Chapter 03: Puzzle Pieces

Your first task is to defeat Barbaras, Muro's thug. It's a difficult fight, and you have to watch out for his health regeneration and the massive gun he wields. It's best to disarm him and fight him hand to hand. It'll take a lot of acrobatics, but it's a fun fight, and very worth it.

When the fight's over, you'll receive a new objective from Shinatama, and you're on your way. Now it's time for resource collection. Run towards the building, and you'll find two alcoves, one with an energy cell, and one with a hypo-spray. Watch out, because you'll quickly be attacked by two strikers, one of whom is armed. Take them out as quickly as possible, because chances are you don't have much health left after the fight with Barbaras. Luckily, one will drop a hypo-spray to replenish your health. When you've collected everything there, run back towards the Barbaras battlefield. There will be a red ammo clip laying next to a deceased TCTF agent. Collect it, then go down the alley to the right. You'll be attacked by a striker who will drop another hypo-spray when he dies. Go down the alley on the opposite side and collect the energy cell laying next to anothe dead agent. A few seconds later, another hypo-spray toting striker will come along for you to take care of. You'll see an unlocked door that's the only entry into the building. Head in and get ready for the next part of the level.

Save Point 2

Inside the door, you can go left or right, it doesn't matter. In the hallway, you'll immediately be greeted by a striker. Throw a few punches at him and dash for the striker at the other end of the hall, who will start shooting at you. Disarm him and dispose of both of them. The armed striker will drop an ammo clip.

At the end of the hallway you began at, you'll see a door that leads to a console room. Enter the room and use the console to flip one of three red lights above a door to green and unlock the other doors on that level. Exit the room and enter the first door on the right. Run through the room and attack a brown striker who is firing on scientists. He will quickly be joined by a communications striker. When they're both dead, go talk to the female scientist who will give you a hypo.

Use the console at the end of the room to learn more about SLD's (Simulated Life Dolls like Shinatama), and the Syndicate's use of the technology to develop tankers.

Cross the hall and save the scientists there from an armed brown striker. Speak with the male scientist, who will gratefully reward you with two hypos, both of which you'll find useful.

Go upstairs to the next floor and quickly back down the stairs. Try to separate them to make the fight a bit easier. If you lure a few of them back towards you, the other strikers will enter the rooms on either side of the hall and start torturing the scientists there. Deal with the strikers you caught, then head to the room on the left. Kill the striker and speak to the black-haired male scientist to receive an ammo clip. Speak to the blonde male scientist and you'll get a present in form of a force-field.

Leave the room and deal with the striker who will be waiting for you in the hall. It shouldn't be too much of a problem because of the force-field, but since it looks so cool, kill the guy quick and preserve the field.

In the other room, a blonde male scientist will give you a hypo. Use the console in the room for more information on the SLD's.

Exit the room and go upstairs to the third level. The doors up here will be locked, and a communications striker and a brown striker will be guarding them. Neither of them are armed, so the task shouldn't be too difficult. Enter the console room and use the console to unlock the doors on both sides of the hallway and flip the final red light above the cut-scene door green.

When you leave the room, there will be an armed brown striker at the other end of the hall and another armed brown striker in a doorway on the right side of the hall. Disarm them both first, then take care of them with a little more ease. Go in the room on the right side of the hall. If any scientists are still alive, speak to them. If not, you may still find an energy cell laying next to one of them. Go into the room on the other side where scientists will likewise either help you or be already dead. You should be able to get a hypo-spray from this room.

Leave and head upstairs to the door that should have three green lights, signalling that it's now unlocked and accessible.

Go through the door and be greeted by a blue striker who kindly drops a hypo-spray. You'll receive a new objective from Shinatama, directing you further through the level. Keep going, and you'll meet a brown striker to deal with, and a second one will join you shortly. Unfortunately, neither drop anything, but not all's lost, since they aren't too tough to deal with.

Head forward to the edge of the roof, and go in the garage-style door that slides up on the right. Head up the stairs and be prepared to meet a brown striker for a quick match. When he loses, continue up the stairs and take care of the brown striker in the room at the top.

Head into the hall and battle the self-detonating trooper until the cut-scene plays out and you end up in the foyer.

Save Point 3

Speak to the TCTF agent near you to get two hypo-sprays for your ingenius work. The other agent will warn you about the syndicate troops on the upper levels. You'll see a hallway in the left corner of the room. Go through and use the console in the room beyond. immediately prepare for an onslaught from an armed blue striker. Take care of him and prepare for a suicide trooper. As soon as he goes down, get as much space as possible between you and him. After he detonates, go back for the hypo-spray he dropped.

Head through the door in the back of the room. Go up the stairs and through the other door into a hallway. You'll see another door that leads to a room with a console and some dead troops, one lying next to an ammo clip. Take the ammo clip and turn around to attack the blue striker trying to sneak up on you. Take the hypo-spray he drops and use the console to flip the second light above the locked door to green.

Exit the room and head to the center of the building. You'll quickly be greeted by three armed brown strikers. It's best to deal with one as quickly as possible before the other two arrive. Try to stay under cover of the pillar so they can't shoot you from a distance.

Continue to the other side of the building, where you'll find a brown striker and an armed blue striker wandering. When they're no longer a threat, head back to the stairs and go up to the third floor. When you get to the top, head to the room in the back where you'll find some bodies and a hypo-spray. In the room in the center, you'll find an energy cell. When you have all your toys, leave the room and look for the brown striker who should be coming by. When he's dealt with, head to the other side of the building for some more combat.

In the center room you'll find a hypo-spray lying in the corner that could come in handy. Watch out for the communications striker and blue striker who will quickly try to crash the party and deprive you of your hypo-spray. Have a little fun and show them who's boss. When they're dead, leave the room and head to the back, where you'll find a console that flips the third light green and unlocks the door to the roof. After using the console, turn around and take the hall on your left all the way across the building to where the newly-unlocked door is.

You'll enter a passage from one building to the next that contains a console. If you use the console, you'll read the sad news that the company went 263 days without an accident, then the Syndicate attacked.

Head into the next building that's a series of catwalks spanning vats of bio-corrosive liquid that are guarded heavily by strikers. On the top floor, which is where you begin, make the armed brown striker your top priority, followed by the unarmed brown striker who will doubtless come to the aid of his teammate. Take care of them both, but be very careful not to fall of the catwalks, as falling into the liquid is lethal.

Head towards the stairs to the next level down and take care of the armed striker who will come up to see what the trouble is. Head down to the next level and kill both the unarmed brown striker and the one wielding a plasma rifle.

Head to the stairs across the catwalks and down to the next level. Oddly, there doesn't seem to be anyone left to guard this level, so you're free to head to the other end of the room and down the stairs, where you'll find the console that opens the door out of the room.

When you use the console, a suicide troop will come running. Dash up the stairs ahead of him and get to a straightaway where you can back up without worrying about falling into the liquid and shoot him as you run backwards to stay out of his reach. After he dies and detonates, go back and get the hypo-spray he dropped.

On the same level, run to where the garage is and hop off the catwalk towards the garage. It's solid ground underneath, and that way you'll also avoid a nasty jumping puzzle.

When the door opens, you'll encounted a blue striker, quicky followed by a brown striker. Deal with them carefully, and remember to stay away from the liquid, although if you can push them into it's that much more fun. The doors they come through are now unlocked for you to pass through.

When you go through the doors, you'll spot Muro's truck just pulling out, headed for the airport. It's the end of the level, and the continuing chase to catch Muro.

�Next �Chapter 4