Recap pages are Spoilers Off by default, so in all these pages all spoilers are unmarked. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned
After escaping from the destruction of the Big Gun, Bitterman finds himself in the main Strogg hangars.
The levels composing this unit in the PC version are "Outer Hangars", the Secret Level "Comm Satellite", "Research Lab", "Inner Hangars", "Launch Command" and "Outlands", and there are two overall objectives in the unit: close the Strogg Hangars for good, and destroy the Black Hole Generator. In the Playstation version, instead, only the levels "Launch Command" (renamed as "Defense Command"), "Research Lab" and "Gravity Booster" (the "Big Gun" level under a new name and with some key differences) are present.
Followed by the City unit (PC version) and the Boss Levels (PSX version).
These levels show examples of:
- Ability Required to Proceed:
- In the PC version:
- The Commander's Head in "Research Lab" unlocks the access to "Inner Hangar" from "Outer Hangar".
- The Red Key in the stress testing area of "Research Lab" unlocks the access to the medical facility where the damaged Tank Commander is located.
- The Airstrike Marker in the bridge of "Outlands" is required to take down the Black Hole Generator and unlock the entrance to the City Unit.
- In the PSX version:
- The Commander's Head found in "Research Lab" unlocks access to the Gravity Booster.
- The Red Key found in "Gravity Booster" unlocks the exit from the unit.
- In the PC version:
- Anvil on Head: "Comm Satellite": It's possible to take down the Hornet without firing a weapon. Just make sure he ends on the receiving end of the falling satellite dish. It's a bit hard to do in the 2023 remastered version, as the Hornet can escape the falling dish.
- Book Ends: The level "Research Lab" begins and ends in the same door.
- Borrowed Biometric Bypass: The "Outer Hangar" level has a locked door, with the item required to open it being a "Commander's Head", found in the "Research Lab" level.
- Broken Bridge:
- Access to the Inner Hangar is locked by a door in Outer Hangar whose main mechanism requires a Commander's Head. Which you get in the Research Lab.
- Access to the Outlands in Launch Command is locked by a forcefield near the cooling pool that's disabled once the computers are destroyed.
- Access to the next unit is locked in the Outlands via a fortified door. The door is destroyed alongside the rest of the area once the airstrike happens.
- Compressed Adaptation: The Playstation version compresses this unit and "Big Gun" into a single unit, and culls off most of the levels, to the point of leaving only three of them: "Launch Command" (as "Defence Command"), "Big Gun" (as "Gravity Booster") and "Research Lab".
- Cosmetic Award: Completing the unit in the 2023 remastered edition nets the "Destroy Black Hole Generator" achievement.
- Deadly Rotary Fan: Located in the water area of "Outer Hangars", the destruction of its nearby cables is necessary in order to reach the Secret Level.
- Death from Above:
- This can be done to the Hornet that spawns from the bottom of the pit in "Comm Satellite", provided the player manages to position said enemy and the falling Satellite Dish.
- "Outlands": The main objective of the level is to destroy the Strogg fueling tank. This is achieved by placing a key item called Airstrike Marker into a receptacle. The bombers will destroy both the objective and any other living creature in the area, including Stroggos and players.
- Death Course: "Outlands" is filled with Weapon Guards, Barracuda Sharks on the big lake, Flyers, and Enforcers (only at the very end there are Gunners). It also has one of the highest enemy counts of the game.
- Degraded Boss: The Hornet boss is fought two more times here: in the "Comm Satellite" level when destroying the Satellite Dish, and in the "Inner Hangar" level, right at the hangar itself.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?? The "Research Lab" level involves countless prisoners being subject to horrific experiments, in a pretty obvious reference to the Nazi's Mad Scientist experiments in concentration camps (which ties into their whole "Space Nazi" theme). While this game doesn't go into detail on what the experiments involve, Quake IV (which follows the storyline) claims, at one point, that prisoners sometimes have random organs removed to see how long they'll survive without them.
- Easter Egg:
- In the "Research Lab" level, there's A.H.D.S.S.I.B.H. bjjcExplanation . In order to get the Egg, you must kill all of the prisoners located in the level. Once this is done, return to the entrance of the level where the two glass windows are, when you'll see the left window now has "kill me" written on it. Break the window and enter the chamber, where you'll quickly find another prisoner behind glass which displays the message.
- The 2023 remastered version of "Outer Hangar" has a new secret: in the poolyard outside of the entrance to the Secret Level, there's a new piece of rock sticking out of the rocky walls. Shooting this piece will cause a flag to destroy a small portion of the wall, revealing a hidden windmill, a big golf club and a small ball.
- Easy Level Trick: The BFG10K can be used to destroy the launch computers, instantly completing the objective that locks the entrance to the Outlands. In case the player doesn't have it yet, the first secret (the one referencing the Rocket Jump) contains one.
