Alone in the Dark: the New Nightmare A walkthrough about the love by Thomas Wilde ============= INTRODUCTION: ============= We're gonna dive into the emptiness We'll be swimming I'm gonna walk you through the pathless road I'm gonna take you to the top of the mountain that's no longer there ...and you'll swear, happy ending -- the Dave Matthews Band, "When the World Ends" Yes, yes, the game and its characters aren't mine, we *know* that, put the copyright lawyer *down*, you don't know or want to know where it's been... This is a walkthrough for both scenarios of Infogrames/Darkworks' Alone in the Dark: the New Nightmare, a "survival horror" game for the PlayStation, Dreamcast, and PC. This walkthrough was written using the PlayStation version. Join Edward Carnby and his feminist sidekick Aline Cedrac as they investigate the ancient mansion of yet another insular and diabolic New England family, and naturally, there's evil lurking in the wings. Damn that pesky evil. Nothing but trouble. Why am I writing a walkthrough, when two such already exist at gamefaqs.com? Well, Timmy, I'm glad you asked. For one thing, this is practice for me. I'm submitting writing samples to publishing companies in an attempt to break into "the business," and this walkthrough will eventually form one of those writing samples. That makes you, Esteemed Reader, my prereader, and thanks for the help. My other rationale for writing such a walkthrough is that I damn well feel like it. All puzzle solutions in this walkthrough were arrived at through my own experimentation, over the course of a frenzied week of gaming fun. Except where noted, the rest of the walkthrough is, likewise, my own work, with the exception of the strategy against the first boss in Carnby's scenario. That section comes courtesy of the talented, and no doubt *sexy*, men and women (?) who frequent the AitD4 message board on gamefaqs.com. For this, they shall be rewarded in the next life. In any event, this is a walkthrough. Start walking. ======= BASICS: ======= You have a manual, or you should. If you don't, get one for Dino Crisis, because it's virtually the same control setup: R1 readies a weapon, X shoots a readied weapon or interacts with the environment, Square turns your flashlight on or off, and so on. AitD4 uses the RE control setup, where Up moves you forward regardless of relative orientation. You may stop whining about that, effective immediately. One caveat: Aline's scenario more or less requires a controller with an analogue stick. If you haven't one, beg, borrow, or steal one from somewhere, because otherwise, you're going to hit a roadblock eventually. Now, I present to you: the basic rules of survival horror. Maestro? -- save ammunition. It is initially in short supply, and many creatures require prohibitive amounts of ammunition to kill. I find that running away is an excellent choice against most creatures in the game, with the exception of the large zombie-esque creatures. Those creatures, hideous and hallway-filling as they tend to be, need some shotgun love. Almost everything else can be avoided or outrun with little difficulty. -- when you *do* fight, compulsively reload your weapons in your menu screen, as opposed to letting your character do it manually. Your characters in AitD reload much faster than most horror protagonists do (with the odd and notable exception of Countdown Vampires' Keith Snyder), but that's still a period of time in which you aren't shooting at something which just might be directly in front of you. -- take anything that's not nailed down. -- if you can somehow pry it up, it is no longer nailed down. See above. -- someone has thoughtfully strewn medical supplies and ammunition across your path, in every conceivable nook and cranny. Investigate your surroundings thoroughly, if for no other reason than to expand your arsenal. If there's a dead end on your map, it's probably got something for you. -- when in doubt, assume the worst. If it looks like an ambush point, there's a monster in it; if a room is empty, something's going to crash, teleport, or jump in; if it's dark, it's because the sheer volume of *bloodthirsty monsters* in the room is sucking up all the light. This is not always true, but it's true often enough that you should consider it axiomatic. You are distinctly at the disadvantage here, regardless of what you might think, and you need to keep that in mind at all times. -- your map is your best friend. In PSX AitD4, the map is hotkeyed to the L2 button, and it's far more useful here than it is in many other games of this genre. As for the specifics of AitD4: -- the flashlight is possibly your other best friend. Not only does it illuminate rooms and solve the occasional puzzle, but it illuminates key items, files or switches for you. If you sweep your flashlight beam across a room and something sparkles with blue light, you've just found treasure. Go do something keen with it. -- when you press R2, you'll attempt to radio your inactive character. If you get anything at all out of him/her, you'll either get a decent hint to your current dilemma (which ranges anywhere from unhelpful flirtation to a quick battering with the ten-pound Clue Stick) or some mild character-enhancing dialogue. (Near the end of her game, Aline radioing Carnby is always good for a laugh. She's so cute when she's determined to kill anything that gets in her way.) Your character's notebook has a similar function, although it's more of a characterization tool than a hint book. That said, though, Aline's can be quite helpful. -- that said, however, the flashlight is no substitute for a light switch. Room lights are frequently not as bright as you'd like them to be, but they're good to have in a pinch. Your flashlight will make light switches sparkle. -- yet *another* caveat: it may be nice to light things up, but occasionally, you'll get valuable clues by poking around a room in the dark. If you're stuck in a room with a light switch, try turning the lights off. The results may surprise you. -- examine and rotate *everything* in the Objects menu. Keys will frequently tell you where they're supposed to be used, while more esoteric objects frequently hold clues if flipped over or studied. Particular items that you should *really* look closely at include the 3D Map and, once it's put back together, the Photograph. (Note that, as this is a European game, the first floor is the "ground floor," and the second floor is the first.) -- don't worry too much about doors which are "sealed up." They're cousins to the doors with jammed locks in Silent Hill, and cannot be opened over the course of the scenario you're in. Usually, a door that's sealed in one game will work in the other. -- read all Documents very carefully. All diagrams and all text in red will eventually matter. Note that once again, the manual lies; reading a Document will put that Document into your status screen permanently. Note that several items in the game are, in fact, Documents, such as the Dictaphone. -- a Charm of Saving can be used anywhere. When you restart, your character will be in the room where you used the Charm, as though he or she had just entered. -- Eugene Shadtchnev from Russia writes in to mention that some monsters don't seem to appear if you walk through their territory with your weapon readied. This is only a theory, and I'd appreciate some independent verification. ======== WEAPONS: ======== Carnby's revolver: I'm pretty sure the reasoning behind this weapon is ballistically unsound. Furthermore, I consider it a crime against my people that Carnby's revolver is no more powerful than Aline's. It does fire remarkably quickly, and you find a lot of ammunition for it in the manor, but it's still only a handgun. Don't rely on it. Aline's revolver: A .38 that Lily Morton apparently thought would be in some way *helpful*, Aline is saddled with this thing because someone on the development team hates her. There's a period of time where you'll be running about with nothing but the revolver, which will probably be empty, to defend yourself with. This period is referred to in Finnish legend as the Time of Suck. You'll soon get the opportunity to upgrade to the shotgun, thankfully. Triple-barreled shotgun: It's not as good as it sounds, but really, is that possible? Three shells' worth of Morton's custom magnesium ammo packs about as much of a relative kick as one shotgun shell does in any other horror game you can think of; it takes at least six shells to drop even the weak hellhounds, and most creatures will take nine. It doesn't hit an area, either. Still, a shotgun's a shotgun, and shotguns in horror games are your basic tools of survival: lots of ammo, a decent kick, and you can't beat the price. As was pointed out to me by "Nippy," my snarky li'l MiSTing buddy, unless the custom shells are considerably less powerful than standard ammunition, firing all three barrels of this shotgun at once should break both the stock of the gun and the wrists of the person holding it. This has been another --WHAM--Useless Fact. Grenade launcher: This is more useful for Aline than for Carnby, as Carnby, in his version of events, forgot to include the part where he finds more ammunition for the damn thing. This is, when you get right down to it, another rocket launcher, right down to its power and relative range. This is not a bad thing. It is a bosskiller, typically, although with a little luck, Aline will have enough ammo left over to take out the occasional troublesome zombie or plant. Grenades are quite plentiful, and it holds more ammunition than the rocket launcher, so all in all, this is a good time. Rocket launcher: More of a modified flare gun, really, but it's still explosive, and that's all I need. The rocket launcher is somewhat inferior to the grenade launcher by dint of a lower ammunition capacity and rate of fire, but for Carnby, it's the only game in town. Like the grenade launcher, you're wasting this unless you're firing it at a boss. Plasma cannon: No, it's not. This thing is a flamethrower. It doesn't need a poncy name, but yet I find myself noting that it has one. You'll need to spend some time getting a feel for the plasma cannon's range before you use it in combat, but once you do, you'll find it quite useful in Carnby's scenario. Until you get the lightning gun, you will find no better weapon to use against zombies and scorpions. The cannon works on gas cartridges, each one of which is good for maybe two minutes of continuous fire. Carnby can find a couple of extra cartridges lying around, but Aline, sadly, can't. That doesn't mean it's useless for Aline, but by the time she starts fighting the creatures that are most vulnerable to plasma, she's already found the lightning gun and thus made the plasma cannon somewhat obsolete. Lightning gun: Proof positive that Jeremy Morton was the greatest man of the twentieth century, the lightning gun is obviously a linear ancestor of Fear Effect 2's Arc Taser. It works upon similar principles; when an opponent gets close enough, hold down the fire button to hit both it and any nearby friends with a bolt of electricity. The lightning gun is notable for its comparative punch--it can kill hellhounds and plants in roughly a second each--and its ease of use. It's the only weapon in the game that you can fire *as you're readying it*, making it the game's fast draw champion. It's also the only weapon in the game which can hit more than one target at a time (that is, without your putting some serious English on the shot, a la the grenade launcher). Its only real drawback is its short field of effect, as the lightning arc won't connect unless you're standing about a scale foot or so from your target. Once you've found the lightning gun, use it exclusively until the end of the game. Photoelectric Pulsar: Oh, it's cute and possibly marketable (I'm an American; gun fetishry is part and parcel of my culture), but this thing's worthless. It takes a fairly long time to charge up, and when it does, it fires a single burst of light. Yes, that burst will horribly maim anything it hits, but you're not likely to hit. Don't use the Pulsar. ========= MONSTERS: ========= Dogs: Undead versions of the Rottweilers from the beginning of Carnby's game, the dogs are, initially, weak siblings to the more powerful hellhound. As you progress, however, their durability increases. They frequently gate into an area, and their speed is a potential problem when they do; by the time you've registered the gate's existence, the newly arrived dog has already fastened onto your arm. Dogs don't do a lot of damage, though, and if you can shoot them once, they'll kick over and lie there long enough for you to either finish them off or escape. Hellhounds: Strange, chitinous things that actually quite resemble insects, hellhounds are very common. They're deadly in close quarters, but