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	Message: : Heads or Tails opens with a bang as four golden Beasts converge on your : position. Take care of them, grab the 1x canister you probably need, save : at the PB in the ceiling, and read the terminal. Ignore the silly login : message and get right to the content. Something's very wrong- You're not : where Ian wanted you to go, the building is overrun with enemies, and : Michael keeps breaking into the transmission. "With me"? This is : bad... real bad. And it gets better- Ian says they "cut the : hardline" out of the building, so you'll need to go exploring. The : bit about "losing contact with you about the time you entered that : sewer system" is a little odd, as the sewer system almost certainly : refers to Looking for Floaters and Ian definitely kept track of you : throughout the following level Last Minute Shopping. The next move? Get : your ass to the roof NOW! : You're in a small room floating in a cylindrical space, with 4 possible : exits. The two western doors are blocked, and you really don't want to go : out the northeast door yet, so take the southeast. The Organics control : this area of the building, watch out for the Turtle that's probably frying : a Bob as you enter and the Larva wandering around (more to avoid getting : hung up on them than any danger they pose). At the east end of the complex : (head straight) is a mysterious locked-off room with a large number of : items and panels in it; we'll be getting to this much later. : As you head into the west lab section, a pair of Raptors take out their : frustration on being locked into tiny rooms on some Science Bobs. There's : a golden Beast dead ahead, destroy him with something appropriate and kill : the nearby Larva as well. As you pass the intersection, turn south, then : immediately run back as a few Beasts teleport in. There sure are a lot of : locked doors around here. : Find the broken door and kill the Beetles and Bob inside. The switch on the : wall will open one of the sealed labs and let the Raptors out at you. This : is about the only level in the game where I find the mine layer useful, : but the mines have a tendency to explode when dropping them so save before : you try using it. The switch in the first lab opens the second lab, the : switch in the second lab opens a storage room with a health charger and : some beetles, and the switch in the storage room opens the morgue at the : northeast end of the lab. : The easiest way to survive the ambush you get when entering the morgue is to : immediately head for the northwest corner and use the Conch to hold off : the monsters until they go bezerk. To read the terminal, you have to tab : the small section on the angled wall; when you do you are treated to a : fairly disturbing illustrated report on the Lovecraftian descent into : madness of the local coroner. Tabbing the closed pillar will release a : flying Beetle, which startled the hell out of me the first time it : happened. Each of the corpses also has a semicoherent story to tell, most : of which are told in Michael's intercapped style. Note that one of them : mentions "mister jaggy" who wants "bright happy : colors". This is a private joke which will be explained in a few : levels. Return to the hub and save. : We're finally ready to take on the difficult northeast door, not that we have : much choice. In this first room, lay a mine in the small room just beyond : the door and then a second mine in the center of the curve away from the : windows. Then walk near the windows until some Raptors teleport in and get : explode; finish them off with the Conch's first trigger. If it went well, : go back and save. In the distance you can see a Raptor running around a : small door; that's your final objective. The next room is accessible : through an interesting "airlock" that consists of two doors such : that only 1 can be open at a time. The way I usually beat the next room is : to run in, set a mine, then run out backwards and close the door before : the monsters start attacking. Wait until someone hits the mine, then use : the door to harass them until they go bezerk or die. You probably have a : buttload of Mercury and pulse ammo by now, here's a good place to use it : since going toe-to-toe with the monsters is a dumb idea anyway. If the : monsters are bezerked, the Turtle will almost always get killed since the : others are immune to his fire, then let the Raptors fight it out until : there's just 1 left and kill him. Then, edge out onto the path to the : elevator until 2 more monsters teleport in; use similar techniques on : them. If it goes well, go back and save. : Next, there's a door off to the side that leads to a smashed-up copy of the : first room in this area, which is absolutely stuffed with monsters. Bezerk : the nearby golden Beast with the Conch and let him do some damage. : Entering the room will teleport a golden Raptor into