Recap / Quake II: Base Unit

Recap pages are Spoilers Off by default, so in all these pages all spoilers are unmarked. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned

The first set of missions in Quake II has the TCM launching an attack upon Stroggos. Thousands of Armored Coffin-shaped one-man ships are sent into the planet's surface and blasted down, with many of the soldiers dying either at the hands of the Big Gun or fighter craft. One of them, though, managed to survive.

The area's levels in the PC version are "Outer Base", "Installation", "Comm Center" and the Secret Level "Lost Station", and the objective is to realign the satellite's antenna to communicate with the main base that you're A-OK. Meanwhile, in the Playstation version, this unit features the levels "Strogg Outpost", "Outer Base", "Installation" and "Comm Center". This unit is the demo version unit and features quite a few changes regarding its full-game counterpart.

Followed by the Warehouse unit in the PC version and the Jail unit in the PlayStation version.

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These levels show examples of:

• Ability Required to Proceed:
  • In "Comm Center", the Red Key located near the satellite controls (and which is available once you align the satellite) opens the door to the end of the level.
  • In "Lost Station", the Red Key located near a bunch of Shotgun Guards in an overlook towards the tram exit is needed for a computer that lowers the bridge to the Super Shotgun.
• Adaptation Distillation:
  • The demo version retains the main levels of the unit but eschews the Secret Level. In addition, players will find some of the final game's weapons and items quite early:
    • Machinegun Guards can be found as early as the end of "Outer Base", while in the full game, they were encountered at the beginning of "Installation".
    • The Super Shotgun, which in the main game was the "powerful weapon" that must be found in "Lost Station", is found as early as the first secret (at the outside area in the water pool) in "Installation".
    • "Comm Center" features the Chaingun in the outer area, the Grenade Launcher in a secret area alongside a Parasite, and the Rocket Launcher in the underwater secret chamber. In the full game, the earliest instances would be found in "Ammo Depot", "Security Complex" and "Mine Entrance", all of them as secrets.
    • The demo features Berserkers in the room before exiting to the outside area in "Comm Center". In the full game, Berserkers wouldn't be found until after the first bridge in "Ammo Depot".
    • The ending of the unit features a Tank as the Final Boss escorted by a bunch of Gunners rather than just the bunch of Gunners. The earliest Tank in the full game is featured near the end of "The Warehouse".
  • Similarly, the levels present in the Playstation version feature several changes from the PC version:
    • "Outer Base": The secret containing Grenades instead has the Super Shotgun, and the Silencer secret has been culled off.
    • "Installation": The level features a new secret (a Quad Damage located in a Monster Closet before reaching the broken bridge), the Shotgun secret holds a Super Shotgun and the lower level of the last area was completely culled off.
    • "Comm Center": The first Adrenaline is culled off, the secret chamber to "Lost Station" was completely removed (with a Quad Damage secret in its stead), there's a new underground passage holding a new secret uniting the two Parasite spots in one of the earliest areas, the small Adrenaline chamber in the slime pit was removed, and the Parasite hideout, which in the PC version made the associated wall to explode, must now be destroyed manually.
• Adaptation Expansion: The 2023 remastered version of "Outer Base" adds a new area beside the main corridor, holding a few items and a few more crashed marine pods.
• Adapted Out:
  • The demo version lacks the Secret Level
  • The PlayStation version has several in addition to the absence of "Lost Station":
    • The Silencer secret in "Outer Base".
    • The lower level of the last section in "Installation" (alongside the Super Shotgun secret).
    • The Adrenaline pickups and the underwater chamber in "Comm Center".
• Armored Coffins: The assault pods. How they are used? Take a few hundred of them, put a marine in each, seal the can, and let them swarm the enemy's base or planet, hoping that at least a few will survive the anti-aircraft fire. The whole thing is aptly named "Operation Overlord" at the end of the Strogg War.
• Back from the Brink: Humanity has just managed to repel an Alien Invasion, and now it takes it to the aliens' home.
• Book Ends: The level "Lost Station" begins and ends in the same elevator.
• Broken Bridge: Access to the next unit is locked by a raised bridge, and the lever that lowers it can only be accessed by coming from the level "Comm Center", after completing all of the objectives. And said area only becomes available after the primary mission is completed, as aligning the satellite is the only way to access the keycard required to enter into the last area of the "Comm Center" and "Installation" levels.
• Cosmetic Award: Completing the unit in the 2023 remastered edition nets the "Establish Communications" achievement.
• Domino Revelation: In the full PC version, you reach the Secret Level by swimming first into a secret chamber, then taking the elevator down to the level.
• Easter Egg: In "Lost Station", after completing all the objectives and killing all the enemies, if you take the tram and ride 13 times on it, the panel in front of the starting station will change to the image of a duck.
• Final Boss: In the demo version, a Tank awaits at the end of "Installation" after killing the Gunners in the last room of the level.
• Foreshadowing: Several enemies are fought before their weapons can be used.
  • Your first encounter with an Enforcer ("Outer Base") before getting access to the Chaingun in the fourth level, "Ammo Depot", from the Warehouse Unit (in the full game) or the outer area of "Comm Center" (in the demo version).
  • Full game only: Your first encounter with Flyers ("Comm Center") before getting access to the Hyperblaster in "Guard House", from the Jail unit.
  • Full game only: Your first encounter with a Gunner ("Comm Center") before getting access to the Grenade Launcher in "Detention Center", from the Jail Unit.
• In Medias Res: In the PC version you start directly in "Outer Base", having crashed in the area. In the PlayStation version, you instead start outside of the base and must make your way through the outpost into the outer base.