if you catch one at range, it's a bad memory after two shotgun blasts or seven to ten shots from the revolver. They do tend to travel in pairs, so you'll need to watch your ammunition level as you're fighting them. They're also sort of stupid, so you can fake them out and run past with relative ease. Zombies: What? They're *zombies*. Slow, stupid, moaning pink things wearing khakis. The sine qua non of survival horror. They frequently show up to block narrow hallways, and they are remarkably durable (three shotgun blasts will kill *one* of them), but they're more like bleeding barricades than any sort of actual monster. The plasma cannon, once you get it, carves through zombies with ease and grace. Beetles: Small, but quick, and traveling in swarms, beetles will spring crude ambushes on you every so often while you're in the manor. They're the only valid reason to use the revolver, as a single shot from it will kill a beetle. Anything else is like swatting flies with a pipe bomb. Plants: These little bastards. Plants are ambulatory greenery, and they almost always show up in groups of two or more. They're repelled by your flashlight's beam (although they're smart enough to try and wriggle away from the beam if they can, and you can only repel one of them at a time), and will be slain outright if you turn on the lights in the room they're in. On the bad side, they've got terrifying range and take *way* too much ammunition to kill with normal weapons; it takes six good hits with the shotgun, or two grenades, to take out a single plant. You should run away from plants most of the time, but once you get the lightning gun, all bets are off. Lightning + plants = smoked kelp. Small Lizards: Little "peep"ing things like Dino Crisis' compys, the lizards are an annoyance at best. They'll show up in swarms once you're outside the manor, on Disc 2, and will valiantly attempt to strip all the flesh off of your ankles. Use up revolver ammunition on them if you must, but they really aren't worth fighting. They'd be worth punt-kicking over the nearest cliff, were that an option, but they aren't worth a bullet. Scorpions: These haunt the back roads of Shadow Island, waiting for Carnby. By the time you run into them, you'll have found the plasma cannon, which is the best weapon against them. About two seconds' worth of plasma fire will kill a scorpion. In wide-open areas, such as in front of the chapel, you can also safely run around them. Crocodiles: There are only three of these in the entire game, but they're worth mentioning just the same. Arguably among the least threatening monsters you'll face, their only real asset is the ability to sneak up on you underwater. However, as they only show up in watery areas, the ripples in the water will give them away. Once you see the ripples, ready the shotgun or revolver and get ready to shoot them as they spring up behind you. ============ WALKTHROUGH: ============ Edward and Aline's games only slightly coexist. There are hints, here and there, that they're going through the same things simultaneously, but as a general rule, your main character is the definite focus of the scenario you're playing. In Aline's game, she's the woefully underestimated protagonist who no one takes seriously (which proves to be more than one person's downfall); in Carnby's scenario, she's basically Rebecca Chambers, a damsel in distress who occasionally pays you back with behind the scenes work. It's an interesting dichotomy, and I am a frequent guest in that house. In any event, I'll begin the walkthrough with Carnby's scenario, as I recommend that most players should start with Carnby. If you're looking for Aline's game, you can scroll down a bit; I'll be with you shortly. ========================== EDWARD CARNBY: WALKTHROUGH ========================== You'll start off on a forest path. Going southwest will bring you to a locked door, the combination to which you won't find until much, much later. Instead, opt to go northeast. Aline will radio you, and introduce you to your first objective: reach the manor. Continue down this path until you reach a small cabin by the side of the road. Carnby, being a trained detective, will note the presence of blood. Enter to receive the traditional Marvin Branagh Warning (wounded guy, check; thinks you're doomed, check; ominous warning, check). Leave, and as you walk away, you'll see and hear a couple of gunshots. Re-enter the cabin and shine your flashlight about. The gleaming thing on the floor is the first in a series of Small Bronze Keys. Grab it. Your new Key unlocks the wrought-iron door at the end of the path. Behind it, you'll see a box of bullets lying on the wall. Walk towards it, and you'll see a cutscene featuring a very unfortunate dog. (No animals were hurt in the making of this game, my *entire* ass.) Now, this may seem stupid, but the chained-up dogs from the cutscene are behind the gate in the corner. Go say hello. As you get to the end of the path, the dogs will break free. Don't worry, though; they'll run right past you, enabling you to get the two boxes of bullets and the first-aid kit they were hoarding. Now, go back outside and up the stairs. At their top, you'll find yourself standing on a garden terrace that's so Gothic it's dead. Any motion on your part will summon, as though by arguably predictable dark magic, the thoroughly unpleasant-looking corpse of one of the rottweilers. Plug it with three shots from your revolver. Poor little guys. Just the same, though, you'll have to fight three more of them before you reach the next set of stairs, so be careful and be quick. This next path will lead you to the front gate of the mansion, and of course, it's locked. Trying to open it will start two short FMVs and a cutscene, where Aline's voice actress sorta phones in a performance about how scared Aline is. Way to go, lady. You can't go through the front gate, so you'll have to go through the other door you see on your map, at the other end of the front walk. Before you do that, you will, of course, encounter adversity. The end of the walk is occupied by the first of many hellhounds you'll encounter over the course of the game. It takes about ten shots from the revolver to drop a hellhound, so you don't really want to mess with the little bastards right now. Instead, opt to go straight through the wrought-iron gate in the foreground. This encounter illuminates something important about the game. The monsters in AitD4 will sometimes gate in without preamble, so you need to be constantly on your guard. This isn't Resident Evil, where you should be carefully watching unattended windows at all times. Past the gate, follow the short path to the gadget that looks like an ornamental shield. It is, in fact, a water valve. Turn it to open up your next path, but be ready to outrun a hellhound on your way down the stairs. Make your way down the sewer tunnel, into the large room at its end. Once you arrive there, a large crocodilian creature will spring up from the water and attack. It's predictable, but you can't simply outrun it; if you try, it'll pounce on you at the next doorway and Edward will resurface in the room's center. Instead, wait for it with your revolver readied. It'll always spring up right behind you. Swing around and shoot it once. It'll fall down, and renew the cycle a few seconds later by springing up right behind you again. Repeat this ballistic waltz six times, and the creature will stop bothering you. You do, of course, want to climb the ladder at this passage's end. At its top, in a wrecked access room, you'll find a Charm of Saving on a ledge by a metal door. That door, in turn, leads into the treasure trove that is the manor's basement. On one side, you'll find a box of bullets, a box of cartridges, a first-aid kit, and your best friend for the next couple of hours, the shotgun; on the other, you'll find two locked doors and a casket. Opening the casket--which is really a profoundly stupid thing to do, don't you think?--will get you a good scare and a Gilded Key. Take everything here. (There is a ladder leading to a locked trap door in the basement. Don't worry about it for now. Much later on, Aline will automatically open it for you.) The Gilded Key will unlock the door closest to the casket. Enter, and go up the narrow staircase. You'll walk through a mirror, and find yourself in the front hall of the Mortons' manor. Aline will radio Carnby, and once she's done, the lights will go out and a hellhound will arrive Deal with it in your chosen manner (hint: bullets). If you'd like to turn the lights back on, the switch is on the wall behind the stairs. Take note of the bust near the mirror, and furthermore, note the skid mark on the floor by it. The bust has a code gadget on it, but Carnby doesn't know the code... yet. ========================================================== PUZZLE: Howard Morton's Bust (huh?) As a general rule, things like this need to get shoved, and the bust is no exception (no snickering, please, we should all be adults here). Push it along the floor, and the reflection in the mirror will tell you the bust's password: HM. Input it into the bust (I said no snickering!). This triggers a short scene of a painting, somewhere else, making a "click" sound. The painting in question is on the balcony overlooking the front hall. You can reach it using the stairs by the mirror. ========================================================== Aline will radio you as you approach the painting you just "unlocked." First, inspect the painting and activate the mechanism to get the Small Rusty Key, then push the chest of drawers out of the way. A hellhound will attempt to stop you, but I think your shotgun has something to contribute to that conversation. Go inside for a talk with Aline. When she's gone, inspect the room. The roll-top desk in the corner has an Acrobat Statue and a Dictaphone in the drawer, and Alan Morton's Diary--a Document of some importance--is on the nightstand next to the bed. There's only one new door in this room, and there's nothing of any real value behind it. You can follow the passage to its end to collect a Charm of Saving and peek into a room you'll visit much later, but it's not mandatory. In any event, go back to the first floor; the only unlocked door in the front hall is behind the stairs. I'll be referring to this hallway as "Edenshaw's hallway," as here is where you'll make your first wary acquaintance with the man, and because this hallway is a major landmark in Carnby's game. In this encounter, Edenshaw will get all mysterious and Indian on your ass, and give you a Charm of Saving as he leaves. You'll be looking east when the cutscene's over. Walk that way, and you can turn on the light switch en route. The first two doors you see are both locked; one leads to the library, and the other leads to a dangerous entry hall to the library. In either event, you won't be able to open these doors for a while, so don't worry about them. Go through the door at the east end of Edenshaw's hallway. The small sitting room beyond that door is one of the few totally dark rooms in the manor. The big pink things in here are zombies, and in these close quarters, they're nigh-impossible to dodge. (Apparently, these zombies know their limitations intimately. They'll rarely show up in any location where there's space to fake them out and run past.) These particular zombies are guarding two important rooms to the north and south. The northern door is locked, so proceed south. This is Richard Morton's study, and is thus important. Turn the lights on, and take a Crowbar from the stack of crates in the corner. The desk holds Richard Morton's Will and Testament, which is a valuable clue later. Obed Morton's Notes are on a nearby shelf, and the Book on the Abkanis Indians is hidden on the shelves next to the desk. A Flask is on a desk near the shelves, but taking it will turn out the lights and trigger a gate ambush by a couple of hellhounds. Ignore the hellhounds and keep running around the bookcase, down and away from where you found the Flask. A door next to a cupboard leads to the front hall. Reenter the study, and the hellhounds will be gone. This frees you up to get a first-aid kit from the cupboard, and to peruse the issue of Science (featuring the lean and sexy Mr. October, Obed Morton!) on a nearby table. Use the Flask on the amphora full of water to fill it. (Note that the painting above the issue of Science is something else entirely if the room's dark. I think that's the creepiest bit yet.) The zombies outside the office have respawned. It may be safer and faster to use Edenshaw's hallway again. This time, go west, and through the first door you see. (If you're running low on ammo, there's a box of cartridges further down the hall, on a bureau.) The hallway past this new door is somewhat run-down, and it, too, is