the : "airlock" you just left; be ready for him. Then pick up the ammo : and 2x health canister and go back and save. : Now, to take on this level's extremely complex primary secret (it's not : necessary to beat the northern area first, I just only got around to it : now). Go back to the morgue and smash the panel to the left of the : terminal. This opens the door into the southwest area of the building. : Save before entering, as it's also full of monsters. Try to lead them out : onto the bridge back to the hub so you can use the Conch on them. Taking : out all the Beetles is a bitch and a half, good thing you have a ton of : Mercury ammo (but watch out for the golden ones). If you run low on : health, head back to the storage area in the lab and charge up. Once : everything is dead, you have to hit a set of switches. Go to the : easternmost column and tab the door in the south side, then swim up the : water column as high as you can go and run forwards. You'll drop onto a : small ledge with a switch, which opens a similar area in the westernmost : column. The switch in *there* opens the large door to the east, which : leads to a blocked-off part of the lab complex. Lay a mine if you have any : left, and run for the south end; a number of monsters appears around you. : Kill them, pick up the 3x canister near the switch, then head back and : save. This switch opens the large door in the west of the main room, : leading to a room full of pillars. Run around in there until you set off : the ambush, then return to the entrance and Conch anyone who follows. Once : you're sure everyone is dead, you can take the stairs in the rear up to a : tunnel/ledge combination that runs across the room and eventually : terminates in a circuit panel. Smash this, then head back to the lab and : go to the east end of the southernmost corridor and through the new door. : Be careful, because entering this room will trigger a golden Beetle behind : you. In here is everything a space marine could need- ammo, a pattern : buffer, a 2x charger, a 3x canister, another Fusion Mace, and another : unique weapon- the RY-ST RPG wrist-mounted rocket launcher. Again, I : very rarely get to use this weapon since it's so incredibly secret, so : it's not a large part of my strategy. While getting this secret, the : northwest corridor in the primary hub is destroyed. : Head back to the mysterious elevator in the north, and ride on up (you might : want to save back at the hub as you pass, because it's closer than the : rocket room). Finally, the Metalloids Ian said the level was crawling with : make their pathetic appearance- a pair of Gattlers and a pair of Raptors : try to flank you in the gray room. Take care of them, then grab the 2x : health if you need it and save. That mysterious sound again... : The next room is a fairly pointless trap: If you walk into the area in the : center, Michael and Joshua will both come out of the pillars and kill you. : Next, you have to shotgun a switch (the one on the left, through the door) : in the distance to raise the bridge to get across. If you're out of : shotgun shells, there are an infinite supply on the east side of the : ambush room. Then, cross and shotgun the other circuit to open the door to : continue. This switch has an odd bug- It's not really wires, it's just a : weapon-activated tag switch, and its platform is not marked as Can't Stop. : This means that each seperate shotgun pellet has a chance of toggling the : switch, and it's possible for the same blast to turn the switch on and : then off after moving a few inches. If this happens, just use more shells : until the door is open. But, before going up the elevator, look around. : Before a giant statue of Joshua and some of his creations is a 3x health : canister. Grabbing it sets off a massive ambush. : The final room, on the roof, is a puzzle I've never seen before in a Marathon : scenario (no other scenario ever had invincible enemies...). Michael and : Joshua appear and start to attack you, and you have nowhere to run. : Michael fires the energy blasts he used before; Joshua manifests flying : exploding Beetles that chase you around. There are 2 terminals in the : arena, each of which has a short countdown before you are teleported. Your : mission, should you choose to accept it, is to hit return as fast as : humanly possible to read through and teleport away before Mike or Josh : catches up and knocks you out of the terminal. This is a really cool idea : and actually very fun to play. : I think that this is one of my favorite levels in the scenario, despite some : stupidness and the mine layer being buggy. It has great design and : lightning, the encounters are fun and can be overcome without relying too : much on luck, the terminals are well-done, and the final sequence is : exciting. We're almost ready for the last-ditch push against the invading : hordes...
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