• Invisible Block: Tried to trick jump your way to the exit in the "Installation" level without doing the main mission first? You cannot, as there's somewhat of one blocking the entrance to the last part of the level unless you come from "Comm Center" and push the lever to lower the bridge. In other words, you can only pass if you do what you're supposed to do. The 2023 remastered version trades the block with a proper railing.
• Kill Enemies to Open: In both the retail and demo versions, the red card behind the deadly lasers in "Comm Center" won't be accessible unless you kill the Gunner that guards it; its death disables the lasers themselves.
• Monster Closet: "Comm Center" has a wall in the corridor leading to the satellite antenna room which explodes after passing nearby it, with a Parasite coming from the revealed area.
• Moving the Goalposts: In "Lost Station", after completing all the objectives and killing the 63 enemies, if you take an extra ride at the tram and return to the starting station, two more Shotgun Guards will spawn, raising the enemy count to 65.
• New Weapon Target Range:
  • The Shotgun is introduced in "Outer Base", a level where there are few strong enemies that can resist a single Shotgun shot on full body.
  • The Machine Gun is introduced early in "Installation", a level where enemies begin to fill areas.
  • The Super Shotgun is found at the tail end of "Lost Station", and after the first door in "Comm Center". Afterwards, the Teleporting Keycard Squad begins coming in big numbers and includes heavier units such as Enforcers and Gunners, which take one and two SS hits to go down respectively.
• Rewarding Vandalism:
  • The level "Strogg Outpost" has some secrets that require the player to destroy some Strogg structures. One of them involves the first explosive black box you find, and the other requires you to drop in the pod area and shoot at a pillar.
  • In the PlayStation version of "Outer Base", the last secret (that in the PC version required you to shoot at a button) requires you to outright destroy a wall.
  • One of the secrets of "Installation" requires you to shoot at a broken wall. It reveals a Shotgun in the full game and a Super Shotgun in the demo and PlayStation versions, as well as Shell packs near the weapon.
  • In the PlayStation version of "Comm Center", there's a new secret behind a shootable door on the dark spots from where a pair of Parasites (one per each spot) come in to attack Bitterman.
• Secret Level: Full game only, "Lost Station", which allows you to get an early Super Shotgun.
• Sidetrack Bonus:
  • "Outer Base":
    • Doing the optional course isn't necessary to finish the unit, but you get an early Shotgun, some ammo, and an Adrenaline pack. And you need to go through this if you're going for 100% Completion, as it features a bunch of weapon guards.
    • Going for the water secret rewards you with a bunch of early grenades.
    • Downplayed in the 2023 remastered version with its new area. It contains a few goodies, among them a Jacket Armor, but nothing too significant.
  • "Installation":
    • You don't need to cross the Broken Bridge, but doing so (or going through the hole next to the sewers that lead to "Comm Center") eventually leads you to another Shotgun and some ammo, if you didn't pick the one in "Outer Base".
    • If you didn't pick up the secret Super Shotgun, returning from "Comm Center" and lowering the bridge in "Installation" rewards you with a Super Shotgun in the elevator exit area as a secret.
  • "Comm Center":
    • Reaching the Secret Level in isn't really needed, but you get LOTS of goodies as well as an early Invulnerability and, of course, the Super Shotgun, which makes getting through most of the early levels a breeze.
    • The slime pit contains an Adrenaline pack. You, of course, need the Environment Suit located atop of a bunch of crates that require dropping from the upper bridge.
  • "Lost Station":
    • Before taking the tram the first time, you can swim in the pool, leading to a secret area with plenty of ammo packs and a Rebreather.
    • Right next to this same area there's a small area with some crates leading to another secret in the form of a Silencer.
    • You can drop from the tram into a small chamber that holds some stimpacks.
    • Either dropping to the Barracuda Shark-infested pool, or shooting a secret button in the second station, leads you to another secret area with a Machinegun and some Grenades, and several enemies.
    • There's a secret in the ramp area with a button you need to shoot in order to raise it so you can pick up the Red Key. The secret consists on escaping from the ramp before it reaches the top. It contains a secret health pack.
    • Another secret requires you to take a detour in the next room. Doing so leads to an area with wall shooters and a shootable button above them. It opens an area with an Adrenaline pack. Picking up this pack disables the lasers.
    • The last area of the level has a water pool around its main island with a secret Invulnerability and a pair of Barracuda Sharks, in addition to several ammo and health packs.
• Suspiciously Cracked Wall: One of the secrets in "Installation" is hidden in a cracked wall that requires to be shot.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: In the intro.
  "Contact with the colony on Mars will be re-established, and has nothing to do with the impending arrival of the mysterious aliens."
• Teleporting Keycard Squad:
  • "Outer Base": Doing the side area near the beginning and picking up the Shotgun will trigger a hidden Light Guard behind a bunch of boxes in the main corridor.
  • "Comm Center": Picking up the Blue Key spawns several Gunners on your way to the Blue Key door. In addition, three new Flyers will spawn in "Installation" at the broken bridge.
  • "Lost Station": Picking up the Super Shotgun will spawn several new enemies such as flyers in the computer cave, Light Guards halfway the path between the station and the cave, flyers in the exit station, and a bunch of Weapon Guards and Enforcers on your way back to the Comm Center. Doing an extra ride on the tram will add two more Shotgun Guards to the total.
• With This Herring: As with most first-person shooters of this era, you start with nothing but a basic pistol despite being a Space Marine deployed as part of an invasion force. The manual handwaves it by stating that all the other gear you went in with was lost in the drop. Given that the drop pods were canonically designed to be small above almost any other consideration under the belief it would make them immune to the planetary defences, it's not clear just how much more your full kit would have included, though.

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