Quake II/Detention Center

Level objective
The main objective in this level is to turn off some lasers that block your progress in the next level, the ../Security Complex/, so that you can continue the unit. To get to the laser controls you will need to find the Red Key Card, which is in the Security Complex, and to get there you will need to find the Blue Key Card, which is in this level. Your field computer will walk you through these steps.



Strategy
Having met your first Tank just before leaving the Warehouse and your first Gladiator in the Main Gate, in this level you will face two Tanks and four Gladiators, two of the latter in the same room. Your weaponry will begin to feel inadequate and some amount of caution is advisable even if your natural style is to rush ahead and deal with things as they happen. To add to your problems, this level introduces the Medic. If you know where to expect them (for example, if you follow the Walkthrough, below) then just be sure to kill them promptly. If you give a Medic a chance to wander around, it will reanimate Strogg that you have already killed and you will have to fight them again. You can prevent this by pulverizing (gibbing) the corpses of Strogg enemies before moving on, perhaps using your Blaster to conserve ammunition, but this takes time. The choice if yours, just remember that a Medic can revive a Tank as easily as a Light Guard (of which, as it happens, there are none in this level).

There is adequate ammunition here for all but the most reckless styles of play and you will begin to pick up ammunition for weapons that you do not even have yet (how frustrating). It's never a good idea to lose all your armor points as you also lose your armor level and have to start again with the Flak Jacket, but it won't be long before Combat Armor will be reasonably common so don't worry too much.

Walkthough
The elevator from the ../Main Gate/ deposits you in a room with electronic equipment of some sort stacked against the wall. Passageways on both the right and the left lead back behind you, but each is patrolled by a Gunner. The first order of business, then, is to dispatch them with two blasts each from the Super Shotgun. Your field computer gives your secondary objective as "Locate blue keycard".



The Blue Key
The two passageways meet at the bottom of short ramps in a room where you will find two Enforcers and some ammunition. Don't pick up the bullets unless you are desperately short. The exit from this room leads to an outdoor area where a Tank awaits you. If your style is to rush ahead, equip the Chain Gun. With enough dodging, a hundred bullets will take him down before he can do you any damage. If your style is to snipe from cover, then Grenades are your best bet. Show yourself and then withdraw to cover to make him follow you. Run out, throw a Grenade and then duck back before he can open fire. You can arm the Grenade as you run out and throw without pausing. It will take eight hits to kill the Tank.

Close to where the tank stood, you will find your first Bandolier. Take it to get ten Shells and 50 Bullets, but also the ability to carry 150 Shells and 250 Bullets around with you rather than the previous limits of 100 and 200. Now is the time to go back for that ammunition you passed up earlier. If you approach the heavy door nearby, you will get the message "You need the blue key". So we'll go in the only direction open to us, which is to the left.

Go down the long flight of steps and take out the Enforcer in the tunnel. You can continue through the tunnel and fight a Gladiator and three Flyers, but instead let's come back out and drop down into the water. There is Jacket Armor here if you need it. Equip the Chain Gun and follow the water under the building, then stay to the right as you leave the water, jump up and turn around. The Gladiator will not have seen you. Move closer and give him about 100 bullets, dodging return fire. On the balcony you'll find the Blue Key, some Bullets to replenish your stock and also Shells. So what was that about Flyers? If you look on the back wall, between the tall equipment racks, you'll see an alarm button. If you hadn't gunned him down so quickly, the Gladiator would have pressed this and summoned three Flyers from above the building. If you're not interested in scoring all the enemy kills, you can just move on at this point. Otherwise, switch to the Super Shotgun, press the button yourself, go to the balcony edge and look up.

Go up the steps and return to the area where you killed the Tank. Your field computer has updated your secondary objective to "Use blue keycard to gain access to the detention center". Approach the heavy door again and it will open. Your secondary objective updates again to "Locate red key card in the security complex".

