Manhunter: San Francisco is, obviously enough, the sequel to the acclaimed Manhunter: New York. For those unfamiliar with these games, the MANHUNTER series depicts you as a detective investigating crimes against the Orb Alliance, alien conquerors of the planet Earth. Of course, you use your position to thwart your masters and free your people, a city at a time. The games combine graphic adventure gaming, puzzle solving, and arcade gaming into one package. You need not have played MANHUNTER: NEW YORK (MH:NY) to play Manhunter: San Francisco (MH:SF), but I heartily recommend it to you as an enjoyable adventure game.
MH:SF has a number of differences from MH:NY. Several are described in the game documentation. One not described is a new feature: Fatal mistakes result in a single graphic message from the authors, as opposed to a set of two or three messages containing cryptic hints. After appearing once or twice, during arcade sequences, the graphic message is replaced by a "Press ENTER to start again" text message. This gets you back into the action much more quickly, at the cost of providing the additional hints.
Also, for those who have played MH:NY, note that you must select the Travel function an additional time after visiting all sites related to a day's case before the Orb Override will appear to demand the names of your suspects.
You have pursued Phil Cook, the murderous Manhunter from MH:NY, across the country in your stolen Orb spacecraft. The pursuit leads you to the skies of San Francisco, where you clip a building and crash as you close in on Phil. H chortles gleefully and lands in another part of the city, as you stumble from the wreckage of your craft....
Once outside of your craft, you see a pair of legs underneath the wreckage. You've crushed someone! The game will move you towards the legs for a closer look. You will find an I.D. card ("Manhunter 003 - Peter Brown") and a Manhunter Assignment Device (MAD). You can take this Manhunter's place (and cases) as you try to locate Phil and defeat the Orbs again.
Open the MAD and select the tracking function to begin working on your first case. You've missed the Orb's briefing, but the fact that the crime was committed at the Bank of Canton might lead you to believe that a robbery took place.
Two targets enter the bank from a side entrance, and reappear after being blocked from tracking for a short while. A third target comes down the street to the bank's front door, sees something amiss, and confronts the original two targets as they leave the way they came.
The tracking signals become confused (during a fight, perhaps?), and two targets leave the screen as the third remains stationary on the sidewalk. Close the MAD as the targets leave the screen and select Travel. The Bank of Canton is on the travel map screen to the right of the screen the crash site appears on.
Enter through the unlocked door to the left of the bank. A tunnel has been dug through the bank wall. Go through the hole into the tunnel, and forward again into the bank. You will find an empty safe, and a body slumped over a desk. The letters "bAT" appear above the letters "VOMIT" on the door to the room (Bat Vomit? Ugh!). The body appears to have a torn throat and a tattoo of a dragon on the palm of his left hand. The dragon is drawn roughly in the shape of the letter "W." A torn newspaper article is in the wastebasket. The article describes the work of a scientist, "Noah G...," in creating hybrid animals; the same techniques may work in creating superhumans. A note can be found on the desk. It is addressed to "dragons," notes that "The R3 is the L1 to R4," and is signed by "Tad." Wait a minute! "bAT" is "TAd" backwards! "BAT VOMIT" must be a person's name, read backwards on a glass doorway. Leave the bank the way you came.
Move the marker to the left edge of the screen; it will become an arrow to allow you to move down the street. You will find another body, which also has a dragon tattoo on its palm. The throat has also been torn, and has a fang broken off in it. Retrieve the fang and laundry ticket lying next to the body.
Open the MAD and enter the name "Tad Timov" (the inversion of "Bat Vomit") into the "Info" function. You will be rewarded with his address and profession (bank security officer). We'll visit that address later today. Use the MAD Tracking function to follow your two suspects. They both travel to a warehouse, apparently have a scuffle, and separate. The second target enters the warehouse as the first leaves. We'll follow the tagged person for now and come back to the warehouse later. The target goes to the Ferry Building, visits a desk or dresser in a room near the doors, and leaves. Close the MAD and travel to the Ferry Building (on the waterfront on the same travel map screen the bank is on).
When you arrive, you'll recognize the building as the location Phil landed behind. Move your marker to the center of the building, and enter it. The doors beyond the stairs "cannot be opened," so we cannot explore the room the target visited. We'll see those doors again later. There is a sign posted: "Return the viewer! Special reward -- By the order of the Orb Alliance."
Leave the building and use the MAD to track the target to Embarcadero Fountain; it travels in a clockwise circle around the center of the fountain and enters a tunnel on the right of the screen. This ends the tracking record for this suspect. Close MAD and travel to the fountain.
A complex sculpture stands over the fountain, and one of its branches makes up the tunnel into which the suspect disappeared. Move the marker into the fountain to enter it. Your first arcade sequence draws you toward the drain in the center of the fountain. Press ENTER as needed to spin yourself away from the drain and cast yourself into the tunnel.
You immediately meet another arcade sequence; rats and bats besiege you as you move through the tunnel. You can move forwards or backwards, punch a bat, or stomp a rat. Be patient, and move forward gradually, to give yourself enough lead time to react to the incoming critters. You'll eventually run out of attackers and be able to cross through to the far end of the tunnel. You may wish to save your game as you progress through the tunnel so you can restore it to the point you've reached instead of starting from scratch (should you get killed by one of the little buggers).
