It's back to the surface of the planet to fight the aliens. In Their Gamla, we start out on a rocky ledge with a jetpack directly in front of us. Why is that jetpack there, when we worked so hard to get one on the last level? It's probably there to make it possible to vid the level or perhaps it is a leftover from testing, but if either of these are the case, Matt or Andrew, remove it now. You absolutely positively don't need a jetpack to vid this level, and I have a film to prove it. In fact if you're a decent player, it's pretty easy to vid it. You just need to be extremely quick on your feet.
Assuming you do want to take advantage of the jetpack to avoid having to deal with all the major fighters and troopers below, however, there is a secret here, but it may not be worth the effort. If you turn around and use your jetpack to climb up the rocks behind you, you will come to a cave containing an invincibility power-up. Frankly an O2 power-up might be more helpful. Before heading out, take a look out over the scene below where you start - this is where we need to end up. Below you are some new monsters we've never seen before, and they're battling it out with the alien invaders. Enough looking - you're running out of O2! Run down the passage befire you until you reach the end. Here you have a choice - you can either use your jetpack to leap across the lower canyon to an opening on the other side, or you can jump into the canyon below you, dodging enemy fire as you go. If you make sure to pass the troopers on their right, you'll take surprisingly little damage. Head right and right, then make a sharp left and head up a stairway - I'll join you there in a sec.
The easy way is to use your jetpack, but be careful, as there is a ghost in the corner of the next cave. Soon you’ll come to another place where you can use your jetpack to leap across the canyon - do it! When you reach the next drop-off, the canyon forms a large bowl here that is more difficult to pilot across. Instead you can jump down and use a stairway to the left to climb up the other side. Continue across the opposite ledge, which is where the other stairway from the canyon ends up, too, and go through a cave, leaping across the canyon at a narrow point (no jetpack needed here). There are a couple of invisible compilers ahead - fist them if you’re trying to vid it, otherwise use your shotgun to conserve O2. Finally you'll find yourself looking down on that battle scene we saw from the beginning. If you were fast enough, the way out may still be blocked - there is a minimum time and O2 usage for this level, no matter how hard you try. You'll hear and see a major explosion wherever you are in the level when the way is clear. Leap down across the slime below you and head through a collapsed wall, taking a rapidly moving elevator to your right. Eventually an opening will appear on your right - head through it and enter the airlock inside.
John hates Room with a View, but I really basically enjoy it. It's not one of my favorite levels, but it's fun and a real challenge. John, I'm not sure what you don’t like about it and I'll look forward to reading your posts. You start out in a very large, open room - the sort of room that usually makes vidding easy. There are a lot of troopers here and some ghosts, and an infinite supply of projectile fighters will teleport in with fair regularity. Basically you need only run around all of the monsters in a clockwise direction and they'll basically take care of themselves. With luck you'll be left with some troopers locked in endless battle with the ghosts and an occasional fighter. Off to the right is a hallway with a pattern buffer, but it's guarded by a major compiler. Watch your back, as the fighters will follow you in here, as will any free ghosts. If a ghost follows you in, you're pretty much toast - don't even bother to save your game. Around the corner is another corridor that leads to a circular room that is packed with compilers. Down a short hallway is a 2X recharger, guarded by a compiler. On the left is the door to the rest of the level.
If you open the door and jump down and straight ahead, you'll end up in an interesting room with fighters and compilers. A couple of those strange new golden monsters will teleport in and quickly become embroiled in fighting the aliens, but they'll attack you, too, so be careful. Unfortunately, other than watching the spectacle, there is no reason to enter this room at all and you're more likely than not to take damage in the process. Matt or Andrew, I would really like to be able to enter this room and still continue on from here. I see 2 possibilities - a shield recharger or power-up, or make that door on the other side functional so that the player can avoid taking a plasma bath. Which brings up the current strategy for play - instead of going straight when jumping down, turn right or left and run through the plasma that surrounds the room. On the other side you’ll come to a corridor with a seeming dead end, but a platform soon lowers, granting access to a short maze. You'll know you're in the right place when you come to a pile of ammo.
Getting through the next room is tough - real tough. Beyond the door ahead of you is a large room with several juggernauts, more enforcers than you have ever seen before and the last of the hunters, including the golden leader. There are 2 valid strategies for getting through here. The first involves raw speed - run around the outskirts of the room, head straight for the stairway ahead, leap down onto the ledge with the enforcers, praying that none of them block your way, and run into the next room, never looking back. Doing all of this very quickly will result in success more than 50% of the time, making it a good bet. There is a slower, more deliberate approach as well, but it basically involves clearing the room and will take most of your missiles - not that you need them for anything else. First of all, hang back and let the hunters do all they can - they will not survive and would only be in your way if you start too soon. Next, stand behind a barrier part way around the room and use it to shield you from jugger and enforcer fire. Fire some missiles at the juggers - they will fire back at you and although they won't berserk, they will inflict a lot of damage on each other. In fact, if you're exceptionally patient, you can probably take most of them out without firing any of your own missiles. Finally once the last of the juggers has disappeared into the plasma, Fire your missiles at the remaining enforcers across the way. Be careful - just when you think you've got them all, more will come out from the exit corridor. Once you've cleared the room, take a look around you - it really is a beautiful room.
Exit the room via that corridor off the enforcers' ledge - it will take you to a cylinder in the center of the next room - there is a stairway running around the outside - climb it and when you reach the top, jump in to be transported back to the colony.
