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PF Volunteers - All Quiet on the Network Front
Posted By: Steve LevinsonDate: 7/9/04 6:02 p.m.

Let's see - Shaki threatened that life support would fail if we restored the colony's network. How ridiculous could that be and, yet, here we find ourselves staring out our O2 meter, which is shrinking! How could that be? Why would restoring the computer net cause life support to fail - if anything, it should help to restore functions - not disrupt them. Unless . . . MECE! This level introduces something new to any Marathon scenario as far as I know - a normal appearing bright outdoor area where we cannot breathe. The sky is overcast, but there is otherwise no indication of anything out of the ordinary. There certainly is an atmosphere here - it's just not one that can support us. Remember that the New Phoenix colony was built on a terraformed moon, but that doesn't mean that the terraforming is compete or that it would ever be capable of supporting life without constant interventions. To paraphrase, 'air, air everywhere, but not a drop to breathe.'

Enough conjecture - if you took this kind of time during the game to think about your situation, you'd be out of oxygen by now. There is a save terminal straight ahead - use it! There is also a 2X recharger - load up your shields, as you won't be able to come back here. You start out the level overlooking a large open area with numerous fighters and a couple of compilers. There are a number of troopers nearby, and lots and lots of hunters inside the facility. This first thing you'll notice is that only two of your weapons are functional, besides the hook - the magnum and the shrapnel canon. Good luck! At least now we know which way to circle the troopers to keep from taking damage, thanks to John. But there's no time to take them out with your hook - you're running out of oxygen!

There are a number of ways to go about surviving the initial part of the level, but the primary objective is above all else to clear a path to the first O2 recharger and to a shield recharger and pattern buffer, in that priority but not necessarily order. As difficult as some of the levels have been up to this point, nothing can compare with what the player encounters here. Given enough time you could easily round up and kill all the monsters that need to be cleared, but you don't have time. My strategy, which is certainly not the only strategy, is to round up as many monsters as you can as quickly as you can without taking damage, to eliminate them all and then to make a mad dash into the building to the second pattern buffer. You could jump directly down from your starting position, but the monsters won't be where you want them. I find it best to lean over the edge and to fire a shot if necessary to attract their attention and then to retreat and use the shrapnel canon to quickly take out the two compilers, who will come after you. Then I jump down and make a dash toward the building entrance, but only for the purpose of activating all the troopers. I then retreat back to the open area, taking cover as best I can until the bulk of the group catches up with me. I then start circling, praying that I'll find openings to slip through in the line of monsters making their way toward me. I take the troopers out at long range with the shrapnel canon - the fighters pretty much take care of themselves. Sometimes there will be some hunters in the mix but, more commonly, I'll need to enter the building to attract their attention. Once I do, I'll lead them back to the open area, circle and shrapnel them.

Finally, I enter the building and head left, making a quick left after passing through the first doorway. There is a minor hunter here (major if on TC) and I quickly blast him with the shrapnel canon. Then it's straight ahead to save my game! But be sure not to overwrite the last one, as you could easily have an unplayable saved game at this point. Turn around and you'll see why - a hoard of hunters will be coming after you. Now quickly fire away at them while you dodge their projectiles. With any luck and enough shield strength left before the hunters arrived, you'll survive after several attempts. The next room may have some hunters in it, so be careful. Even still, this is a higher priority than a shield recharger - that precious O2 recharger is just ahead, on a column. The back side of this wall contains some more hunters, so watch out! The shield recharger is back the way you came, but past the entrance to the building. It's only a 1X, but it'll have to do.

Ok, now that we've finished the easy part, let's get down to the real work! The room next to the shield recharger is an ambush - dash in and out quickly and lead the monsters outside where you can comfortably fist them, knowing that you have ample oxygen and shields available. Beyond that room is a platform that will lower as you approach it. Once you pass through to the next room, the platform will raise back up, leaving you no way back. The is a short delay if you would care to attract the attention of the invisible compilers inside. Unfortunately, they're deaf and by the time you get far enough for them to see you, it may be too late. Once I succeeded in getting one of them to chase me - one down and I think two to go. Now you can stand on top of that platform and ride it back up, but I couldn't find any extra ammo or other rewards that were accessible by doing so. John? There is one intriguing possibility - you can easily jump to a neaby ledge in the first room. If you could just jump around a large pillar to the next ledge back, you could skip the rest of the level and proceed directly to the exit. Believe me, I tried this and failed with every attempt. But you're welcome to try!

