General comments:

This level is not for the faint of heart. Not only do you have to contend with "The Big Blue Meanie" but you'll find the bodies of five of your Special Forces buddies down here (see map). Not a pleasant sight.

Need A Light? is also a dead end. The only way out is back up the ladder you came down. Of course you don't know that that until you've explored everywhere.

The first body you'll find is Ed's. Let's see what he has to say.

Conversations with the Dead:

Read the Conversation with Ed.

Ed relates the important fact that Greg now has the bomb. Remember that John said that Steven had it after they left him on "A Plague of Demons". Ed also provides the names of the remainder of your team. Seven in total... John, Ed, Darren, Sean, Jason, Steven and Greg. You are the eighth team member. Note that Ed says that there are three radio beacons in all. We only need one but we should be able to find three... right?

Censorship rears its ugly head again. Ed's words were edited in version 2.0 of the game.

Moving on... at the top of the map you'll find two doors. Only the right one opens. Once through there's no way out but around. Follow the wide corridor until you reach another door. On the other side lies Darren.

Read the Conversation with Darren.

Darren isn't exactly happy to see you nor is he very communicative. He won't even tell you his name, though it is possible to determine who he is through a process of elimination later on.

Check Darren's body for the M-79 Grenade Launcher (worth one point) and 40mm Fragmentation Cartridges. Remember that the 40mm HE Cartridge you took from John's body on "A Plague of Demons" will also work in the Grenade Launcher. Hmmm... don't they look remarkably similar?

Down the corridor a bit you'll find Sean.

Read the Conversation with Sean.

Sean provides us with a very important piece of information. Namely that Steven changed the bomb code. So don't forget to ask Steven what the new code is! Sean is also carrying a 40mm Projectile Cartridge, another piece of ammo for the M-79 Grenade Launcher. Versatile weapon but since all three cartridges look the same how does one tell them apart?

Further down the corridor you'll find Jason.

Read the Conversation with Jason.

Jason (Jones) immortalised with golden hair. We know this is Jason Jones because of his response to the word "pathways". Nice touch.

Jason is carrying one of the team's three Radio Beacons. Don't forget to take it.

By the time you reach Steven's body near the end of the corridor there's a very good chance that The Big Blue Meanie will show up. Sean warned you about it:

That thing will probably attack you when
you get close to Steven's body, so watch out.

The monster is not named in the death dialog. The Official Hint Book refers to it as "The Big Blue Meanie". It might look like a big blue chicken but it's about to rain on your parade. No time to speak to Steven your first priority is to get out of its line of fire. Corners are your friend. Jason made reference to this:

We never stopped firing at it. Back up
around a corner, fire, back up, fire. It's
gotta be hurting. You can kill it.

Just as your team found out the Blue Meanie seems invincible. Bullets appear to have no effect. However Jason does offer this clue:

We saw a little blood, our bullets were
hurting it- but it didn't seem to care.

"If it bleeds we can kill it." remarked Arnold Shwarzenegger in Predator. It actually only takes eight MP-41 Magazines to kill it. Just make sure you keep your distance and out of its line of fire. Have fun. :-) Once you've killed The Big Blue Meanie don't forget to speak to Steven.

Read the Conversation with Steven.

You have to specifically ask Steve about the bomb code before he tells you the new one:

Thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot.
We changed the first three digits of the code
from '287' to '658' because you were
seperated from us.

Steven is also bit confused. He thinks Ed is Jason.

Ed is somewhere down the corridor behind
me, I heard him die right after I did.

Jason's body is after Steven's so he died shortly after Steven (based on the order they appear lying in the corridor). Ed is not even in the corridor he died outside.

Steven has the second of the team's three Radio Beacons. Who has the third?

Now that you have the code you need to find Greg and the bomb.

Items to find:

Amethyst Ring (one point plus worth $31.0K).
Clear Blue Potion
Bubbling Red Potion
Thick Brown Potion
Flashlight (dead) (beside Steven's body)

Items on Ed:

Broken M-16 (with magazine x14)
Empty M-16 Magazine
Colt .45 Pistol (with empty clip)

Items on Darren:

M-79 Grenade Launcher (with one 40mm Fragmentation Cartridge loaded) (one point)
Broken M-16 (with magazine x3)
Empty M-16 Magazine
One 40mm Fragmentation Cartridge

Items on Sean

Colt .45 Pistol (with empty clip)
Infra-Red Goggles
Flashlight (dead)
One 40mm Projectile Cartridge

Items on Jason:

Broken M-16 (with empty magazine)
Infra-Red Goggles
Radio Beacon (worth one point)
Colt .45 Pistol (with empty clip)

Items on Steven

Broken M-16 (with magazine x6)
Three 40mm Projectile Cartridges
Radio Beacon

Points to note:

Taking the M-79 Grenade Launcher from Darren's body will increase your total points from 25 to 26.

When you pick up the first Radio Beacon you'll gain another point (total points = 27)

At the end of twisting corridor containing the Big Blue Meanie you'll find an Amethyst Ring lying on the ground along with three different Potions. When you pick the ring up your points will increase by a further one point (total points = 28) and your health units will increase from 18 to 20.

Apart from being worth one point and $31.0K in treasure the Amethyst Ring doesn't appear to have any function. However, if you wear it Crystal recharging takes considerably longer. This doesn't seem to serve any purpose other than giving you a nasty surprise. Anyway Special Forces guys don't wear Amethyst Rings. TAKE IT OFF!

Oddly the Official Hint Book mentions the existence of the Brown Potion but not the Blue or Red Potions even though they are all to be found in the same area.

According to Matt Soell (Bungie), in an early draft of the Official Hint Book the Big Blue Meanie was called "Greed". Matt wrote:

The Big Blue Meanie was named "Greed" in the draft. Likewise, the "Giant Purple Mutant Hellbeast or Barney on Steroids" was originally named "Malice" and the "Flaming Smokey Dude" went by the name "Deceit." Jason does not remember if these names were his idea or not, nor does he remember specifically why they were dropped in favor of the more colloquial descriptive names found in the final hint book.

Hopper <hopper@whpress.com> adds:

In Pathways 1.1, the names [of monsters] are stored with the code. Pain, Malice, and Deceit appear to be assigned to the BBM, GPMHoBoS, and FSD respectively. Malice and Deceit were mentioned in the original draft of the Hint Book, but the blue guy was "Greed" at that time.

Pain certainly fits the The Big Blue Meanie better. :)

Monsters to kill:

Oozes, Nightmares and... The Big Blue Meanie!

Decision to make:

You see a crystal ladder going up. Ascending to The Labyrinth.