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| Waste Processing | |
| Game | |
| Unit | |
| Soundtrack |
01 - Ground Zero Intro |
| Previous Map | |
| Next Map | |
| Enemies |
Easy: 60 |
| Secrets |
2 |
| [Source] | |
| “ | Tango section, gain entrance to experimental fighter hangar. Disable and destroy all resistance. | ” |
—TCM radio transmission | ||
Stepchild has orders to gain entry to the main research hangar, but was unable to reach it directly, and so must take a more roundabout route through a waste facility. And so, he travels through a damaged pipe and now emerges in Waste Processing.
Now a little puzzle begins. While Stepchild's main objective is simply to proceed to the Research Hangar, he must activate this sector's reactor and activate water pumping systems in order to traverse this level.
Walkthrough
On Hard/Nightmare difficulty, the first enemy you face once you approach the exit of the pipe is a rocket Turret. Watch out for splash damage while engaging it. After you destroy the turret (Assuming you were playing on a higher difficulty), you will be confronted by a pair of Parasites and 1-2 Enforcers (1 on Medium difficulty, 2 on Hard/Nightmare difficulty). With the narrow pipe you'll probably be fighting them in, they can rack up damage very quickly, so get rid of them even faster. Once you're finally out of the pipe, you will be on a platform with a suit of Jacket Armor close by to keep you going (The previous owner won't need it anymore), but you will also be overlooking the exit to Waste Disposal above all. So close, but there's a pit of lava between you and the door leading there. And any attempt to try and bypass it swiftly will leave you cooked alive in the lava below. Instead, head through a passage to the left that takes you lower down. An Enforcer will engage you, along with a Parasite (Hard/Nightmare difficulty) too. Once again, a narrow passageway makes it hard to evade them, but also makes it hard for them to evade a rocket or grenade. Get rid of them and you'll find yourself on a lower platform on the same level as the aforementioned exit. Once again, lava prevents you from getting there. Don't dawdle however, for there will be a blaster Turret taking aim on you. There will additionally be Daedalus enemies hovering over this same platform on lower difficulties. On Easy difficulty there will only be one, with a second one being present on Medium and higher difficulties. There is also a Technician in the area too on all difficulties. Eliminate the threats and go along the platform to the far end. There'll be a deceased marine with a Hyperblaster and some health if you're hurt, but more importantly, a button. This will unlock the access point for the Filtration sector. Return to the upper platform and proceed down the far end. You will encounter Gunners here as well as a Parasite (Hard/Nightmare difficulty), and rocket Turrets will also emerge from panels above you as you proceed down these hallways to fight. Force your way past the Gunners (And Parasite if it's there), so you can take cover from the rocket Turrets and then deal with the Turrets before you proceed to the next area. There will be another dead marine with a Rocket Launcher at the end of the hallway to help get rid of the Turrets, if necessary.
Once the door to the Filtration Sector is unlocked, you may be confronted by a Technician as well as a Gladiator. On Hard/Nightmare difficulty, there will be a second Technician found here. Take them out, but don't run straight into the room, as there is a blaster Turret on the ceiling as well. Once the initial room is clear of them all, you can proceed up the stairs. In front of you is an ETF Rifle and also a valve, which cannot be turned right now. To the left is a set of green lasers. An Enforcer will see you and inadvertently run into the lasers, killing himself. A Gunner at the back may be smarter and run backwards out of sight meanwhile. Take him out before he breaks line of sight if you can, but if you can't, you'll deal with him later. Moving to the right, there is a Technician to the left at the end of the hallway and a Parasite to the right. Careful aiming with the Railgun can eliminate both before they get a chance to react. This next room will have numerous enemies within it. Primarily Enforcers on the platforms above and behind you, but there will also be a Gunner up there too. You will also find Enforcers around the corner on the same level as you, and Gunners on the level above them. A blaster Turret (Medium/Hard/Nightmare difficulty) can also be found on the ceiling of this room to further make things difficult. As you cut through them all, a Daedalus may show up to top it off. A ladder can be found in one corner that leads up to where the Gunners are, and a Parasite (Medium/Hard/Nightmare difficulty) will also be at the top of this ladder too. Climbing this ladder opens two cupboards up on the sides of the room. An Icarus will emerge from both of them on Easy/Medium difficulty, but on Hard/Nightmare difficulty, they will contain a Daedalus each instead (Although on Hard/Nightmare difficulty in the original release of the game, one of the Daedalus enemies will not spawn correctly, leaving only one to contend with instead of the intended two. See Bugs for more information). Upon climbing up the ladder, you'll find a button, but don't push it yet. Instead, drop back down and go around to the back left corner of the room. You will find a lift that's currently inactive. Approach it, and then double back. The reason for this is that upon approaching the lift, a wall will lower through the bars where the lift is, revealing a Gladiator who could easily snipe you if you're not paying attention, so cut him down first. In the same closet the Gladiator is camping will be some Shells and a suit of Combat Armor. Take what you need, then head back up the ladder and push the button. This will activate the lift, allowing you to move to the next area.