packed to the rafters with the undead. You can easily run straight past the first one as he's standing up, and into the first door. In here, you'll notice something that looks like a shattered aquarium. It's your next "puzzle." ========================================================== PUZZLE: Diorama Trick (The phrase "diorama trick" is TM and (C) 1998 Alfred Ashford, all rights reserved.) The Photograph on the dresser across the room offers a clue as to what can be done here; you need to complete the diorama. Fortunately, you have a filled Flask with which to do it. Unfortunately, beetles will drop on you as you inspect the aquarium, and again as you take the Wolf Mask in the corner. A single shot from the revolver will do for either of them. Use the Flask on the diorama to trigger another painting mechanism on the front balcony. ========================================================== In the run-down hallway, you can slay the zombies and proceed towards a dead end. In the clutter here, you can find a first-aid kit on top of a dresser, and a box of cartridges hidden in the clutter. Invest in this if you like, then go see what you just uncovered in the front hall. Careful, though--you just did something right, so naturally, the halls' monster population is going to explode. Too bad for them. On the balcony, you'll find a Gilded Key behind the painting of the explorer. Examine the Gilded Key. It says "GND F EAST," so you need to go find a room on the east side of the first floor that's locked. Fortunately, you know of just such a thing. Go back through the office, from the front hall, and into the dark room beyond it. The Gilded Key will unlock the northern door, which leads to the Mortons' den. As you walk in, break to Carnby's left as fast as you can; a hellhound is waiting in ambush. Shoot it down, if only so you don't have to run around the room like a goof while you solve the next puzzle. There's a Small Gilded Key on the table in the center of this room. Take it, then poke around a little. The owl statue in the corner seems important. Turn off the lights to see just how important it can get. Use the Wolf Mask on the owl statue to get the Steel Key. Now, head back out to Edenshaw's hallway. Remember the bureau where you found some shotgun cartridges? Go through the door next to it. You'll find yourself on a dark spiral staircase. At its top is the door to the attic, where all good New Englanders store their grenade launchers. As the Mortons are no exception, you'll want to relieve them of theirs. Aline will radio you now. She'll mention a set of hollow floorboards. They aren't right here in this room, though she makes it sound like they are. Use the Small Rusty Key to unlock the door on the other end of the attic, and enter a storeroom. This storeroom is where you'll first encounter the biggest pains in the ass in the game: the plants. Grab the ammunition from the foreground, and watch for the blue gleam on a desk in the corner. That gleam is the Lighter. With those safely in pocket, get out of here. (Anthony Locascio writes in to note that there's a kerosene lamp in this room, to your right upon your initial entry. I never saw it, but if you do, you could probably use the Lighter on it to kill off the plants.) In this next room, the first door you'll see is sealed up. Through the narrow passage to Carnby's right, upon first entering, you'll find the "trap door" Aline mentioned. You'll know you're there by the sound of the floorboards under Carnby's feet, and when the camera angle switches to an overhead perspective. Use the Crowbar here to receive a Small Key and a Small Gilded Key. There's only one other door in here that you can open. Do so, and you'll find yourself in a beetle-infested storeroom, complete with what would appear to be the Tell-Tale Heart lying on the floor. A box of bullets and a box of cartridges are in storage; liberate them, and go trigger the beetles' crude ambush. What this means, really, is that you should run really fast around the corner, and as they drop, whirl around and ventilate them with the revolver. There's a candle on the crate in here. Light it, and the flame will give you another hint. The boards next to the crate are loose, so use the Crowbar to make yourself a new door. Onward! On the other side of your improvised entrance, you'll be forced to confront another pair of plants. There's a light switch in this hallway which will deal with them nicely; when you reach the opposite end of the hallway (the camera angle where you can see two first-aid kits next to a door in the foreground), run to Carnby's left, into the background. The light switch is next to that door. Dodge the plants, or herd them out of your way with the flashlight, and hit the switch to--ahem--do some weeding. From here, you've got two possible exits: -- the door in the foreground, with the first-aid kits, leads into the sickbed and eventual tomb of Lucy Morton. Lucy's seen better days (...d'oh!), but her rambling monologue provides useful plot information. Otherwise, she's about as useful as a rubber crutch. She doesn't even have the common courtesy to have easily stolen medical supplies lying around. Once you're done chatting with Lucy, all you can do is turn around and leave. -- the door in the background, next to the light switch, can be unlocked with one of your Small Gilded Keys. Past it is another spiral staircase, thus perpetuating the motif that Shadow Island is swirling down the drain. Naturally, you'll want to take the stairs if you want to continue the game. On the staircase, leave via the first door you see. This leads to a dark hallway on the second floor, where Aline will radio you with some useful information. When she's done, head to the nearest door; a hellhound will gate in as you do so. Avoid or kill it as you wish, then head inside. You'll find yourself in another study. A first-aid kit is on a cabinet near the door, next to the smashed gun rack. Alan Morton's Journal is sitting on top of the desk at the other end of the room, and to its left, you'll find a locked drawer. Your Small Key unlocks it. Inside, you'll find a Large Ornate Key and half of a Photograph. Inspecting the Ornate Key reveals that it's a key to the library, which you've probably wanted to get into for quite some time. No worries there; it's one of the locked doors on the east end of Edenshaw's hallway. Before you go, however, take a bit of a field trip. Hellhounds are all over the hallway outside the study. It's worth the risk, as there are two important rooms in this hall that you've yet to explore. One is to Carnby's left, all the way at the end of the hall, near a light switch. Now, the light switch would be enough to warrant the trip by itself, but the more important stop is through the nearby door. In this guest bedroom, you'll note the presence of shiny things on the nightstand next to the bed, as well as a Charm of Saving on a dresser. Try to get the shiny things, and, well, a tentacle demon will express its displeasure. Fortunately, it's chosen to pop up underneath an oil lamp--no one ever accused hellbeasts of being real smart, after all--which means you can set the creature on fire with a single shotgun blast. When it's gone, grab the rocket launcher and three boxes of shotgun cartridges off of the nightstand--w00t!--and go back the way you came. Your next stop is all the way at the end of the second-floor hallway. The hall terminates in a locked bedroom door, which your Steel Key will open. As you enter, you'll notice a light switch on the wall; turn it on to kill a plant. You'll find the other half of the Photograph on a desk, accompanied by a Hand-Written Letter from TV funnyman Judas de Certo. (Yeah, I'd be sure to accept bargains from a guy named Judas. I'd also buy real estate from a guy named Barnum.) Obed Morton's Diary is on the nightstand next to the bed, and the small alcove next to the door holds a Charm of Saving, a box of cartridges, and a Large Ornate Key. You've exhausted the resources of the rest of the manor, save for two of the portraits in the front hall, which you'll unlock shortly. The only place left is the library. There are two ways into the library, one of which is markedly safer than the other. The first is to go back into the spiral staircase and take it to the ground floor. This will let you into a *very* small hallway, haunted by two zombies. Exterminate them, and use a Large Ornate Key to unlock the set of double doors. The alternative is to return to Edenshaw's hallway, probably leaving the second floor via the front hall balcony (getting either Ornate Key, as far as I can tell, will trigger a hellhound ambush in the front hall, so be careful). Of the two locked doors huddled together in a corner of the hall, as mentioned above, your Large Ornate Key will unlock the one on the left. (Incidentally, I've noticed over the course of this walkthrough that this is leaving you with an unused key. This isn't a big deal. The unused Small Gilded Key will unlock the door at the top of the dark stairs, accessible from Edenshaw's hallway, and drop you off on the second floor. It's more an issue of convenience than necessity.) Once inside the library, Carnby will radio Aline for the *express purpose* of flirting with her. Oh, those crazy kids. Once he's done, consult the books stacked on the table for Jeremy Morton's Diary (which hints at the development of the Photoelectric Pulsar, and explains why you're currently carrying enough magnesium to light up Detroit), and an open book on a nearby podium is am exhaustive, if phallocentric, history of the Morton family. The history is an important clue, so be sure to read it to the end. On the second floor of the library, you'll note the presence of a box of rockets and a small console. ========================================================== PUZZLE: Library Console #1 The console requires a password, and you've already gotten the clues you need to solve it. Doublecheck Alan Morton's Diary if you like, and be sure to Combine and Examine the Halves of the Photograph. You'll wind up with an easy bit of arithmetic which will give you this console's password. For the benefit of those of you, such as alert reader Steve Medlock, who have lousy TVs or bad eyesight, the console password is 3926. Enter it into the console to open a secret door directly behind you. ========================================================== Inside, take the Telescope from on top of the chest, and note the presence of a backwards-written clue on the bookcase. That clue will become a Document, so don't worry too much about writing it down. Also, the stack of statues inside the fresco on the wall should look familiar to you; you've been carrying a similar statue for most of the game. Use the Acrobat Statue on its brethren to open a secret panel in the wall, revealing both a console and an Abkanis Statue. Unfortunately, you don't know the password to this newest console yet, so it's back outside for you. Go up the nearby stairs, to the third landing of the library. A monster will appear, but it'll go away on its own without any help from you; consider that foreshadowing. Climb up the ladder, and go along the ledge outside to the observation tower. Enter it. Inside, you'll find a mount for a telescope and a Charm of Saving. Take the latter, and use the Telescope on the former. You'll be able to observe the fort on the other side of the island through it. You can zoom in with the X button, and zoom out with the Triangle button. You should see, on the fort's right "tower," the number "1692" engraved above a window. Make a note of that, and hit Triangle twice to stop using the telescope. When you do, Carnby will see a man looking out of a window in the fort. Aline will radio you soon afterward, and then you're back on your own. Go back to the library. 1692 happens to be the password to the secret console in the secret room, and it unlocks another one of those portrait mechanisms in the front hall. That, however, leaves you with no more distractions; it's time for what I consider to be the hardest puzzle in the game. ========================================================== PUZZLE: Richard Morton's Book Puzzle Richard Morton's will contains a handy diagram, but it isn't as helpful as you'd think. It gives you a slight idea of where to look in the library, and I wound up doing a lot of legwork and book-checking anyway. There are four books that you can interact with on the shelves: 1: all the way at the end of the third landing, on the last bookshelf. 2: on the bookcase to the left of the light switch, on the first floor. 3: right next to the stairs on the first floor. 