Quake II/Grid Control

Level objective
The objective of this level is to locate and destroy the grid control computer. This completes the unit objective, which is to destroy the security grid protecting the industrial region. Your field computer will list two secondary objectives and after you destroy the grid control computer it will credit you with the first and display "Proceed to next combat unit". Presumably, you achieve this by pressing the exit button, but as you can then no longer use your field computer in this level you won't see the credit. This appears to be a minor game programming error.

Strategy
This is the first real boss battle in the game. Typically, for this and many first-person shooters, it takes place in an "arena", i.e. an enclosed area that you can't get out of until you've defeated the powerful boss enemy. There are just a few other enemies that serve mostly as annoyances and the level is small with no secrets. Charging in with your best weapon just isn't going to work due to the endurance of the boss and the destructive power of his return fire. Some subtlety is going to be needed and your main options are shooting from cover and, if you can do it effectively, the circle-strafe. Plan to start the level with high health and armor and to leave it in somewhat poorer shape.



Walkthrough
From where you enter the level, proceed up the illuminated steps directly in front of you. On the raised area on either side of the steps you'll see a Jacket Armor to the right and a Grenade Launcher to the left. Each is in the middle of four large, square columns and pulsing blue laser beams cross each side, cutting you off from the prize. The beams will not kill you outright, but with what is yet to come in this level you don't want to take any unnecessary damage. The beams are too low to crawl underneath. You can try jumping over them, but it is probably easier to wait until a beam pulses on and then pass through, because it won't pulse again for several seconds. Quick-save if you think you might mess this up. Of course, if you don't actually need the armor points or the five Grenades you'll get from picking up another Grenade Launcher (you should definitely already have one), just pass by these items for now and come back for them, if necessary, before leaving for the next unit.

Continue through the doorway at the top of the steps you came up and into a hallway that crosses left-to-right. It doesn't really matter which way you turn, but go to the right to investigate the wall button there. It turns on and off a forcefield in the doorway to the next area. There is a similar doorway and forcefield, controlled by the same button, at the other end of the left-right hallway. The only possible purpose of the button is to make sure that you notice the forcefields. Turn them off and take a few steps into the next area. They come on, cutting you off from earlier parts of the level and earlier levels in the unit, so you're trapped here until you defeat the boss with only what you're carrying and what you can pick up nearby. When the boss is dead (whether or not you also kill his sidekick Berserkers) the forcefields will turn off again, so you can go back for the Jacket Armor and Grenade Launcher or even backtrack to earlier levels in the unit.

This next room is much easier than it looks. Keep away from the central area because the red laser beams that surround the column there will kill you immediately. On either side of this, passages are barred by arrays of scanning blue laser beams and it looks as if you could duck under them if you get the timing right. On the very outside, both left and right, are two more passages barred by pulsing blue lasers. Again, by getting the timing right, it looks as if you could dodge past each in turn and eventually make it to the other end. As with the earlier blue lasers, they won't kill you outright, but you should be sensible and avoid any damage. None of this matters, however, because if you crouch you can just crawl under the blue beams in any of the passages.

Entering the Arena
Beyond the passages crossed by laser beams is a hallway that goes from left to right. There are two lift platforms, one at each end. Step on one and ride it up to take a look around, but don't yet move out into the arena. There is a structure with high walls in the center and a high wall all around the outside. Between these is a wide path that presumably travels completely around. The lift platform will lower you back down, but step off and on and it will take you up again. Equip your HyperBlaster, move out a short distance and look around the corner. You will see a tank in the middle of the section between the two lifts. Give him a good stream of HyperBlaster fire and duck back onto the platform before his return shots reach you. Get off at the bottom. You can hear him clumping about up above and what he's doing is lumbering towards the lift from which you shot at him. There is also a second tank on the opposite side of the arena and what he's doing is making for the closest corner to where he thinks you are. Therefore, run to the other lift and take it up. Finish off the first Tank with the HyperBlaster. He's far enough away that you will have no trouble dodging return fire, but use the corner of the central structure for cover if necessary. Now you can play cat and mouse with the second Tank. Unless you're a crummy shot, both Tanks will be down before you've used up 100 units of ammunition and there are two packs of 50 each just waiting to be picked up along one side of the arena. If you like, you can get fancy and pick the lift platform so as exploit your ability to shoot slightly around a corner, depending on the hand in which you're holding the weapon, but it really isn't necessary with the slow-moving Tanks.

