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Quake II: Boss Levels - TV Tropes

  • ️Sat Jul 10 2021

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

Quake II: Boss Levels Recap

At last! After crossing through Stroggos, Bitterman finally found the Makron's hideout, and the time has come for its disposal.

The levels of the unit are "Inner Chamber" and "Final Showdown", and the main objective is the destruction of the Makron.

Tropes related to the Makron itself are found in the Q2 character sheet.

These levels show examples of:

  • Adaptation Expansion:
    • In the PlayStation version of the unit. Not only there are way more enemies in "Inner Chamber" than the PC version (in order to account for the lack of the City unit), but the ending of the game was also expanded. Instead of exiting to an escape pod once you destroy the Makron, you insert the A-M Bomb you picked up from the Guardian into a mechanism, and then escape through a shuttle, much like the one found at the end of the PC version's Ground Zero Expansion Pack.
    • The 2023 remaster includes a whole new room after the Easter Egg in "Final Showdown", and a new cinematic that actually shows Bitterman escaping from the ship instead of going straight to the ending.
  • Adaptational Gender Identity: In the Easter Egg at the end of "Final Showdown", due to coming out as a trans woman, Paul Jaquays is now credited as Jennell Jaquays.
  • Cosmetic Award: Completing the unit in the 2023 remastered edition nets the "Assassinate the Makron" achievement.
  • Death Trap: At the beginning of "Inner Chamber", there's a closed door with no hint nearby on how to open it. However, you must get out of the way, as deadly lasers start puncturing it until it explodes.
  • Developer's Room:
    • After defeating the Makron, a tunnel opens up below the arena, from which you can access a secret room containing large portraits of each person who worked on the game.
    • The 2023 remaster adds a secret room within the secret room, with portraits of the people who worked on the remaster.
  • Easter Egg:
    • In "Final Showdown", there's the developer room, which features all of Id's staff who worked on the game, plus a further room showing two "slaves" and a Tank with two Iron Maidens. This egg is absent from the PlayStation version.
    • The 2023 remastered version of the map has an annex to this egg, revealed by shooting a button in the Tank/Maidens room. It reveals a new room with Nightdive and Id personnel.
    • Not even the Quake II PSX mod version for the 2023 remaster is safe! Opposite to the exit that leads to the destruction of the Strogg Citadel, the other "escape pod" leads to a secret area where the devs of the game are present in much the same form as the PC eggs. And if that isn't enough, shooting the red head at the end of the dev corridor reveals the original cover of the PSX version of II as well as a new room with the monsters from the main game that didn't made the cut ("Gone, but not forgotten") and the updated models for the Guardian and the Arachnid.
  • Kaizo Trap: After defeating the Makron in the last level, you get access to an Easter Egg secret room. A few of the portraits can kill you if you stand near them long enough, like Todd Hollenshead's or Tim Willits'.
  • A Lady on Each Arm: The invulnerable Tank in the secret chamber of the final level has two Iron Maidens with him.
  • Load-Bearing Boss: After the Makron is defeated in the final level "Final Showdown", the area where it's staged blows up as soon as Bitterman makes his getaway in the escape pod.
  • Suspiciously Cracked Wall: The Easter Egg of "Final Showdown" requires shooting at a cracked wall in the corridors below the Boss Arena.
  • Take Your Time: After you kill the Makron, the whole place begins to shake, and you get a warning to get to an escape pod immediately. While the ending cutscene shows the whole asteroid base exploding as soon as you eject, you can actually stay in the level as long as you want and nothing will happen.
  • Teleporting Keycard Squad: After activating each wing button at the end of "Inner Chamber", two trios of Flyers spawn.
  • A Winner Is You: The player is treated to a cutscene of an escape pod launching and crashing, followed by Bitterman's hand reaching out from the wreckage.