4: on the third "camera angle" of the third landing, on the left side of the screen. There's a gap between bookcases, and the book you want is on the left of it. Now here's where Richard Morton's diagram comes in handy. Between the diagram and the logo on the spines of the books, you shouldn't have any trouble figuring out what order to use them in. In case you do, on the other hand, I've thoughtfully numbered them, above, in just that order. Be sure to push each book in once, and only once. ========================================================== Sadly, though, there are forces in the universe that don't wish you to complete the puzzle, and they sort of look like flying lizards. One of those forces will crash through the skylight after you've pushed in the third book and are heading for the fourth, which spurs a: ========================================================= BOSS: Flying Lizard The lizard is a tough nut to crack, particularly if, like me, you're too dense to immediately comprehend its pattern. In general, it will curl up when you hit it, and when it unfurls its wings, it's getting ready to hit you with a lightning attack ("Pikachu! Thundershock!"). However, it's also vulnerable directly before it unfurls its wings. It beat it, shoot it with something, preferably the revolver or shotgun, as it flies up to you. The lizard will curl up and spread out. As it does so, switch weapons and hit it with a rocket or grenade. With either accurate timing or a spastic trigger finger, you should blow it across the library in a spray of blood. After about four successful attacks with grenades/rockets, the creature should disappear into a spiral of blue mist. This is, of course, far easier if you lure it to a camera angle where you can see it clearly. There is a bug at work here, noted by a couple of alert readers and the regulars on the gamefaqs.com AitD4 forum, which may result in an invincible lizard. If the lizard survives being blown across the library more than six times or so, and you hit it with rockets or grenades each time, then you may have encountered this bug. It usually pops up when someone saves their game directly after leaving the secret room behind the bookshelf, or if you're using a Gameshark. To deal with the former version of the bug, simply leave the library and save again. To deal with the latter, get some skill, you scrub. ========================================================= Now, push in the fourth and final book. This will unlock the fourth and final portrait in the front hall, and will in turn enable you to finally get the hell out of Casa de Morton. Make sure you've gotten a copy of the Morton history for your Documents menu, and head back to the front hall. Open up the portraits that you've since unlocked. One will open up and let you take a Small Bronze Key and a plasma cannon (w00T!), and the other is hiding a Small Metallic Plate. Note the symbols on the Plate. Now, in a perfect world, after you take the plasma cannon and key, the blank brass plates beneath the portraits will flip over, enabling you to begin the next puzzle. WARNING: However, as many people have written in to inform me, there's a bug here in the PlayStation version. When I, and presumably many others, played the game, the brass plates flipped over and stayed flipped over. Others have played the game and watched as the brass plates flipped over again before they were done with the puzzle, thus barring them from making further progress. I don't know if this is a genuine bug or if it's some kind of intensely frustrating wrinkle to the puzzle that, via dumb luck, I never had to deal with. Either way, if you should run into it, I'd recommend that you call the customer support number that should be in the back of the game's manual, or report the bug to the store where you rented the game. ========================================================== PUZZLE: Birthdates Remember that clue from the secret room in the library? It just came into play. You need to figure out which Ashford^H^H^H^H^H^H^HMorton is which from the paintings and the documents you've seen. Once you've done that, you need to establish their dates of birth from the family history, and input them into the portraits. From left to right, featuring both answers and the rationale behind those answers: 1: Richard Morton, as he's the one who built Shadow Island. He founded Morton Oil in 1889, at the age of 37; thus, basic arithmetic, if not the truncated family tree on the final page of the Mortons' biography, dictates that he was born in 1852. 2: Archibald Morton, the famous explorer. Born in 1874. 3: Jeremy Morton, Edenshaw's friend. Born in 1899. 4: Howard Morton, the most recent of the portraits. Born in 1931. Note that making a mistake on one of the dates will, for whatever reason, turn the lights off in the front hall. ========================================================== Solving this puzzle will cause a clock on the first floor to open up. Go down there to claim the Ornate Bronze Key. This key unlocks the double doors near the light switch, and finally lets you get back out of the mansion. Leave, and you'll find yourself behind the gate you couldn't open before, back at the beginning of the game. Your newest Small Bronze Key will open the gate, fortunately, but take a short detour first. Run around the house a bit, and collect a gas cartridge and three first-aid kits from an open shed. When you open the front gate, you'll be back outside the Morton manor. Remember that gate with the strange lock from the very beginning of the game? You need to go back there. Your new Small Metallic Plate holds the combination. Be wary, however. Before you get back to the woods, you'll have to outrun or shoot several dogs and hellhounds. The woods themselves are crawling with zombies. At this point, though, you should be an old hand at dealing with these kinds of monsters, and if nothing else, you've got the plasma cannon to help deal with them. Beat them down, retrace your steps, and unlock the gate. Meanwhile, on Disc 2, a dead guy's got another Gas Cartridge and two first-aid kits for you. Gods only know who he was. You'll encounter a hellhound and a couple of small lizards on the bridge, but not before Aline radios you. Past the bridge, there's a severed head and a Charm of Saving lying on the ground. As you move to inspect either, the bridge behind you will collapse. Subtle hint, that. Be sure to use a Charm of Saving here, as the next puzzle isn't very forgiving. ========================================================== PUZZLE: Standing Stones As you approach the nearby circle of stones, Carnby will begin dropping hints. This is Edenshaw's circle of stones, which you've been hearing about at tiresome length since the beginning of the game. You need to figure out which direction they're pointing in. This is simple; just consult your map. Your map has a compass on it, and the standing stones are all clearly labeled. Therefore, all you have to do is examine the stone in the upper left-hand corner of your screen and choose "north." If this choice doesn't cause Carnby to radio Aline, then you probably guessed wrong. You'll have to load your last saved game and try again. ========================================================== You'll radio Aline, who will then proceed to send you running around the stella like an idiot, reciting numbers. When she's done with you, go to the eastern stella (check your map again if you have to) and examine it. ========================================================== PUZZLE: Old Black Magic The eastern stella is the one you need to be facing when you recite Edenshaw's spell. When you examine it, you'll receive a list of strange words. In your Documents menu, listen to the chanting at the beginning of the Dictaphone. That chanting is your clue, so to speak. The spell goes a little something, like this: O Goul'ai, Hypor, Harnis, Korma. (Cue _Army of Darkness_ flashback.) ========================================================== Successfully casting the spell will cause the dias in the center of the circle to glow. Inspect that glow to get the Stone Stele and another Abkanis Statue. Now, proceed back to the path past the stone circle. Aline will radio you. Check your map frequently as you pass through this narrow corridor, and keep your plasma cannon ready. Scorpions will occasionally materialize in your path, but a long blast from the plasma cannon will stop them in their tracks. Climb a ladder along the way; that ladder leads to a small alcove containing a valuable case of rockets. (Note the location of this alcove, as you'll need to return here later to solve a puzzle. See below.) Eventually, this corridor will lead you into a zombie-infested swamp. Fortunately, you've little need to fight here, as the swamp's paths are good and wide. On your map, the western exit will lead you to the plane you jumped off of at the beginning of the game. Inside the plane, you'll find Wire Cutters, a Blue Lens, three first-aid kits, and the horribly injured pilot. As you try to leave, a brief cut-scene will begin. When you regain control of Carnby, you'll have a very short period of time to get the hell out of the plane before it sinks into the muck. The pilot can't be saved. The northern exit to the swamp leads you into the courtyard in front of a chapel. Scorpions are waiting in Hammerspace to ambush you, so be careful; usually, you can hear them (and see their faint shadow "reflection") well before they're in any position to attack. Take them out, and investigate the wooden ramp. It leads to a forest path blocked by an iron gate. As you walk towards the gate, Aline will arrive, and after nearly blowing your fool head off, she'll trade you the Stone Stela for a ring engraved with the Morton family Seal. Go back the way you came. o/~ Goin' to the chapel, and I'm... gonna kill za-om-ombies... o/~ The chapel, however, is chained shut. Fortunately, you've Wire Cutters to dispose of such trifles. Do so, and enter. Inside, you'll find a first-aid kit, a box of rockets, and, on a panel near the door, another puzzle. ========================================================== PUZZLE: Sacred Symbols As far as I can tell, the nearby book is effectively useless. I solved this puzzle by simply fiddling around with my items for far too long. In any event, Combine the Blue Lens with your Flashlight. Your flashlight now sheds a blue beam which will illuminate the presence of blood. You'll note the presence of a pentagram daubed onto the church doors, naturally, but the other symbols you need are outside. Simply follow the blood trail to them; more accurately, follow the blood trail to the ankh-lookin' thing painted into a rock on the forest path. For the third symbol, you'll need to proceed back through the swamp. Remember that alcove I pointed out? Return there, and shine your flashlight on the wall. Press the symbols on the upper right, center, and lower right of the puzzle's grid. You'll open a secret passage underneath the chapel's altar. ========================================================== In said passage, a subway-style turnstile will block your path, but the Seal will open it. Unfortunately, you'll eventually need another Seal to investigate a third passageway which the turnstile's blocking. ('Course, you could've just climbed over it or blown it down with a grenade, but that's not the Way of the Adventure Hero.) Onward, then, down the passageway. You'll eventually enter a room packed with empty cages. There's a switch by the door, but you can't use it at the moment. Take the Charm of Saving you'll see as you proceed, and carefully advance. Say hello and goodbye to Alan Morton (I thought for a second that he was going to offer Carnby a drumstick), and watch in horror as Carnby lets him leave. While you're standing around in the dark, Aline will call you. Follow her instructions and flip various switches in the laboratory, but be careful. Strangely weak zombies (these are, for whatever reason, nowhere near as durable as the ones in the manor or swamp were) will be lurking in the dark at every turn. A pair of letters are on a desk in the corner of the room, by the operating table, illustrating the connection between Obed Morton and Charles Lamb. The presence of these letters in Alan Morton's secret lab does not bode well for Obed. The third switch will finally open Alan's escape route, enabling you to give chase. You'll enter a long underground corridor. Just run straight through, ignoring the beetles and hellhounds that'll come to try and stop you, and you'll wind up in a storeroom with two exits. One door will lead you to the radio room, where you'll get the chance to listen in on an enlightening conversation between Obed Morton and Charles Lamb. The other door will lead you back to the basement where you first entered the manor. Tale recursion. The door Aline opened for you is the formerly locked trap door in the basement. As you approach it, you'll be approached in turn by Edenshaw, who'll lay down some serious Messiah complex. When he's gone, climb the