When the Tanks are eliminated, everything starts shaking violently and there are sounds of explosions. You have time here to catch your breath, save the game and switch weapons. Things grow calm again briefly and then the middle parts of the walls of the central structure crumble, leaving just "L"-shaped corners. There are four Berserkers hiding in those corners, but what will immediately get your attention is the Super Tank in the middle (sometimes known as the "Tank Boss"). Get on the move, because he's armed with a triple Rocket Launcher and a Chain Gun that he is able to turn on you very quickly and with devastating effect.

Now you can, of course, activate a Quad Damage and possibly an Invulnerability at this point and have the whole thing over and done with in fifteen seconds. The Super Shotgun will work very well, taking out the Berserkers in a single shot each and the Super Tank in as few as four shots. But, wouldn't you feel better if you beat the boss without these ridiculous power-ups? Of course you would.

You can beat the Super Tank and the Berserkers using a circle strafe. Skip the rest of this paragraph if you don't know what that is or know what it is but also know that you're not very good at it. Equip the Grenade Launcher and begin to run around and around the outer pathway of the arena, staying just outside the L-shaped corners. Don't go too far out or the Super Tank may be able to turn quickly enough to keep up with you. You want him to stay in the central area and the Berserkers to be in total confusion about which way to go. As you pass each opening to the central area, turn sideways, but use strafing to keep up your speed around the outside, and pop a Grenade at the Super Tank. If most of them hit, and there's no reason why they shouldn't, he's such a big target, he'll go down in a pile of wreckage after about twenty-five Grenades. Many of the Berserkers are likely to have died (or at least have been seriously weakened) in the splash damage of the explosions. If any remain switch to the Machine Gun or Chain Gun to kill them.

Without the circle strafe, you need to eliminate the Berserkers first. Try to attract the attention of only one at a time, which means being at one of the corners when the walls crumble. Show yourself to the Berserker tucked into the opposite corner, and use the Machine Gun or Chain Gun as he runs towards you. Move to the next corner and repeat. All the time, of course, keep out of the way of the Super Tank. To be honest, this is the part of the level where you can find yourself in the most trouble, so saving the game as soon as the ordinary Tanks went down may turn out to have been a really good idea. When you're alone with the Super Tank, you get back in control of the situation. Equip the Super Shotgun and run to the other side of whichever corner he is nearest. You and he will circle this corner with you retreating backwards as he chases you in his slow and cumbersome way. You need to have your weapon in your right hand (the default) and you both need to circle clockwise. This is so that you are exposed only to the triple Rocket Launcher on his left side and not to the Chain Gun on his right. You can see him readying the Rocket Launcher and quickly pull back and around the corner but he can spin suddenly and start up the Chain Gun with no notice at all. Any time you have a clear view of his left side, blast him with the Super Shotgun. He's so big that most or all of the pellets will hit and as few as thirteen shots will be unlucky for him.

After the Boss Goes Down
Once the Super-Tank has been destroyed, the force-fields in the doorways near the start of the level turn back off. If you want to, you can go back and collect the Jacket Armor, get five Grenades by picking up the Grenade Launcher and collect other heath and ammunition on the way. Also, a hatchway opens in the middle of the arena floor, at the center of a square marked by red and black diagonal stripes. Get onto the ladder and climb down the shaft below the hatch. Be careful to stay on the ladder; the drop is long and if you lose your grip you will suffer fall damage.

Once you have climbed down the shaft, there are no more enemies in the level. Proceed along a tunnel until you come to a vertical structure with blue laser beams in its center. Step onto a small, circular lift platform nearby and ride up, then walk around to the other side of the machine. Press the button on the post to lift up a shielding cylinder, exposing the blue, lozenge-shaped computer core. Blue laser beams sweep the area, but as long as you stay at the button, you are safe. Shoot the core with your Blaster to destroy it. Your field computer updates instructing you to "Proceed to next combat unit". Take the short corridor to an elevator and press the button there marked "EXIT".

Secrets
Like most (or all?) boss-fights, this level has no secrets.