7-4: ...Like Antennas to Heaven
...LIKE ANTENNAS TO HEAVEN
7-4: ...LIKE ANTENNAS TO HEAVEN | |||
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General | |||
Layer & Part | VIOLENCE /// CLIMAX | ||
Challenge | Don't fight the security system. | ||
Music | War Without Reason | ||
Tip of the Day | |||
A direct hit from the Knuckleblaster has extremely powerful knockback, making it extremely powerful for launching enemies into pits and other environmental hazards.
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Enemies | |||
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Rank Requirements | |||
Rank | Time | Kills | Style |
S | 05:30 | 32 | 16,500 |
A | 06:00 | 28 | 15,000 |
B | 08:00 | 18 | 9,000 |
C | 12:40 | 6 | 3,500 |
Levels | |||
Previous | Next | ||
7-3 | 8-1 | ||
7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4![]() |
This article covers a simplified account of the boss fight for the 1000-THR "Earthmover". For more detail on the boss, see 1000-THR "Earthmover".
7-4: ...LIKE ANTENNAS TO HEAVEN is the fourth and final level of Violence, featuring the boss fight against the 1000-THR "Earthmover" within the scorching third circle. The player emerges from an underground bunker, faced with the towering machine that must be scaled and killed from the inside, acting as the level itself.
The music used in this level is War Without Reason.
Level
Start
The player starts off in what appears to be an underground bunker, which they must slide underneath a gap and scale a small flight of stairs to exit. Upon exiting they will be greeted by a looming Earthmover, who prepares to fire upon them before being struck by another of its kind that it was battling across the pale sands and raining fire of the third ring of Violence. The Earthmover remains pinned to the ground by massive red tree roots, likely those from 7-3: NO SOUND, NO MEMORY.
Earthmover's Leg
Hookpoints are generated throughout to aid the player in navigating the level. A
Blue Hookpoint allows the player to cross the gap between the bunker and the
Earthmover's leg, and two
Green Hookpoints and another
Blue Hookpoint allow the player to ascend it. On a thin walkway, two
Streetcleaners will spawn. Past them, two vents act as jump pads that take the player to the base of the torso, inside one of the legs, containing a checkpoint. Once the player has climbed onto the Earthmover, if they fall off it at any point, they will take 50 damage (until health is reduced to 1) and be teleported back to the nearest location where they fell. Enemies that are knocked off the Earthmover will be killed instantly and awards the + Long Way Down style bonus.
The first phase of War Without Reason plays during this section.
Earthmover's Torso
Grappling the Yellow Hookpoint will temporarily activate a set of three platforms for the player to jump across, and at the end of them, lies a narrow catwalk where a
Sentry will spawn, followed by a
Guttertank. Beyond them and ascending a small platform to the back of the Earthmover are two red-hot pipes that deal 10 damage to the player upon contact, and a gap with another vent jump pad.
The second phase of War Without Reason plays during this section.
Across the gap is a balcony where two Soldiers spawn, followed by a checkpoint and another
Sentry once the player steps onto the balcony. Once the player crosses the far edge of the balcony where the Sentry spawned, a
Gutterman will spawn at the other end behind them. Jumping onto the circular platform on the Earthmover's right hind leg afterwards causes two
Guttertanks to spawn onto the arena from falling drop pods.
The third phase of War Without Reason plays during this section.
On the next ledge, there is a window displaying the fleshy interior of the Earthmover, and next to it is a small illuminated two-story building with a staircase leading up to an open window on the second floor, where a
Malicious Face and two
Mannequins spawn.
The fourth phase of War Without Reason plays during this section.
Defence System
Passing the following checkpoint will activate a miniboss encounter with the 1000-THR Defence System. Once activated, the player is locked into the arena by a cyan barrier, and is first faced with two wall-mounted rocket launchers and an invulnerable laser tower that fires a large tracking beam similar to that of a Mindflayer. As the player destroys the rocket launchers, two mortar launchers that rise from the floor take their place, which will be joined by two rods that fire
Hell Seekers. The weapons can damage each other.
Once all other weapons have been destroyed, the laser tower will become vulnerable and speed up substantially. When defeated, the laser tower explodes as the barrier shuts down, unlocking an elevator that will be available to ride upwards and unlock the door leading to the Earthmover's interior.
The fifth phase of War Without Reason plays during the fight against the 1000-THR Defence System.
In an alley blocked off and beside the arena, there is a book.
WAR NO LONGER NEEDED ITS ULTIMATE PRACTICIONER. IT HAD BECOME A SELF-SUSTAINING SYSTEM. MAN WAS CRUSHED UNDER THE WHEELS OF A MACHINE CREATED TO CREATE THE MACHINE CREATED TO CRUSH THE MACHINE. SAMSARA OF CUT SINEW AND CRUSHED BONE. DEATH WITHOUT LIFE. NULL OUROBOROS. ALL THAT REMAINED IS WAR WITHOUT REASON.
A MAGNUM OPUS. A COLD TOWER OF STEEL. A MACHINE BUILT TO END WAR IS ALWAYS A MACHINE BUILT TO CONTINUE WAR. YOU WERE BEAUTIFUL, OUTSTRETCHED LIKE ANTENNAS TO HEAVEN. YOU WERE BEYOND YOUR CREATORS. YOU REACHED FOR GOD, AND YOU FELL. NONE WERE LEFT TO SPEAK YOUR EULOGY. NO FINAL WORDS, NO CONCLUDING STATEMENT. NO POINT. PERFECT CLOSURE.
