: This is another very large level, fairly flat but expansive. However, there
: are a number of tricks available that can make it somewhat easier to
: finish, if you're in a hurry and don't mind cheating a bit.
: First order of business is to secure the terminal and pattern buffer; beware
: of troopers behind pillars. This level gives some importance to a new
: Marathon 2 feature: The ability to have switches and terminals
: "break". (This is not actually a new feature, as there was a
: switch that did this on G4 Sunbathing, but I don't believe the editors for
: Marathon 1 ever exposed it to mappers).
: You have three objectives on this level: Gain access to the temple, insert
: the virus, secure the temple's upper levels. The easiest way to start is
: by securing the virus's insertion point, which is full of troopers and
: drones. It can be found at the northernmost point of the temple (not
: counting the flooded grotto). While you're outside the temple, don't
: forget to grab the ammo on a cliff above your start point; it's accessible
: by heading west and then south.
: Next, go all the way east and get ready for some underwater action. Right
: next to the dive-in point is a single fusion battery, but you'll be using
: your fists for a while. In this underwater maze are a 2x health powerup
: and 2 oxygen canisters, all guarded by Flick'ta. On TC the oxygen you'll
: use punching these guys out is too great a cost, just run for it. There's
: also a Flick'ta waiting to ambush you near the end; take him out before
: you pass or he'll come out behind you and catch you between himself and
: some drones. Your best friend in the grotto is the dual pistols; most
: other weapons could do you damage if you shot the water in front of
: yourself by accident (and you will). Remember that if you knock the
: troopers off their ledges and into the water, they can't attack you. Your
: missions is behind a small brown door. There are two secret ways out of
: this grotto: One underwater door at the bottom of a pool, and a door on
: the small dry pathway to the north, which drops you back next to the pool
: earlier in the level (this one I was not aware of until this run).
: There is an easier way to get the doors open: Head to the east side of the
: main chamber and go north. In the small, diamond-shaped room there is a
: secret door, which will reveal a room containing an Alien Weapon, some
: ammo, and a switch that opens the doors.
: Once the temple is open, enter and take out the huge pile of Troopers waiting
: for you. Then collect the various ammo and use the 2x charger, and take
: the chip back to the insertion point. Then go into the temple and kill
: everyone else. The secret to the last room is to bezerk the monsters and
: wait for them to sort it out. The elevator down to the final room actually
: goes all the way to the cieling, which gives it two very annoying
: properties: If you stay on it, you take a little bit of damage each time
: it cycles, but if you get off, it's nearly impossible to step back on
: without triggering the bouncy-platform bug. Really no way around this, so
: just ride it down once and dive into the melee :P
: On to Nuke and Pave, where we finally learn the fate of the mysterious
: Bernhard Strauss...
Ouch. I decided to go through the game on TC and this was the first level in which I died for a good reason. (I died on What About Bob, I killed a bug group of fighters with my fist, turned around and fell into the lava.) When you first go into the temple you have to be fairly good to avoid death, especially since when I did it I just ran in and activated all the troopers at once, and had to fight them all at once too. But the last part of the level is just brutal. I died a bunch of time on that. In the end I had to use the elevator to recharge my health, even then I came mighty close to death.