ladder. You'll enter the greenhouse, which, as you might expect, is crawling with plants. You can dispose of them relatively easily with the plasma cannon, which I recommend. The only geographical feature of the greenhouse that matters, really, is the ladder leading to the balcony. Climb it, and push the strange _objet d'art_ you'll find there until it falls off the edge. (Schtum, you. Resident Evil stole AitD's genre, so AitD might as well steal one of RE's goofier "puzzles.") At the bottom of the ladder, in the wreckage, you'll find another Seal and yet another Abkanis Statue. There's also another box of cartridges in a cupboard to the right of the trapdoor. From the greenhouse, backtrack to the turnstile. On your way there, a few hellhounds will teleport in, but they're easy to outrun. Your new Seal will rotate the turnstile again, which in turn will let you into an underground cave. Aline will join you. She'll translate a couple of final glyphs for Carnby, thus explaining your final mission: if you can't get the final Abkanis Statue back from Alan Morton before the sun rises, the World of Darkness will be freed to overrun Earth. ("That doesn't sound good!" Carnby, shut up.) With Aline behind you, follow the corridor to its end. You'll eventually wind up in a long mineshaft, sort of, which is lit by torches. Be sure to open the "treasure chest" set into the wall here, as it's packed to the rafters with incredible prizes: you'll get the lightning gun, a Battery Charger (the "ammunition" for the lightning gun), ten first-aid kits, and five Charms of Saving. Immediately equip the lightning gun, as it is your true friend. Aline may be cuter, but the lightning gun is the all-around best weapon in the game. The end of the mineshaft is, in fact, the ancestral shrine of the Abkanis. Edenshaw and Alan are already here, and Edenshaw's last attempt to use reason with Alan is in vain. Alan opens the gate to the World of Darkness, and Carnby is sucked into the gate with him. After a lengthy soliloquy by that most perfect of narrators, Someone Mysterious and Anonymous Yet Obviously Important, Carnby will wake up in a disturbingly organic cave. The World of Darkness looks like a subway system designed by Giger, and it is *exactly* as monster-infested as you'd think it would be. Here and there along your travels, note the presence of rapidly-respawning Luminescent Crystals. Taking these crystals will refill your Battery Charger. If you're running low on "juice," pick up a crystal or two. This is the only ammunition you'll find in the World of Darkness. Carnby's path through the World of Darkness is relatively linear, with no real complications. (Aline ain't so lucky. See below.) Your general pattern is to check your map, find your exit door, and make your way through it. The monster populace here tends towards the more vicious of the lot, such as hellhounds, plants, and scorpions. While the lightning gun is more than sufficient to kill even a mob of monsters, any given room plays host to an infinite number of its local fauna. Discretion is, as always, the better part of valor. (That's fancy English-major talk for "run like hell whenever you can.") Follow the caves from one door to the other until you find a rope anchored against a wall. Use it to climb down, and Alan will cut it. Fortunately, you'll catch onto a handy ledge, and Aline will radio you. Through a nearby split in the wall, you'll find the earthly remains of Archibald Morton; the famous explorer had to leave Earth entirely to meet his match. His last words are written in an open book just inside this makeshift tomb. He's still holding a Flask and what is undoubtedly a gift from his son Jeremy, a Photoelectric Pulsar. Take them, and head back outside. The rope is still anchored, for some reason, so go ahead and climb down it. You'll catch up to Alan in the next room, at the top of the stairs, and so will Aline. Unfortunately for the world at large, so will a creature that was once a frightened man named Obed Morton. Obed punches Alan into the abyss below you, and Aline disappears soon afterward. Head around the abyss and down. Eventually, you'll climb a rope and find yourself standing on a bridge. You'll receive a radio call from the soon-to-be-world-famous Johnson, who you might remember from NOWHERE IN $#%^&*@ PARTICULAR. One of the two caverns on this bridge is a "safe room," so to speak; there are two crystals and a green spring inside. Fill your Flask from the spring, and take this opportunity to replenish your health to OK. As far as I can tell, there's an infinite amount of health-restoring spring water, so abuse the hell out of it. While you're at it, 'ware the rapidly respawning plant creatures, but while you're in here, you've infinite health and near-infinite ammo. You've nothing to fear. Once you're done in there, head back across the bridge and through another series of corridors. When you find yourself in a set of Abkanis (?) ruins, climbing over ledges and pursued by plant creatures, you've almost reached your final destination. In the next room, you'll walk straight into an FMV. A suspiciously convenient earthquake will collapse a stone column, giving you a way to cross a nearby chasm. There's another spring on the other side, so abuse it if you have to, and head to the door you see on your map. The next room is the threshold of another gate. Three headless statues are standing in front of it. Unfortunately, you've no heads but the ones you need, so look around a little. There's another ladder nearby, so climb down it. You'll find the statue atop a pile of rocks in this next room. Sadly, it isn't unguarded. Alan Morton has finally become the creature of Darkness he always thought he was, and like every other creature of Darkness you've encountered, he's out to kill you. ========================================================= BOSS: Alan Morton Your weapons won't bother Alan a hell of a lot. He's got one real attack, which consists of whirling you around like Popeye would Bluto and tossing you across the room. Unfortunately, said attack stings like a bitch; the first time he connects, it'll knock you straight down to Caution. Fortunately, unless you're something of a screwup, you should be drowning in first-aid kits and spring water, so heal as fast as you can once Alan nails you. You'll note the presence of several tunnels leading off from this room. All are dead ends, but one leads to a spear sticking out of the ground. The first time you try to reach that spear, Alan will magically appear before you and toss you out of the room. This is a subtle hint. Once you've let Alan toss you out, pull out the rocket launcher and get postmodern on his ass. Alan will go down after two or three rockets, regardless of range or hit location, although he's by no means dead. However, if he's on the ground trying to shove his guts back in, that means he's not trying to keep you from reaching the spear. Take this opportunity to go get it. Once you've tried to take it, Alan's dead already; it's all over bar the shouting. ========================================================= You'll get the last Abkanis Statue and a Head from the pile of rock. Go back up to the gate threshold, and use the Head on the appropriate base (study the symbol on your head and use it on the base with a matching symbol). When you do, Aline will show up with the third Head. Cue FMV. You've won Carnby's scenario. Now, listen and wonder at the haunting, ethereal refrains of the "Alone in the Dark" theme. ========================= ALINE CEDRAC: WALKTHROUGH ========================= She's not French. She's an American college professor of French descent. Francophobic Americans can breathe easy. (To my French readers: you are aware that Americans hate you for no adequately explored reason, right? Maybe you should, y'know, do something about that. Invade Germany. Kids love that crazy stuff.) In any event, as Aline is the brains of this particular partnership, her scenario is more puzzle-based. She's also got a tough row to hoe at the beginning of the game, as she starts unarmed and in Caution condition. Many of the rooms in the manor where Carnby found puzzles or cutscenes are irrelevant to Aline, and vice versa. For example, the diorama room on the first floor, and the attic where Carnby found the grenade launcher, are empty of anything save plants in Aline's game, and should thus be avoided. After selecting Aline, you'll start off on the roof of the Morton family manor. Walk forward, around the edge of the roof, and sit through the conversation with Carnby. Enter the manor through the window. Aline, unlike Carnby, will wind up spending a fair amount of time with Lucy Morton (note that the only monsters in the attic are photosensitive plant monsters, most of the time, and Lucy is surrounded by five-point-six billion lit candles). A first-aid kit is on the nightstand to Lucy's right, and Lucy will give you a Small Bronze Key. Upon your attempting to leave Lucy's room, a creature will slither up from the rug and block your passage. When Aline shines her flashlight on this creature, it grunts and moves; more to the point, it flashes white like it's just been wounded. Keep chasing it with the flashlight beam to kill it. Outside, in the hallway, run like hell to Aline's left. There's another door here with a light switch next to it, and you can use it to kill off the plant monsters in here at one fell swoop. The door next to the light switch is locked, and Aline decides she needs to find the key. Good plan, Aline. (Like I said, she's the smart one.) Head back and take a left, down the hall. Go through the unlocked door down here, and through the screaming hallway. A blue gleam on a desk in the foreground in the adjacent room will turn out to be another Small Bronze Key. This will unlock the door Aline pointed out, so go back there. You'll wind up in a stairwell. Halfway down, Aline will overhear a conversation between two unnamed men (Obed Morton, one would presume, and an unnamed confederate). Continue to the ground floor, and enter the left-hand door. You're now in the trophy room. Turn out the lights. You'll note a luminescent base on one of the statues with a weapon inside. Use Lucy's Small Bronze Key on it to get the revolver, although with only six bullets, it's about as useful as a cocktail straw. A hellhound will appear as you get the revolver, so lead it a merry chase 'round the room's furniture. As you approach the door on the other end of the room, you'll hear the door unlock. Go through it. In the darkened hall on the west side of the manor, you'll hear footsteps; this, Aline presumes, is Professor Morton. Give chase, avoiding the occasional hellhound, and follow the Professor, but be sure to turn on the light while you're at it. He'll duck into a side door, so follow him. At the end of that hall, you'll finally catch up to him, just in time for him to tranquilize you. Aline wakes up in the bedroom on the manor's "second floor," jacketless (there's your "bounce," Vince) but otherwise unhurt. You'll radio Carnby almost immediately, and Aline will commence whining. (Aline tends to run the gamut from whiny to self-assured to somewhat arrogantly convinced of her own ability. Note that Carnby, in Aline's game, mostly plays the role of her cheerleader.) When that's over with, search the room. Alan Morton's Diary is effectively useless in Aline's scenario save as background material--it does explain what the hell is wrong with Lucy, aside from her age and the fact that the fruits of her womb are apparently consorting with hell itself--but the roll-top desk in the corner has an Allan Wrench and three first-aid kits, ripe for the taking. There's also a Charm of Saving on a chair, next to the bookshelf. The mirror door leads to a dark and dusty corridor. You'll find a triple-barreled shotgun and a first-aid kit as you walk down this hallway. The door at the end is sealed up by debris, but you can listen in on one end of a conversation between the guy who just knocked you out and "Lamb." (If you did play Carnby's scenario first, like I recommended, this is Obed's end of the taped conversation in the radio room.) Your deeds in life come back upon you threefold, however, and this conversation ends with Professor Morton getting decked by... Professor Morton. They walk alike, they talk alike... what a crazy pair. o/~ But they're madmen... identical madmen all the way... o/~ Back up in the bedroom, you'll arrive just as Carnby does. After a brief conversation, Carnby will hoist you up through a trap door. Aline Cedrac, meet Judas de Certo, the deadest used-car salesman in the Western world. (Aline, in this scene, has the single most genuine reaction to paranormal phenomena that I've ever seen from a video game character.) After Judas is done, the mirror will go dark, and you'll be free to leave. The doorknob breaks