at two more Flying Turrets, and enter the next area.
One Flying Turret and one Hornet here, which equal zero challenge. Enter the
tunnel ahead, in which you'll encounter several Flying Turrets, some Gunners
and one of the destroyed convoys. Back outside, two more Flying Turrets
immediately attack, followed by two Hornets and Rolling Turrets. Hey, you might
actually die here if you, like, leave your computer unattended for two minutes.
Further ahead you'll encounter a mix of Strogg Marines, Heavy Hovertanks and
one Flying Turret. If I'm never telling you to use the Rocket Launcher, it's
because you don't have to, really. Leave this area, following a road through a
short tunnel.
The road abruptly ends on the other side, so jump down and keep going. Seems
like the Strogg are finally making a serious attempt at stopping you, by
sending out a Harvester. Your biggest worry here should be those homing
missiles the Harvester will shoot at you. Two direct hits from those can leave
you in very bad shape, if not outright destroy your Walker. Your options are to
shoot down the missiles out of the sky with your machine gun, or duck under the
very big pipes for cover. Note that those pipes will get destroyed if they take
enough damage, so you can't hide there forever. You'll need to shoot about 50
rockets at the Harvester to destroy it. That can certainly take a while, but if
you alternate between rockets and the machine gun (to destroy missiles) you
should have an easy enough time. Run for cover only when needed.
With the Harvester out of the way, you can walk to the area it was protecting,
near the building. You'll have to get out of your Walker here, and do the rest
on foot. Just run across the bridge to enter the building and find an exit
panel.
----[ Locate the Dispersal Facility ]-------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: D I S P E R S A L F A C I L I T Y :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x15]----
This level opens up with a cutscene that will introduce you to a new type of
Strogg: the TACTICAL TRANSFER. It is no coincidence that you look exactly like
them, as this is what you were turned into back at the Strogg Medical Facility.
Anyways, you can think of them as an improved version of the Strogg Marines,
who can wield a wider variety of deadlier weapons. Meaning you definitely
shouldn't underestimate these foes. You are going to face five Tactical
Transfers and one Gladiator here, which is no easy task. Always stay in cover
and try using your more powerful weapons, though the Machinegun is also good
for sniping.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
TACTICAL TRANSFER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [ varies ] : Toughness ........... [|||:::::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tactical Transfers are basically Strogg Marines who don't suck. They carry
more powerful weapons, use better tactics (such as seeking cover) and can be
a real pain in the ass to deal with. Even though these guys are former human
marines who have gone through a painful stroggification process, feel no
remorse as you blow their brainwashed brains out.
----[ Shotgun ]--------------------------------[ Power ]--[|||||:::::]----
As you know by now, shotguns are only dangerous at close range. Kill these
before they can get too close, or strafe around them to avoid damage if
they do.
----[ Machinegun ]-----------------------------[ Power ]--[||||::::::]----
Machinegun TT's have decent accuracy and can inflict heavy damage over
time. They're easy enough to dodge alone, but can be dangerous in groups.
----[ Hyperblaster ]---------------------------[ Power ]--[|||||:::::]----
Hyperblasters can probably inflict the most damage to you in the shortest
amount of time... if you're not careful. Never stop moving and use cover
if necessary to avoid as many shots as possible.
----[ Railgun ]--------------------------------[ Power ]--[|||||||:::]----
Can mess you up real good if it hits, but fairly easy to dodge. Because
the Railgun needs to be reloaded after each shot, it has a very low rate
of fire. Use this reload time to your advantage.
Despite all this offensive power, Tactical Transfers aren't very well
armored. They're easily defeated with most weapons, though my favorite has
to be the Railgun, which can kill them in one hit. Tactical Transfers will
also drop whatever weapon they were carrying when you kill them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e10]----
After the battle, look around the area to find up to five SMALL HEALTH PACKS
(right side), one LARGE HEALTH PACK and one LARGE ARMOR VEST (left side).
Follow the left wall to the back of this area to find a door, beyond which lie
two CLIPS and a SMALL ARMOR VEST. Finally, be sure to pick up all the weapons
the Tactical Transfers were carrying, including two MACHINEGUNS, two SHOTGUNS
and one RAILGUN. Awesome!
----[ W E A P O N ]------------------------------------[ Default Key: 8 ]----
RAILGUN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clip Size .................... 3 : Power ............... [||||||||::]
Max Ammo ..................... 50 : Speed ............... [||::::::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: SPECIAL : [ Zoom ] Hold the Special key to look through the :
: : Railgun's scope, for a more precise aim. :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Railgun fires high-powered slugs with deadly precision. Or at least, as
deadly as your precision can be. Because it has such a slow rate of fire and
a small clip, any missed shot will penalize you more than with any other
weapon. The Railgun is best used from a long range, along with the scope if
necessary. It's especially good for killing Tactical Transfers and other
weak enemies. Headshots will help against tougher enemies, though a faster
weapon is usually preferable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: UPGRADE : [ Rail Penetration Mod ] Slugs can penetrate enemies, :
: : potentially hitting more than one at a time. Obtained :
: : in "Data Storage Security". :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: AMMO : Slugs (5) - Railgun (10) :
--------------------------------------------------------------------[w08]----
So enter the large passage leading out of this area, and click the "Close Seal"
panel. Enter the next room to meet up with four Strogg Marines - the weak, easy
kind. Look along the left side for a passage leading to a lift. I could tell
you to ride it up, but I'm sure you did already. Was that a Harvester you just
heard? Go through the door to find out. A-yep. You certainly can't kill it, and
you're not in a Hovertank or Walker. What you want to do is take cover behind
some of the crates here, and wait for it to stop firing its nailgun. When the
coast is clear, quickly run to the next cover and wait again. You should get
through with relative ease, though note that you must crouch to enter the last
part of the tunnel.
Go through the door to finally enter the Disposal Facility proper. You'll find
ROCKETS, SHELLS, three CLIPS and a MACHINEGUN in the crate ahead, as well as a
HEALTH STATION on the left, in case that Harvester wasn't too kind on you. Run
through this hallways and battle about six Strogg Marines. Use those explosive
barrels for fun. Go through the door to enter some large room, home to three
elevators. Get the GRENADES and ROCKETS in the crate in a corner and defeat the
one Grunt. Only one elevator works, the middle one leading down to Level 04, so
call it up. A Gunner will be riding up along with it, so be sure you have
something else than a Blaster in hand.
Ride the elevator and step through the door, facing off with another Gunner
ahead. Go down in the room and through the only unlocked door, from which two
Strogg Marines will run out. Enter the next room, home to a Strogg Marine, a
Grunt and two SMALL HEALTH PACKS near the center. The stroggs were off to a
good start in this level, but it's like they're not even trying anymore. So run
through the door named "Auxiliary Skywalk Access", though now you'll face three
Strogg Marines and one Gladiator. See, that's slightly better. Hyperblaster or
Rocket Launcher are decent options here. Run through this hallway full of
mutilated bodies and disgusting human torsos hooked up to machines. Don't miss
the LARGE HEALTH PACK near the door on the left side.
Go through the door to enter a stairway, in which a Strogg Marine tries to
scare you with his imposing shadow. Did he really think it would work? In the
next hallway, you'll be attacked by a Grunt who comes at you in some sort of
elaborate cutscene. Huh. Just wait for it, Shotgun at the ready. Exit this
hallway into the next room, which consists of two large staircases going down.
The problem is that this place is also swarming with Tactical Transfers.
Well, you have the height advantage in this battle, so it actually isn't that
bad. Slowly make your way down, always making sure you stay in cover. There are
plenty of explosive barrels around you can try to use, or even kick downstairs.
You have to defeat six Tactical Transfers on your way down (watch for a SMALL
HEALTH PACK), but the most dangerous of them can be found at the bottom. Namely
a Railgun and Hyperblaster Tactical Transfer, in addition to a Gunner. Chuck
grenades at them, or try out the Railgun yourself if you want. Otherwise, the
Hyperblaster is always a great choice against Tactical Transfers.
You'll find a crate on the bottom level, which holds BATTERIES, a CLIP and four
ARMOR SHARDS. Enter the next room to find a RAILGUN, a HEALTH STATION and SLUGS
in a corner. Jump over the pipes and go through another door to discover a very
large grinding machine. And assorted body parts. Eww. A Gunner will attack you
from the other door, but you have plenty of room to move around. Go through
some more doors to arrive in a large room full of moving machinery and very
large pipes. The red goo in those pipes looks pretty disgusting, so naturally
you want to follow them to see where they lead. These pipes even have some kind
of organic pumps attached to them. How weird.
Enter the next room to find something even more disturbing. Some kind of giant
heart is pumping fluids through the two big pipes that run through here. What</pre><pre id="faqspan-4">
the hell, haven't the Strogg heard of mechanical pumps? Certainly they're more
reliable and hygienic. Looks like the heart is given electrical shocks at
regular intervals to keep it running. Hmm, since we have nothing better to do,
let's see if we can somehow give the heart a... heart attack. Go behind it and
you'll see a staircase on the left. Follow it up to reach a panel. Ah ha! It
looks like this thing is called a "Bio-Chemical Fluidic Transfer Station".
Bleh. Click the button called "Voltage Control" to give it a good long shock.
Hmm, looks like that wasn't enough. Go back downstairs and run straight ahead
to find another staircase. You'll find a SMALL HEALTH PACK and SMALL ARMOR VEST
besides it. Climb the stairs and follow this path to reach another console,
just like the one from before. Click the "Voltage Control" button again, and
admire the results of your handiwork as this gross biological pump gets shut
down. Don't mind the Repair Bots that show up, and instead jump down below the
heart to a lower level. With the pool drained, you can now crawl through a very
small tunnel and out of this place.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: R E C O M P O S I T I O N C E N T E R :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x16]----
Having jumped below a giant bleeding heart, you might be asking yourself "Was
this really such a good idea?" Well, let's find out. Turn on your flashlight
and bravely navigate this room to find a door. Go through it and you'll see a
Gunner literally hook up with a human. Where is he gonna go? What horrible fate
awaits this man? Don't know, don't care, you're just here to kill yourself a
Gunner. Soon enough you'll hear someone calling out for help. There are four
holding cells in this room, and it just so happens that Tech Marine Sasaki is
in one of them. To free him, locate the holding cells panel on one side of the
room, click cell number 2, and click the middle button.
Sasaki will tell you he's the last survivor of his squad (a very likely story),
and will want you to get him out of here. He'll also give you the NAIL SEEKER
MOD for your Nailgun, a very nice little mod that gives the nails a limited
tracking ability. Just hold down the Special key to lock on to an enemy.
----[ Locate Exit ]-----------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Work with Sasaki to try and find and exit from the Recomposition Station.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Being a Tech Marine, Sasaki can of course repair your armor, which you really
should take advantage of. You should also open cell number 4 and claim the
BATTERIES within. Before leaving this room, you might also want to use the
HEALTH STATION near the entrance. So go up the stairs and follow the hallway
until you find the only unlocked door. Go through it to enter a room containing
lots of barrels and two SMALL HEALTH PACKS. It seems you're gonna have to use
those barrels to build a platform and reach the upper level, but Sasaki needs
you to activate the assembly line first. Raaargh.
----[ Locate Exit ]-------------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Activate Barrel Process ]-----------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Sasaki can get you both out of here if you activate the barrel processing
assembly line. Make your way to the control room while Sasaki stays behind.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fine then. Look for a door in the back of the room and go through it. Fight off
four Strogg Marines, a Grunt, then three more Marines and a Gunner as you head
down this room. It's a good idea to try out your new seeker nails if you want.
Go up some stairs at the end to reach the upper level, on which you'll fight a
Berserker and Strogg Marine. Grab SHELLS and a SMALL HEALTH PACK on your way to
the next room.
Well here's something new. Sergeant Jarlsberg of Viper Squad appear to be
getting tortured with some kind of prototype Lightning Gun. Wait, gun you say?
You just so happen to love guns! Look around to find GRENADES and two LIGHTNING
COILS. Then look at the computer screens and click the "Halt Trial" button.
Awesome, the LIGHTNING GUN is now yours!