As you move along the catwalk at the top of the lift, a third cupboard will open behind you, revealing a Daedalus. Swat the annoying fly, and carry on. If you're perceptive, you may hear a metallic tapping noise at the end of the next corridor. This is a Parasite lying in wait. If you have a Tesla Mine on you, you can perhaps throw one out there to bait the Parasite out of hiding, then punish it for chasing down smaller pests instead of focusing on the main prize. Peek around the corner carefully, because there can be a blaster Turret right away. On Medium and higher difficulties, a rocket Turret will be close by as well. Clear them out, and you can expect an Enforcer up next. A Gunner can also come down the slope on the left as well and try to blindside you with grenades while you're looking for the next path to take, while a Daedalus assaults from above. Wipe them out and be wary of another blaster Turret near the top of the slope (Hard/Nightmare difficulty). Pick it off carefully, and then you can look around. There's a small room in the middle with a valve along with some Cells. Be careful, as there is a pair of blaster Turrets in here too, on the ceiling flanking either side of the doorframe. They can easily rack up a large amount of damage on you if you aren't careful, but you can use a mixture of corner peeking and the Prox Launcher to eventually break them. This makes this room safe for when you need to use that valve later. On the right is a small rocky area with some lasers blocking it off. Before the lasers however you may find an Enforcer as well as a blaster Turret (Hard/Nightmare difficulty) on the wall high above you. Getting rid of them now will help not having to contend with them later. Now that preparations are taken care of, proceed up the slope on the left to the next area.
At the top of the slope will be a Gunner, and also the blaster Turret (Hard/Nightmare difficulty) that's firing down from above, if you didn't remove it while on the lower level. After that is a window where you can see 1/2/3 Enforcers (Easy/Medium/Hard and Nightmare difficulties) and a Parasite as well (Hard/Nightmare difficulty). Up above you right before the corner however is Secret #1 containing Adrenaline. A single shot with the Blaster will bring it down to your level. Your choice if you take it now or later, but don't forget about it if you choose later. Don't rush straight around the corner however, else you'll find yourself in the crosshairs (And claw) of a Gladiator (Medium/Hard/Nightmare difficulty). Dispatch the Gladiator first, and chances are the Parasite (If it's there) will have activated. Ready something explosive and shoot around the corner to bring ragnarok upon the strogg hiding there. Finally, the button for the green lasers is found in this room. Press that to turn off the lasers and receive your next objective - turn on the reactor so that the filtration pumps can be activated. Exit back out of the control room and down to where the lasers were at the bottom of the slope. If an Enforcer didn't foolishly run into the lasers, that's what you'll run into first. Otherwise, there'll be a blaster Turret on the ceiling above where the laser ports are, and a Gunner in the back (Provided said Gunner didn't also kill himself on the lasers too). Once they're down, enter the main room to find another blaster Turret across the way as well as a Daedalus too. You may also find a Gunner patrolling on this level too. You'll be on the upper area overlooking the lower level where a valve is. Another Gunner may attack from a hallway to the left, so make sure he doesn't get the drop on you. You can shoot down onto the lower level, where there is an Enforcer lying in wait as well as a Gladiator. Make sure the area's clear (And get the Plasma Beam from the dead marine on the lower level if you want), and then head left. This is where the main reactor room will be. Heavy caution is advised, as in addition to an Enforcer by the reactor, there can also be up to four wall-mounted blaster turrets overlooking both this doorway as well as another one that gives you alternate access to the reactor. There will be two on Easy difficulty - one on each side - and four on Medium and higher difficulties, totalling two on each side. Additionally, there can be a rocket Turret (Hard/Nightmare difficulty) on the ceiling above the reactor too. Finally, a Gunner will also attack from the catwalk above. Chisel off these Turrets carefully and eliminate the Enforcers and Gunner. A Gladiator can also be found using a lift to the left of the room to get access to you. You'll be needing that lift yourself to proceed. Hijack the lift and you can see some Enforcers camping out in the control room, along with a Parasite too. Dispatch them carefully, but do not activate the reactor just yet. Instead, go to the back left corner of the room, and you can find a computer tower with a green keyboard poking out the side of it. This is Secret #2 that contains Megahealth, and it will become inaccessible if you activate the reactor and leave. Once you've accessed it, you may now start the reactor.
