20 A Converted Church in Venice, Italy

Tips

Once again, you are fighting your human companions. Damn, those magnums are accurate! Also, you need to deal with the few of the energy ticks that get in your way too.

There are two goals of this level. First, you need to activate EVERY switch on the main part of the level. Why? Because these open the path that you need to take from the center southern structure on the level to the second half of the level. And there are about 20 of these switches as well. Fortunately, the switch controls the block in the pillar that the switch is on, so as you go through this path, if you get blocked, you can locate the pillar that you need to hit the switch on.

Once you have a clear path to the second half of the level, you need to head up the stairs first to save your game and get further instructions. Then, head downwards, several times, to get to the lava tubes. Be careful of the humans firing at you, and eventually you'll come to the switch that you need to hit. At this point, run back UP the stairs, refeul and save your game, then run back down. You then have three possible options to get out of this mess.

First, you can try to ride the elevator that will activate once you hit the switch. However, the lava may overtake you too soon on this ride, and you'll die too quickly. Also, there are fusion pistol-armed BOBs in this shaft, ready to take you out. Although this is a possible escape route, its a tad to difficult to time correctly.

Second, there is a ledge in the lava tube where some humans were shooting at you from. Locate the ledge, and move as close as you can to hit while still being able to see the switch. Fire a plasma bolt at the switch, then run to the the base of the ledge. Swim with the lava up to the ledge, then quickly run forward... you'll find a long set of steep stairs that will quickly remove you from the danger of the lava, and lets you back out into the main part of the level, and a good ammo stash as well.

You can also rocket jump to this ledge if you are at 2x health.

The third route is similar to the escape route in ``What About Bob?'' in Marathon 2. There is a side room near the lava switch, with several exploding bobs. You can kill these before you activate the switch. Once you hit the switch, a door in this room will open *very* slowly, but will take you to a swift ride out of the lava. Unless you are fast or cheated to get above 2x, you probably can't make this.

Once you've done this, find an terminal, and you'll head off to Son of Grendel.

You can rocket launch yourself back to where you started the level if you take the second escape route listed above, allowing you to access the 3x recharger there. However, you need to be at 2x health before your jump, and after you jump, you'll be very suscpetible to any damage, so be ready to fire.

Secrets

If you face the inactive 3x recharger at the start of the level, and turn about 120 degrees right, you'll find a hidden door, behind which you'll find a switch that will remove ALL the obstructions in the overhead path, thus letting you avoid having to it all those other switches. You'll still have to do the lava run, but this makes getting through this level much easier.