as you close the door, but you don't need to go back in there anyway. You're back outside Lucy Morton's bedroom, in the attic. You can talk with Lucy again if you like, but it's by no means necessary; I didn't. Instead, go back to the spiral stairwell, and go through the door you overheard the conversation at. This time, it'll be unlocked, and you'll enter the second-floor hallway. Go through the first door you see, into the study. Yup. Still creepy. A decorative mirror is on the chest of drawers, which is so very, very convenient, don't you think? Take it, the first-aid kit next to the gun rack, and the grenade launcher that's sitting on the floor behind the desk. Alan Morton's Diary is on top of the desk, requesting passionately to be read. Finally, examine the strange projector device sitting in front of the desk. You can't do anything with it now, but it is an important object, hence the closeup. In the hallway, you'll have a close encounter with a band of beetles. They're no real threat as long as you don't stand still for them, so just head in the other direction. Most of the other doors in this hallway are locked, except for the one next to the light switch. Go through it. This room is just spooky. Ignore the whispering as best you can, but unfortunately, you can't leave this room once you've entered; one of those whirling vortices will appear and put you right back in front of the door you just tried to use. There's a Charm of Saving and a box of phosphorus cartridges for the shotgun (it's about bloody time you got some ammunition) lying around in here. More to the point, there's a changing screen to the right of the bed. Walk around it, and you'll be revisited by Judas de Certo. He'll invite you through the mirror, and, well, it's a stupid idea, but take him up on it. Judas wants his mirror back. Don't give it to him. The alternative is worth seeing at least once, but it'll end your game. Choosing "no" here will end in the second and presumably final death of de Certo, and you'll get an Abkanis Statue. Aline will radio Carnby. (Aline: "I just killed de Certo!" Carnby: "Who?") When you try to leave the bedroom, Edenshaw will introduce himself. After a short conversation, Aline will radio Carnby, and then you're back on your own. Go through the door next to the door you entered through. You'll come out on the left side of the balcony above the front hall. While you're in the front hall, be sure and examine the mirror by the statue, at the foot of the stairs. You'll note that part of the molding is missing. Also note the presence of a box of cartridges, sitting in a blue chair behind the stairs. Now, go through the doors behind the stairs, and down the hall to the small, dark room where you first saw Professor Morton. Zombies will have arrived to harsh your mellow, but they're not really much of a threat. Just the same, you're probably damn near out of ammunition, so try to avoid them as best you can (a task much easier for Aline than it is for Carnby; she's smaller). Go through the door opposite the one to the trophy room. You'll enter a study packed with information. Richard Morton's Last Will and Testament is on the desk, and a Book on the Abkanis Indians is on the bookshelf. Even better, there's a box of bullets on the small end table by the desk. Taking the bullets will prompt a change in camera angles. You will note that the mirror behind Aline is cracked, which means something's undoubtedly up with it. In my honored tradition of trying everything on something until something worked, I eventually shot the mirror. Imagine my surprise when that turned out to be effective. Three shots from the revolver will shatter this remarkably tough mirror (thus saving the revolver from complete worthlessness), and you'll find a valuable Document inside. After reading it, Aline will decide to revisit Lucy Morton. She'll do so instantly upon leaving the study, with no input from you. Thanks, Aline! Lucy will give you a Prism. Once outside Lucy's bedroom, go back down the staircase and into the study on the second floor. Turn off the lights, and Use the Prism and Flashlight on the projector, in that order. A short filmstrip of Alan Morton's experiments, which utilized *Howard* Morton as a guinea pig, will play. (One would assume that this is the experiment Alan was writing about in his Diary, nearby.) After the filmstrip, you'll be able to take the 3D Map out of a secret compartment in the projector. Study the 3D Map intently. Once again, if you played through Carnby's scenario first (or if you've done some exploring and have found the library on your own), you should recognize that this is a map of the manor's library. Go to the library. It's on the first floor, in the hallway behind the stairs. (Aline doesn't have to find a key, unlike Carnby.) An open book on a podium contains a history of the Mortons that Aline doesn't really need, but next to it, you'll find a box of grenades. A "secret room," currently quite obvious, on the second-floor landing contains three boxes of shotgun cartridges for your shooting pleasure. Finally, you can climb the ladder on the third floor to a balcony outside the manor. In the nearby tower, you'll find another box of grenades. Proceed back into the library. You've got a puzzle to solve: ========================================================== PUZZLE: Secret Compartment The 3D Map has given you all the tools you need, really. Check the Map in your Items screen, and zoom in on it with the L2 button. You'll note a white dot on the map which corresponds to one of the bookcases, and a number engraved into the top of each of the bookcases. Go to the area in the library indicated by the white dot. You'll find a row of four fake books, which actually conceals another console. Enter the code from the Map into it--1991--and you'll open yet another secret door. ========================================================== Inside, you'll find many valuable tools. The Askanis Tablets, three first-aid kits, a box of grenades, and a Charm of Saving are all stacked up on top of a switch. Pull it; you know you want to. Or maybe you don't. When you do, you'll reveal yet another secret room, this one the prison of the creature that used to be Howard Morton. His second life has not gone well. ========================================================= BOSS: Howard Morton He's the most evil gorilla in the world, yes he is! Howard's just about as fast as you are, but he's easy to outmaneuver. He'll follow you wherever you go, and to a certain extent, it's almost easier to fight him if you lure him up onto the library's catwalk. If nothing else, the lighting's better. Ready the grenade launcher. Howard's invulnerable during his running animations, but he can be hurt while he's in the middle of an attack. Wait for him to get close to you and swing, then run a few steps forward. Howard will miss, and when he does, whirl and plug him with a couple of grenades. It's easy to tell when you've hurt him, because he'll grunt and go flying backward. Four or five grenades will put him out. ========================================================= Examine the tank Howard came from. You'll find Half of a Medallion lying on the floor. Take it, and when you leave, Aline will once again return to Lucy Morton's sickbed. Behind you, perhaps inevitably, Howard Morton will stand back up... Lucy will give you the other Half of the Medallion. Combine them to get the full Medallion, the shape of which should give you an idea. Return to the front hall and Use the Medallion on the mirror. This will unlock it, and grant you access to the manor's basement. There's nothing down here of any value, save a ladder leading to a trap door. When you use it, Aline will automatically unlock the trap door with the Allen Wrench. You'll enter the greenhouse. Inside, you'll meet Edenshaw once again. He'll shed a bit more light on just what's going on here. Once he's gone, take the box of grenades from a nearby crate and leave the greenhouse through the door. You're now outside the manor, on the small path between the manor and the surrounding fence. Unfortunately, soon after you come out here, so is Howard. The next few rooms will prove uniquely frustrating. You can knock Howard down with the same strategy you used the first time, but he'll just keep getting back up. It all depends on how willing you are to fight. It's easier to simply run for it. With Howard hot on your heels, check your map and run straight for the nearest door. When Howard's theme music fades, you're safe for the moment, but on the other hand, zombie dogs will appear to ruin your day. Take them out, and eventually, you'll find your way to a mausoleum which is marked on your map. Enter, and you'll have evaded Howard, for now. Inside, you'll find yourself in the ancestral resting place of the Mortons. (Taking Carnby's game into account, surprisingly few of these tombs have people in them, or have the right people in them.) You'll be able to enter Jeremy Morton's tomb. Inside, you'll find a rocket launcher and a box of rockets gleaming peacefully on the floor, left there in case Jeremy found a tank guarding the heavenly gates. I haven't any such excuses for the first-aid kit by the sarcophagus, or the Metal Cover on top of it. Also note the carving on the casket: "Only the symbol of light will open the tomb." Gather these important tools and head out. ========================================================== PUZZLE: Symbol of Light You may have noticed the strange gleaming lights on the far wall of the mausoleum. These lights will glow with a strange green aura if you shine your modified flashlight over them. Combine the Metal Cover with your Flashlight to add such a modification, and consider this: what might the "symbol of light" be? This is the puzzle, mentioned above, that requires an analogue stick. Turn on free-look mode and use your left analogue stick to move Aline's arm around. There's a considerable amount of leeway on this puzzle, so don't worry yourself too much about the specifics. In short, this is another decent reason to have played Carnby's scenario first. I monkeyed about with this puzzle for about half an hour before I thought of the Morton family seal, and traced it onto the puzzle. Click. Puzzle solved. I have no idea how you'd solve this thing if you were playing Aline's game first, as the only place I've seen that particular logo is on the two Seals, and Aline doesn't get a Seal until Disc 2. In other words, use your flashlight to light the bulbs up in a capital "M" formation, starting with the lower left-hand light and working up. This will unlock Richard Morton's tomb. ========================================================== Check the body of one Samuel Gibson, by the casket, for a new Document; his "disappearance" was, of course, no such damn thing. There's a corridor leading outside from this tomb, with plants standing guard. Run straight past 'em, and climb down the cliff face at the corridor's end. Ah, Disc 2. We meet again, my archnemesis. You'll wind up on a forest path, near a wrought-iron fence. The fence is impassable, so continue on in the opposite direction, as indicated by your trusty map. You'll eventually wind up standing in front of Shadow Island's mysterious fort. The front gate's locked, and on some level, I think we all knew it would be. You can climb up the rampart next to the gate, but first, collect a box of cartridges from the path to the right. Get used to the fort. You'll be here for a while. Run around the fort's parapets, and head down some stairs. The first door you see is, naturally, locked, and the second is the fort's main gate. At the bottom of all these stairs, and past a small corridor with a first-aid kit at the end, you'll find yourself in an overgrown courtyard. The small passageway accessible from here leads to an equally small room, featuring a locked door and a chest that's been chained shut. Ignore it for now, and note the hole in the wall in the background. Climb up onto the ledge, and from there, through the hole in the wall. Two plants will be standing guard. Deal with them in your accustomed fashion, be it with light or bullets, and proceed through the door they're watching over. You'll wind up in a claustrophobic room with three doors. One has a puzzle lock, so take note of that for later: the locks feature a stylized logo of a sun, a moon, a star, and a lightning bolt. (The "star" and "sun" logos do look alike, but the "sun" logo quite resembles the Medallion from the manor.) The second door, standing alone to the "right" of the door (it's Aline's left, but weird camera angles can make directions subjective), is the hiding place of one Obed Morton. He's not quite all the way off his rocker, but that time is clearly not long in coming. Aline will interrogate him, thus settling an important plot point, and turn