You find a tattered den with an oddly colored figure lying on a mattress. The words "Me be Man again someday" are scrawled on the far wall in what appears to be blood. Examine the figure, and you will discover that it is not human! It appears to be a cross between a man and a steer (or perhaps a canine?). The flesh on its face has been eaten away, and an overturned flask lies near its outstretched hand. Pick up the flask; it is labeled "Remedy." Some remedy! More likely acid, judging from the state of the body. Back away from the body and examine the rest of the room. You will find a driver's license issued to "Stone, ..."; the first name has been torn from the license. We'll find the remainder of this name later.
Back away from the den to enter the tunnel. There is no arcade sequence involved here, but you have the option of walking through the tunnel, or turning back to return to the den. If you walk through the tunnel, you will again be greeted by the whirlpool in the fountain. Press ENTER several times, and you will be cast out over one of the edges of the fountain.
Open MAD and replay the tracking sequence. Tag the second target sometime before the two suspects separate at the warehouse. You may wish to pay particular attention to the path the target takes to move through the warehouse. Close MAD and Travel to the warehouse (on the travel screen above the one you're on).
You may investigate the street the warehouse stands on, but the only open doorway is into the warehouse itself. A colorful bird sits outside the warehouse and will noisily fly off if you examine it. In the doorway, you will see a clump of bloody hair, and inside the warehouse you see a crate of "Flesh Fries" and "Poopsicles" (Ugh!) from New York, as well as some sort of moving object....
Move into the warehouse, and be ready to run for your life! The object you saw was one of four sentry robots guarding the warehouse. They travel down or across one of the rows in the warehouse, and reverse course when they reach a wall. If they detect you, they will run down the row you are in and squash you. You can follow the path the suspect took, and reach the doorway at the other corner of the warehouse. The timing is rather tricky; you can adjust the path if you need to, and/or adjust the difficulty of the arcade sequence. Saving the game after each significant progress is a good technique with this and most other arcade sequences.
Once you reach the other end of the warehouse, you will enter a room with a desk and a few items of interest. One is "Schedule: Experimental Station needs 5 crates. No New York Shipment. Can't make contact." (Apparently your efforts in destroying the New York Orb occupation in MH:NY were very effective.) Examining the desk will reveal a message, apparently in blood: "Zac, Me hurt. Me got it. Traitor Mic. Me at den." There is a mallet next to the desk. Pick it up. You will see a faint image on the face of the mallet (the face of a fish?). Take the mallet and back out of the room, where the robots await you. Evade them again and leave by the door through which you entered.
You now have some additional names to try. Open MAD and enter the names "Zac Stone" and "Mic Stone" into the Info function. "Mic Stone" is the correct name, and reveals that Mic was/is an "Experimental Volunteer" with an unknown address. Well, at least we've found a valid name to report to the Orbs.
Now use Tracking to continue following the second target. It leaves the warehouse, travels to the Hyde Street Pier, climbs down a ladder, and enters a passageway set into the shoreline (a pipe, perhaps?). The tracking signal is lost. Close MAD and Travel to the Hyde Street Pier (on the travel screen to the left and above the current one).
There are a set of crates behind a fence on the pier. Moving closer to investigate, reveals that the crates are "Medical Supplies," but you cannot get past the fence to check further. Move the marker over to the ladder and climb down.
Your figure will stand on the beach, awaiting your direction. Move the marker to the pipe and move forward to investigate it. Move the marker to the center of the pipe and climb into it. Oh, no! You've awakened a _big_, ferocious animal, and are quickly devoured!
You may be perturbed that I did not warn you to save your game, but as it happens, you _must_ experience this death in order to advance to Day 2. I'll warn you to save next time.
Your game will automatically be restarted in front of the pipe. Back up to the beach. Move the marker under the dock, to the cracked pillar. Move forward for a closer look. Once under the dock, you see a hole in the underside. You can move the marker towards the hole, and climb the pillar towards it. The hole is covered by a crate, blocking you from climbing all the way up. We'll come back for another look later.
You've investigated all the sites our suspects have visited, but we still have an address to visit: the apartment of Tad Timov, the bank security officer. Travel to the apartment (on the travel screen to the right of the one you're on). Looks like a seedy neighborhood. Move your marker to the front of the building, and prepare to enter. You may wish to save your game here.
Enter the apartment. You can either take advantage of the opportunity to back out immediately, or watch as a slavering dog appears in the chimney, and rushes across the room. As you reach out to greet it, it jumps up on you and supposedly rips your throat to shreds. I say "supposedly" since the authors appear to announce that "That was so disgusting, even we wouldn't show it!" Considerate group of people, don't you think? We'll obviously have to try visiting here later.
You've now visited every location related to the crime, but there is yet another location to visit: home. The apartment of the Manhunter you are replacing appears on the same travel screen as the Hyde Street Pier. Enter and explore the apartment; you will find a drawer you can open, and a cloth inside. The cloth has a note pinned to it: "Rub Jewel of Heaven." Take the cloth. You can also look out the window and see a few of San Francisco's landmarks: the Coit Tower, which is spewing forth red fumes (apparently the same type of atmospheric conversion we saw in MH:NY is taking place here), and the Transamerica Pyramid. Dirt appears to periodically drop from one of the upper floors to the ground. A building next to the pyramid is almost entirely covered in dirt.
Select the Travel function, and you will be greeted with the Orb Override. Enter the names "Tad Timov" and "Mic Stone," and settle back for a well-deserved rest. You've a _busy_ day ahead of you tomorrow!
