A Plague of Demons
The Catacombs, Elevation: -4.5m
General comments:
Dazed and confused? You're taking hits but you can't see anything. You spray the air with bullets. Did you hit anything? Now you know how the guys in Predator felt like. Walter did warn you:
You'll find it easily enough, there's only one
way to go. There are invisible demons on
the level below this one, watch out. I
escaped them, I ran.Walter could run though... you can't. If you happen to die you'll find out that you've just been killed by a Wraith... but you're not laughing.
What should you do? You might continue spraying the air with bullets. It does work but it's also wasteful on ammo. If you're lucky you'll find the dead body of one of your Special Forces team near where you came down (see map).
Conversations with the Dead:
Read the Conversation with John.John tells you how you can see the invisible Wraiths:
We could see the creatures through the
infra-red goggles, but it didn't help when
they attacked. I got hurt bad, the guys
stayed with me until I died.and...
I've got a pair, take mine. It helps being
able to see them, but the things are fast! Be
careful.Grab those Infra-Red Goggles. Ahhh! so that's what a Wraith looks like! Here's a side view.
Once you can see the Wraiths they're not to difficult kill. Although fast their attacks don't do much damage unless they are in a group. Make sure you load a full clip in your MP-41 before opening this bronze door. Behind a silver door you'll find the famous Cedar Box. Examining it won't help you much but remember what Walter said about it:
Muller said we needed all twelve ingots, but
that the box would duplicate things which
were placed inside it so we should only get
one. We found the box.The box duplicates items placed inside it? See what you can duplicate.
Yes it's true Bungie put Phantasms on this level and you can't see them with the Infra-Red Goggles on. Phantasms are invisible in the infra-red spectrum. Take the goggles off and... old red eyes is back. Blue Crystal time folks! However here's a tip - the Orange Crystal you found on "Wrong Way" will kill a Phantasm in one discharge. Come and get some!
Items to find:
Infra-Red Goggles (one point).
Cedar Box (two points).
Broken M-16.
Two empty M-16 Magazines (one loaded in the M-16).
40mm HE Cartridge.
Two MP-41 Magazines.
Points to note:
When you grab the Infra-Red Goggles your total points increase to 20 which inturn increases your health from 14 to 16.This is the level the secret middle teleporter on "Happy Happy, Carnage Carnage" takes you to. You are dropped right beside John and the Infra-Red Goggles. How handy.
Odd how Walter on the level above (Feel The Power) could remember the Spanish speaking people passing but not the members of your Special Forces team. Note: it possible depending on what route you take through Feel The Power to miss Walter so it possible that he never saw your team members.
In fact none of the Germans mention seeing Americans. If your team members went straight down to Feel The Power then this might explain why they weren't seen. But how did they get down passed the locked doors on Ground Floor? Muller provided a clue:
You probably already know how to use the
pipes. The doors at the base of the pyramid
are almost always sealed and there's no
other way to get down.So doors at the base of the pyramid are not always sealed. Perhaps they were open when your team arrived and closed afterwards forcing you to find the Alien Pipes to open them. This will later be confirmed by Sean when you find his body on Need a Light.
Odd how the only thing that will fit in the Cedar Box is ammunition no matter how small the other items are.
Update Feb 10, 2012: In this old comp.sys.mac.games usenet post from 1994, Ron Hunsinger describes how the Cedar Box will dublicate the Survival Knife. In addition, if your P4 Pistol has ammunition in it, the Cedar Box will duplicate the ammo along with the P4 itself.
For more details about what items can be duplicated see The Cedar Box
Monsters to kill:
Wraiths, Oozes, and... Phantasms!
Decision to make:
You see a crystal ladder going down. Descending to Beware Of Low-Flying Nightmares.