: In any case, this is a start-over-and-over-again, challenging but
: exceptionally boring level that would have been better left out of the
: scenario. There are a few redeeming features, though, including two very
: nice secret ammo stashes and some power-ups (including a 3X power-up that
: is best left for use on the next level) that can be reached by grenade
: jumping over some very obvious ledges.
I thought that this level was actually quite fun, although I agree that it doesn't measure up at all to the other levels in the scenario. About start-over-and-over-again thing, I know exactly what you mean. I read about the secret way to skip Cryo before playing Mr. Bill Meets Gumby, so I used it, and whenever I died on this level before I reached the pattern buffer I had to do the whole Mystic ship thing again, as my last save on Mr.Bill Meets Gumby was before then. I never found any of those secrets actually.
: There is a terminal that explains
: the reason for the popularity of geothermal energy sources by both the
: UESC and the Pfhor, which explains the prevalence of lava levels (and
: perhaps the use of lava on the original Marathon colony ship?). There is a
: nice supply of ammo on your shuttle but, unfortunately, you'll use most of
: it killing the Pfhor. Oh well. The next level isn't any easier, either,
: but it's a lot more fun.
Yeah, geothermal energy sources are bucketload of fun for us mapmakers as an excuse to use the lava set. The next level is, I agree, quite hard from what I remember. But I haven't played much of it recently, I just used the first pattern buffer and quit.