You are awakened by your two-eyed Orb supervisor, who orders you to investigate a burning boat on Pier 5. There are a number of targets to track; we'll follow each target to the end of its path before switching to another to lessen the confusion. The tracking record begins with two targets entering Pier 5, and visiting a third target aboard a boat. The signals jumble, indicating a fight of some sort took place. Two targets leave the pier, while the third remains on the boat. Close MAD and Travel to Pier 5 (on the waterfront on the travel screen to the right of and below the one "your" apartment sits on).
The boat in question sits in front of you on the pier. Move the marker to it, and you will discover an area you can examine more closely. The body of a mutated human lies here! The mutant looks very dog-like, and is wearing a muzzle. Move the marker to the muzzle and take it. The creature is missing a finger, which "hasn't been gone long," and has a broken fang. Hm. Take the fang out of your robe. You match the fang to the creature's mouth and find it fits perfectly. The fang returns to your inventory. There's not much else to see here, but that muzzle might come in handy. While we're thinking about it, Travel back to Tad Timov's apartment.
Enter the apartment and wait for the dog to appear. Take the muzzle out of your robe (I will use the term USE as shorthand for this in the future) at any time before the dog leaps up on you, and it will obediently let you muzzle it. It then disappears back into the chimney, leaving you alone to investigate. A tapestry is hanging on the left wall of the room. The word "Heaven" appears above the word "Vision" on the tapestry, and two sets of Chinese ideograms appear as well. There is a camera on the bench near the right wall of the room. Take it, but do not use the flash! You need it for later, and besides, you already know what you look like. If you like, save the game here and ignore my advice. The game will warn you, "Uh-oh, you just used your last flash!" It must be fairly important to save it for later. Restore your game.
Open MAD and resume tracking your first suspect. The two original targets leave the pier and travel to the Temple, where the first target stops. The second suspect continues to another location. The first suspect enters the temple, and apparently climbs onto one of four thrones or altars. The tracking signal is lost. Close MAD, back out of the apartment, and travel to the Temple (on the travel screen below the one you are currently on).
Enter the Temple. Since the only thing you can do is back out, or pick up the shield in the center of the room, you may as well pick up the shield. Wow! In a display of genuine Ninja magic, four black figures materialize above the thrones in each corner of the room. Turn your figure towards the shuriken (throwing stars) the Ninja hurl at you, and deflect them with the shield. Remember that you can adjust the difficulty of this (and all other) arcade sequences if you find them coming in faster than you can handle them. After a while, the Ninja will run out of stars (or get bored), and leave the way they came. Your figure places the shield back in the center of the room.
Apparently, your survival has earned you admittance. The large Buddha at the far end of the Temple rises, revealing a doorway. Move through it, and you will find a candle-lit stairway. A series of labeled busts appears interspersed with the candles:
EARTH BRIDGE
FREEDOM HELL
TRUTH CASTLE
HEAVEN BALANCE
GATEWAY ACTION
Each of the statues has a jewel set in the neck of the figure. Hm. Look at the "Heaven" statue, and move your marker to the jewel. Use the cloth you got from the Manhunter's drawer, and it will rub the jewel. The mouth of the bust opens, and the following symbols spill out: The letter "F," a paddle-shaped object, the letter "P," and a ruler. I will provide the translation of this clue when it is needed. In the meantime, give it some thought.
These busts serve a second purpose: They fill out one of the first clues we found: the "Dragon Note" written by Tad. "The R3 is the L1 to R4" deciphers to "The CASTLE is the GATEWAY to HELL," whatever that means. As a matter of fact, if you view the busts in order, the authors will appear to congratulate you, but they won't provide any additional hints.
Climb the stairs, and you will see yourself examine the ornate dragon statue at the head of the stairs. You'll also see yourself surrounded by a set of very unfriendly Ninja. You're thrown out of the room and into your next arcade sequence: balancing on a rolling log above a pool of acid! As always, save the game periodically as you make progress, and adjust the difficulty level if you have to. When you reach the other side, you'll find yourself in a room with a flaming caldron. Watch as a priest directs another robed figure to put his hand to a dragon brand on the side of the caldron. The person does, and then shows you his brand, which is identical to the brand you found on the bodies in Day 1. He collects a scroll from the priest, and leaves over the log. Now is a very good time to save your game.
There are several things that can happen at this point, as the priest points to you to brand your hand. Try the following actions if you are curious: Wait (don't worry, the game _will_ react!), or dutifully press your hand against the brand. Aren't you glad you saved your game? You can also move your marker to the window to jump through it, but what you need to do is move the marker to the box of scrolls first. Take a scroll, and then make your escape. After you bounce off the pavement of the sidewalk and stand up, you will be shown the scroll: "West is our only chance." Save your game _now_.
There are three things you can do here: wait, Travel, or move the marker to the right edge of the screen, and go down the street. Since you've saved your game, you can afford to wait in front of the Temple. How rude! I guess they didn't appreciate your stealing from them. Restore your game, and go down th street before you get killed.