----[ W E A P O N ]------------------------------------[ Default Key: 9 ]----
LIGHTNING GUN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clip Size .................... n/a : Power ............... [|||:::::::]
Max Ammo ..................... 400 : Speed ............... [||||||||||]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now this is a fun weapon. The lightning beam can fry anything it touches up
to medium range, usually in a few seconds or less. Note that enemies with a
large amount of health will require longer cooking times, which translate
into a lot of wasted ammo. So it's generally best to use the Lightning Gun
against weaker enemies, especially once you obtain the chain lightning mod.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: UPGRADE : [ Chain Lightning Mod ] Allows the lightning beam to :
: : hit nearby enemies as well, damaging multiple targets. :
: : Obtained in "Tram Hub Station". :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: AMMO : Lightning Coils (80) - Lightning Gun (100) :
--------------------------------------------------------------------[w09]----
Looks like Jarlsberg was already dead. Oh well. Leave him and run around the
room through another door. Follow this hallway and use your Lightning Gun to
fry two Strogg Marines. It's kind of a waste of ammo, but you gotta try it at
least once! Further down the hallway are two Strogg Marines and a Grunt, two
boxes of NAILS, a SMALL ARMOR VEST and a HEALTH STATION. There's also a SMALL
HEALTH PACK further ahead if you need it. Go through the door near the health
station to enter the control room you were looking for. Besides some BATTERIES
and three ARMOR SHARDS, you'll find a panel named "Stroyent Filling Control".
Click "Activate Barrel Process" to fulfill Sasaki's request.
----[ Activate Barrel Process ]-------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Activate Process ]------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find the barrel sterilization controls and reboot the system.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Damn this stupid Strogg technology. Never works on the first try. Luckily for
you, there just so happens to be a door called "Sterilization" in this room. Go
through it to find an outdoor area, made up of several platforms on different
levels. Start by taking care of the Grunt and Strogg Marines, and run along the
first platform until you find two CLIPS. Take cover behind the crates here, as
you'll find two Tactical Transfer up on a ledge ahead. They can be hard to see,
so I highly suggest you simply snipe them with the Railgun. Climb downstairs to
the lower platform, and go around until you encounter two Strogg Marines, a
Berserker and a Tactical Transfer. There's plenty of crates around you can use
for cover.
Look behind the green barrels on the right to find a LARGE HEALTH PACK and
BATTERIES. You should also climb down the ladder from which one of the Marines
came from to reach a lower platform holding two CLIPS and NAILS. Climb back up,
and run through two doors into another area. You can find a LARGE HEALTH PACK
left of the entrance. You will then have to take care of a Gladiator and up to
four Machinegun Transfers. The Hyperblaster and Railgun would work well. Climb
on the higher platform, on which you can find two LARGE HEALTH PACKS by
searching carefully. Head back inside through the nearby door.
Lots of green barrels around this room, plus GRENADES and a HEALTH STATION.
Enter the next room, which happens to be the sterilization control room. Go
towards the computer console to find NAILS, two SMALL HEALTH PACKS, a SMALL
ARMOR VEST and a CLIP. Now click the "System Reset" button to perform what any
tech support guy knows how to do best: a system reboot.
----[ Activate Process ]--------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
You thought this wouldn't work either, did you? Well surprisingly that did the
trick. Now it's backtracking time. So exit this room and run back outside. A
cutscene? What now? What's now is the dreaded LIGHT TANK, one of the toughest
Strogg around. For now, simply concentrate on dodging his attacks, and shoot
back with the Hyperblaster or, preferably, the Nailgun in seeker mode. Use of
the Rocket Launcher isn't highly recommended, but still viable.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
LIGHT TANK
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [|||||||||:] : Toughness ........... [||||||||::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first thing you might notice about this guy is that he isn't actually a
tank. But he does have some powerful weaponry and plenty of armor. At a
distance, he can fire blaster shots which are fairly weak and easy to avoid.
Occasionally, he will charge up his gun and release a massive fireball that
causes equally massive damage. Thankfully, this fireball travels slowly and
is easily dodged as long as you see it coming.
Most of the time however, the Light Tank likes to think he's actually a
Berserker, possibly through some nasty Neurocyte chip mix-up business. So
he'll come charging towards you and try to knock you down with a morning
star. This attack hurts a fair bit, but that's not the one you should be
worried about. At short range he can also fire his flamethrower, which will
kill you in seconds if you're not careful. Try to circle around him when he
does, so that you avoid most (or all) of the damage.
As for weapon recommendations, I'd go with the usual Hyperblaster or
Nailgun. The Rocket Launcher is good in some cases, though be sure to switch
to another weapon if a Light Tank decides to charge you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e11]----
So one less Strogg to worry about. A million more to go. You can now backtrack
into the other outdoor area. Strangely enough, Sasaki worries about YOU dying,
while he's the one back there without any weapon to defend himself. That's
comedy. You'll notice this area has been reinforced with three Tactical
Transfers, and perhaps two Strogg Marines (they don't seem to show up all the
time, for some reason). Railgun, Nailgun, Hyperblaster... take your pick.
Backtrack inside... past the barrel processing control room, and all the way
back to Sasaki. You get to fight a Berserker and two Strogg Marines on your way
there, and you can even find a LARGE ARMOR VEST through a newly unlocked door.
Now matter how fast you run, there's no way you can run back in time to save
Sasaki from a simple Grunt, however. You should have given him a Blaster or
something.
----[ Use Barrel Controls ]---------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Sasaki is gone. Use the control system to build a path to the upper ledge and
escape.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You might think this will be some kind of overly complicated puzzle, but nope.
Approach the console, and first click the lower-right button. Click the up
arrow, then click the upper-right button to load barrels on the platform.
Finally, click the down arrow. You now need to jump on top of the computer
console, then on top of the green barrels, and finally on top on the upper
ledge (on your left).
----[ Use Barrel Controls ]-----------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Follow this ledge around and through a red door. Enter the dark room beyond and
you'll see a hole on the right side. Approach it and a Grunt will jump out,
which you can quickly kill with the Shotgun. Jump down the hole to complete
this level.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: P U T R I F I C A T I O N C E N T E R :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x17]----
Yes, this is really a "Putrification Center", as opposed to "Purification
Center". I bet you can't wait to find out more about putrefaction and smelly
things. You start out the level on a conveyor belt, which will drop you onto
another one. Follow it into another room, and you'll drop down again. Be
careful not to be knocked off the conveyor belt by one of the containers moving
across the room. It's really easier than it sounds. Instead of leaving this
room through the door ahead, jump off the right side on the floor below. You
should find a SMALL ARMOR VEST here. Now turn around and cross over to the left
side of this platform. Go through the door here, and up the stairs to find a
LARGE HEALTH PACK and SLUGS. I like Slugs.
Jump back on the conveyor belt and follow it into the next room. This time
barrels are moving across the room at a much quicker pace, but if you time your
movement properly you'll have no problem making it through. Go through the next
room and into a larger one in which containers get transfered from one side to
the other. Quickly run across as soon as the containers have passed to the
other side. Ride the conveyor belt through two more rooms until you drop down
one level. Follow this new belt into the next room, taking care to avoid the
needles and bloody saws.
Exit the conveyor belt on the left side between the two saws to find a couple
dead marines and some loot. Loot includes: SMALL HEALTH PACK, SHOTGUN, NAILS,
SLUGS and two ARMOR SHARDS. Head back on the conveyor belt which leads you out
of this room. Jump down on the belt you'll see on the right, and then on your
left. Enter the next room, which contains two flamethrowers along the conveyor
belt for no apparent reason. Before running through those, you might notice a
ladder leading down to the ledges below. Down there, you'll find two CLIPS,
SHELLS and a LARGE HEALTH PACK in a crate, as well as a MACHINEGUN, a CLIP and
a SMALL ARMOR VEST near a dead marine. Go back on the conveyor belt and
carefully walk through the flamethrowers.
Watch out for the two needles as you enter the next room, and follow the belts
through another door. In this room, you'll want to jump on the platform on the
right (as opposed to falling to your doom), then jump on the upper conveyor
belt. Sigh. Did you think you were done? Almost. Simply follow the conveyor
belts through a couple more room, until you finally reach solid ground and two
Strogg Marines. Look on the left side of this room to find a semi-hidden crate
containing two SMALL HEALTH PACKS, BATTERIES and GRENADES.
In the next room, you'll encounter two more Strogg Marines, but also find two
LARGE HEALTH PACKS, a HEALTH STATION and a SMALL ARMOR VEST behind it. Face a
Tactical Transfer and a Gunner by going down the steps, both of which happen to
be allergic to bullets, plasma, nails, explosives and lightning. You can find a
SMALL HEALTH PACK on a crate up above, and then run up some stairs until you
come up to where the Gunner and Transfer first appeared. Could those living,
organic pipes be any more gross?
Don't stare at them too much, because just ahead you'll be attacked by three
Tactical Transfers. And if you're not careful, you may just end up very hurt. I
suggest using the Rocket Launcher to eliminate them quickly, though if you
wanna go with more conventional weapons, be sure to use the nearby crates as
cover. Run to the end of the hallway to discover a crate containing two LARGE
HEALTH PACKS, SLUGS, SHELLS and one ARMOR SHARD. Turn around and go through the
left door to enter another hallway, in which a Grunt will assault you. It looks
like you're heading towards the source of these squishy pipes, or intestines,
or whatever. Shoot at them if you don't believe me!
Enter the next hallway, home to a single Gunner. The Hyperblaster is perfect
here. Go through the next door to meet... the biggest and fattest Strogg you
have ever seen! Whoa. Fortunately, it can't move nor hit you from behind this
glass. So this thing is the Stroyent Processing Creature, aka "Fatty". Those
are Fatty's guts you've seen running through the whole facility. Kind of
impressive, when you think about it. I think Fatty's job is to process the
Stroyent that goes through him and extract some beneficial enzymes out of it.
Stroyent is apparently some goo made mostly of um, processed humans and
probably other disgusting stuff. You could say Stroyent is the Strogg
equivalent of wieners. Anyway, you need to get rid of Fatty.
----[ Destroy the Stroyent Processing Creature ]------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find a way to destroy the creature that controls the flow of fluids through
the Stroyent Dispersal Facility.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So proceed right and through the door at the end of the hallway. Turn around in
this room and head through the next door. You must now run in front of Fatty,
with no windows to protect you. If find it's easy enough if you just keep
running, never stop, and don't look back. He'll try to repeatedly hit you with
those massive hooks of his, which will cause equally massive damage if they
connect. If running doesn't work, you need to stop and hide behind the pillars
(stay very close to them) as you make your way across. Be warned that the
pillars can be destroyed if they get hit several times.
So at the end of this hallway is a green panel. Activate it to spray Fatty with
some green stuff he obviously doesn't like. Must be made of vegetables. He'll
get so angry he'll smash a window near you, so you can simply run back through
it. You'll see an unlocked door straight ahead, so run through it. I dunno what
they're doing with the human bodies in this room, but it doesn't look pleasant.
Grab a SMALL HEALTH PACK near the computers, then step on the lift and ride it
up. Proceed through this room, in which you can catch another SMALL HEALTH PACK
sitting on a crate. Run through the next hallway, once again full of mutilated
bodies.
You should now be back in Fatty's room, though on the upper level. This time,
you need to run towards the middle, while still using the pillars for cover.
From there, follow the short hallway and turn left when you can to find some
more computer panels. If you look closely, you'll see that this says Fatty's
abdomen is already at 93% capacity. Would you be able to kill him by
overfeeding him? Well, why don't you find out by clicking the "Initiate
Feeding" button. Haha! Eat that, Fatty! Literally. Oh my, that was gross. But
you still managed to kill him, even though you had no idea why you should do
so. It's one of those things you just know you gotta do, you know?
----[ Destroy the Stroyent Processing Creature ]--------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
So turn around, toggle your flashlight and follow the hallway right. You have
to backtrack all the way down to the lower level, in Ex-Fatty's chamber. Jump
through the broken window (it's a little tricky, but if you can't do it just
run all the way around) and get close to Fatty. Can you imagine the stench
right about now? I'd rather not. Carefully jump down the hole, caused by a
sudden release of powerful gastric acids. Then jump down the next hole on top
of the crates so you don't hurt yourself. You'll probably be attacked by up two
four Strogg Marines from the holes in the walls here, as a FYI.