- Explosive Decompression:
- In the level "Outer Hangar". Go ahead, try to see what's at the end of those pitch black tunnels where you come from....
- The level "Comm Satellite" takes place on a satellite. At the beginning and end there are two areas marked with red warning stripes. Stepping onto them launches the player to outer space without protection with the expected results. The areas can be safely walked if the player had the foresight of closing the bay doors first.
- Faster-Than-Light Travel: The Black Hole Generator creates Unrealistic Black Holes which allow the Strogg to travel to other solar systems. As such, destroying it (which is one of the main objectives) will prevent them from sending reinforcements to Earth and leave them stranded until they can make a new one.
- Foreshadowing: In the PC version, you get to pick the head of a damaged Tank Commander before fighting the monster proper in the City unit.
- Hellhole Prison: The "Research Lab" level has prisoners subject to horrifying experiments.
- Lampshade Hanging: Due to the popularity of rocket jumping back in the first game, the devs hid a secret in "Launch Command" that requires the technique:"Secret area.
You crazy rocket jumpers!" - Monster Closet:
- Killing all the Enforcers on the curved passage of "Outer Hangars" triggers a wall explosion near the entrance, revealing a Medic.
- All over the place in "Research Lab":
- There are three hidden Parasites in the first U-Turn.
- Two Iron Maidens spawning from the floor the first time you reach the T-crossway.
- Two more Iron Maidens spawning in the left room of this T-crossway when going for the Blue Key.
- Two Parasites appear from a ceiling break in the T-crossway once you got the Blue Key.
- A Medic appears from the floor when you activate the forcefield bridge.
- Once you got the Commander's Head, the T-crossway spawns two more Iron Maidens from the floor.
- As one of the most enemy-infested levels, "Inner Hangar" has quite a lot of them:
- There's one at the entrance, which is triggered after killing the three pairs of Brains, Gunners and Berserkers, and which contains two Icarus.
- Opening the first door at the entrance triggers another, from which two Berserkers are released.
- Picking up the Megahealth in the upper level triggers another containing a Berserker.
- In the room unlocked after deactivating the fans, there's a Gunner awaiting for you. Killing it triggers a wall explosion from where another Gunner comes out.
- Approaching the platform to the beginning area in the first water area triggers a ceiling break from where a Gunner comes from.
- The S-passage connecting the first two water areas triggers a wall explosion revealing two Berserkers.
- Permanently Missable Content: The initial fan control room in "Inner Hangar" can be revisited until the computer which controls the fan is turned off. This is, of course, necessary to proceed to the lower floor of the area. Fortunately there isn't anything of note outside of a few Shell and Health packs.
- Powered by a Black Hole: The objective of "Launch Command" is to destroy a computer controlling the Black Hole Generator, seen at the beginning of the level, which provides energy to Strogg mechanisms that allow the race to travel to other solar systems.
- Rewarding Vandalism:
- A requirement in order to access the Secret Level in "Outer Hangar" is to destroy a bunch of cables that power a Deadly Rotary Fan.
- "Research Lab":
- Its only secret also requires you to destroy a broken bar.
- The final step for the Easter Egg is to destroy a glass window at the entrance of the level.
- Two of the secrets of "Inner Hangars" require the destruction of things: the Adrenaline at the entrance of the level (inside of a broken computer) and the Quad Damage in the first water area (inside of a broken tube).
- In addition to the black cargo boxes of "Launch Command":
- One of the computers whose destruction is required in order to complete the primary objectives of the unit has a Power Shield.
- The last secret requires the destruction of a window near the end of the unit.
- Room Full of Crazy: Mentally-broken marines constantly crying out for help or whispering "kill me now" can be found crawling all over the place. In some cases, the words "kill me" are written on the walls in blood. Those mostly appear in the "Research Lab" level.
- Saw Blades of Death: Present in a small room in the Research Lab. It kills the lobotomized marine in place.
- Secret Level: "Comm Satellite", a low gravity level set in a space station and full of flying enemies.
- Teleporting Keycard Squad: All over the place in "Research Lab":
- Picking up the Blue Key spawns a Medic on the way to said door and triggers a Monster Closet at the ceiling of the crossway revealing two Parasites.
- Picking the Commander's Head triggers a bunch of floor Monster Closet revealing two Iron Maidens and spawns a Medic and two additional Iron Maidens near the entrance to the level.
- Picking up the Airstrike Marker in "Outlands" spawns a bunch of Flyers in the entrance area.
- Vent Physics: The fan after the first door in "Inner Hangar" propels the player upwards, the idea being that the player uses the room's computer to disable it in order to proceed.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: Downplayed. If you're chasing the "Research Lab" Easter Egg, you need to put the prisoners out of their misery.
