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	Message: : 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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