Now you'll see two doors leading out of this room. Face them, and go through
the left door first. You'll find a crate here, containing two SMALL HEALTH
PACKS, LIGHTNING COILS and ROCKETS. Exit this room, make your way around the
previous room (don't fall in the pit!) and proceed through the right door.
You'll fight three more Strogg Marines in here, along with a Gunner. Loot the
crate near the entrance to find a CLIP, SHELLS, BATTERIES and NAILS. There's
also two boxes of ROCKETS, some GRENADES and a GRENADE LAUNCHER around the
room. And if you look really hard in one of the corners behind some crates, you
might even find a LARGE ARMOR VEST!
Make your way around this room, which will take you around the pit. There's
only one other door out of here anyway. Go through it, and you'll notice a
large opening in the floor and ceiling. Jump down the opening to complete this
level, but be sure to loot the nearby crate for a LARGE HEALTH PACK and some
SLUGS before doing so. And if you thought this level was pretty gross, you
ain't seen nothing yet.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: W A S T E P R O C E S S I N G F A C I L I T Y :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x18]----
This is just awesome. More waste! And not the pleasant human kind you're used
to either. So take a deep breath, and venture ahead. You get to meet up with
the first non-dead and non-stroggified human you've seen in quite a while:
Private Lanier of Eagle Squad. He's also trying to rejoin the others, though
the only tip he has for you is to avoid acid. You know, as opposed to bathing
yourself in it, like you do every morning. Actually, if you look up, you will
see this orange... thing that moves along the ceiling and sprays acid along the
way. Just don't walk underneath, is all.
Now then. Grab the LARGE HEALTH PACK nearby, and proceed through the small
tunnel on your right. You'll find SHELLS near the dead-end on your way. In the
next room, you'll see a barrel fall down on its own and someone... something
crawl out of it. Aaaargh! A zombie! Well yes and no. These happen to be
stroggified marines, just like you are, except the transfer failed horribly or
was botched for some reason. The result? A SLIMY TRANSFER. Yummy. Because they
are so easy to defeat, I recommend using either the Machinegun or Shotgun
throughout the waste tunnels. I tend to prefer the Machinegun, simply because
it has the flashlight. Of course, any other weapon will work equally well.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
SLIMY TRANSFER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [|||:::::::] : Toughness ........... [|:::::::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you think getting turned into a Strogg sucks, think again. Getting turned
into a Strogg AND have the transfer process fail halfway through is possibly
the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone, ever. The result is some
disgusting zombie-like creature, devoid of any intelligence and doomed to a
life of puking and eating Strogg waste (it's a vicious circle).
Anyway, the Slimy Transfer's main attack consists of vomiting acid in your
general direction, which is easily avoided if you simply step back far
enough. The acid can burn right through your armor, and can add up to some
significant damage if you stay in the puddles long enough. So don't. Because
Slimy Transfers have so little heath, feel free to use any weapon you want
to take them down.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e12]----
So look around this room to find a CLIP and three ARMOR SHARDS, then walk
through the next tunnel. Within it, you'll be attacked by another Slimy
Transfer as well as a FAILED TRANSFER, a (very) slightly less botched Transfer
who can actually use a Shotgun. Like their Slimy counterpart, they're still
pitifully easy to defeat.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
FAILED TRANSFER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [||::::::::] : Toughness ........... [|:::::::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Failed Transfers appear a little more human than their Slimy counterparts,
and retained just enough intelligence to fire a shotgun. Well barely. The
way they handle that shotgun, they're more of a threat to themselves than
anyone else. Show them how a real marine gets it done. Annoyingly, Failed
Transfers won't die immediately if you destroy the lower body. They can
still crawl around and leap at you until you finish them off for good. You
can avoid this situation entirely by shooting them in the head instead.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e13]----
Grab the GRENADES in this tunnel and exit into a large room. You'll get to
destroy two more Slimy Transfers and about a half-dozen Failed Transfer torsos
in this disgusting room. I wouldn't suggest leaving until you got them all, as
they could attack you from behind later on. Stupid sneaky zombies. There's also
a SMALL HEALTH PACK to be found around the large pillar. Leave through another
tunnel, in which you'll face one Failed Transfer. In the next room, you'll
notice two holes from which two Slimy Transfers will crawl out. Kill them, and
wait for two more to appear, and kill them again. That'll show them. You can
grab a SMALL HEALTH PACK hidden behind the crate on the right side.
Follow this new tunnel and you'll soon be attacked by a Failed Transfer coming
from the right. Look in the niche he came from to score some BATTERIES. Proceed
forward and you'll spot another hole in the left wall. Again, wait for two
Slimy Transfers to come out of it. Leave this tunnel for a smaller one, guarded
by a single Failed Transfer. Climb up the stairs on the other side to discover
two Slimy Transfers having lunch. Blow them away before they can puke their
lunch back at you. Follow this hallway into another, much bigger hallway.
You'll see some sort of machinery going back and forth across the room, in a
vain attempt to scrape the floor. They probably put this system in place after
the last ten janitors got eaten by zombies. Just avoid them so you don't get
caught in crushers. You should first pilfer the crate on the left for SHELLS,
GRENADES and a SMALL HEALTH PACK. You can then run to the other end of this
room, where you'll find a passage on the left. Just before it, you'll also find
BATTERIES near a marine corpse. So enter the hallway, grab the SMALL HEALTH
PACK near the ladder and climb it up to the upper level.
You'll see a LARGE HEALTH PACK and GRENADES just to your right. Proceed forward
and equip a strong weapon, such as the Nailgun or Railgun. You will have to
face no less than seven Tactical Transfers, three of which will come at you
from the front, and four on the other side of the room. Two of them use
Hyperblasters, and one has a Railgun, so be careful. Either use the crates for
cover, or run back far enough that you can simply snipe them with the Railgun.
Go through the door in the right wall to find a crate containing two LARGE
HEALTH PACKS, ROCKETS and GRENADES. You'll also find a crate behind the door at
the far end of this walkway, this one containing four ARMOR SHARDS, a SMALL
HEALTH PACK and SLUGS.
Locate the yellow panel near the first door, and click the "Toggle Bridge"
button. Run across this newly extended bridge, though beware the lone Tactical
Transfer that will show up. From the bridge, you can turn left and check behind
the door there to find a SMALL HEALTH PACK. You should then head the other way,
making sure you pick up the LIGHTNING COILS on the left. Run through the door
at the end to enter another hallway, in which you'll find two SMALL HEALTH
PACKS, SHELLS and BATTERIES. Head across the bridge and towards the next door,
but it will break down under your fat ass (it's impossible to make it through
the door).
At first you'll be attacked by four Slimy Transfers, who for some reason appear
to have more health than usual. I suggest using the Hyperblaster to destroy
them. Turn around and you'll discover a crate holding two boxes of ROCKETS, two
CLIPS and two SMALL HEALTH PACKS. A Slimy Transfer will also crawl out of a
barrel. Next head through the first tunnel on the left. You'll find a SMALL
ARMOR VEST and a Slimy Transfer around this dead-end, though watch out for the
acid sprays coming from above. Head back, and another Slimy Transfer as well as
a Failed Transfer will be waiting for you. Run to the end of this hallway to
find SHELLS and a SMALL HEALTH PACK, then head through the second tunnel on the
left side.
Again, you'll be attacked by several Transfers, both of the Slimy and Failed
kind. Straight ahead from the tunnel you can find a LARGE HEALTH PACK by
crawling under the wall. You must then run to the end of this passage and enter
the tunnel on the left, while watching out for the acid spray (there's a SMALL
HEALTH PACK on the way). Follow it until you join up with Private Lanier, who
must be feeling a whole lot better now that you're here. Before going up the
stairs, look through the small tunnel on the right to find a CLIP, GRENADES and
a LARGE ARMOR VEST. Now that you're well-protected, run upstairs and through
the door.
Back on the upper level, you'll be facing about seven more Tactical Transfers.
I suggest you stay near the doorway, and snipe them safely from a distance. Run
straight ahead into a small room, in which you can grab ROCKETS, a LARGE HEALTH
PACK and BATTERIES. Cross to the other side of the room using the bridge, turn
left here if you need a SMALL HEALTH PACK, otherwise turn right. You'll see
another bridge, so go across and through the door ahead. Note that if you fall
on the lower level at any time here, you can climb back up using the ladders.
You can pick up GRENADES and use the HEALTH STATION in this room, then head
through the next door. You'll face off against two Tactical Transfers and a
Gunner along this bridge, followed by four more Tactical Transfers. You can do
like Lanier and use the crates as cover or - my recommendation - snipe them
from the doorway with your Railgun. Again, if you fall here, climb back up
using the ladder. You'll find SHELLS near the entrance if you need some. So go
across the bridge, through a door and another bridge. Through this next door,
you'll encounter two more Tactical Transfers, and find some BATTERIES.
Cross yet another bridge (last one, I promise!) and look behind the crates just
ahead for a LARGE HEALTH PACK. Further ahead you'll also find a crate
containing two boxes of NAILS. If you look to your right from here, you should
see a SMALL ARMOR VEST, a CLIP and SHELLS on the lower level. Grab those if you
want, them climb the ladder back up. Follow Lanier until you reach a door and
go through it to meet up with two more marines: Tech Ruck and Medic Wong, the
last of Cobra Squad. It seems you're the only one who can get through the
security checkpoint ahead... lucky for them you showed up. And lucky for you,
Ruck will kindly upgrade your Rocket Launcher with the ROCKET HOMING MOD.
----[ Deactivate Laser Scanner ]----------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find a way to deactivate the laser scanner so the rest of the survivors can
get through.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grab the BATTERIES and CLIP nearby if you need them, then run through the laser
scanner. No worries, it won't cut you down or anything. Run through the door
ahead to trigger a cutscene. Lieutenant Voss is alive! Erm, wait, what the hell
did they do to him? He's been stroggified, that's what. Why couldn't they turn
YOU into something as cool as that? Certainly would have made the game easier.
Thus begins your first real boss battle.
----[ B O S S ]--------------------------------------------------------------
STROGG VOSS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [|||||||:::] : Toughness ........... [||||||::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The new and improved Voss has many weapons at his disposal, including homing
rockets, a lightning gun and the dreaded dark matter gun. He can also throw
some powerful swipes and punches at you, should you venture too close. And
as if his guns weren't big enough already, he can even summon Strogg Marines
to help him out, similar to what the Teleport Dropper does.
The homing rockets are fairly powerful and can be hard to avoid. Try moving
out of the way at the last second, or even jumping over them. The lightning
gun, on the other hand, has a rather short range and does pretty weak damage
(as long as you don't stay directly in the beam). But the attack you really
need to watch out for comes from the dark matter gun. Standing in the path
of the large projectile is bad enough, but getting caught in the massive
explosion it causes is even worse. This slow attack is easy enough to avoid
however, and you'll be safe if you stay far enough from walls.
For the duration of the battle, I recommend you always stay fairly close to
Voss (though out of his melee range, obviously). At this range, you'll have
an easier time shooting at his head (every other part of his body is heavily
armored), and Voss will mostly try to use his lightning gun, which of course
works to your advantage.
So start shooting Voss in the face, preferably with your Hyperblaster or
Lightning Gun. After you take down his shield, he will run to the nearest
recharge station to regenerate it. He is invincible while doing so, during
which you should instead concentrate on killing all the Strogg Marines he
summons. You'll have to repeat this pattern two more times, which means
destroying his shield and killing all the Strogg Marines that spawn while he
runs to the next recharge station. While you don't necessarily have to kill
all the Marines, I find it makes the fight easier when you only have Voss to
worry about.
After Voss has recharged his shield three times, switch to your Nailgun and
finish him off. You'll need to take down the shield once again, but he'll be
unable to regenerate it any further. Keep shooting and he'll go down quickly
enough. You can also use the Rocket Launcher if you're far enough, though as
I mentioned before I find it's safer to stay close.
Note that if you start getting low on health (and you probably will), you
can find several SMALL HEALTH PACKS and one LARGE HEALTH PACK scattered
around the room, as well as some SLUGS. Fun fact: the name Raven Software
used for this character (at least internally) appears to be "Boss Buddy". I
wonder why.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[b01]----
With the stroggified Voss out of the picture, go through the other door and
into a control room. Pick up the ROCKETS and SLUGS, as well as a LARGE HEALTH
PACK on top of some computers. Approach the red control panel and click
"Control Grid" so that your teammates may rejoin you.
