Recap pages are Spoilers Off by default, so in all these pages all spoilers are unmarked. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned
It gets worse from here...
Operation: Darkest Depths is the sixth of six operations in the Call of the Machine expansion that comes with the 2023 remastered version of Quake II.
It puts you in the role of an unnamed marine in charge of finding the last Strogg Disc that contains the necessary data about the location of the Strogg Maker. He lands in a Strogg temple resembling The Reckoning's moon levels.
The unit comprises the levels "Too Deep", "Too Greedy", "Fatalism" and "Turbine".
This unit shows examples of:
- Continuity Nod:
- The name of the levels "Too Deep" and "Too Greedy" are a decomposite version of Dimension of the Machine's "Too Deep, Too Greedy" from the Dimension of the Astrologers.
- "Fatalism" is "E1M7: Chthon's House" from Quake in all but name and boss, with a huge Shambler named Modir as Chthon.
- Darker and Edgier: The episode begins as your typical Quake II military sci-fi episode, but slowly delves into something similar to a Quake episode, with a more Lovecraft Lite vibe. The unnamed marine is anything but Ranger, though, and fails to see the end of the day.
- Downer Ending: The marine fails to escape from the area at the end of the mission.
- Easter Egg: The last secret in "Too Deep" has a pair of cat photos.
- Easy Level Trick: Let's just say that it's way easier to take down Modir here than it was to take down Chthon back in Quake. All you need to do is to make the whole mechanism work once.
- Final Boss: Modir, a huge Shambler half-sunk into the lava in "Fatalism".
- Fission Mailed: The ending of the unit has a tortured Marine in front of a door, and the screen telling "Contact lost. Mission Failed."
- Flunky Boss: Overburden is accompanied with two Tanks.
- Mid-Boss:
- A Super Tank called "Overburden" at the end of "Too Deep".
- Another Super Tank called "The Underminer" at the end of "Too Greedy".
- Secret Level: "Turbine", accessed from shooting a Commander's Head plate in "Too Greedy".
- Wham Shot: Not only there are ancient ruins telling about Shub-Niggurath. At one point, the unnamed marine crosses a portal in "Too Greedy" which looks too similar to those in Quake. He ends up in the beginning of "E1M2: Castle of the Damned", with a Shambler at the other end of the bridge. Then the screen cuts to "An ancient evil is awakened! Find a way out!". And the next level is "E1M7: The House of Chthon" in all but name.