You are in front of a door. Open it and go inside. A man sits in front of a pipe and a set of bowls of tobacco. You can pick up one or more pinches of tobacco from any of the bowls, fill the pipe, then smoke it. A number of clues point to what you need to do: The tapestry in Tad Timov's apartment "Heaven" / "Vision" (Heaven will show you the way to a Vision?), and the message from the "Heaven" bust: F (oar) P (inches) -- four pinches. The ideograms on the tapestry are apparently a third clue, but to be truthful, I do not know how to correctly decipher it. What you should do is take four pinches from the second bowl and fill the pipe. As you finish smoking it, a billow of smoke will appear from the pipe. Within the smoke, you will see a female face; it gradually changes into something monstrous. Remember this face, for you will see it again. The owner of the house, overjoyed by what he has seen, offers you a statue. Take it, and you learn that the face was his daughter's; the statue is labeled "To Daddy From Ming." Having nothing else to do here, let's track our next suspect.
Open MAD, and replay the tracking sequence. Tag the second suspect before the two leave the pier, and follow it to the Shop. The suspect enters the Shop and meets with a person inside. He then leaves and meets a third target which came down the street. The two leave together. Close MAD and Travel to the Shop (one travel screen to the left).
Enter the Shop, and you will see the owner looking at an animal's finger (perhaps the finger that was missing from the body on the pier). He puts the finger away. Move forward for a closer look. The owner waits for you to do something. You'll discover that he isn't interested in anything you have, but take a look around: Signs posted behind the owner indicate that he deals in Magic Tricks, Games, Chain Snips, Masks, and Rubber Chickens. A sign behind him says "Try your luck! Don't have enough to get what you want? Play my game and win big. You can buy something better every time you win. But lose, and you lose it all." We'll come back here later when we're ready.
Open MAD, and continue tracking the second suspect. He and his new companio travel to the Transamerica Pyramid, apparently break in, and seize a target marked as a letter "S" on the tracking screen. The three targets leave. Close MAD and Travel to the Transamerica Pyramid (on the same travel screen as the bank and Timov's apartment).
Outside the Pyramid, you see clumps of dirt being dumped from one of the upper levels. A nearby building is almost entirely buried in dirt. Move towards the Pyramid, and you will see a doorway with a broken chain in front of it. Go through the door, and you will see people going up and down a ladder, and buckets of dirt going up conveyer belts in the background. Closer to you, a Chinese man cringes before a Shepherd Robot, which shocks him periodically. A window case is set into the wall. Move the marker over the case for a closer look. An Orb weapon! Take it, and dash out before you're caught! You're back in front of the Pyramid.
You may have already heard this, so I'll tell you that the gun is a red herring; it has no power, and it has no use in this game (maybe in MANHUNTER 3?). Go back into the Pyramid, and see what else you are able to do. Move forward into the room, and confront the robot tormenting the person. It will turn its attention toward you. Move in a circle around it, and the other person will move in the other direction towards the exit. You will start over from the beginning if the robot shocks you at any time during your circle, so save the game as you make progress. If you are shocked, the authors note that "This robot is quick but there is a trick." I believe that the trick to this arcade sequence is to move forward as the robot brings its weapon to bear on you because it pauses slightly before firing. When you succeed in freeing the Chinese man and making good your escape, you'll see him leave the Pyramid, and get a good look at his face. You'll also see yourself leave, and wind up in front of the building again. If you go towards the door again, you'll find the chain reattached; you've done all you can here. We'll pick up from this point in the next installment.
We paused after escaping from the Transamerica Pyramid. Open MAD and resume tracking. Your two suspects take the "S" target to a doctor's house, and leave him there. Close MAD as they leave, and Travel to the Doctor's House (on the travel screen to the left and above the one you're on).
Enter the house, and examine the person lying on the examination table. He is an odd shade of blue, and obviously dead. A gruesome "P" has been carved into his forehead with a dull knife, the trademark of the murderous Phil Cook from MH:NY. The body has an "S" cut into his left upper arm. His right arm is missing from above the elbow, apparently torn off. Move through the doorway in the rear of the room, and you will discover the doctor, slumped over a lab table. Examine him and you will find he is also dead, apparently stabbed, and has a "P" carved on his forehead as well. There is a letter in his pocket. I will quote the significant portions of it: "I have the card. Creations can help...must be freed by an Orb...must reach Hell. All entrances are guarded; only there can they be stopped." The note is signed, "N. Goring." Next to the doctor is a test tube filled with urine. Move the marker to the tube, and use the flask. The tube will be emptied into the flask, and the flask returned to your inventory.
Open MAD and continue tracking. Two new targets enter the screen shortly after your suspects leave the doctor's. We'll pick them up again shortly. Your suspects separate, your current suspect goes into a laundry, and his tracking record ends here. Close MAD and travel to the Laundry (on the travel screen to the right of the Doctor's House). Move towards the door, and you will discover that the laundry is closed today. We'll check back tomorrow. Open MAD again and replay the tracking record a third time. Tag the second target at the Pier, and follow it until it reaches the Shop. Now, tag the third target, and follow it. Remember that you can use the Skip command to bypass parts of the tracking record you have seen previously. The suspect travels to the Transamerica Pyramid and the Doctor's House, as you have already seen, then to the Cable Car Barn. It follows a convoluted path around a set of boxes or pillars to another part of the barn, and goes through a door which opened when the target stopped.
The target goes to a parked cable car and waits. An "S" target appears, meets the suspect briefly, then returns the way it came. In the meantime, two targets (the new targets we saw at the beginning of the last paragraph) enter the barn, and rush to confront the suspect when they discover the open door. A fight ensues, the suspect is carried to the parked cable car, and left behind by the new targets. The suspect's tracking record ends here. Close MAD and travel to the cable car barn (on the same travel screen as the Doctor's House).