----[ Deactivate Laser Scanner ]------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Follow them through the boss room and up to another door, which will
automatically unlock. Before you go any further, be sure to ask Ruck and Wong
to fully heal you. Enter the next room and immediately shoot down the explosive
barrel rolling down the stairs to your right. This will save you and your
teammates much pain. Also quickly take care of the Tactical Transfer nearby
(he should be around your left).
This long hallway will eventually lead you to the exit, but you've got about a
dozen Tactical Transfers and two Berserkers in the way. To get through this
easily, hang back with your buddies (near or behind some cover) and use your
Railgun to snipe all the stroggs you see in their ugly faces. When it's clear,
move on and repeat the process. You can also find some NAILS as you go along.
You'll soon reach the exit and be taken back to the Hannibal.
Sweet, sweet - yet temporary - freedom!
----[ Regroup ]-----------------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: O P E R A T I O N : L A S T H O P E :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x19]----
As this level begins, a couple of marines doctors will be doing some research
on you to make sure that you're safe enough to yourself and to others. You'll
then meet up with Sledge (who apparently got promoted to Sergeant), who will
escort you to the briefing room.
----[ Report to Briefing ]----------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Make your way through the Hannibal and find Rhino Squad's briefing room for
your next mission.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So much for resting. You should be already familiar with the Hannibal's layout,
so just make your way out of the medical facilities and into the briefing room.
You'll notice that the other marines on board are a lot less friendly this time
around. You can't judge someone because he happens to look exactly like your
most hated and feared enemy. Sheesh! Anyways, meet what's left of Rhino Squad
in the briefing room.
----[ Report to Briefing ]------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
So it appears the original plan to destroy the Nexus sucked, and General Harper
will explain that they've come up with a new one. And, like all the brilliant
plans in the history of the world, its success will pretty much depend on one
man: you. It seems you're gonna have to take down the Nexus from the core,
which really makes sense when you think about it. The briefing is cut short(er)
when the Strogg begin invading the Hannibal.
----[ Gear Up ]---------------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find the armory and resupply.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Run into the Armory and meet up with Sergeant Swekel to get your gear back, as
well as an EXTENDED CLIP MOD for your Shotgun! This mod makes the Shotgun a
much more useful weapon, by cutting down the reload time significantly.
----[ Gear Up ]-----------------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Report to Drop Pod Launch Bay ]-----------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Hightail it to the drop pod launch center and fire yourself towards the
Storage tower.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm not sure I like the sound of "firing yourself" anywhere, but you still need
to run towards the Drop Pod Launch Bay. Once you reach the right launch bay,
you'll have to unlock the door by clicking the green panel first. Click "Enter"
on the pod that suitably says "Bringing Death".
----[ Report to Drop Pod Launch Bay ]-------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: D A T A S T O R A G E T E R M I N A L :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x20]----
Enjoy the ride, and miraculously survive crashing through the tower. Good thing
those pods are built solid. Must be Made in America right? Ahem. So pick up
some LIGHTNING COILS to your left, and please equip something else than the
Blaster. There's also a HEALTH STATION nearby, but I don't know why you would
need it right now.
----[ Regroup ]---------------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find LT. Hollenbeck.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You'll have the honor of being followed by Tech Marine Shockley for a while,
for all your armor maintenance needs. Proceed forward (you can find a SMALL
HEALTH PACK on the right side of the room) and go through the only unlocked
door. You can take a shortcut if you run through the fire on the right side in
this hallway, but it's not really worth it. Or healthy. So run into the next
room, taking on one Grunt. Head through the door and take care of the Gunner
straight ahead. You'll then face two Tactical Marines inside the next room,
followed by two more. Remember Shockley if you get damaged. Proceed through the
next door and you'll be back where the Gunner was before.
Now look where the broken pipe is, from which flames are coming out. Since the
railing is broken here, crawl under it and walk on the pipe to grab a LARGE
ARMOR VEST. Keep walking on the pipes until you drop down into another room.
This is where you'd be if you took the shortcut from before. Head through the
door here and fight a lone Grunt in the next room. Walk up to the lift, call it
down and ride it to the upper level. Run through this area and past the crashed
Drop Pod. Walk on the steel girder and crouch to enter the room ahead. You'll
find Lieutenant Hollenbeck to your left, as well as GRENADES, BATTERIES and two
LARGE HEALTH PACK.
----[ Regroup ]-----------------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Reactivate TSD's ]------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Get down to Distribution and reactivate the torso storage devices. Then return
to the hangar.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TSDs aren't to be confused with STDs. Both are kinda gross, though. Turn around
(facing away from Hollenbeck) and run through the door ahead. You'll find a
computer panel here and a SMALL ARMOR VEST. Click "Assign Repair Bots" to have
them put out the big fire in the room below. You can then jump down here
directly and take a little damage to save time, or backtrack safely by using
the lift. Whatever the case, run through the door that was behind the fire and
grab the SMALL ARMOR VEST on the way. You'll get to witness a Grunt die in a
fire here, so I suggest you promptly point and laugh. That felt good.
Head into the next room, in which you'll see four Repair Bots working on a gun
surrounded by some strange dark matter. Could it be the DARK MATTER GUN? Why,
yes. Yes it is. Destroy the Repair Bots, and you'll be able to get your hands
on this most glorious weapon. Note that as soon as you pick it up, about a
dozen (probably more) Strogg Marines will walk into the room - a perfect
opportunity to try out the DMG. Because using it on a single Strogg Marine is
overkill, try to run around so that they get grouped up together, then fire.
Aww yeah.
----[ W E A P O N ]------------------------------------[ Default Key: 0 ]----
DARK MATTER GUN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clip Size .................... 1 : Power ............... [||||||||||]
Max Ammo ..................... 25 : Speed ............... [|:::::::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I won't pretend to know what dark matter is, or how it can be contained
within a weapon. What I do know is that the Dark Matter Gun (or DMG) is
incredibly slow, yet incredibly powerful. The large dark matter projectile
will heavily damage anything it passes through, as well as damage nearby
enemies. The projectile will form a huge explosion upon hitting a wall or
other obstacle, and any enemies caught within the blast radius will take
further damage. Perfect for clearing groups of enemies.
The DMG's biggest drawback is the reload time. It will take a full two
seconds before you're ready to fire again, though considering the amount of
devastation a single shot can cause, this isn't always such a big issue.
Still, I wouldn't recommend using it against some of the toughest stroggs
out there, such as Light Tanks and Heavy Hovertanks (unless you plan on
taking out several weaker enemies at the same time).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: AMMO : Dark Matter Cores (5) - Dark Matter Gun (10) :
--------------------------------------------------------------------[w10]----
With all the Marines dead, the two doors at the opposite end of the room will
be unlocked. Go through the one on the right to enter a room with a large
elevator in the middle, and meet up with two members of Eagle Squad. Look
around in this room to find two BATTERIES, two LIGHTNING COILS, two boxes of
SHELLS and a SMALL ARMOR VEST. Then call the elevator and ride it down with
Rutger and Mills into the next level.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: D A T A S T O R A G E S E C U R I T Y :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x21]----
As you're riding down, Rutger will decide to upgrade your Railgun with the RAIL
PENETRATION MOD. How nice, though I don't think this mod is very useful. Once
you arrive at the bottom, take out your Machinegun and turn on the flashlight.
Sure is dark down here. Make your way through the first room, until you spot a
marine torso on the ground. Look on your left to discover two SMALL HEALTH
PACKS, LIGHTNING COILS and SLUGS. You'll also find a SMALL ARMOR VEST in the
room on the right, and three ARMOR SHARDS in the room further ahead, though
with Rutger still with you, you don't need any of that.
Proceed to the second door on the right to enter another room with a HEALTH
STATION. Continue through the hallways, and eventually you'll spot a crate on
your right containing two SMALL HEALTH PACKS, ROCKETS, BATTERIES and GRENADES.
Hmm, so much ammo lying around, yet no enemies. Haha, right. Now run through a
few more rooms, and you'll eventually reach the "TSD Transfer System" computer
panel. But as you approach, one of those strange coffins hanging on the walls
will open up, revealing an IRON MAIDEN - a strong enemy not to be confused with
the metal band. Quickly take care of it with your Hyperblaster or Nailgun.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
IRON MAIDEN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [||||||||::] : Toughness ........... [||||||::::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Up to this point, did you ever find yourself thinking "Hmm, I wonder where
all the sexy Strogg women are at"? Well here they are, kind of. Iron Maidens
can float around and teleport themselves in and out of existence (you can't
hurt them while they're invisible). They will usually attack you by firing
up to three rockets, which are powerful but easy to dodge by strafing.
Iron Maidens can scream at you like a banshee if they get close enough,
which won't cause much damage but has the annoying side-effect of distorting
your vision for a while. They can also punch you in melee range, but I'm not
sure if that's even worth mentioning at this point. Weapon recommendations?
Hyperblaster, Nailgun, Rocket Launcher, Lightning Gun, Dark Matter Gun...
it's all good really. As long as you don't stop moving.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e14]----
I hate Iron Maidens, and I'm sure you'll learn to hate them too. Run back to
the computer panel now, and click the "Reactivate" button. Something tells me
you reactivated more than just the TSDs down there.
----[ Reactivate TSD's ]--------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Regroup ]---------------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find LT. Hollenbeck.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time to backtrack. Trackback. Kcartkcab. In the first room, you'll face a
single Iron Maiden. A good occasion to get more practice in taking down those
bitches. Head to the large door and click the panel besides it to open it.
You'll face two Tactical Transfers in the next room. Then one Iron Maiden in
the following room. Unlock another door, and face another Iron Maiden, who this
time will try to attack you from behind. Grab anything you might have
previously left in the crate here, and unlock the next door. Equip your Rocket
Launcher, and walk through another door. You'll come face to face with a
Teleport Dropper, though three rockets should be enough to kill it before it
can even spawn anything.
Kill the Iron Maiden further ahead and make use of the HEALTH STATION if you
need to. The next room only has one Iron Maiden, so kill it then unlock the
door. Next room contains two Tactical Transfers, and remember you can grab an
armor vest in the room on the left, which you would only need if you let Rutger
die. The next room (from which the Transfer came from) has one Iron Maiden
ready to rock out. Unlock another door, and face... an empty coffin. HA!
Finally backtrack to the elevator room, in which you'll face your ultimate
challenge on this easy level: two Iron Maidens! Oh boy. Kill them easily with
the Nailgun, and ride the elevator back up to exit this level. It doesn't
matter if Rutger and Mills survived this far or not, as they'll choose to stay
down here anyway.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: D A T A S T O R A G E T E R M I N A L ( R E V I S I T E D ) :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x22]----
</pre><pre id="faqspan-5">
You'll immediately meet up with Hollenbeck, who has another mission for you.
----[ Regroup ]-----------------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Open Hangar Doors ]-----------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Gain access to the hangar control room and open both sets of doors.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sounds simple enough. Loot the crates in this room to find SHELLS and LIGHTNING
COILS, as well as a SMALL ARMOR VEST. I think the goodies will be there even if
you picked them up previously. So exit this room and you'll face two Berserkers
where you found the DMG before. Funnily enough, Hollenbeck can be killed by
those. Exit this room the opposite way, and run through the next room to find a
lift and a Gunner. Call the lift and ride it to the upper level. Head through
the door straight ahead, and get two SMALL HEALTH PACKS, BATTERIES and GRENADES
in the crate. Go through the other door to reach a cool-looking tower. I would
assume this blue thing is the Nexus data stream, traveling through the
different towers. Who cares.
Click the "Activate Bridge" panel (not like you have a choice, besides falling
to your doom), and run through the door called "HANGAR3". You'll meet a Gunner
up ahead, and hear a loud and very unsettling roar. Go through the door to find
the hangar bay. Naturally, click the "Open Hangar" button to open the first
door, as Falcon 1 is getting very impatient with you. Now walk along the right
side and call the lift. Ride it to the lower level, where you'll find a door.
Enter it and call another lift, which you'll then ride back up. It's almost
like a very boring amusement park ride.