Proceeding on, the player will have to face a hulk that seems to be in your way. If you time it just right and wait until he retreats, however, you can follow him into your next destination - a very large open room. Not much here, but as you go around a large wall, you’re suddenly faced with fighters, hunters and compilers. There is a semi-safe room straight ahead - go for it! The reason I say semi-safe is that there is a rather cool 5D effect here that leaves you vulnerable to wasps - there is one to worry about right now, but will be several later on. There is a trough in the floor of the first large room that is lined with lava. This trough opens into your safe room and ends in a lava fall. What’s cool is that the trough is not visible in the second large room - the one the safe room is entered through - even though the room contains a large pit that the trough should be clearly going through. In fact, it should go right through the door to the safe room! It’s a really cool effect. Just watch out for those wasps. Also inside the safe room is an O2 recharge. This comes in handy and one is definitely needed, but not nearly as much at this point as a save terminal. It’s fairly straight-forward, although not trivial to eliminate the monsters waiting outside the door, but what you probably didn’t realize is that when you passed around the wall into the second large room, you opened a large door behind you releasing a sizable contingent of monsters, particularly troopers. Taking them out with little or no shielding is the biggest challenge of the scenario so far. With luck you can enlist the hulk to help with the job. Oh and watch out for all the wasps around the corner - they'll come for you as soon as they see you and, remember, they can enter your safe room through that trough.

Once you have cleared the area, you will note a canyon beyond the door where the troopers were. Across the canyon, which is filled with lava, is a ledge with some more monsters. Fortunately you can snipe these with the magnum without taking damage. There is a switch there as well that you could theoretically hit with your magnum, avoiding having to cross the canyon, but you probably have no shields left and there is a 2X shield recharger over there as well. All you need to do is to pillar-hop your way across without falling into the lava. There is an escape from the lava back to your safe room, but you’ll never survive it without recharging your shields. From here you need only return the way you came - there is a new opening to a very dark room with pillars that has some inviting invisible compilers in it. A corridor off of this room leads to a small junction with some doors and some enemies, and a passage that leads back outside. Pfhew, you’re safe!

I can’t tell you how many tries it took me to get through this part of the level on TC. Even on my most recent successful attempt, I reached that 2X shield recharger with absolutely no shield strength left. Matt and Andrew, this part of the level is nearly unplayable on TC. I have a suggestion for you - replace that O2 recharger in the safe room with a pattern buffer. I think this is a fair trade and it will make the level more survivable on TC. The player will still have a major challenge to face and the real possibility of saving a game with too little oxygen to make it back - not likely, but possible. Because the player will certainly need oxygen before completing the area, why not put an O2 recharger across on that ledge – opposite the shield recharger? Making these changes will make the level more playable without removing the challenge.

Now back to our regularly scheduled scenario. Guess what - we're not done yet. There are still a couple of places that must be visited before the exit will become available - these are the rooms overlooking the starting area of the level. There are no switches to activate, so it may be confusing to the player that this is what must be done. One of these is reached back from the room with the first O2 recharger. There is a door off this room that you might have noticed before. Open it and you’ll be greeted by some troopers. Once that room is cleared, you'll see a switch through a window that you can shoot - this opens another door off the O2 recharge room through which the player can access a corridor to a dark room with an elevator to the overlook. If you visited here before visiting hell, you would have found the platform raised and unusable. Now you can go up the elevator, and be sure to grab the ammo while you're up there. Next to the elevator is the level's only terminal – a soliloquy on survival fo the fittest - but from whom? The other overlook is reached by going back outside and through the door that allowed exit from hell - a new door will have opened granting access to a long hallway with some hunters. Again, be sure to grab the ammo.

The level is exited by returning to the room next to the shield recharger. That ledge we couldn't quite jump to is now a moving platform - jump on it and go up top to an area back outside that overlooks the initial part of the level. Flip a switch and the exit teleporter will reveal itself.

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Replies:

PF Volunteers - All Quiet on the Network FrontSteve Levinson 7/9/04 6:02 p.m.
     Re: PF Volunteers - All Quiet on the Network FrontDr. John Sumner 7/10/04 7:14 a.m.
           Re: PF Volunteers - All Quiet on the Network FrontSteve Levinson 7/10/04 8:11 a.m.
           Re: PF Volunteers - All Quiet on the Network FrontSteve Levinson 7/10/04 8:42 a.m.
                 Re: PF Volunteers - All Quiet on the Network FrontDr. John Sumner 7/10/04 8:59 a.m.
                       Re: PF Volunteers - All Quiet on the Network FrontSteve Levinson 7/10/04 2:14 p.m.

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