Once outside the barn, move the marker to the windows in the center of the building. Move forward for a closer look, and you will see cable cars running through the barn, as well as one of those pesky guard robots you had to avoid at the warehouse. Back up, and you will be near the cable car entrance. Move the marker towards the entrance, and press ENTER to "ride the next car in." Inside, you will find the expected arcade sequence; avoid the guard robots and reach the pillar the suspect went to. You can follow the path the suspect used, or ride the car around its track to get closer before you make a dash for it. If you touch any of the pillars or the boundaries of the room, you will be electrocuted. This must be the power grid for the cable cars, and the "pillars" must power transformers. When you reach the appropriate transformer, you will find a switch on its side. Throw the switch, and a gap will appear in the power grid (the "door" I mentioned earlier). Avoid the robots until you get through the gap. The game will obligingly take you to the parked cable car at which the suspect was left.
The cable car is filled with bodies. A quick look at the posters on the side of the car will reveal the covers for MANHUNTER: NEW YORK, and apparently, MANHUNTER: LONDON (good plug, Murrays!). At the end of the car, you will find the body of the suspect. He has a dragon mark on his left palm, and the trademark "P" carved into his forehead. He also has a letter tucked into his sash (probably given to him by the "S" target), which reads "Stop them...bring us to Hell, and we will show you Freedom. Beware the Surface Robots...." There is nothing more to see here, so leave the way you came, avoiding the robots until you can jump on a car and ride it out of the barn.
Time for more tracking (thorough detective work is so time-consuming). Liberal use of tracking device's Skip option is called for here. Open MAD and replay the tracking sequence: Tag suspect 2 at the pier, follow it to the shop, tag suspect 3, follow suspect 3 to the cable car barn, and tag the next suspect there. You will find that you can only tag one of the two new suspects at the barn; the other registers differently on MAD. Players of MANHUNTER: NEW YORK will recognize this signal as the same type assigned to Phil Cook, whose special status would not allow you to tag him. (As a matter of fact, this signal _is_ Phil Cook!) Follow the two suspects to the Doctor's House, and you will witness the record of the murders which took place there before you arrived. The targets leave and separate; your tagged suspect enters a Private Club, and his tracking record ends there. Close MAD and travel to the Club (on the tracking screen above the one the cable car barn appears on).
Move your marker over the peephole in the door, and move forward for a closer look. You may want to save the game here. Move the pointer over the peephole again, and knock. A pair of baleful eyes appears, an arm reaches through the hole, and drags you into the club -- through the hole which is, unfortunately, too small for you. Strained Manhunter! Yum, yum! The authors appear to suggest that "He must not have liked your looks!" You've died, but you've gained a valuable clue about how to get into the club. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to be able to get in, however. Restore your game.
We have tracked every target and visited every location found during tracking. Now we can use the Info function and look up addresses. We've collected enough clues for two names, one of which is fairly obvious (and you were probably wondering why I didn't describe it earlier). The first is the combination of the name from the newspaper article, "Noah G..." and the letter from the Doctor's House, "N. Goring." Open MAD and select Info. Enter "Noah Goring." Bingo! You are rewarded with his address. Close MAD and Travel to the Scientist's House (on the travel screen to the right of the current one).
Enter the house. On the table in the corner there is a matchbook. Take it. There is also a needle and thread, which cannot be taken. The scientist must have been darning his socks recently. The view out the window shows Coit Tower, spewing noxious gases, and Julius Castle. Alcatraz Island lies on the water. A set of file folders has been dumped out onto the floor. Examine the pile, and you will find four dated folders. Read each of the folders. The first (11-5-02) records the Orb directive to create more productive underground workers. The second (9-27-03) notes that 100 Rat/Dog/Human hybrids are in testing below ground. The third (1-07-04) reports that the testing failed, and that loyal test subjects were released in the area of the wharf. The last (8-20-04) reveals that Goring discovered the price of his cooperation. The Orbs must be stopped! As you close the last folder, the gam will show Phil Cook murdering the Rat King and taking his place. (Manhunters not only bounce well, they're clairvoyant!) You are warned that Phil has the Viewer. (Oh, no!) Nothing to do for now but carry on.
Open MAD and select Info. There is another name we have encountered, but it certainly isn't obvious (well, at least it wasn't obvious to me). We haven't used "Zac" yet, but what to do for a last name? The scroll from the temple declared that "West is our only chance." Oh! Not west as in "Go west, young man," but "Zac West." Enter "Zac West" into the MAD. Another match! Close MA and travel to the address, which is the Wax Museum (on the same travel screen as "your" apartment).
Move closer to the entrance, and you will find a sealed door and a wax figure outside the museum. The figure is of a wizened fisherman holding a hook in one hand and a fish in the other. Hm. The mallet has the faint image of a fish on its head (left by wax perhaps?). Use the mallet, and watch your figure bash the fish. The door dutifully opens, and in you go.