Nothing in this room, so exit via the door. You'll now face two Light Tanks at
once, which can be kind of a challenge. Always stay on the move and keep as
much distance between you and them as you can. Hyperblaster, Nailgun, Rocket
Launcher are good choices, or the Dark Matter Gun if you feel like wasting ammo
(I wouldn't). You'll notice another elevator in the center of the room, so call
it. While you wait, check behind the elevator to find a HEALTH STATION. Once it
arrives, ride it back up a long ways to arrive in the hangar control room,
which is full of computer screens. Click the "Open Door" button, and watch
Falcon 1 land inside the tower through the monitor.
----[ Open Hangar Doors ]-------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Turn around and rid-- did you just see something big and nasty on the monitor?
Must be your imagination. *cough* As I was saying, ride the lift down to embark
on another exciting backtracking adventure. It seems something went horribly
wrong in the hangar though, and Rhodes wants you to find him.
----[ Find Rhodes ]-----------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Locate Rhodes and continue on with your mission.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exit the room, step on the lift and go down. Go back in the hangar and get your
first (second?) look at the huge Network Guardian, protector of all these here
towers. Fortunately it didn't see you. Go to the other side of the hangar and
ride the lift to the upper level. Head right to meet up with several members of
Badger Squad. Tech Marine Hart will even give you a BOUNCE SHOT MOD for your
Hyperblaster. As he said, this will make it a little more useful in close
quarters by making your shots bounce around the walls. Grab the SHOTGUN and
exit the hangar area to find Rhodes. Strauss will inform you both that you must
find the security stations on top of each towers to gain access to the Core.
Better start with the one on this tower.
----[ Find Rhodes ]-------------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Locate Security Station ]-----------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Locate the security station - There is one security station in each terminal
that must be disabled to gain access to the core.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head back into the tower area with the blue beam, and run through the door
marked "ROOF-SS". Take care of the Grunt here (Rhodes is a handy partner to
have, with his Hyperblaster) and head into the next room. Head downstairs and
you'll reach a large, sort of circular room. Look around the crate to find two
LARGE HEALTH PACKS, two CLIPS, a SMALL ARMOR VEST, BATTERIES and GRENADES. Go
behind the windows to find a "Call Lift" panel, which you'll immediately press
out of habit. While the elevator arrives, about five Tactical Transfers will
run into the room, which should prove no problem for you and Rhodes. A Grunt
will also arrive on the elevator. Get on it and ride it up.
As you're going up, look outside for a really nice view of the Nexus Core, and
the two other towers in the distance. Here's hoping you're not afraid of
heights. When you arrive, exit the room and go through the door in the short
hallway. Use the HEALTH STATION in here if you need, then run through a few
more doors until you reach another lift. In this hallway you'll also find three
SMALL HEALTH PACKS, SLUGS, SHELLS, NAILS and a LARGE ARMOR VEST. Good stuff.
Ride up the lift and leave it to find yourself on the tower's roof. A Strogg
Flyer will come in and drop four Tactical Transfers for you and Rhodes to
fight. Apparently it didn't occur to them that if you managed to make it this
far, it might take a little more than that to stop you.
Run to the very edge of the roof (don't look down!) to find the first security
console. Click "Reactivate" and watch the pretty animation. One tower down, two
more to go. Unfortunately, Rhodes must stay behind to guard this one.
----[ Locate Security Station ]-------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Return to Tram Station ]------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Take the elevator located in the central shaft back down to the tram station
and make your way to the Data Processing Tower.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm not sure how you can "return" to the tram station, as you've never been
there before. Regardless, turn around and you should see a LARGE HEALTH PACK
below the stairs leading up to the roof. Now run back inside the tower and ride
the lift down. Run through this hallway and a few more rooms to reach a new
elevator, facing the tower's interior. Step on the elevator and activate it to
exit this level. It's a loooong way down.
----[ Return to Tram Station ]--------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: T R A M H U B S T A T I O N :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x23]----
----[ Locate Tram Car ]-------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find a tram in order to get to the Data Processing Tower.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exit the elevator to get your hands on a whole lot of stuff, such as two LARGE
HEALTH PACKS, SHELLS, GRENADES, SLUGS, LIGHTNING COILS and ROCKETS. Proceed in
the next room, which contains two Strogg Marines, a Gunner, four CLIPS and a
SMALL ARMOR VEST. You can tell things aren't going too well around here. Step
into the next room to find a SMALL HEALTH PACK. After all the lights have
turned on, head forward to face two Berserkers, followed by a Light Tank and
two Strogg Marines. Backpedal as much as you need, and use your strong weapons.
You'll find two unlocked doors at the end of this hallway; go through the left
one first to find some DARK MATTER CORES and LIGHTNING COILS.
Run through the other door to find SHELLS and two CLIPS. Run outside and assist
Medic Duncanson and Tech Ashworth taking out the two Tactical Transfers ahead.
----[ Raise the bridge ]------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Help Scorpion Squad raise the bridge. From there you can proceed to the tram
hub area.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grab the LARGE HEALTH PACK on the right, then wait for a Strogg Flyer to drop
off four more Tactical Transfers. Find some cover, and snipe them all with your
Railgun. After the fight, rejoin Ashworth near the locked door and he will give
your Lightning Gun the very nice CHAIN LIGHTNING MOD. You can now hit multiple
targets with it, which can come in handy. Speaking of which, follow your
teammates through the door, and battle five Tactical Transfers and one Gunner
in this hallway. You can try your new mod here, or just use the Grenade or
Rocket Launcher. Scorpion Squad will want you to ride the lift here, but before
doing so, you can find a LOT of stuff lying around if you care to do some
exploration.
First, get the Tech and Medic to fully patch you up. Head towards the door
directly opposite of the lift and unlock it. Beyond it you'll find SHELLS, two
CLIPS and ROCKETS. Head back inside, turn right in the hallway and head
straight through the door. You'll find a HEALTH STATION here along with five
ARMOR SHARDS. Exit this room, and unlock the door to your left. Head back
outside, then through the other door on the left to find two CLIPS and a SMALL
HEALTH PACK. Outside again, run past the landing area (where the Strogg Flyer
came earlier) to find four ARMOR SHARDS and two SMALL HEALTH PACKS. If any of
this stuff interests you, go for it. Otherwise, remember those in case you need
some of that later.
When you're ready, go back in the hallway and ride the lift up to the second
level. You'll face two Berserkers in here, after which you can go through the
door named "Bridge Control". Simply click the "Activate Bridge" panel inside.
----[ Raise the bridge ]--------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Go back down and rejoin Scorpion Squad. Head outside through the door straight
ahead, and help secure the bridge. You'll face a Strogg Marine, a Gunner and
Gladiator. The Railgun or Rocket Launcher are good options, or whatever else
you prefer. Ask Duncanson and Ashworth to fix you up one last time, then cross
the bridge and proceed through the door on the right side. There are SHELLS,
four CLIPS and two SMALL HEALTH PACKS in this hallway, as well as a Strogg
Marine. Grab what you need and head inside the tram hub. You'll find more
SHELLS, CLIPS and two SMALL HEALTH PACKS here. Walk forward and take care of
the three Tactical Transfers with your Railgun.
You'll notice that the door is locked here, but look behind the nearby computer
to claim five ARMOR SHARDS for yourself. Drop down into the area where you see
several pipes. Turn around and crawl under the floor to find some DARK MATTER
CORES. Now follow the blue pipe up to the ledge, and step on the steel girders
to the right. Follow the girders to the center, then turn left and cross to the
other side of the room. Jump back up on the platform and follow it up some
steps. You'll find BATTERIES and two LIGHTNING COILS on the left. Follow the
path leading back to the locked door you passed before, to find some crates
containing CLIPS, SHELLS, GRENADES and BATTERIES.
Turn around and head through the door that's on the right side of this room.
You'll battle five Strogg Marines in this hallway, and find a crate in the
corner holding SLUGS and BATTERIES. Follow this hallway to the next room, which
contains GRENADES and ROCKETS. Go through the next door and ride the lift down
to meet with Cortez. You must now find a way to rotate the tram before you can
get out of here, because putting such controls on the tram itself would have
been too obvious.
----[ Align Tram Car ]--------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Activate the hub station to rotate the tram on to the correct course.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow Cortez to the "Hub Controls" door, taking note of the nearby SMALL
HEALTH PACK. Inside, you'll have to kill four Strogg Marines and one Gunner.
Look for the crate ahead and its SMALL HEALTH PACKS, SHELLS and CLIP. In the
next room, you'll face much tougher foes, meaning five Tactical Transfers and
one Light Tank. Head back and snipe if you want, while Cortez works his Shotgun
magic. You'll also find two SLUGS around here, as well as a LARGE HEALTH PACK
and a bunch of ARMOR SHARDS in a crate. Go through the next door, and take care
of the two Tactical Transfers and Gladiator with your Rocket Launcher (or
Railgun). Two Strogg Marines will show up above afterwards.
Look on the left side and click the "Expand" panel. What a fancy looking
bridge. Cross to the other side and proceed through the door. Sure got quiet
all of a sudden hasn't it? Follow this passage up to the upper level, on which
you'll find GRENADES, NAILS, BATTERIES, SHELLS and CLIPS. Enter the door named
"Hub Monitoring" and look at the monitor. Don't think this marine will survive
long with half his face missing... Well, continue forward to face one Strogg
Marine, and find a HEALTH STATION on the left side. Enter the hub control room,
and take a look at the smaller panel. Simply click the left arrow to rotate the
tram car. Too bad the track is damaged too. Dammit.
----[ Repair Tram Rail ]------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Redirect repair bots to repair the broken tram rail.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exit this room through the newly unlocked door. Grab some BATTERIES and
LIGHTNING COILS, then climb down the ladder here. You need to run to the other
side of the platform, on the lift identified as "Construction". Ride it down,
and go through the doors ahead. You'll see a Teleport Dropper in the hallway,
but it runs away. Follow the passage, and you'll discover some ARMOR SHARDS,
two CLIPS and a SMALL HEALTH PACK. Crawl through the lower passage, and jump
into another area, to face a Grunt. Did you ever notice how Grunts often like
to make dramatic entrances?
Walk forward, and watch out for the Gunner above. Use the Rocket Launcher for a
quick kill. You can grab the two SMALL HEALTH PACKS behind a nearby barrel. Go
around this room and back into the hallway to find a door. Through this door
you'll immediately find some SHELLS and two more SMALL HEALTH PACKS. Just
further ahead are BATTERIES and SLUGS near a crate. After you advance in the
room, the lights will completely go out. Uh oh. Just wait right where you are
and they'll soon come back on. As they do, two Berserkers will drop from the
ceiling, and two Strogg Marines will attack. Shotgun, Hyperblaster... hmm.
Nailgun? Sure. Whatever works.
Before you leave this room, look in a corner to find four ARMOR SHARDS and a
SMALL HEALTH PACK. Look near the center and you should spot a marine's feet
hanging down from the ceiling. You can use the crates here to jump up onto the
ceiling. This semi-secret area holds a SMALL ARMOR VEST and a LARGE HEALTH
PACK. Ready your Rocket Launcher or Lightning Gun and leave this room through
the only door you can open. Into this large construction area, you'll encounter
a Teleport Dropper who likes to summon many Grunts. The quicker you kill it,
the easier this'll be.
There's nothing else to find in this area, so head through the other door with
the annoying strobe light. Click the blue "Engage" panel here to start up the
machinery in this room. Avoid any large moving objects, and run towards the
back of this area to find a door. Unlock it with the nearby panel, and enter
the familiar area beyond. Jump on the conveyor belt on your left, and wait on
the lift until it rises up (only once a plate arrives). Jump off on the upper
level, and go through the closest door (on your right). Run through this room
to find a LARGE HEALTH PACK and LARGE ARMOR VEST in the next one.
Backtrack a bit and proceed through the other door. This room is home to four
Tactical Transfers, but there's plenty of cover for you to use. Head across the
door marked "Repair Bot Controls" to find the control room. Click the "Assign
Repair Bots" button and they'll know exactly what to do.
----[ Repair Tram Rail ]--------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Gotta return to the tram again, and hope nothing else goes wrong. Exit the
control room, and locate the lift on the right side. Ride it down and proceed
forward through the hallway. Soon enough you'll find yourself back outside,
near the tram hub. Run forward, take the lift back up, and meet Cortez on the
tram car. Finally!
