Note: This file contains "spoilers".
To see the text that is concealed by the solid blocks, hold down the left mouse
button and drag the cursor across.
Test spoiler: the evil which lies in the
caverns below is unspeakable
Episode 4:Oracle of The
Prophets - Walkthrough
This is a very different mission
requiring an unconventional walkthrough. The setting is the surface and interior
of an asteroid which has very low gravity and no magnetic field. Orientation is
quite difficult - a compass will not work, and although Garrett can climb up
very steep slopes and jump down from high places without damage, it is sometimes
difficult to determine which way is up! With higher difficulties there are fewer
weapons, more adversaries and a restricted choice of routes, but the gameplay is
basically the same.
Start
The mission opens
with Garrett riding a camvator up the outside of the asteroid. Scan left and
right during the ascent - notice a glowing bluish egg-shape to the right, of
which more later. The camvator stops by a metal contraption near a talkative
madman. When he leaves, collect the various arrows and the holy water, and then
head upwards on the right side of the metal device towards the blue planet. Soon
you will see a ghostly sentinel facing right with an iron bar in his hand. Creep
in behind him and collect the Journal of Arcelious. Read it to get a new
objective.
The journal refers to the transporter orbs - you have already
seen a blue one. In fact, there are four sets of transporter orbs - blue, white,
green and red. Each set comprises four orbs. The orbs are equally spaced around
the equator of the asteroid.
A little further on are two well-guarded
lava lakes with several Fire Arrows around them - you can collect them if you
are brave. Now work your way down to one of the ledges next to a transport orb
(the easiest descent is on the red sun side). The further you go the more
careful you need to be - a little bit too far and you will plummet to your doom.
Save game often. Hold the "run" key down when falling, and face the cliff so you
will stick to any reasonable surface on contact. Do a lot of leaning, looking
and planning before taking any big jumps.
Going Inside
OK, you have made it onto one of the ledges. Walk into the orb and be
transported to the interior. There are four different caverns, red, blue, green
and white, identified by the coloured mound lights. Thoroughly explore the
cavern you have entered because all the loot except for one piece can be found
in these top-level caverns. Avoid the purple magic missiles and read any
crumpled papers you find. One of these advises "The lava vents in the shape of
eyes can be toxic if no fire crystals are present. If you see no crystal within,
then do not closely approach such a vent." Good advice indeed! On this uppermost
level there are also a few very dangerous fire-shot traps in vents that
do have fire crystals. So, if you see a fire crystal, it's best to be
quick about grabbing it. Bearing these facts in mind, collect all the fire
crystals you can. You will also encounter particle curtains which may or may not
have actuators to raise them (depending on difficulty).
There are some
unfamiliar opponents to be found here. The floaters can always be destroyed with
gas arrows, usually with fire arrows, and sometimes with broadheads.Walking
monsters and mutants are best killed with fire arrows aimed at their midriffs.
Back-stabs are often quite effective on floaters and monsters too. As usual, the
best way of dealing with the fire elementals is to use water arrows.
If
you are in the red cavern, you have been lucky - stay in it, and continue from
the heading "Red Cavern". Otherwise remain with the current colour and look for
a shaft leading down to the next level. Go down, and be careful - you will
encounter some active opponents here. Explore this level, which is smaller than
the level above, find a shaft leading to yet another level below and go down
it.
In the central cavern here you will see a globe floating in the air
above a lava pit. There are three side caverns, two of which contain particle
curtains. Make your way carefully down the curtainless side cavern and find a
tunnel slanting down. Follow it and jump over to the central dome in the magma
chamber. Look around the
outside wall to locate the green tunnel exit, and make your way towards it.
About halfway down the side of dome below the green tunnel is a large hole which
contains a crumpled note. Read the note, which explains the significance
of the floating globes, and advises you to look for Kelvin in the red globe
area. Now go anticlockwise around the dome. Down below the white tunnel is a
platform with a white star (protected by a particle curtain) and some gas
arrows.
Getting Out Again
The next star past
the white star is the blue star. Go to the inside towards the volcano, and climb
out on the rocky peninsula to the right to collect a gem. Return, jump across to
the platform in the outside wall, go into the booby-trapped doorway, open the
particle curtain and enter the transporter room. Collect all the weapons and
potions and read what Cavador has to say. Listen to the phonograph. Note that
the transport orbs here will deposit you on the surface near a transport orb of
the diagonally opposite colour .
You want to go into the red cavern next;
the white orb is opposite the red orb, so enter the white orb and emerge on the
surface. Carefully creep, look, lean and descend to a ledge with a red transport
orb. Go in.
Red Cavern
Explore thoroughly,
collecting and reading all the crumpled papers, and make your way down to the
Red Globe area. There are four side caverns here. Kelvin is behind the particle
curtain that is guarded by the frightening monster. Get past the monster
somehow, and go in to Kelvin's body. Read the journal and receive an
objective change. The journal contents, together with the notes you have
collected already, should give you a very good idea what has to be done
now.
Make your way back to the globe chamber and locate the hanging red
actuator. Frob it, and a particle cover extends over the lava pit. Run across it
and into the globe; frob the inside, and then run onto solid ground to take
cover until the fireworks cease. Now make your way down the side cavern which
does not contain a particle curtain, run down the sloping tunnel and jump across
to the dome in the magma chamber.
Star
Activation
The protective particle curtain around a star can be
lifted by operating the actuator after the matching colour globe has been
touched from the inside. Then frob the star, and a coloured stream will drop
from it. All the stars need to be activated - the order is not critical except
that the white one should be last. Activate the red star now.
Go back to
the transporter room near the blue star (see Getting Out Again), go up to the
surface and then down to the next colour cavern. Go down two levels, touch the
globe from the inside, jump onto the lava dome, and activate the appropriate
star. Repeat the sequence until you finally arrive on the white star
platform.
The White Star
This time, operate all
four actuators, the white one last. Now activate the white star, and a particle
bridge will extend out towards the volcano. Run across and bravely throw
yourself down into the crater. A camvator sequence will start. Wait until it
finishes, then enter the portal. MISSION
COMPLETE!
Loot
Red caves, top level:
gem (100 ) and nugget (50 - 150)
Blue caves, top level: gems (2 x 100 -
350)
Green caves, top level: nugget (100 - 450) and gems (2 x 100 -
650)
White caves, top level: gold nugget (100 - 750), silver nugget (50 -
800) and gem (100 - 900)
Rocks to the right of the blue star : gem (100 -
1000)
Playing Styles
After you have mastered the low
gravity, two ways of making subsequent games into a real challenge are:
1.
Play in ghost mode (perfect ghost is possible).
2. Try the complete opposite
- attempt to dispose of all the opposition.
Freddy Fox - 22nd
December 2003.