Getting to the Security Complex
Beyond the heavy door is a courtyard with doors to the left and the right and balconies above and opposite. Two Berserkers will greet you but respond well to multiple Super Shotgun blasts. If you approach the door on the right, you will get the message "You need the Red Key". It's actually not a good idea to go into the opening opposite and use the lift platform there. If you want to see what's on the balconies, save the game before you go up so that if things don't go well you can change your mind and leave this until later. Instead, go to the door on the left and shoot the Berserker that emerges. The next piece of advice you're about to read is probably a spoiler and on the edge of cheating, so skip the rest of this paragraph to experience the game the way the designers planned. OK, so, go past the door, turn left along a short corridor, turn right and take a few more steps towards the Bullets there but then turn and retrace your steps to the courtyard. You will find that hidden alcoves have opened and disgorged two Medics. They take some effort to kill, but their return fire is only minimally damaging. The major threat that they pose is that if you leave them to wander around they will revive any dead (but not gibbed) Strogg that they encounter and you'll have to kill them all over again.

Through the door you will hear the moans and pleas of your fellow Marines in the various cells and dungeons. Go to the right, where you will find a grid in the floor with Marines beneath. A Berserker and some Flyers will slow your progress and then a Guard will come down a flight of steps to the left. Go up the steps carefully; there is another Guard on a ledge above and two Enforcers in the area at the top. One approach to this is to run up the steps and around the corner where you will be face-to-face with one of the Enforcers. Kill him at point-blank range with your Super Short gun, then turn quickly to take out the other Enforcer from where you stand, out of sight of the Guard. Then you have just the Guard to deal with. Behind the Guard is a pulsing, glowing button. Shoot it with your Blaster to raise some steps so that you can go up and collect his Bullets (see also Secrets, below).

The area at the top of the steps is a mezzanine which overlooks a room with three cells on either side. There are two Gladiators down there. You can get into that room if you backtrack down the steps and go to the right (on the way, a button on the wall turns off some lasers giving you access to a Quad Damage). So, you can fight the Gladiators from up on the mezzanine or go down to do battle, it's your choice. In either case, avoiding their Rail Gun fire is a priority. Grenades work from above, although you will likely waste many by missing, and the Chain Gun works close in. If you can entice the Gladiators to enter the middle cell under the mezzanine you can use their reduced maneuverability to advantage. You may even be able to drop down and lock the cell, trapping them to deal with later, after you have collected more powerful weapons, or just leave them there if you don't want to score all the enemy kills. An Enforcer might join the fray from the door at the end of the room; otherwise you will meet him later, so be ready.

Open the cells that have force-fields across the doorways using the security panels on the walls. There is ammunition in the cells, including some Rockets, which of course you won't be able to use until you find the Rocket Launcher, and if you put the Marines out of their misery some of them will drop more. Don't take anything you don't need as you'll be coming back this way.

Leave the cell area via the doorway through which you can see a wall button. A short corridor goes right and left to longer passages leading away around a central structure of some sort. You may meet the Enforcer here, otherwise you won't at first see any Strogg. But, you will be able to hear the trudging of a Tank at the far end of the area. Due to his slow movement and the availability of cover, just play cat-and-mouse with the weapon of your choice, perhaps Grenades. As soon as the Tank goes down, however, two Medics come out of hidden alcoves so be sure to take them out before they can revive him. The way is now clear to go around the central structure and take the exit to the Security Complex on the other side. See Secrets, below, for the significance of the central structure, either now or on your return.

The Laser Control Computer
On returning from the Security Complex with the Red Key, your field computer updates your secondary objective to "Find the yellow laser control computer". Go back through the part of this level you've already cleared of Strogg and to the courtyard with the balconies.

To achieve this next objective there is an easy part and a difficult part. It's possible to finesse the difficult part, but if you don't want to know about that, skip the rest of this paragraph to play as the level designer probably intended. Once you have the Grenade Launcher (if you don't yet have it, see below for how to get it), it's possible to kill the Strogg on the balconies from the safety of the courtyard. You'll need to stand just a short distance outside of the parapets and launch the Grenades almost straight up, but after a few misses (and dodging Grenades that fall back down) you'll get the hang of it. This technique will be useful later in the game and this is a good time to practice. To locate the Strogg you'll have to go to the corners of the courtyard and jump. The Guard on the balcony with angled sides is easy. Take a note of where he is standing and send two Grenades up in quick succession. The first will stun him and the second will finish him off. The Gladiator on the other side, where you can see yellow lasers, is more difficult as you can only glimpse the top of his head. However, he's exactly in the middle of the balcony. Also, the parapet is higher, so to get the Grenade over you will need to jump and fire at your highest point. The first grenade will get him moving so expect a few misses before he's finally down. Back up to see if he's still stomping around up there, but don't let him hit you with his Rail Gun, or just used your field computer to check for the kill. Now proceed as described below, but expect the balconies to be clear. (If you can't get the hang of launching grenades at the top of a jump and you don't want to face the Gladiator in a confined space later on, there is another way to kill him from below the balcony, but it takes patience and you should save the game periodically. Find a spot under the Guard's balcony from which you can pepper away at him with your Blaster but where he can't bring his Rail Gun to bear.  Don't stand all the way back against the wall because he can get you there; stand a little forward, but no so far that your shots don't hit him.  Just take your time.)