----[ Locate Tram Car ]---------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: T R A M R A I L :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x24]----
This level is another rail shooter... quite literally. You'll be manning the
now-familiar Machine Gun that you've used on every other vehicle so far. Like
all other vehicles, the tram car's armor will regenerate slowly after it has
taken damage. It's armor is pretty weak however, so stay alert. Enemies will
always come from behind (you can't even look forward).
----[ Protect Tram Car ]------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Keep the strogg off your back so the tram can reach Data Processing in one
piece.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First off, two Strogg Flyers will pass overhead. While you can certainly shoot
them down, they don't cause all that much damage if you don't. Your main
threats will come from other tram cars, riding alongside you. They usually have
a couple Tactical Transfers on them who will try to shoot down your tram car.
The thing is you don't even need to shoot down the Tactical Transfers, but
rather you should destroy the tram they're riding on. Tram cars don't have much
armor, and can be destroyed in mere seconds. They'll usually attack in waves of
two, with a tram coming from the left, then right. Just listen to Cortez call
out which direction they're coming from. A Strogg Flyer might show up once in a
while, between two waves.
After destroying fifteen or so tram cars, you'll reach the end of the level (it
seems to vary a bit, I'm not sure why). And that's about all you need to know
to complete this ridiculously easy level.
----[ Protect Tram Car ]--------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: D A T A P R O C E S S I N G T E R M I N A L :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x25]----
Here's where you get off, but it seems Cortez is needed elsewhere. Too bad.
Step off the tram and let him go.
----[ Proceed to the Tower Rooftop ]------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Work your way up through the tower to the roof to activate the connection to
the Core building.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's plenty of junk up for grabs here, so look around to find GRENADES,
BATTERIES, a LARGE HEALTH PACK, SMALL HEALTH PACK, CLIP, NAILS, three LIGHTNING
COILS, a LARGE ARMOR VEST, ROCKETS, and some SHELLS. While you're busy looting
your heart out, Morris will give you another mission.
----[ Return Power to the Processing Tower ]----------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find a way to bring the Data Processing Tower back on-line.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exit this room through the door. Nothing in here except an elevator in the
middle, so call it. Ride it up inside the tower, and shoot down the repair bot
for fun. You'll see a door on each side here, though you obviously want to go
for the unlocked one. Click the "Activate Bridge" panel for that door, and
cross the bridge to the other side. Follow the path left to find a crate
containing two LARGE HEALTH PACKS, and check the opposite side to find NAILS
and ROCKETS. Go through the door now, and kill the Gunner in the next room.
You'll also find two teleporters on each sides of the room. Shoot them up and
destroy them all. Better safe than sorry, I say. You'll also find a crate here,
containing two LARGE HEALTH PACKS and a SMALL ARMOR VEST.
Head into the next room. Now this place kinda sucks. There are two teleporters
in the back of the room who can spawn up to three Tactical Transfers each. You
will also have one Gladiator to take care of at the same time. The sooner you
destroy the teleporters, the less Tactical Transfers you'll have to deal with,
though it's by no means necessary. There's more than enough cover around here
that you can use to your advantage anyway. Once the room is cleared of all
enemies, proceed through the next door. Walk forward and wait for the bridge to
expand, allowing you to reach the control panel ahead. Click "Activate Power"
to complete your first objective in this tower.
----[ Return Power to the Processing Tower ]------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Before you leave, look at the back of this platform to find a LARGE HEALTH PACK
and a SMALL ARMOR VEST. Run back into the sucky room from before, which will
attain whole new levels of suck. You'll first be attacked by an Iron Maiden
(miss her?). Following that, a Teleport Dropper and a second Iron Maiden will
attack. Kill the Dropper as quickly as possible as you try to avoid the Maiden.
After that, a Light Tank will show up, to see if you let your guard down. Keep
moving and gun it down with your favored weapon. With the room cleared (again),
backtrack into the previous room. If you didn't destroy the teleporters in here
like I told you to, they can spawn up to two Tactical Marines each (for a total
of eight, for the mathematically challenged). Return to the central tower to
meet up with Sledge.
----[ Activate Elevator System ]----------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Call down the elevator in the room ahead, it will allow you and Sledge to
reach the top levels.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So activate the other bridge that will allow you to get across and through the
next door. Grab two SMALL HEALTH PACKS left of the entrance, and proceed
forward. Strauss will tell you about data pumps, and the fact you should expect
heavy resistance ahead. No kidding. Follow the left path around this room,
which will take you past a crate holding six ARMOR SHARDS. On the other side,
you'll find two boxes of ROCKETS, three SLUGS, a crate holding SHELLS and a
LARGE HEALTH PACK, as well as a HEALTH STATION. Grab everything you need before
you click the large "Call Lift" button.
----[ Activate Elevator System ]------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Before the lift arrives, you will be attacked by three Stream Protectors,
though thankfully not all at once. With Sledge's help, take out each one using
your Hyperblaster, Nailgun, Rocket Launcher or really, whatever you think might
work. Those are only my picks. If that wasn't enough, a teleporter will
activate on one side of the room, which will spawn many Tactical Transfers. You
might want to get over there and destroy it to stop them from coming, and
you'll even find a LARGE HEALTH PACK for your trouble.
After things have calmed down a little, rejoin Sledge on the elevator to finish
this level. Note that killing the Tactical Transfers are very much optional,
but I just hate leaving any stones unturned.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: D A T A P R O C E S S I N G S E C U R I T Y :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x26]----
The elevator will stop at floor 1986. I wonder if it has any significance. As
you might expect, you'll have to take care of another problem before you can
continue further.
----[ Realign the Data Nodes ]------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Some of the data nodes are out of alignment and may impede progress. You will
need to realign these nodes to allow access to the roof.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Look around you to find two LIGHTNING COILS and some NAILS. Proceed into the
hallway ahead, and fight it out with two Tactical Transfers and a Gunner. This
is easy with Sledge's help. Grab the SMALL ARMOR VEST in the corner and run
into the next room. This time a Berserker will run towards you, as well as
three Tactical Transfers. Grab the DARK MATTER CORES here and exit through the
door. Follow this hallway around and back into the previous room, where an Iron
Maiden awaits. Look to the right of her coffin to find a LARGE HEALTH PACK. Use
the "Call Lift" button here, and ride it back down.
Hmm, seems like Cougar Squad is running into some big trouble. But you have
your own troubles to deal with, in the form of five Tactical Transfers and
three Gunners. Keep your distances and seek cover when needed. Make your way
around the room until you reach the locked door. Strauss can't do anything for
you, so head left and up the stairs. Follow this path all the way to the end to
find NAILS and two LIGHTNING COILS. Backtrack a little and you'll see a console
on the right, along with a crate holding SHELLS, BATTERIES and a LARGE HEALTH
PACK. Look at the panel, and simply click the left arrow or the right arrow
twice. It doesn't matter which.
Run back to Sledge and head into the next room. You'll be attacked by two
Sentries coming up from the left. Yeah, long time no see. Run through the door
on the right, and make your way around the fire to find a SMALL HEALTH PACK,
four ARMOR SHARDS, SHELLS, CLIPS, NAILS and a MACHINEGUN. Go through the door,
run up a few steps, then follow Sledge up to some computer panels. Click "Open
Seal" to open up the area ahead, from which an Iron Maiden will attack. This is
a simple connect-the-beams puzzle type thing, but you can't activate it from
here. Run back down and head along the hallway on the right. You should soon
discover a lift, which you'll want to ride up.
Follow this bloody hallway until you reach another computer console, which
allows you to rotate the eight reflectors below. You need to rotate them so
that the beam can reach the door on the other side. Refer to the following.
----- ----- -----
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
----- ----- -----
| 4 | | 5 |
----- ----- -----
| 6 | 7 | 8 |
----- ----- -----
Look at the computer panel, and click the following buttons: 6 twice, 4 three
times, 5 once, and finally 2 twice. There are many other solutions to this
puzzle, this is only one. Experiment as much as you want if you're bored.
Now run back to the lower level and rejoin Sledge. Run through the door you've
just unlocked, and make your way through the empty room beyond. In the next
room, you'll encounter a Sentry, three Tactical Transfers and one Berserker.
Again, this could be hard only if Sledge wasn't with you. Follow the path
around the room, watching out for two more Sentries who'll attack from the left
and possibly one Tactical Transfer ahead. As you reach the end of this path, a
Light Tank will come out of an elevator, which you'll of course want to shoot
down from a distance.
Get on that lift and ride it up. Kill the Gladiator ahead, then look around the
room to find a SMALL ARMOR VEST and a HEALTH STATION. Follow the hallway and
run through the door the Gladiator came from. You'll find yourself in a
circular control room, in which two Iron Maidens dwell. Shoot 'em up with the
Nailgun or Lightning Gun. Locate the only panel here and click the "Lower"
button. A bridge will automatically appear so you can rejoin Sledge.
----[ Realign the Data Nodes ]--------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Proceed through the unlocked door ahead and make your way around this room to
find two teleporters and two Iron Maidens. Destroy the teleporters before you
kill both Maidens, or else they'll start spawning several Strogg Marines, in
addition to the Light Tank that walks into the room. Kill the Light Tank with
your Dark Matter Gun for a guaranteed good time. Enter the next room, and take
a left first. Walk towards the back, then under the floor to find a LARGE
HEALTH PACK and LARGE ARMOR VEST. Then go upstairs towards the door, though
check out the crate first for three SMALL HEALTH PACKS and four ARMOR SHARDS.
Go through the door and join Sledge on the lift.
Activate the lift, which will take you near the top of the tower. Exit the lift
and grab the HYPERBLASTER in the room beyond. Go through the door on the right
to find a large room full of stuff, as well as Cougar Squad's remains. I'm sure
they were all nice people. You'll find two MACHINEGUNS, SHELLS, ARMOR SHARDS, a
SMALL ARMOR VEST, a HYPERBLASTER and some ROCKETS. Exit this room into another
who should look familiar. Go through the other door and follow the hallway to
another lift.
Ride up the lift to finally reach the rooftop of this tower. You will face a
Gladiator here, as well as two enemies who should look pretty familiar: HEAVY
HOVERTANKS. They're actually a smaller version of the ones you encountered
before, though they still remain pretty dangerous. Don't be afraid of using
your most powerful weapons here, such as the Rocket Launcher or Lightning Gun.
----[ E N E M Y ]------------------------------------------------------------
HEAVY HOVERTANK
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [||||||||||] : Toughness ........... [|||||||||:]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's heavy, it... hovers... and I'm totally running out of things to say at
this point. The Heavy Hovertank is certainly one of the toughest enemies in
the game, though fortunately you'll face very few of them. It has two main
attacks: a heavy blaster, as well as the biggest rocket launcher you've ever
seen on a Strogg before.
The blaster shots, while fairly powerful, are easy to dodge most of the
time. The rockets can be another matter. A direct-hit will cause a ton of
damage and can send you flying across the area (which is bad if there are
pits nearby). Rockets aren't so easy to dodge either, due to their homing
capabilities. Your best options? Try to outrun the rockets and force them to
hit an obstacle, or simply shoot them down before they get too close.
The Nailgun or Rocket Launcher are decent options against a Heavy Hovertank,
though if you want an easier time destroying those rockets before they hit
you, I'd suggest using the Hyperblaster or Lightning Gun.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[e15]----
Now all that's left to do here is to run up to the security console and
activate the second tower. Sledge will of course need to stay behind to protect
the console, which means you need to get back to the tram alone.
----[ Proceed to the Tower Rooftop ]--------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ Return to Tram Station ]------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Make your way back to the tram station and get to the Data Networking Tower.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Backtrack into the lift and ride it down. Simply run back through the next few
room, past Cougar Squad and all that, until you reach the tower elevator.
Activate it to complete this level.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: D A T A P R O C E S S I N G T E R M I N A L ( R E V I S I T E D ) :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x27]----
Holy crap, the Network Guardian! There's absolutely nothing you can do here,
but man, what a ride. Once you hit the bottom, run forward to step on the
central lift. Activate it to ride down to the lower level. Enter the tram
station again, though you'll notice all the supplies are gone for some reason.