Inside, you will find yourself in front of an exhibit. Press the button, and you will be treated to the first of a set of propaganda pieces set up by the Orbs; "Two planets unite to help the people of Earth use the riches of their planet for the good of all." (Gag!) Move your marker to the left edge of the screen, and move to the next exhibit. A set of Orb robots stands triumphantly over a pile of human bodies; "Earth welcomes its friends with open arms. With few exceptions, its people gladly accept Orb rule." While trying to keep your blood pressure (and your lunch) down, move to the left again to view the last exhibit. A small group of tattered people grovel in a small home with a fireplace; "A Typical American Family -- Life on Earth is improving each day." Move your marker to the fireplace, and move up the chimney. This is Zac's house. There is nothing of interest here, but you've discovered where Zac lives. Go back down the chimney, and leave the Wax Museum.
Once outside, attempt to Travel and you will receive the Orb Override. Enter the names "Noah Goring" and "Zac West" when prompted. You are sent back home. Bone-weary, you deserve a good night's sleep.
You awaken from a deep sleep to the ugly mug of your supervisor. Your assignment for the day: Investigate the body hanging on the sign in Ghirardelli Square.
Use tracking to watch your first target. Two suspects enter the Square; the second waits at the base of a building, while the first climbs to the roof. As the target moves toward a doorway on the roof, he suddenly turns the other way and flees! A new target appears from the doorway, chases the suspect across the roof, and onto the sign on top of the building. The two move back and forth, up and down, until the pursuer finally catches up with the first suspect. You may wish to note the path the suspect takes as he is chased around the sign. The pursuer leaves and returns to the doorway, leaving the suspect on the sign. Well, at least we know where the body is. As the pursuer retires, two more targets come out of the building on the ground floor and confront the first suspect's companion. A melee ensues, one target moves between buildings, and the other two leave the area. We'll track these two subjects later.
Before we check out the Square (I promise never to type that name again!), let's take care of some unfinished business. Close MAD and Travel to the Laundry (on the travel screen below and to the right of "your" apartment). Enter the laundry. A woman stands in front of the door to the back room. Move the pointer toward the woman and move forward. As the (blue-eyed?) oriental scrutinizes you, give the laundry ticket to her. She will go into the back room and consult with a robed figure, while another person sweeps the floor. The curtains part, and the winsome lady winks at you to admit you.
Press ENTER to follow the woman into the back room. She will escort you to meet the man sweeping the floor -- the very same man you rescued from the Transamerica Pyramid. He seems pleased to see you, and then reacts in horror as you are struck from behind! You are thrown inside a closet in the laundry. Several hours pass, and a figure enters the darkened laundry as you regain consciousness. The door to the closet opens, and as the lights come on, you recognize your benefactor as the man you rescued, returning the favor. He leaves the laundry, leaving you to fend for yourself. On your way out, pick up the walking stick by the door. Serves them right for treating you so poorly!
Travel to the Square (on the same screen as your apartment). Move your marker between the two buildings in front of you, and move forward. A rope leads to the building's roof, and a bloody hand lays on the ground. Pick up the hand -- a rat's paw (by the middle finger?). Save the game, and move the marker down the alley between the buildings. Take a look down the alley. Oops! The rest of the rat belonging to the paw awaits you, and it's not in a very happy mood. Restore your game; this is one death you don't need to experience to continue. Move the marker to the rope, and climb to the roof. Move the marker to the right of the screen, and cross over to the adjoining roof. Ah, the obligatory DONKEY KONG arcade sequence.
(You know, I never really liked DONKEY KONG, but if the Murrays don't put one into MANHUNTER 3, I'll miss it. Weird how some things grow on you.) Pull yourself along the intact wires that make up the sign, and avoid the sparks showering down from the "G" from which the suspect's body is hanging. I suggest saving the game every four moves or so. You will need to backtrack quite a bit to reach the body, but I will describe the general path you need to take. Climb to the top of the "I" and down the other side to the base of the "H." Return to the bottom of the sign, and move to the left edge of the Transamerica Pyramid. Climb to the base of the "G," above the pyramid, and cross back over it. Move down, back to the right slightly, up, and right again to underneath the "H." Jog up, and back to the left, then climb up between the "G" and "H" to reach the figure hanging from the sign.
The game will present a closer view of the body, sparks flying from the lighting. Hm. The body has a ring hanging around its neck; it might come in handy. Why not save the game, and pick up the ring? Ow! I had no idea a body could conduct so much electricity! Restore the game, and retrieve the ring with something non-conductive; use the walking stick, and you will be able to get the ring without getting toasted for someone else's breakfast. You can be conscientious, and retrace your steps to get off the sign, or just move yourself to a broken section of wire and drop to the roof. The game will walk you back to the other rooftop. Just for curiosity's sake, save the game, and enter the doorway at the rear of the roof. As you stumble down the stairs, you drop your flask, and it shatters. The game warns you "You'll be dead if you go ahead." You must make use of your flask before proceeding (or at least, you must if you wish to successfully complete the game). Restore your game.
Let's conclude some more unfinished business; Travel to the Shop (two travel screens below the one you are on). You now have something the owner will be interested in: the rat's paw. Hand the paw to the owner (inadvertently giving him an obscene gesture, or are you making a commentary on his hobbies?), and play the three-of-aces game. Watch the cards as they are shuffled, and save the game before picking the ace. If you pick the wrong card, the correct position will be revealed, and you can restore the game and choose the correct card. After making three correct guesses, you will have the opportunity to choose one of two prizes, or continue playing. The two prizes presented are a flashlight and a lantern. Skip these and continue playing. After another three correct guesses, you may again choose a prize or continue playing. The available prizes are two types of rat masks. If you are curious as to future prizes, save the game here, and continue playing (save to a separate file if you need to save while playing). The last set of prizes are a key and an anti-Orb medallion. Neither are of any use to you. Restore the game to the previous set of prizes, and choose the rat mask on your left.