to leave. Before she does, examine the corner to the right of the chamber's door to get a Charm of Saving and a Black Metallic Card. Back out in the narrow hallway, you've one door left to try. Try it. You're down in the castle's oubliettes. This place can be confusing, initially, but it's easy to get used to. Various items are hiding in the oubliettes' nooks and crannies, such as a Charm of Saving, a box of rockets, a box of cartridges, two first-aid kits, and, most importantly, a workbench loaded with important information. (A note: there is a chest, chained shut, in the same alcove as the two first-aid kits, which in their turn are up a flight of stairs from the work area. According to my alert European colleague, Vincent "the Death Waffle" Merken, this chest cannot be opened.) Despite what you may suspect, the oubliettes, once you deal with their initial annoying hellhound problem, are actually quite safe. Explore them at your leisure--you can't be too rich, too thin, or too well-armed--and return to the workbench. From it, get a Mould (the taking of which will cue the arrival of a trio of hellhounds; do your duty, soldier), a Tripod Support, a set of Wire Cutters, a set of blueprints, and some notes from an unnamed Morton, most likely Alan. Your next mission, clearly, is to put together said Morton's "perforator," and use it to bust through the wall down here. Meanwhile, you've seen a chain that needs cut, haven't you? Of course you have. Head back up, out, dealing harshly with the zombies who've arrived in the meantime, and back over the wall. I pointed out a narrow passage to you, and now's the time to investigate it. Use the Wire Cutters on the chest to cut the chain. Inside, you'll receive a Steel Ingot and a Rusty Key. Unfortunately, this now means you've some serious backtracking to do. Ho-hum. Sometimes fighting for your life is so damn *tedious*. Go back up to the top of the castle, to the locked door you noticed upon climbing the rampart. Your new key will unlock that door, and let you into the workshop. Inside, you'll notice a Stock, Barrel, and Orange Accelerator on the workbench. Snap these up, and continue to explore the workshop. You can turn on the lights via a handy switch on the wall, revealing not only more of the lab but a ladder heading up. That ladder won't do you any good at the moment, as it leads to the rooftop generator. You can't operate the generator just yet, and more importantly, have no need to. Remember this ladder. On the other side of the lab, you can get a Glass Lens from a locker, and two first-aid kits from a sort of fake door in the wall. Also, yet another diary is lying open on a workbench, the last entry in which ends with these ominous and important words: Silver Flash, Golden Star, Red Sun, Black Moon Consult the blueprints from the oubliette. You've got many of the parts you need to reassemble the perforator, but you need to make a new piece from the Steel Ingot. Fortunately, a machine in the workshop should look quite familiar to you, given the last page of the blueprint. Use the Mould and the Steel Ingot on this new device. You'll receive a Perforator Barrel. Now the only things you're missing are an Abkanis Stone and a second metal ring. (You can get the first Half Ring by Splitting the Tripod Support, as the blueprints actually mention in their weird wordless way.) There's a tunnel leading outside in the workshop. Go ahead and go out there. You can use the Glass Lens on the telescope out here, but it doesn't show you anything truly important, save your next real destination. Proceed past the telescope, down the rampart, and try not to act too surprised when it collapses under you. Oops. You'll be spat back out into a pool of water, which Aline helpfully tells you is the reservoir. (See? Brains!) Circle around the wreckage down here, to the ledge underneath the door; your map will tell you where it is. A crocodile is waiting for you down here, but you have a shotgun, which is the natural predator of the Zombus Crocodilae family. Two shots should turn the trick. A box of cartridges and a ladder await you on the other side of the door to the reservoir. At the ladder's top, you'll be ambushed by a cruel and cunning *chest*, in which you'll find the Gold, Silver, and Red Metallic Cards, and an equally malevolent *door*. That door leads to the rampart by the workshop. You can now unlock the puzzle door in the castle hallway, back by the oubliettes. Hellhounds and other such nonsense will be attempting to stop you, suffering from the misguided belief that they *can*, but they shouldn't do much more than slow down your process back through the entire castle. ========================================================== PUZZLE: Puzzle Door Once back in front of the puzzle door, consult the diary you found in the workshop. Specifically, consult the passage I outlined above: Silver Flash, Golden Star, Red Sun, Black Moon. If you can't use the Metallic Cards and this lock to solve this puzzle, then you are a hopeless little chiba monkey. Put the controller down and take up macrame. Silver goes in the lightning slot, Gold in the star, Red in the sun, and Black in the moon. ========================================================== Welcome to the planetarium. Looking around in here, you'll notice two locked doors; one can be unlocked from this side, and leads to the passage where you found the Steel Ingot. Remember this one for later, as it will come in handy. In addition, there's another Metallic Half Ring on the floor by the stairs, and the plasma cannon and a Charm of Saving are on the floor near where you entered. Ah, the plasma cannon. It satisfies! ========================================================== PUZZLE: Planetary Alignment As you go up the central stairs, Carnby will radio you. He's at the stone stela, and needs your help. Radio him again upon examining the machinery at the top of the stairs. He'll read a series of numbers off to you, eventually, which you should write down in the order you receive them. Upon looking at the console and what you just wrote down, you should have something of a brainwave: 10312001, hm? As you may remember from the opening cutscene, Carnby first set out for Shadow Island on the night of the 30th of October, 2001. Midnight has apparently passed since you started this trip, so those numbers Carnby read are today's date. (I could slap them both, by the way. They set out for a spooky island in the middle of nowhere on *Halloween*?) Input those numbers into the planetarium's console. Not only will you cue an FMV of spectacular quality and dubious relevance (I'm having a hard time believing that the Mortons' rundown planetarium can do stuff like that; yes, I *do* find the creatures of darkness easier to believe, and furthermore, I suggest that you go play stickball on the Autobahn), but said FMV will open a suspicious panel on the wall, which hides a Seal, an Abkanis Statue, a Small Rusty Key, and a Large Bronze Key. ========================================================== The Large Bronze Key opens the last locked door in this room, and will put you outside. This is the strange statue you could've been looking at with the telescope earlier. Collect a box of grenades and a Charm of Saving, and examine the statue to radio Carnby. You'll tell him to meet you outside. No worries there, really; go through the planetarium, ignoring the newly arrived plant critters, and out the door you just unlocked. From there, you can head up the stairs and out the main gate. However, once you're across the bridge, the arguably inevitable will happen, and Howard will catch up to you. It's difficult to evade Howard on the bridge, unless you lead him all the way back across and fake around him on the fort side, so I usually opt to blow the holy living bejesus out of him. You'd be surprised how often I opt to do that. On second thought, no, you probably wouldn't. You'll meet up with Carnby on the other side of the wrought-iron fence. You'll swap him the Seal for the Stone Stela, which you'll need for the statue outside the planetarium. Upon leaving the forest path, you'll automatically return to the statue. Use the Stone Stela on the statue, and you'll receive an Abkanis Stone and an Abkanis Statue. You now have almost everything you need to blow away that wall in the oubliettes. With the blueprints as your guide, Combine various parts in your inventory to put together the Perforator. (Split the Tripod to get another Metallic Half Ring, Combine the Half Rings, the hip bone's connected to the neck bone, blah blah blah. Between the blueprints and plain old experimentation, you really can't screw this up.) With your new Perforator in hand, return to the workshop and climb the ladder I mentioned before. The "blue room" is nifty, but you don't need it yet; climb up a second ladder set into the wall. You're now on the roof of the manor, and, just in case you've missed it up 'til now, living a Gothic pulp novel. If Aline had a filmy nightgown as an alternate outfit, it'd complete the image. Horace Walpole, this is the future you created... Try to throw the switch you see here. You'll note that a door is refusing to open elsewhere, thus complicating matters. Fortunately, you can run out onto the parapet and use your Rusty Steel Key to open the trap door. Do so, and toss the switch at the top of the ladder before climbing back down. There's another console in the blue room. Activate it, and you'll set ancient machinery into motion, collecting lightning to power the perforator. A time limit will appear in the corner of your screen, informing you of how long you'll have power for. Then Howard will return, and everything will go to hell. ========================================================= BOSS: Howard Morton This will annoy you. Guaranteed. Howard's decided to abandon the pretense that your weapons bother him. They don't any more. You can fill him with enough magnesium to light him up like a road flare, and he just won't notice. Now, the only thing that'll stop him is good old-fashioned electricity. Fortuitously, you've some of that lying around. At random intervals, lightning will hit the antenna in the center of the room. You'll also note that if you put the antenna between you and Howard, he'll hop over it, although never while it's actually lit up. When you hear a thunderclap, run around the antenna as fast as you can, trying to get Howard to hop over it. Soon afterwards, lightning will strike the antenna, and if Howard's over the antenna when that happens, it will do him horrible injury. You'll need to do this three times to put him down, and unfortunately, it's quite difficult. Howard's not very dangerous, admittedly, but he's smart enough to avoid lightning. If the antenna's time limit runs out while Howard's still kicking, you can restart it using the blue console. ========================================================= When Howard goes down for the final time, you're almost home free. Wait out the remaining time on the antenna; you'll probably have to reset it with the switch on the roof, too. Now, once you're ready, throw the switch and run like *hell* back to the oubliettes. You have two minutes. A recommended path back to the oubliettes: Workshop -> ramparts -> lower ramparts -> "chest passage" (where you got the Steel Ingot) -> planetarium -> formerly puzzle-locked door -> oubliettes When you get back to the workbench area, run up onto the back of the metal cannon (just hold Up until Aline stops advancing) and Use the Perforator on it. Aline will automatically connect the power lines, and the rest is sheer street poetry. You know, I'd rather have this thing than the Pulsar. The "gallery" spoken of in the diary is apparently some kind of Abkanis ruin. You'll find a Photoelectric Pulsar on the ground, just past your new door, and monsters all 'round. Fortunately, this is a straight shot through straight tunnels, and eventually, you'll meet up with the right honorable Reverend Carnby in front of some Abkanis glyphs. Aline will translate them, outlining the dangers they're facing; Alan is going to unleash unstoppable darkness upon the Earth unless he's stopped by sunrise. Carnby, regrettably, does not greet this news with silence. No monsters will threaten the two of you as you walk down the next few corridors. You'll note a sort of chest built into the wall of what looks like a mine shaft. Open it to receive ten first-aid kits, a Battery Charger, a lightning gun, and five Charms of Saving. The lightning gun is your new sidearm of choice against virtually everything, so be sure to equip it. Past this hallway, you'll watch as Edenshaw finally confronts Alan Morton. Unfortunately, Alan comes out on top in this confrontation, and is sucked into the World of Darkness... along with Carnby. Aline begins to mourn for Carnby, but at Edenshaw's urging, goes through