Simply step on the tram car to automatically ride it to the third tower.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: D A T A N E T W O R K I N G T E R M I N A L :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x28]----
Get off the tram and listen to Strauss' instructions. You're getting so close,
you can almost smell victory! Or maybe it's your own disgusting stench.
----[ Proceed to Tower Rooftop ]----------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Battle your way to the top of the Data Networking Tower and activate the final
antenna that will connect this building to the Core building.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So look around the place and grab everything you need from the supplies the
marines have brought over. I won't detail all of it, but suffice it to say
there's plenty of health, armor and ammo for all your guns to be found. When
you're set, exit this room and ride the lift a long way up. Go through the door
at the top and help Raven Squad fend off a couple Strogg Marines. Afterwards,
rejoin them on the other side of the room, at which point all the lights will
turn off. Now what? Equip your Shotgun, and quickly destroy the two Blaster
Turrets that show up. You'll also notice two teleporters rotating around
pillars on the left and right side of the room. Destroy those as well, before
they can spawn too many Grunts or Tactical Transfers.
Note that while you don't necessarily have to protect anyone from Raven Squad
as you go along, you surely realize that the longer they stay alive, the easier
these next few sections will be for you. Tech Raffel is even equipped with a
Hyperblaster, which is always an excellent support weapon. When you're ready,
go into the next hallway and activate the bridge within.
Cross over and enter the next room, in which you'll find a large central
elevator, and a HEALTH STATION. Call the elevator, and quickly kill the Gunner
riding down with it. As soon as the elevator arrives, four teleporters will
also activate in each corner of this room! Each teleporter can spawn Tactical
Transfers, so quickly run around the room and destroy each one, while Raven
Squad takes care of itself. If you're quick enough, everyone should survive.
I'd recommend using the Shotgun again, since you're gonna be running all over
the place.
Now get on the elevator, wait for everyone else, and ride it up. As soon as you
arrive, you'll be facing a Light Tank and several Strogg Marines spawning from
the single teleporter in this room. The Light Tank is obviously the biggest
threat here, so concentrate on it first. Wipe out the remaining Marines and
destroy the teleporter afterwards. As long as Raffel and Willits still live,
you don't have to worry about your health anyway. So leave through the door to
enter the next room. You'll now face a Gunner and two teleporters at the other
end of the room who can spawn a couple Tactical Transfers each. Are you sick of
teleporters yet? You can grab a LARGE ARMOR VEST here before you proceed into
the next room.
This room is a bit harder than the other ones so far. It contains a Berserker
and two teleporters who can spawn up to six Tactical Transfers total. If this
isn't chaotic enough for you, a Gladiator and a couple more Tactical Transfers
will walk in from the other room. The nearest teleporter is just right of the
entrance, so you should quickly destroy it. The other one is on the other side
of the room though, and will probably have time to spawn a few Transfers before
you can get to it. If Raven Squad is still with you at this point, this should
be easy enough. Otherwise, use your strong weapons and even the DMG if you need
to. You can pick up two SMALL HEALTH PACKS around here, and you can then
proceed into the next room.
Nothing much in this room, but you'll see two other doors. One leads you back
in the previous room, so take the other one instead. You'll find another
teleporter, except this time you get to use it yourself. Step into it to
complete this level, and get yourself closer to the tower's rooftop
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: D A T A N E T W O R K I N G S E C U R I T Y :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x29]----
The first thing you'll see as you re-materialize is the Network Guardian ahead.
Great. He'll just fly away when he sees you though. To proceed, turn left as
you exit the teleporter and jump up to the upper level. Pick up the MACHINEGUN
near the broken door then head through the other door. The bridge is broken
here, but you can still jump across if you're careful. You'll encounter a
Gunner immediately on the other side, as well as a HEALTH STATION on the nearby
wall. In the next room, a Berserker will first charge you, then the two
teleporters on the right side will spawn up to three Strogg Marines and
Tactical Transfers. Plenty of room here to maneuver as you avoid attacks and
destroy the teleporters.
Run into the next room, where the Network Guardian makes another appearance.
This time he'll shoot his blaster and powerful rockets at you, so you need to
quickly run across the room (head right) to reach the next door (and crouch
under it to pass under). If you're fast enough, he won't even have time to
shoot you at all. If he does, well, know that these rockets HURT. In this next
room, you need to head left and walk across the large blue pipes. Once you
reach the other side, jump across towards the destroyed platform in front of
the door, and head through it.
You'll only encounter two measly Tactical Transfers in here, and you can find a
semi-hidden CLIP if you look hard enough. Run into the next room to face two
Berserkers this time, with no teleporters or added surprises. Walk towards the
windows in this control room, and you'll see the Network Guardian resort to
intimidation. How sad. There's no other exit in this room, but look under the
central platform where the floor is destroyed. You can crawl under it and
follow the cables into a small hallway. Go through the unlocked door here and
activate the lift beyond to go up several stories.
Exit the lift to find a familiar room, which should tell you you're getting
very close. Fist turn left and head into the room beyond that door. You'll find
a teleporter here, as well as a crate holding four ARMOR SHARDS. I don't think
anything ever comes out of that teleporter, but destroy it just to be safe. Go
back in the previous room, and run through the other door straight ahead.
You'll find a LARGE ARMOR VEST, some NAILS, ROCKETS and two LARGE HEALTH PACKS
in this hallway, leading you into another lift. Gear up, and activate the lift
to finally reach the roof level. Step outside and do battle with the Network
Guardian at last! Not exactly a surprise, with all this build-up.
----[ B O S S ]--------------------------------------------------------------
NETWORK GUARDIAN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [||||||||::] : Toughness ........... [||||||||||]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This Strogg is huge, but don't let the appearance fool you. He's not that
difficult. But he can be. But he's not. Except if you're unlucky. Still, the
Guardian does possess strong offensive capabilities and a very tough body
(but no shield). Note that there's ammo, health and even armor scattered all
around the rooftop, so never stay in one place if you want to take advantage
of it all.
To begin this battle, the Network Guardian will land in the center of the
roof area. As soon as he does, start shooting him up with any of your
strong, but reasonably quick weapons, and never stop except to reload. The
Machinegun, Hyperblaster, Nailgun, Rocket Launcher and Lightning Gun are all
good options. The Dark Matter Gun can also cause some decent damage if
you've got the ammo to spare, but I wouldn't recommend it.
When he's on the ground, the Network Guardian will typically fire three
salvos of semi-guided rockets. These rockets do mild damage, and even if you
dodge them the splash damage might get you. Not all that hard to avoid as
long as you keep strafing. His other attack will come from his other gun, a
massive blaster. These large projectiles (look more like fireballs to me)
cause slightly more damage than the rockets, but are easier to avoid.
When he's tired of walking around, the Guardian will take flight using his
jetpack. He always uses the same pattern from the air, in which he fires one
salvo of guided rockets, followed by a huge (but slow) missile and a few
shots from his blaster. Your goal here is to get as far away from the
missile as possible, which will create a large explosion upon contact with
the ground. This missile is powerful enough to kill you outright on a direct
hit, or still cause much damage if you get caught in the explosion. Run far
away to take few (or no) damage.
While he's flying, the Guardian will sometimes try to hit you with the
flames from his jetpack, which has the unpleasant side-effect of setting you
on fire. This attack can be hard to avoid completely, though I find that if
you change directions a lot as you run away, you'll sometimes confuse him.
Thankfully, the flames don't cause much damage (but that depends how long
you stay under them, of course).
When he's badly hurt, the Guardian will also start firing his large missile
up in the air, which then explodes into a dozen or so guided rockets. You
need to keep moving if you want to avoid those rockets, though some of the
splash damage is bound to get you. This is your cue to finish him off as
quickly as possible, before he can fire too many of these warheads.
NOTE: During the battle, Strogg Flyers will occasionally make bombing runs
across the rooftop. They're easy to avoid if you can see them coming, but if
you're unlucky you can get caught unaware and take a lot of damage. Always
keep an eye on the sky!
--------------------------------------------------------------------[b02]----
With the Network Guardian destroyed, run around the roof to grab any of the
stuff you might have missed. Then run up to the last security console and
activate it.
----[ Proceed to Tower Rooftop ]------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
----[ To The Core ]-----------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Strauss has fully deactivated Core Security. Make your way back down to the
Core Teleporter to enter the Core.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, time to enter the Nexus Core at last. Backtrack down the lift to reach the
teleporter. As you can see, one marine tried to use it but didn't make it
through (well, half of him made it through actually). How reassuring. Grab some
SMALL HEALTH PACKS from the crate to fully heal up, then run into the
teleporter and into the Nexus!
----[ To The Core ]-------------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: N E X U S C O R E :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x30]----
Welcome to the most heavily fortified Strogg facility around. Are you ready to
face your hardest challenges yet?
----[ The Nexus ]-------------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
You must locate and destroy the Nexus.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm sure you are, so proceed into the next room. Follow the hallway down the
stairs and towards a doorway, but the door will get locked as you approach.
It's a trap! A Light Tank will come running towards you, as well as several
Tactical Transfers. I suggest you use the Nailgun to kill the Light Tank and
the closest Transfers, then switch to whatever other weapon you like to mop up
the rest of them. Run back and go through the door where they all came from, to
find some sort of security station. Click the "Disable Security" button here to
restore things to normal and unlock a door ahead.
Speaking of which, turn around and follow this hallway up to a HEALTH STATION,
ROCKETS, three LIGHTNING COILS, two CLIPS, lots of NAILS and a SMALL ARMOR
VEST. Head through the door on the left to face a Strogg Marine (meh) as well
as two Tactical Transfers and one Light Tank coming up an elevator on the right
(oh). The Nailgun is also good here, or the Rocket Launcher if the Tank's far
enough. If you're quick, you can kill them all before the elevator even arrives
at destination, saving you some trouble. Go downstairs and step on this large
elevator, grabbing the two SMALL HEALTH PACKS if needed.
Activate it for a slow ride down. At some point, Strogg Marines will start
jumping through windows and attack you on the elevator. You'll get to defeat
about nine of them before the elevator reaches the bottom. The Machinegun or
Shotgun will do the job nicely. When you do reach the bottom, a Gladiator and
two Iron Maidens will attack, along with a couple Tactical Transfers. Use your
Dark Matter Gun if this is too much for you to deal with, or otherwise the
Lightning Gun, Nailgun or Hyperblaster. You'll find GRENADES, BATTERIES, DARK
MATTER CORES and two SMALL HEALTH PACKS nearby.
Head downstairs to find even more stuff, such as BATTERIES, ROCKETS, SLUGS,
CLIPS, SHELLS and ARMOR SHARDS. Exit this room through the nearby door and
you'll immediately face a Teleport Dropper. Quickly "drop" him with the Nailgun
or some other powerful weapon. You can also find a HEALTH STATION in this room,
and you'll mysteriously receive a new mission objective from no one.
----[ Find Elevator ]---------------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
Find an elevator which goes deeper down into the core.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head through the next two doors to enter a large circular room. There also
happens to be a teleporter in the center of this room, and it can't be
destroyed. Noooo! It will spawn up to eight Tactical Transfers, so I suggest
you run up close to it and simply kill them as they appear. The Hyperblaster
will work fine, since you'll get plenty of ammo back for it. Run to the other
side of the room to find a lift. Call it, and ride it to the upper level. Make
your way around the room and dispatch the four Tactical Transfers who show up
Run through the next hallway to find another room, which also contains a lift.
Board it, and let it take you down deeper into the Core.
----[ Find Elevator ]-----------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
When you arrive at destination, you'll no doubt notice the Makron's ugly face
on the monitor ahead (yes, it's just a monitor, thankfully). Before you can
exit the lift however, you will be scanned, and it'll become clear to the
Strogg that you're not one of them. Why have they been shooting at you all this
time then? It's not like they had any doubts in the first place. The point is,
you're trapped here until you disable the security.