We now have the means to gain admittance to an exclusive site. Travel to the Club (two travel screens above the Shop). Move toward the door and use the rat mask. Your view changes as you look through the eye holes in the mask (the other rat mask would have been useless: It had no eye holes). Knock on the door. The eyes appear, and their owner (a rat-man) admits you to the club. The view changes to third-person perspective as the rat-men begin a game of craps. The first player brandishes a severed arm as his ante. This arm looks like it might belong to the murdered patient at the Doctor's House; it is blue, and has an "S" carved in the upper arm. Some Orb letters are tattooed on the palm: "UNNC."
The rat rolls the dice and comes up a winner. The second rats rolls, and loses. He pays up by chopping off one of his fingers with a hatchet and tossing it to the first rat. The rats point to you and you foolishly agree to play. The dice rolls...you're a loser! When you hesitate to mutilate yourself, the rats corner you and remove your mask. Save the game now, and watch. Not a very hospitable group, are they?
Restore the game, and before you are killed, present the group with a diversion; hand them the flask. Apparently rats like the contents (yuck!); they fight over the flask, giving you an opportunity to escape. Before you dash out the door, take the hatchet the rats left on the floor.
Open MAD and review the tracking record. As the first target was chased (and killed on) the sign, two new targets appeared from within the building, engaged in a scuffle with the first target's companion, and one of the new targets traveled with the companion to the Wax Museum. The new targets left the companion in the pile of wax bodies, and climbed into the chimney. Travel to the Wax Museum, and enter as you did before. Go to the second exhibit. Sure enough, there is an extra body on the pile. Move closer to examine it, and you will discover all that remains of Noah Goring, disheveled glasses and all. His tie has flipped over, revealing stitching on the back. Hm. If we only had a needle, we could pull that stitching out, but the needle in the scientist's apartment could not be picked up. Is there anything in our inventory remotely like a needle?
Aha! Use the fang, and watch as it pulls out the stitching. The scientist hid something inside his tie; move the marker to it, and take it (an Orb access card, which was mentioned in Goring's note to the doctor). To satisfy your curiosity, move to the last exhibit, and put the marker on the fireplace. Save your game, and climb up the chimney. A ferocious rat-man awaits, dining on a human leg. He makes short work of you -- after all, it's rude to interrupt someone while they're eating. Restore the game and leave the museum.
Having used the flask, we should be able to safely traverse the stairwell on top of the building in the Square. Travel to the Square, and climb the rope to the roof. Move the marker to the column at the rear of the roof, and climb down the stairway. Well, stumble is more like it, but at least there is no dire warning not to continue. The bottom of the stairway reveals a locked gate leading to the sewers. Move toward the gate; the lock resembles the ring found on the body hanging from the sign. Use the ring to unlock the gate, and begin crawling through the sewer pipes. As you crawl, another clairvoyant vision reveals Phil Cook using the Orb viewer. It reveals what appears to be subterranean drilling toward lava packs in the Earth's crust.
Your crawl is interrupted by a trap door, which dumps you right onto Phil's lap! The two of you are momentarily stunned, and Phil drops the viewer. As it falls, it knocks an Orb ornament off the throne he was sitting on. Pick up the Orb-on-a-stick. As Phil picks himself up from the ground, you discover to your horror that his arm is missing, and sparks are flying from the wires protruding from the stump! Phil must be a cyborg! And he's none too happy to have you visit. He picks you up, and in fine World Wrestling Federation style, tosses you to the pack of rat-men in the lair below. You've encountered rat-men enough to know they aren't very friendly, so you need to escape, and quickly! As the rats have been underground for some time, you can stun them by using the flash on your camera (which is why it was so important for you to save that last flash!).
As the rats stumble about blindly, you dash for the exit and encounter the rat-man that had you for lunch on Day 1. Since he is guarding the entrance to the sewer pipe, he doesn't see you coming; you knock him down, and make your escape. Your figure climbs to the top of the pier, and awaits your direction. Climb back down onto the beach, and move under the pier. Climb up the pillar, use your hatchet to break into the crate above the hole in the pier, and climb up. Before you have a chance to break out of the crate to investigate further, a robot from the ship docked next to the pier loads all the crates (including yours) on board. The ship then travels to lovely Alcatraz Island, where the robot unloads your crate, and delivers it to a building on the far end of the island.
In the last installment, you had just been delivered in your crate to a building on Alcatraz Island.
After your crate is deposited, use the hatchet again to break out. As you dash for the door, you stumble and grind your face on the floor. The hatchet flies into the air and embeds itself in the wall, far above your reach. You continue into the next room and find a set of cells, filled with rejected mutated humans. These must be the creatures that the Orbs did not release after the failed underground experiment; they were not loyal to the Orbs. Search through the faces, and you will find one you have seen before in the vision you saw in the smoke house. If you have trouble recalling the face, look in the second cell in the second row. This creature is the transformed Ming, and it is to your advantage to befriend her. Give her the statue you got from her father, and she will smilingly accept it. Now to get those cells open!