Immediately you'll be warned with both messages and alarms that the radiation levels of the room are rising. You must evacuate the room before the emergency bulkhead doors seal. Failure to do so will result in unavoidable death by reactor radiation (The strogg are conveniently unaffected by the radiation however). As you come out of the control room, some panels will jettison above the reactor, revealing a pair of Technicians. Unless you're pursuing 100% kills, you have no time and no reason to fight them, as they don't even drop anything useful. But if you must fight them, do it quickly with a high-power weapon such as the Railgun or Chaingun. Their purpose is to distract you and make you waste time so you get locked in with the reactor and die, so if you must battle them, make it quick. Once you're out of the reactor room, the bulkheads will close behind you, sealing off the room indefinitely as well as Secret #2 if you didn't obtain it prior to booting up the reactor. Don't relax just yet, because if you exited the reactor room using the doorway on the right, you may find yourself face-to-face with a Gladiator. And if you never took out the Gunner behind the laser grid who tried to run away, he'll be here too. Behind the Gladiator however, is a suit of coveted Body Armor to keep you going. After the Gladiator (Or if you exited using the doorway on the left), you will find yourself back in the main pump room. Don't rush in however, because 1-2 rocket Turrets (1 on Easy/Medium difficulty, 2 on Hard/Nightmare difficulty) have been revealed. They are both located in front of the valve that activates the first pump. Careless players will run into the room and turn the valve right away, only to find both their kidneys punched by a rocket each. Break the Turrets before you go rushing in, and then you can turn the valve. There will be two more after this one. Don't bother jumping into the slime pit around the pump, as there's nothing of value in there. Just pain and misery. Rarely death, too.
Once you turn this valve, you can head through the deactivated laser ports to return to the second pump in the small room. If you removed the blaster Turrets previously, you can go in and turn the valve with no consequences, else you now have to see to that first in order to access the valve safely. The last valve will be in front of the entrance to the filtration sector that you opened up at the start of the level. Do not rush for the valve immediately however, as another wall panel with a Gunner (Easy/Medium difficulty) or Gladiator (Hard/Nightmare difficulty) inside has opened up. Sort him out first, and then you can access the valve, completing the sequence. Now it's time to exit back to the starting area. Keep in mind that there are 1-2 Technicians (1 on Easy/Medium difficulty, 2 on Hard/Nightmare difficulty) on the other side of the doorway as you come out, so see to them first. If you never dealt with the rocket Turrets that appeared when battling the Gunners (And Parasite on Hard/Nightmare difficulty) on the way in, you have no choice but to do so now. When you come back out into the first area where you started, you'll see that the lava pit has been put out using coolant water from the filtration system. As tempting as it may be to jump into the water, don't. 1-2 blaster Turrets (1 on Easy difficulty, 2 on Medium/Hard/Nightmare difficulty) have become active in the same area where the first one was at the start of the level. Use the passageway that you used previously to access the lower platform at the start of the level to unlock the filtration sector in the first place. You'll be able to see and engage the Turrets more safely that way. Once they're done, then congratulations, this level is clear of enemies now. Go around the level and pick up whatever ammo, health, and armor is left, because you won't be coming back through here again. Then after you're satisfied, swim across the water's surface to reach the Waste Disposal.
Enemies
| Enemy | Easy | Medium | Hard/Nightmare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enforcer | 14 | 16 | 18 |
| Gunner | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Parasite | 5 | 6 | 9 |
| Technician | 6 | 6 | 8 |
| Icarus | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Daedalus | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| Gladiator | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Turret | 13 | 18 | 23 |
Secrets
- #1) Just outside the room containing the button to deactivate the green security lasers, there are two supports under the ceiling. An adrenaline can be seen on top of one of them; it can be retrieved by shooting the damaged support until it explodes.
- #2) In the room where you activate the reactor, there are two computer servers in a corner. Jump to the top of small inclined server and press the long green button on the side of tall server. Jump down and get the megahealth under the tall server.
Bugs
- In the original release of Ground Zero, this level has a missing kill on Hard/Hard+ difficulty. In a chamber near the beginning of the level, there are three closets which open to release a Daedalus, but one of them does not spawn correctly into the level, resulting in the player being unable to achieve 100% kills. This problem is fixed in the 2023 remaster.
Trivia
- While it may be tempting to rocket jump across the lava in the starting chamber to reach the exit quickly, an invisible barrier prevents this.
- The reactor in this level is one of very few things in Quake II that can kill a player even if they have an Invulnerability activated.