: This level starts with a bang as four Hunters converge on your position, and
: doesn't let up. The Pfhor have one more trick up their sleeves: the
: Juggernauts. I was baffled and more than a little frightened by these
: things the first time I played the game. They are completely silent,
: except when they fire their seeking grenades or dual machine guns. They
: move very slowly and deliberately, floating over the decks or the lava.
: They appeared to be completely invulnerable to anything I threw at them, I
: could see and hear bullets bounce off their armored hides. It was a great
: victory when I finally managed to kill one.
: This huge level is intricate, non-linear, and very well connected. There seem
: to be endless hallways to explore, and new discoveries to make all the
: time. It is possible to play the level several times and see totally
: different areas, or the same areas from many angles. The monsters are good
: at using the geometry to their advantage, they can follow you all around
: the map and come at you from unexpected angles. This level, in terms of
: design, at least, is very close to my ideal large Marathon map, there's
: just so much to explore.
: With a level this big, one would expect it to be crammed with secrets, and
: boy is it ever. There are no less than three biobus chips available here.
: The first is an invisiblity behind the blue door in the room with the
: Juggernaut and the bridge; cross under the bridge's center to open the
: door and make your way back up. The second invisibility is in the Bungie
: Tip Terminal in the largest lava pool, grenade hop up to it or get the
: Juggernaut to blast you up. Finally, if you grenade hop onto the small
: blue pillar just beyond the 3x charger, you will be teleported to a small
: room somewhere in the lava canals containing a super shield. There are
: also assorted "normal" secrets: The gap between two lava pools
: contains some extra rockets (which you WILL need), and there are numerous
: piles of ammo scattered around the level. There is a 2x health charger
: placed at the end of a lava canal for no apparent reason. There's some
: intriguing level writing as well: A lava pool is labeled Fusion Vent #9,
: and the large room with the bridge is named Engineering Storage.
Some other interesting things about this level.
There's part of one of the large lava areas which won't do you any damage. It's also located in an area where the ceiling texturing is pretty bad. Possibly the result of a rushed job.
Based on the early development docs this level was originally called "What is best in life...?" The environment was also supposed to be vacuum with Compilers, Hunters and Troopers. It is possible that this original level was completely scrapped in favor of "Try again".
With marathon.org presently down folks can't see Jay Faircloth's excellent "Try again" pic which was the entry portal for the Story page at m.org. You can see it below:
http://marathon.bungie.org/story/Jay_Faircloth_art.html
Cheers
Hamish
