Shake Before Using... is the twelfth level in Marathon. It is the second and last level of Reprisal, the third chapter of the game. The level is located in the Engineering Section of the Marathon. There are several rooms here with narrow bridges crossing a chasm, as well as some strange moving platforms you can activate that serve no apparent purpose. The objective here is to get to the end of the level, where a teleporter will send you to the next level.
The Engineering Section has been overrun by Pfhor Fighters and Troopers, as well as S'pht Compilers. An optional area also contains the first occurrences of exploding bugs called Lookers.
There is a pattern buffer a short distance to the west of the start room. Near the end of the level, beyond a very large hall with a narrow bridge leading across it, another buffer can be found. The level contains a 3x shield recharger to the west of the airlock in the center of the map. A 1x shield recharger can be found few rooms further to the north of the airlock.
Walkthrough[]
From the starting room, make your way to the west. There is a pattern buffer in a room up ahead you'll soon come across.
Continue west; at the end of a long corridor you'll find a 3x shield charger and some ammo in a couple of receptacles in the walls. Use the recharger while you can; at some point while you progress through the level it'll be disabled. Go through the airlock in the corridor's north wall. Kill the enemies in the next room; if you fall off the bridge, you can hit a button to raise the floor.
Keep moving north. You'll find another room with a bridge leading across; the center portion of the bridge is an elevator that drops down to the floor and goes back up again every once in a while.
In the next corridor, you will find a 1x shield recharger. You can head north or south here; the south room is a dead end with some ammo.
The corridor to the north takes you to gigantic room with yet another narrow bridge leading cross it. On the other side, you'll find a room with a pattern buffer. The end of the level is not a terminal but a teleporter; you'll find it a little ways to the east. The teleporter will take you to Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!
There are a few secret areas to be found. Hit a button in the room just west of the first pattern buffer room, then go back to the pattern buffer room. A wall will have opened up to the north, revealing some enemies and ammo pickups.
Similarly, a button just east of the room will open the wall to the south of the buffer, allowing you to retrieve some more ammo. When you face south, the rear wall of the third alcove from the left is actually a hidden door concealing a secret room with ammo (room B on the map). There is yet another hidden door in the south wall of this room with a bit more ammo behind it.
It is not necessary to drop down from the long bridge leading across the large hall in the west of the level, but if you do so, you'll find a terminal and jump pad in some tunnels to the north. Be careful: there are Compilers here, as well as Lookers; little bugs which run towards you and explode. Use the jump pad to travel to a secret corridor that will take you back to the first pattern buffer room.
Terminals[]
Engineering Terminal 39-g<39.96.28.12>[]
The first terminal is a corrupted message from Leela, damaged by the S'pht attacks. She tells you that everything is not as it seems and that she has detected another AI in the Engineering Section but, she supplies two names for the AI: Durandal and Tycho. She then says she's trying to transmit maps to guide you, but it's futile.
Engineering Access 31-d<40.59.21.10>[]
The second terminal tells you that security has been breached at your location and continues with a corrupted account of part of the Pfhor attack, which ends with a Spurious Interrupt denying further access.
Science Station 19-f<299.229.4.59>[]
The final terminal is a message from Durandal, who is no longer being attacked by the S'pht. He gives you five maps, all possible locations of a hidden airlock panel he wants you to find. He finally tells you that the Pfhor are building simulacrums and tells you not to get closer than three meters.
Trivia[]
- The music for this level is an upbeat song titled Freedom. It is track #5.
- When this map is opened in a map editor, a written message can be found outside the bounds of the level. It reads, "I RULE".
- This level contains the first 3x shield recharger available for players to use on the main path through the level. While there was a 3x recharger in Never Burn Money, it was hidden in a secret room that new players will likely have missed.
Sources[]
Marathon - Level 11: Shake Before Using...