----[ Scan Failed: Lock Down ]------------------------[ O B J E C T I V E ]----
The Makron has shutdown access to your position. You'll have to find a way
into the security tower to shut down the alarm to gain further access to the
Core.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exit the lift from the back, and quickly kill the two Tactical Transfers on the
right side. You'll also notice a Gladiator on the other side, but from this
position you have plenty of cover to take care of him. As soon as he dies, an
Iron Maiden will rise up from the floor in front of the monitor. Kill her as
well, then look down the hole from which she came from. Jump down on the pipes
you can see below, and walk through this tunnel until you reach a ladder. Climb
it up and loot the stuff you'll find ahead, such as a SMALL ARMOR VEST, a SMALL
and LARGE HEALTH PACK, CLIPS, BATTERIES, SHELLS, ROCKETS and several LIGHTNING
COILS.
Turn around and run through this hallway (pass the door on the left for now)
and into a room with orange tanks. You'll be facing many enemies around here,
including a Gunner, an Iron Maiden and about five Tactical Transfers. The
Nailgun or Lightning Gun work well, or any other gun you have plenty of ammo
for, really. Head into the next room, in which you can use a HEALTH STATION and
a lift. If not all five Tactical Transfers attacked you in the previous room,
then there might be a few left in here. Anyway, ride the lift to the upper
level. Follow this new path through a few doors to reach the security room.
Kill the Tactical Transfer within, then click the "Disable Security" button.
----[ Scan Failed: Lock Down ]--------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Now head back down and backtrack all the way towards the room where the lock
down occurred in the first place (with the elevator). On the way, you'll
encounter a Gunner and a Strogg Marine. Kill them, and head through the door
the Strogg Marine came from (which I told you to pass before). Go through the
hallway to find yourself back at the beginning. Head through the door on the
opposite side of the room (which is now unlocked as well). In this short
hallway you can get three CLIPS, a LARGE HEALTH PACK, a LARGE ARMOR VEST and</pre><pre id="faqspan-6">
SHELLS. Grab everything you can (you'll need it) and enter the next room.
Now this room sucks. You'll have to battle three of each of the most powerful
Strogg around. You first have to kill three Light Tanks, followed by three
Heavy Hovertanks, and finally three Stream Protectors. Thankfully, only two at
a time can spawn (the third one will appear after you've killed one of the
first two). You'll also find lots of stuff around the room, including
BATTERIES, LIGHTNING COILS, NAILS, SLUGS, ROCKETS , SHELLS and five SMALL
HEALTH PACKS. You'll obviously want to use some powerful weapons around here,
always stay on the move, and use the pillars for protection.
The Light Tanks aren't too hard... just don't let them come close to you. The
Heavy Hovertanks are certainly the hardest of the bunch, against which I'd
suggest using the Hyperblaster, Lightning Gun or Rocket Launcher (use the
homing feature). The Nailgun is good too, since there's some ammo for it around
the room. The Stream Protectors are the easiest of the bunch since they don't
move around much. Just stay far away and kill them with whatever weapon you
like best. Listen to your heart. Once everyone and everything has been
destroyed, the door at the other end of the room will unlock. Head through it
to find a LARGE HEALTH PACK and some NAILS.
Head through the next door to discover an interesting looking area. Very...
information superhighway...ish. Climb down the ladder on the right, and crawl
through the opening. Run along the pipes here and jump down on the platform
with two locked doors. Head to the other side of the platform, and jump over
the railing onto the pipe going down. Follow these pipes all around the room
until you find the SMALL ARMOR VEST. Now backtrack up to the platform. Locate
the two pipes that lead upwards, near the front of the platform. Jump onto
those and follow them to a small area with a ladder. Climb the ladder, turn
left and look at the corner ahead. You'll see a single pipe running below
another platform, near the wall. Jump on this pipe, and use another one to
climb up to the platform above. And that's enough for this confusing room.
Head through the unlocked door to enter a rather long hallway. You'll face
eight Tactical Transfers in here, most of which are equipped with a Railgun. I
suggest you take cover behind some crates, and snipe them with your own
Railgun. Or you could just use the Rocket Launcher or DMG. Along this hallway,
you'll find a SMALL ARMOR VEST, LIGHTNING COILS, GRENADES, BATTERIES, several
ARMOR SHARDS, CLIPS, ROCKETS, SHELLS and DARK MATTER CORES. In other words, a
little bit of everything.
Enter the next room, in which you should encounter another Tactical Transfer,
as well as some more SHELLS, ROCKETS, NAILS and SLUGS nearby. You should also
climb down the nearby ladder, and follow this path all the way to the end to
find a LARGE ARMOR VEST. Head back up to the upper level, and start making your
way towards either door at the end of this room. About halfway through, you
should be attacked by a Gladiator, a Light Tank and about four Tactical
Transfers. You should start by taking care of the Light Tank, as he will likely
charge towards you. Always try to stay in cover, since most of the Transfers
and the Gladiator use a Railgun.
Finally, head into the next room, in which you'll find some NAILS, LIGHTNING
COILS, a SMALL ARMOR VEST and a HEALTH STATION. When you're all healed up and
ready to roll, use the exit panel to complete this difficult level.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: T H E N E X U S :
----------------------------------------------------------------------[x31]----
The Nexus at last! Run across the bridge ahead, on which you'll find plenty of
ammo for all of your guns, as well as health and armor to prepare you for the
big battle. Make sure all your guns are reloaded and your pants are up, then
bravely step through the door.
----[ B O S S ]--------------------------------------------------------------
THE MAKRON
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [||||||||||] : Toughness ........... [ varies ]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
You've seen the Makron before, but now you get to settle the score for what
he did to you. Though what he did to you didn't turn out to be such a bad
thing after all. I mean you would have never made it this far otherwise. The
Makron battle consists of two phases, so let's start with the beginning.
----[ Phase One ]--------------------------[ Toughness ]--[||||::::::]----
To start the battle, the Makron will always summon up to three stroggs to
aid him. These can be fairly powerful, such as Berserkers and Light Tanks.
Simply equip your Dark Matter Gun and fire a shot directly towards him.
This should destroy all of the teleport pods before they can spawn any
enemies, and damage the Makron fairly heavily at the same time.
Next, he will fire a twin dark matter beam, one of his most powerful
attacks. Quickly run towards the left or right side of the room and behind
one of the pillars. This should allow you to escape this attack unharmed.
Running through (or jumping over) a beam isn't too bad, but getting hit by
both at the same time could very well kill you. Avoid this at all costs.
The Makron will then fire his dark matter gun, which despite its much
bigger size works exactly like yours. This is easily avoided as long as
you keep strafing. If you get caught in the blast, you can bet you will
suddenly find yourself missing a few limbs. Next he'll use his blaster,
which fires three shots at a time. These can be somewhat hard to avoid, so
seek cover behind a nearby pillar if you can. If not, just keep moving and
jumping, and you'll take a minimal amount of hits (if at all).
His final attack is a stomp, which generates a shockwave along the ground.
Time your jump carefully to avoid the shockwave, or else you'll take a
good deal of damage and get knocked back across the room. Following that,
the Makron will start mixing his different attacks, though he'll replace
the twin dark matter beam with a single beam. Not only is it easier to
avoid (just crouch if you need to), but it does fairly low damage.
Hit him with everything you got (I like the Hyperblaster or Dark Matter
Gun), and the Makron will soon go down. All four pillars in the room will
open up, and some dark energy will regenerate him. The Makron's upper body
will separate, allowing him to fly across the room!
----[ Phase Two ]--------------------------[ Toughness ]--[||||||||::]----
The Makron will again start by summoning some Strogg, so destroy the pods
with a shot from your Dark Matter Gun. You should then notice that
teleporters have appeared in the corners of the room. These lead up to the
upper level, which contains not only some ammo, but two HEALTH STATIONS as
well. I suggest you quickly teleport up there.
In this form, he'll re-use the following attacks: Strogg summoning, dark
matter beam (single only), dark matter gun and blaster shots. He can also
use a new attack: dark matter grenades. Those can cause quite a bit of
damage, but are easy to avoid as long as you stay on the upper level.
While you're there, you also won't have to worry about the stroggs he
summons.
It's also worth noting that the Makron will sometimes try to regenerate
himself, by sucking up energy from the TSDs rotating around each pillar.
You can stop him from doing so by destroying the TSD. To destroy the
Makron as quickly as possible, I suggest using the Rocket Launcher (don't
forget to use the homing feature).
--------------------------------------------------------------------[b03]----
So the Makron is history (again). Quickly heal up if you need to, and reload
your weapons for the final battle. Watch the Nexus rise up from the center of
the room.
----[ B O S S ]--------------------------------------------------------------
THE NEXUS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power ............... [::::::::::] : Toughness ........... [||||||||::]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Given the Strogg's tendency to mix technology with biological parts, it
should be no surprise that their communications network is actually
controlled by a giant brain. Again, the best place to fight this battle is
from the upper level, so teleport up there if you aren't already.
The Nexus is protected by a rather weak shield, which you need to take down
first if you want to hurt it. To do so, fire at the blue rod sticking out at
the top of the brain. One hit from the Rocket Launcher is enough to take out
the shield, which is what I recommend using. Failing that, pretty much any
other weapon will get the job done. You can then shoot up the brain until
the shield comes back up. Note that you can still damage the brain while the
shield is being regenerated (in other words, while it's red).
Being only a giant brain, the Nexus has no attacks of its own. Instead, it
will randomly teleport enemies across the room. As such, the difficulty of
this battle can vary quite a bit, depending on which enemies spawn. For
instance, Strogg Marines or Failed Transfers won't pose much of a problem,
but you might be in trouble if the Nexus decides to spawn Heavy Hovertanks
and Iron Maidens over and over. As a general rule, you'll want to kill the
stroggs that pose the most threat to you (such as flying enemies and ones
that appear on the upper level), and then concentrate on destroying the
Nexus.
--------------------------------------------------------------------[b04]----
----[ The Nexus ]---------------------------------------[ C O M P L E T E ]----
Well you did it! Matthew Kane is officially a hero and managed to turn the tide
of this war, at least for the time being. So enjoy the short ending cutscene.
Quake 4 expansion anyone? I, for one, am hoping there will be.
===============================================================================
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
: V E R S I O N H I S T O R Y :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================[s05]====
----[ 1 . 0 0 ]---------------------------------------[ February 26, 2006 ]----
Initial release. Spell checked (somewhat), revised and formatted. Walkthrough
is 100% complete. There are no doubt many typos and grammatical errors left.
===============================================================================
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
: L E G A L S T U F F :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================[s06]====
You are NOT allowed to modify and publish this document without the written
permission of the author. This document is for personal use only, and may not
be sold or used for any commercial purpose.
WEBMASTERS. You ARE allowed to put this document on your website, as long as it
is 100% intact (and I am of course credited). If you do so, you MUST send me an
email to let me know, and include the address of your site.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This document is Copyrighted (c)2006 by Manuel Gonthier, aka LordKrell
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
===============================================================================
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
: C O N T A C T I N F O :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================[s07]====
Want to contact me to ask a question or send feedback? Certainly, but before I
give out the address, please read the following simple guidelines.
* I will NOT answer emails concerning technical issues with the game, including
CD-KEY issues. If you encounter such problems, check out the Activision
support site at:
http://www.activision.com/support.
* I will NOT answer emails about the multiplayer portion of the game. Ever.
* I will NOT answer questions that I feel have already been clearly answered or
explained in the FAQ.
* I will NOT answer questions about cheats, or tell you how to cheat. This is
not what this walkthrough is for.
Also, keep in mind that I am generally bad at answering email. So don't take it
too personally if you don't get a reply from me within 24 hours or something.
Now if you have feedback about the FAQ, comments, a question, a contribution,
would like to point out mistakes, or simply a few kind words, feel free to
write! The email to use is:
lordkrell<at>gmail<dot>com
Obviously, replace <at> and <dot> with the appropriate symbols. Also, please
try to include [q4] in the header, so I know exactly what the email is about.
Thanks!
----[ D I S C L A I M E R ]--------------------------------------------------
Sending in a contribution does not guarantee it will automatically be
included in the FAQ. If I feel the contribution is useful enough, I'll try
to include it in a future update, with proper credit of course.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
===============================================================================
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
: C R E D I T S :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================[s08]====
----[ S P E C I A L T H A N K S ]-------------------------------------------
Raven Software : creators of Quake 4
id Software : creators of the excellent Doom 3 engine
----[ C O N T R I B U T O R S ]------------------------------------------------
None yet. (I could use a nice Quake 4 logo!)
--------------
..end of file
