Part 34: The Gauntlet

Well, the videos finished uploading, but the last one's quite large, so it may be a while before Youtube sorts it out. It's mainly an aural thing anyway, so including a sound-only clip of it, too.

Without further adieu, it's time for the stunning conclusion!


Chapter 9: The Gauntlet

Be sure to watch the video at the end of the last update, if you haven't - else this might be a bit (more) confusing.

Despite the somewhat lacking Aztec level, this one, in my opinion, is fucking awesome.


Where am I?


What's going on?!


Who am I?


Max, having realized the truth of the situation, now has power over it. He begins the level with the ability to change into any of the 3 characters at any time, and must use their individual strengths to overcome the challenges herein.










The level is a giant conglomeration of all of the other areas of the game, piled into one fucked up hallucination.








Grimwall can't pass over the thorns - they'd impale his feet.


Olmec, however, would have no problem, his feet being made of stone and all.








Olmec isn't strong enough to win the game.


Grimwall, however, is.




Winning the game causes the clown's mouth to open.


When the game was won, the lights on the top of it lighted up in order, each one a different color. The teeth of the clown flash colors, too - four of them being the colors from the game. They must be touched in the same order as the colors from the game.




Good thing Olmec completed that ritual to make him impervious to elements!


Completing the puzzle causes the nose to pop out on a spring.




I need to pass through that hole, but Olmec is too large to do it.


Sarah, however...


Sarah easilly climbs into the hole...






I collect the wing, and pass back through the hole.






And here, we find the main puzzle of the chapter: we've got to re-build the angelic statue.




Sarah is the answer here, as well.












This is another trial and error puzzle - using Olmec, we can stomp the plates into the floor, which cause energy to erupt around Quetzalcoatl's statue and intensify with each plate we stomp. Hitting the wrong one makes them all reset, but it's easy enough to find the correct sequence.




Completing the puzzle causes the statue to shatter.




Grimwall is the answer, here.








This is just fucked up. If you push the bodies down the spears, the spirits begin to wail.




Pushing them all down shatters the crystal.






Moving on...











I try to work the switches...




There's an easy solution to that!




Grimwall dislodges a sonic disruptor from the wall (which is released after he flips all four switches), and is able to use it to clear off the maggots.


I tear off the grate. Now I can see where this tunnel leads.


To navigate the tiny tunnel, a tiny form is required.




We need Olmec once more to walk up the thorn-covered vine to the top of the building.

I've nothing to cut this with. Let's see...


Ah-ha! I return and cut the rope.


Three pieces down, but I'm still missing the head.




When clicked, the pumpkins light up in a specific order, and make a series of sounds. Clicking them in the same order solves the puzzle.




Now you're catching on, Max!


I collect the skull, but this won't do for the statue.


I return to the graves, the most logical place to use a human skull. And the only place I haven't been yet.








When I touch Jeddah's grave, a spirit rises from it.










Grimwall is easilly able to move the lid.


Now I've got the entire statue - let's go assemble it.


I place the pieces together, and the statue is complete.


The gate swings open, and a portal appears!




I walk through the portal...

Chapter 9, Part 2: Morgan's Last Game



Cinematic: Endgame, Part 1


The black simulacrum mimics Max's movements perfectly - preventing him from walking past. The black goop on the floor behind him shifts periodically, and if he steps in it, he is returned to where he stands now.




The puzzle is to watch the way the muck shifts, and walk in such a way that when it does, it doesn't suck Max in.


The goal is the glowing orb held by Olmec's statue. Both Max and his simulacrum arrive at the statue simultaniously.




Max and his simulacrum shatter the orbs simultaniously.


On the bottom / right of the screen, some of the ground falls away to reveal more of something lying beneath. Morgan screams 'No!' in the background.




A second orb appears, on Grimwall's statue this time.


The process is repeated, same as before...


More of the dirt falls away, Morgan screams once again.






The last orb is shattered...





Cinematic: Endgame Part 2

Cinematic: Credits This is more of an aural thing - so you can also hear it here. Don't skip this, as it's the conclusion of the story.

So wait, what the fuck just happened?

There never was an asylum - Max was in a coma. The only parts of the game that were actually real were the 'flashback' cinematics, and the ending. Max studied with Morgan in med school, Morgan went on to become a great scientist working on a cure for the deadly DNAV virus (the HOPE treatment). Max heard of his progress and went to work with him, but began research on his own project - a cure, not just a treatment, which provided temporary respite but ultimately couldn't save the children afflicted with the virus. Morgan, recognizing that Max's project would ultimately make his own obsolete, tried to discourage him, but Max wouldn't relent. Finally, in a last-ditch effort, Morgan fucked with the brakes on Max's car.

Max successfully created the cure, but when he left the laboratory, his brakes failed (due to Morgan's tampering), and caused a crash - landing him in a coma. Morgan, seeing that his car work hadn't killed Max, went to the hospital to finish the job, by injecting poison into his IV. (The bit at the end of the 'Volcano to House' video shows this - Max is coming out of the coma at that point, and sees it happen.) Max, however, manages to come out of the coma in time (the goal we're working towards throughout the game, albeit unknowingly until the end), and removes the IV, saving himself. Morgan hears the monitor flatline and thinks Max dead. Max turns Morgan in, Morgan is arrested, Max goes public with his cure, Morgan gets life in prison. Max's wife has her baby, and Max is seen in the background of the credits in a family portrait with his wife and daughter, living happilly ever after.

So there you have it.

So. Discuss!

Special kudos to ChuckMaster for the dev's commentary, and for the work on the game itself - you've helped create a true classic.