T H I S I S T H E O N L Y W A Y I T S H O U L D H A V E E N D E D .
Earthmover's Interior
Once the player enters the Earthmover, inside a large blood chamber lined with pulsating, bio-mechanical flesh, the player will be greeted with a message from its security system:
Inside the large blood chamber, six Idols are placed on a set of platforms that are powering a barrier in the ceiling, and must be destroyed as boiling blood rises from the floor. If the player falls into the blood, they will take 25 damage and be knocked back upwards. Once all of the Idols are destroyed, a vent jump pad close to the location of the former topmost Idol activates, giving the player a boost to the top of the Earthmover's neck. An additional
Green Hookpoint allows them to alternatively grapple upwards, followed by a jump pad to the entrance of the
Earthmover's head.
The sixth phase of War Without Reason plays during this section.
Earthmover's Head
From within the base of the head, the player receives the following message:
The player must then complete a brief platforming section, consisting of three hallways containing magenta lasers that deal damage even when dashed through, and glowing, red-hot floors on the upper two platforms that deal 10 damage and bounce the player upward, the first one of which contains another jump pad.
Three Blue Hookpoints are placed throughout the hallways leading up to a small room with a checkpoint, a Terminal, and another jump pad up to the
Earthmover's control room, where its actual boss fight takes place.
The seventh phase of War Without Reason plays during this section.
Boss Encounter
Once the player enters the center of the head, the entrance from where they arrived seals itself off, as a steel barricade surrounding the pillar in the center of the room reveals the Earthmover's brain, in a cylindrical chamber surrounded by a raised platform along the walls. It defends itself against the player with a series of four horizontal, rotating magenta laser walls, which deal 20 damage to the player upon contact, while it intermittently emits a cyan flash before firing a large
Hell Seeker that can be parried back at it. The brain is contained within an electrified barrier that is not bulletproof but will damage and knock the player back if they touch it, dealing 10 damage.
After enough time passes, indicated by a blue bar below its health bar, it will spawn two Idols in cases that are open from the back, while the lasers start spinning faster. It can spawn these indefinitely, and it can also be killed before it spawns any.
The eighth phase of War Without Reason plays during the fight against the Earthmover's brain.
Escape Sequence
Once defeated, the brain will start exploding, and the player will be warned with a countdown signifying the Earthmover's self-destruct sequence:
The timer length depends on the difficulty:
Harmless - 100 seconds
Lenient - 80 seconds
Standard - 70 seconds
Violent - 60 seconds
Brutal - 50 seconds
If the timer reaches 0, the Earthmover will explode and the player will instantly die. They must go back down the neck the same way they came in.
The ninth phase of War Without Reason plays during the descent from the Earthmover's head, followed by the tenth and last phase during the last combat arena.
Once the player enters the large blood chamber again, they are faced with a final wave of enemies, including a Sentry, six
Filth, four
Strays, two
Schisms, and two
Soldiers. Once six of these enemies are killed, two
Guttertanks will spawn as well.
After all the enemies are killed, the door leading out of the blood chamber will open, revealing a jump pad that launches the player away from the Earthmover as it explodes into countless pieces. Its hot, glowing debris is left scattered across the ashen wastes, and its unfathomable volumes of blood rain from the sky. The player automatically lands on an island containing the exit gate to finish the level.
Challenge
In order to complete the level's challenge, the player must find a way to avoid the battle with the Earthmover's Defense System and enter the interior using a hidden path. Near the entrance to the Defense System's arena stands a tall crane carrying a bomb, indicated by a yellow glow from an above platform.
At the top of the crane, the player can find a pair of electrical coils powering it, and using the Electric Railcannon or the
cable produced by the
Jumpstart Nailgun or
Jumpstart Sawblade Launcher's alternate fire on the coils causes the crane to move and blow a hole inside the Earthmover's left hind leg, revealing a new entrance into the blood chamber indicated by orange flames left in the aftermath of the blast.
Easter Eggs
- A plush of lead 3D artist Victoria Holland can be found at a control panel when no-clipping inside the Earthmover's brain.
- The control panel reads "GORP LIGHT: ON", switching to "GORP LIGHT: OFF" once the Earthmover starts dying.
- A large plush of concept artist BigRockBMP can be found seated on the second Earthmover, which uses its old model.
- A few buildings on the Earthmover's side make up the "loss" meme.
- A tiny top hat can be found on both of the Earthmovers' heads.
- A potted sunflower can be found when no-clipping through a door located within a building near the Security System boss fight, alongside a warning sign written in Japanese, the text translates to "Generator Siphon Plant Plant", being a play on words.
- The final door the player exits from is labeled "Quake door", as the design is nearly identical to one of the idBase door textures from Quake.
- "Loss" made up of buildings on the Earthmover's side.
Trivia
- The level title is named after the album Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven and its last track, Like Antennas To Heaven..., by Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
- As the Earthmover itself is counted as an enemy, disabling enemies using cheats will spawn in a jump pad to ensure the exit door is reachable, currently making 7-4 the only level where additional objects appear when enemies are disabled.
- It is possible to unload a part of the level by hitting the checkpoint while in the flooding room with the six
Idols, then proceeding to fall off the map. Doing so will cause V1 to spawn in the flushing room without starting the flushing sequence and will also prevent the interior of the Earthmover's neck from loading in.
- The roots keeping the Earthmover down are from the trees in the prior level.