Millhaven is a mandatory story mission in Episode 1.
Mission Summary[]
After the events of Ganymede, Rusty must explore the remote Texas town of Millhaven and discover why it has gone silent.
Plot[]
|
“Looks like it's predicting something on...” — Spoilers for Episode 1 follow. |
|
After the Ganymede incident, Rusty is sent to investigate the town of Millhaven, Texas, which has suddenly gone silent among increased reports of global occult activity. He soon discovers that cultists have attacked the town, killing the locals and using their corpses to summon abyssal demons as well as dimensional rifts throughout the area. Their leader took residence inside the local library, masquerading as a doctor, with the goal of excavating a rare and toxic subterranean red plant. Large boxes of these plants were stacked up for shipping to parts unknown. After consulting with various spirits and making his way through the area, Rusty discovers that the leader of the cultists is none other than his old nemesis, Dr. Jekyll.
After confronting the crazed madman in the library, Rusty must travel through a strange pocket-dimension to access Jekyll's laboratory, where he learns that the plants have the power to reanimate dead matter, and that Jekyll planned to use them to undergo some kind of transformation. Intent on stopping his sinister plans, Rusty tracks him into the town's local church where Jekyll takes his last stand. The two did battle, but as Jekyll fell it became clear that the doctor already managed to complete his plans, transforming into a large demonic skeleton.
After a lengthy fight, Rusty once again emerges victorious. As he escapes the burning church and returns to base, the spirits of the local townspeople could finally ascend, having been liberated from whatever curse had tied them down. Things were not all well however, as out of the ruins of the church, Hyde once again rises, apparently alive once more.
Gameplay[]
The majority of enemies you'll be fighting in this map are cultists and demons, so it would be a good idea to bring a long-distance weapon as well as perhaps body armour. This is also the first map where you will encounter enemies with supernatural shields, which can only be fought using silver or energy weapons on higher difficulties. The Riotgun found on this map comes with Tesla ammo, which can be used to take care of these, enemy types. Otherwise, there are also silver bullets for the Tommy Gun, as well as a Crossbow with silver bolts available. Equipping the silver bayonet for Rusty's FG-42 is also recommended.
When you finally face Jekyll, he'll fight you in his human form first. This form is rather easy to dispatch, so if you want to be a honorable duelist, you can face him with your revolvers (a few rockets to the face will work too however).
The second stage of the fight is a bit more difficult. Hyde moves quickly to dodge attacks and will fire armour-piercing projectiles. If you have an explosive or a large radius weapon, shoot around him rather than at him, as he will dodge your projectiles with ease. Lay down a curtain of fire, or use hitscan weapons to ensure that you'll hit him.
Secrets[]
There are 3 secrets in Millhaven, as well as 2 unmarked hidden areas.
- After the starting area, if you head down the left path you'll come to a statue with a plaque in memory of little Billy Cyrus. By jumping up the ledge here, you will be able to reach a platform leading to a cave entrance below. Inside this cave is a spirit you can talk to, a Megasphere, and the Boots of Lightstep. (This secret can also be reached from the library towards the end of the map. Jump up the green crates and walk over the hills in order to be able to reach the same platform.)
- Just before the entrance to the town (near the knocked down sign that says "Welcome to Millhaven") is a crack on the small ledge to it's left. You can blow this up to create a platform you can jump on. Do so, and you will reach a red ladder that leads to a Sawn-off Shotgun and some explosive shells. Alternatively, you can also wall kick to reach this area more quickly.
- Before you go into the Library, use the banister to jump up onto the balcony and then again onto the roof. You'll see a copse of trees along the top of the cliff edge - follow them around until you reach a cultist's corpse. There is some rocket launcher ammo here as well as the Book of Nails.
Unmarked Secrets[]
- After entering the corridors beneath the library, you'll find a number of bookcases. The bookcase to the far left, just in front of Jekyll's laboratory is a storage closet containing a portable medkit and some Tesla ammo for the Riot Gun.
- After gaining access to the gun store towards the end of the mission, there is a cash register you can use to find a hidden throwing-star belt, as well as some armour.
Weapons & Artifacts[]
- Artifact: Boots of Lightstep — Found in secret #1 described above.
- Artifact: Book of Nails — Found in secret #3 described above.