Cross to the door that requires the Red Key and open it. Explore inside, watching out for Strogg hidden around corners and on ledges. There are only Parasites and Enforcers (four of the former and fourteen of the latter) so just stay on your guard and make sure you have ammunition for the Super Shotgun and Chain Gun. Many of the Enforcers drop boxes of bullets. Do not (yet) step on the lift platform in the small room at the end of the long corridor. In a large room with an open roof and a grating in the floor, you should have noticed a Grenade Launcher in the dungeon below. Make sure to find your way down there to pick it up. Now comes the difficult part. You should probably save the game.

Go down the long corridor and step on the lift platform in the room at the end. Skip the rest of this paragraph to kill the last four Strogg in the level on your own. Step off the lift platform at the right hand side, out of sight of the Gladiator up ahead. Equip the Super Shotgun, turn and take a few steps backwards, pressing against the wall. The apparently solid wall behind the lift platform will explode to reveal two Flyers. You should be able to stand your ground and take then out before they can harm you. Don't retreat to far until you are ready to face the Gladiator. Now equip the Chain Gun. Go along the passage and you'll see that you are on one of the balconies above the courtyard. The yellow laser control computer is nearby (don't use it yet) and a Gladiator is guarding it, but facing away from you. On the other balcony is a Guard. Without firing a shot and staying clear of the yellow lasers, dance around to enrage the Guard, hiding behind the Gladiator so that when the Guard uses his machine gun he hits the other Strogg. This will start them fighting each other. Go back along the passage until the Guard is dead. Now go up close behind the Gladiator and give him continuous Chain Gun fire until he goes down, sweeping to the side to avoid his return attacks.

Press in the keyboard of the computer; the yellow lasers across the balcony (and in the Security Complex) will turn off. Your field computer updates your secondary objective to "Return to the Security Complex". Check that you have both secrets and scour the level for any items you've not yet picked up (you can also come back later just to do that). To get down from the balcony without fall damage, jump across to where the Guard was (and collect the Chain Gun and Bullets there), then crouch and drop to the ground. Follow the now-familiar path to the level exit, make a final check that you've collected everything from the secret near here, and say goodbye to the Detention Center. If you've played cautiously, you should be carrying 50 Grenades, 150 Shells, 250 bullets and have 100 or more Combat Armor points.

Secrets
This level has two (2) secrets:
 * 1) Shortly after you enter the detention center building using the blue key, you climb a long flight of stairs above which there is a Guard standing on a ledge.   Behind him is a pulsing, glowing button which you can shoot to raise some steps to reach his ledge.  Instead of going up the steps, quickly run forward to get back to the bottom of the flight before they fully rise.  Look back and you will see Combat Armor under the steps.  Go in to receive the message "You have found a secret area".  If the steps come back down and trap you, just press the wall button.  If you can't run down the steps fast enough, you can also drop down from the mezzanine level and run around (there is plenty of time for this), but clear the Strogg away first!
 * 2) The level exit that joins the Detention Center to the Security Complex is in an area where you fought a Tank and then two Medics.  The structure in the center of this room has two doors outlined in pink lights.  Press the wall button to the left of the door closest to the level exit.  Step through, turn to the left, press the wall button that you see there on the inside and step back out.  The other door will now stand open.  Go around and back to the wall button that you passed on the way into this area after killing the two Gladiators guarding the cells.  Press that and return to the newly opened door.  The bars just inside and on the left will be lowering, so step through and receive the message "You have found a secret area".  There is lots of good stuff here, including your first Power Shield, two (yes, two) Adrenalines and some Cells you won't be able to use until you find the HyperBlaster.  If the bars go back up, there is a wall button in the secret area to lower them again.