Move your marker to the stand to the left of the cells, and move closer for a look. There is a Cell Door Access Machine here, and a camera mounted on the wall, pointing at you. Slide the access card into the slot, and hold the Orb-on-a-Stick in front of the camera before you are scanned. The "Orb" will be recognized, and the cell doors will open. Chaos reigns, as the released creatures make a break for it. Your new friend Ming obligingly picks you up and carries you out of the fray (if you had not befriended her, you would have been trampled by the escaping creatures). As the creatures stream from the prison, and leap into the bay, Ming deposits you in a hot air balloon and waves goodbye before disappearing.
Move your marker to the bottom of the balloon's bag, and take a look at the controls. Move the marker to the valve on the right, turn it on, then to the gas flowing into the bag, and use the matchbook to light the flame. The balloon fills rapidly, and rises above the island, leading to your next arcade sequence: piloting the balloon over San Francisco and selecting a landing site. Press the enter key as needed to keep the balloon aloft until you reach your destination. Landing among the buildings will place you at a location y have already visited, and essentially at a dead end. At the right end of the screen, you will recognize Coit Tower, belching noxious gases, and Julius Castle, the one location not yet visited. Make your way over to the Castle and land on top of it.
When you land, you will be pitched out of the balloon and through a skylight. Your fall will take you deep into the castle, to an Orb control center labeled "Hell" ("The Castle is the Gateway to Hell," remember?). Your fall will be broken by the Orb running the control panel! Messy, but better than a broken neck by far. As you shake off the Orb remains, the escaped creatures wreak their vengeance against the Orbs, smashing them like eggs at several locations in the city. The Ferry Building is even bombed by a resourceful mutant (I told you we'd see that doorway again, didn't I?).
Take a look at the control panel on the wall in front of you. There are a set of passageways, gates (which can be opened or closed), and three sensor buttons. The buttons select which items will be highlighted on the control panel. Lava is shown in yellow, slaves in blue, and robots in red. With the proper planning, we can turn the Orbs' machinery against them!
Save the game periodically as you make adjustments to the settings. Move the robots to the chamber on the lowest level, next to the lava filled chamber. You do this by selecting the Robot sensor, moving the marker to a red highlighted chamber, pressing ENTER to select the robots in that chamber, moving the marker to the destination chamber, and pressing ENTER again. Next, gather the slaves together in chambers which will be safe once you release the lava. Proceed carefully; if you move too many slaves into any one chamber, or move them to the chambers labeled "Hell" or "Freedom," robots will drop down tunnels from the surface, and permanently interrupt your adjustments. There are three chambers which you can use: "Slavery," the chamber to the right of "Hell," and the chamber to the left of and below "Hell" with gates immediately above and below it.
Now, close _all_ the gates; there are only three that need to be opened to destroy the Orb operation. Opening any additional gate will result in flooding "Hell" and bringing your good works to a premature end. Then, open the gate above the chamber to which you relegated the robots, and the only gate on the level above "Slavery." Save your game so that you can recover if my instructions on where to make adjustments have not been clear. Now, open the gate to the right of the robots, and watch the lava flow!
The Orb installations are smothered in lava, and an interesting side effect of their destruction is the reversion of every mutated human into normal (albeit naked) form! You are even witness to the reunion of Ming and her father, and strangely enough, when she reverts, she is dressed (I guess I'll never understand modern science). You also witness the welcome sight of Orb robots roasting in the lava. The view of the control panel returns, to allow you to finish your work. Move all the slaves from their chambers to "Hell." They give you a hero's greeting and carry you to "Freedom" where an earth-drilling machine awaits to carry you to the surface.
Four labeled buttons appear in a row on the control panel before you. A red button is centered above them. Press the buttons in turn to enter the password for this machine, and press the red button to activate. An incorrect password will result in a flashing message in Orb language, and no reaction from the earth drill. The only Orb word we've noticed was the one tattooed on the palm of the severed arm in the club: "UNNC." Enter the letters and press the red button. Bingo! Move the marker to the now lit view screen, and press ENTER to navigate the machine.
You will work your way through the maze of lava packs to the surface. Needless to say, making contact with the lava will end your trip. Save your game often as you make progress. Move up the left of the first screen, and exit the screen from the top. On the second screen, move up slightly, over to the right, and go down to exit the screen from the bottom, at mid-screen. This returns you to the original lava screen. Follow the open path down and to the right, and exit the screen from the right, near the bottom. The next screen should be exited from the top, near the right corner. There are two tight spots in the path, near the middle of the screen, and around a triangle of lava at the bend in the path. Maneuver over the mid-screen obstacle, and unde the triangle.
The next screen you encounter will contain the San Francisco skyline; you will exit from this screen, but first you must curl to the left and down to return to the screen you just left. Once there, follow the path to the left, and exit the screen from the top, to the left of the center of the screen. Now, follow the path on the skyline screen diagonally to the upper right corner, and break through the surface near the Ferry Building.
As you break through the surface, a scowling Phil Cook makes a run for it. He reaches his spacecraft (parked behind the Ferry Building) as you crawl from the cockpit of the drill. He takes off just as you reach the craft, leaving you no alternative but to grab on to the landing gear! As you hold on for dear life, the gear retracts, pinning your fingers. You're in for the ride, so get "comfortable" and hold your breath as Phil pilots the craft to your next destination: London. The game closes with a message in the distance, which is revealed when you examine it: "To be continued...."
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