- Weapon (Rusty): Micro-Uzi — Behind secret #2 described above, you will find a dead triad member surrounded by cash with the weapon in question.
- Weapon (James): Browning Auto-5 Shotgun — Located in a building near the lake in the upper half of Millhaven.
- Weapon (Merlijn): Long Axe — Found in a small shack at the cemetery, next to the church.
- Weapon (Rusty): Jekyll's Revolver (R1858) — Found in the battle arena after Jekyll's transformation, on the pedestal where Jekyll originally stood.
Evidence/Lore[]
- Millhaven, Jekyll's Diary Page 1 & 2: Found in Jekyll's laboratory, which details his experiments using the red plants, as well as his relation to Rusty.
- Note: There's a third page that will not appear in the evidence computer, for a very specific reason in fact.
- Audio message to Jekyll: Found in the same place. A voice message to Dr. Jekyll from yet unknown person regarding the red plants and the cultists.
Other Items of interest[]
There is a significant amount of additional items and equipment to find throughout Millhaven - most caravans and buildings can be entered.
Jodie's bar can be entered via a small trap door behind the building's main sign. Inside is a couple of spirits and a Nail-Rifle - outside behind the building, some more ammo can be found. Inside the nursery, there's a little step you can use to climb up into it's attic where you'll find a key. This key unlocks the basement door in the grocery store, where inside the freezer you'll find a Rocket Launcher as well as some... unpleasant things.
Inside the nursery staff house is 4 locked doors. You can only unlock 2 of them (3 if you brought the shovel), using keys found in small dimensional pockets. The first is just inside the bathroom of the same building; the second can be found when you drop down into the chute near the Church. Both will require you to fight sorcerers, so ensure you've got a good weapon to use against supernatural enemies. The third key can be found by digging up one specific grave in the Church's graveyard using the shovel. Each room contains a varied selection of items, such as a Crossbow with silver bolts and silver bullets for the Tommygun. On the way to the library, you can drop down into the water underneath the rope bridge - there is a fire shield and some Nail-Rifle ammunition.
Inside the library's tunnels, you can use the bookshelf lit by the green light to reveal a first-aid item and some Tesla ammo for the Riotgun. Inside Jekyll's study room is a key just in front of the entrance, make sure to grab this. When you re-appear under the church, unlock the padlock and head back to the gunstore which is just next to Jodie's bar. The key found in the Library unlocks the front door; inside is a bunch of ammo for the Revolvers, Shotgun, and Machinegun. Inside the basement is a bunch of cultists and a sorcerer, and a super armour for your troubles.
After meeting Dr. Jekyll in the library, go into the basement, and you'll find a octagonal grate. Continue on until you enter the hallways with the filing cabinets. Find an orange filing cabinet, and interact with it. This will open the octagonal grate from earlier. From here, you can either backtrack or continue on with the level (It will teleport you back near there). Once you make it back, enter the vent to find a Rusty Chibi.
Trivia[]
- Millhaven originally was supposed to be one giant map, however Rusty quickly hit the wall limit - the map was then split up into two with James doing the technical work to make it happen. As time went on, Rusty's job left him with little time, so James finished the map up with the Jekyll cutscenes and some minor additional areas (But the brunt of it was Rusty's work).
- When the church blows up, the cross falls down into the shape of an inverted cross - this wasn't intentional at all and is a side effect of the way Duke's Build Engine handles wall-aligned sprites with moving sectors.
- The car just outside the Nursery is modeled after the car from Death Proof.
- If you use Rusty's shades and look at the signs throughout Millhaven, there is text super-imposed over them (a reference to They Live).
- The devices that drill your head open in Jekyll's pocket dimension are a direct homage to similar devices seen in the Phantasm series of movies.
- Originally at the start Rusty confronted a sorcerer and had a brief conversation with it, but this was cut.
- There was also a codec conversation with James on top of the first cliff overlooking the town - there was to be a matching codec in For Providence showing James' side of the conversation as well but eventually both were cut as the briefing level made them redundant.
- Prior to version 3.0, if you dueled Jekyll with your single unupgraded Revolver only, and refrained from shooting at him while he reloads, then when defeated he would drop his unique revolvers for Rusty to use as well as giving you the "Honorable Duelist" achievement. This feature, as well as the achievements altogether, were later cut due to buggy behavior, and the weapon is now found during the second phase of the fight.