the gate. You'll find yourself at one end of a long tunnel, strewn with debris. As you near the other end, Carnby will call you on your radio. (After the conversation, go and check the last entry in Aline's notebook. She's really taken to this whole "saving the world" gig, hasn't she?) Note the somewhat regularly occurring blue crystals along your route. These crystals, when taken, will refill the percentage on your Battery Charger. They also reappear relatively quickly after being picked up. Also, note that it's effectively impossible to "clean out" rooms in the World of Darkness; monsters will constantly respawn, usually with remarkably little pattern as to where they respawn at. As you progress, you'll note a couple of stones inscribed with glyphs. These are Documents; Aline can translate them, although it's unnecessary. Generally, they're more ominous words from the Abkanis who've passed this way before you, just in case you've managed to somehow misinterpret the phrase "World of Darkness" as being something exciting and positive ("Oh, honey, let's go to the World of Darkness on vacation this year!"). You'll pass by a massive chasm eventually, and through a large room infested with plants. Ignore the door well above your head, set into the cavern wall; you can't reach it from here, even with Aline's mad wind ninja rock-climbing skills. Just follow the passage to its other side, plant-zapping as required or desired, and continue along your prescribed path. You'll reach a narrow ledge above a presumably bottomless pit, after four rooms or so worth of monsters and lightning. A dog or two will attempt to impede your progress, but they're no real threat. Two-thirds of the way along this path, a cutscene will begin, during which Aline will climb up a conveniently revealed ladder. You're now in the dog-infested ruins of what was presumably an Abkanis village. This place looks like the Aztecs and the Pueblos had some kind of corporate merger. You'll note on your map that you have two possible paths to take. One is the ladder in the side of a nearby stone hut, and the other is the staircase leading up the massive pyramid. At the top, take note of the "truncated" pyramid. You can't do anything with it now, but you'll be able to in just a few scant minutes. Walk past it, towards the stairs set in the side of the temple wall. At the bottom of those stairs, Aline will inadvertently trigger the opening of a secret door. In this hidden altar room, there are seven switches on a raised dias in the center. Each switch will "rotate" the room somewhat, revealing an altar of a different Abkanis god. In turn, press each switch and inspect each altar; the seventh and "bottom" switch will once again open the exit. You'll receive six Stone Seals and six Documents, each one speaking about a different animal god. Take note of the gods' images, as those are an important part of the upcoming puzzle. Return to the small building below the temple. Climb up the ladder set into its side--ignore the dogs that mysteriously show up once you do so, as they've not yet mastered the art of "having thumbs" and as such are not a threat--and down the hole in the building's roof. ========================================================== PUZZLE: Altars Inside, you'll find yourself surrounded by small, crude altars. Each altar is labeled with an image of a different Abkanis god, which means you should be able to figure this out with your Documents and the descriptive text of each Stone Seal. In short: Use the Seals on the altars of their respective gods. You'll cause a "bridge" to raise, filling the gap separating you from the goods stacked in the corner. ========================================================== Next to the "bridge," on the wall, that little brown blobby thing is an Indian Skin Flask (I hope that means it's Indian-made and not made of Indians), and on the other side of the "bridge," you can find a Stone Pyramid and an ever-valuable Charm of Saving. Take these lovely parting gifts, and climb back up the ladder, then down the ladder on the outside of the hut. Once again, climb the stairs to the temple. Use the Stone Pyramid on the decapitated pyramid. After the ensuing celestial event, the Stone Pyramid will be transformed, as if by magic, to a Statue Head. Grab it, and enjoy the temple's new look. Leave the village through the front door, and climb back down to the narrow path along the cliff. Go in the direction you were originally headed in. After passing through a volcanic room packed with scorpions, you'll eventually emerge onto a stone bridge. Cross it--take note of the weird spiny thing on the wall next to the door you just came through; you'll need that later--and go through the doorway. This room is dark and infested with rapidly-respawning plants. It's also packed with crystals and has a green spring in the corner. You can fill your Skin Flask (which sounds like a euphemism for something *profoundly dirty*) at this spring; this is essentially an infinite well of first-aid kits. With all due caution, heal yourself up and progress to the back of this room. There's a wall in here which Aline can climb, and naturally, that means Aline should climb it. The ensuing passageway is sorta strange-looking, and leads to a dead end. At this dead end, however, you'll note Alan running like a scared little girl. Aline will radio Carnby. Now, backtrack to the stone bridge. That "spiny thing" I mentioned is concealing a rope. Climb down it. At the bottom here, the fleeing Alan will be caught between Carnby, a remarkably angry-looking Aline, and the creature that was once Obed Morton. The First Annual Race To Beat The Crap Out Of Alan Morton is won by... Obed Morton (!), who celebrates by pitching his brother into a handy abyss. Aline will automatically climb down the chasm wall after Alan, and will gain the last Abkanis Statue. Unfortunately, due to sunspot activity or some damn thing, she can't climb back up, despite Carnby's request. Leave via the small hole here, and jump down. You'll have to blow away a couple of scorpions in the subsequent narrow passage, en route to getting a radio call from Johnson. Past this room, Aline will have to slog through a really, really nasty-looking swamp (of Darkness), which, naturally, has a crocodile in it. However, the common Zombus Crocodilia likes electricity even less than it likes point-blank shotgun blasts, and that's saying something. With your map as your guide, navigate through this area to its exit. Johnson will call you again as you step back into the room with the ruins, through the door above them. A couple of plants will be waiting at the bottom, so don't just jump right down. Instead, arm the grenade launcher, and drop a few grenades down at the plants before you jump. Once they're dead, reequip the lightning gun and head back towards the area where you entered the World of Darkness. Your original passageway has collapsed (demolitions courtesy of the Incredibly Linear Plot Demolitions Company, Inc.), but a new one has been opened for you courtesy of a convenient earthquake (see above). You can radio Carnby in this room for an interesting conversation. Nothing, however, is as easy as it seems. Obed Morton has returned, and he has a last request. Kill him. If you can. ========================================================= BOSS: Obed Morton You can use up every weapon you've got on Obed, and all you'll do is die with empty pockets. Part of this is remarkably poor hit detection--if Aline's in the foreground and Obed's in the background, she can't hit the bastard due to some kind of invisible wall directly in front of her--but this mostly has to do with the near-invulnerability that you've come to associate with the name "Morton," and, come to think of it, Keith Richards. In any event, when weapons fail, it's time to run the hell away. You've got one opening to evade this fight entirely, and it's right after the cutscene, when Obed shambles forward onto the bridge. The *moment* that cutscene's over and the camera angle changes, run forward, straight past Obed, and to Aline's left. If you find yourself in the "showdown" camera angle, where Aline's in the foreground and Obed's in the background, then you hesitated for too long and you're probably screwed. In this camera angle, precious few weapons will actually make Obed react unless you fire them at point-blank range. That said, though, if you *do* fire them at point-blank range, you'll probably get smacked in the face shortly thereafter, and you simply cannot win a face-to-face duel with Obed. Alert reader James Anselmo writes in to claim that he was able to defeat Obed here with a couple of shots from the revolver. Jel'endra Ayanami, Rei's sister from the Yellow Ajah, confirms that yes, you can put many bullets into Obed in this camera angle, but she wasn't able to defeat him by such means. The general consensus here, among correspondents, is that Anselmo is either very lucky, or, as I initially theorized, is smoking paint. Mmm. Paint. Stefan Kamal has yet another anti-Obed strategy for your consideration, which I hesitantly reproduce here in its full and unabridged original text, despite wanting *very badly* to correct the syntax and spelling: "hey, i figured out a way to hit obed in the final scene. if alene backs up a bit, obed will walk towards her, that's when you hit 'em one shot at a time with the lightning gun. eventually a cut scene will appear where obedÊactually helps his new found 'daughter' to safety!!! hope this helps!" Wedge Antilles (whose parents actually named him that; why do you ask?) writes in with more anti-Obed tips: "I blasted him with the Pulsar until it died and then plugged him with 3-4 grenades. You have to do it at exactly the right time: as he shambles toward you, on his last two steps, when his right arm comes forward, blast him. Then immediately hit X again, powering up the Pulsar, and hit him again when his right arm comes forward. If you run into trouble, just back up, and he'll go away. Wait a few seconds and then advance and do it again." Noel Casale, on the other hand, writes to weigh in on the pro-revolver side of the argument: "I just wanted to confirm that James Anselmo was correct. It is possible to bring down Obed Morton in Arline's end game with her revolver. He is only vulnerable when he starts to walk towards you, but once you get the hang of his timing. [sic] It's actually really easy to squeeze off a shot every time he starts to step forward. If you don't want to try and get the timing right, firing and holding [the] lightning gun works even better. Every time he starts to take a step, the gun nails him. With controlled bursts I was able to bring him down with less than half a charge." Casale also has this to say, which I can't believe I forgot to put into the walkthrough before now: "Another hint. If Obed gets to close [sic] on the bridge, backing up all the way off the bridge will cause him to return to his side and reset your starting positions. Allowing you [sic] to pelt him some more from complete safety." Once you're past Obed, one way or the other, you can duck into the passageway here without further preamble. 'Bye, Obed! Enjoy the apocalypse, lunch meat! ========================================================= The next room features a great many mummified warriors, standing guard over a trio of headless statues. Your disembodied statue head will fit on one of them, so use it on the one with a matching symbol. When you do that, Carnby will show up with a third head (um... yeah). Go through the gate. You've just won Aline's scenario. Enjoy the strange heavy-metal stylings of the "Alone in the Dark" theme song. ======== ENDINGS: ======== For the record, Aline and Carnby's scenarios have the same ending. Where did Aline's jacket come from, anyway? ======== SECRETS: ======== None o' those here. Go home. =========== CONCLUSION: =========== Thanks to "Ryan," "dee seat," Vincent "bounce" Merken, Anthony Locascio, James Anselmo, "Jel'endra Ayanami," Stefan Kamal, Noel Casale, "Wedge Antilles," and Gertie Manx for their contributions to this FAQ. For your own contributions or questions, my e-mail address is talespinner@msc.net. Please put "Alone in the Dark" in your subject header. Also, please read the following before you e-mail me, and take it to heart: http://www.dimfuture.net/elsewhere/writing/fiq.html [warning: explicit language] You know, if you combined Alone in the Dark's voice acting, presentation, fright value, and plotting, with Resident Evil's tighter controls, arguably better graphics, and replay value, you'd have the perfect survival horror game. This is a hint, Darkworks. Now give me a sequel with Aline in it. Thomas Wilde a.k.a. Wanderer a.k.a. Storyteller on gameFAQs.com talespinner@msc.net http://www.dimfuture.net/elsewhere/ http://www.rawfeedonline.com http://www.gamingtarget.com