Space Station: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:32, 23 December 2025

Space Station is the 16th level/chapter in the Red Faction single player campaign despite being labeled L17 (there is no L16). It consists of four individual sections (3 maps and a cutscene) and begins with Parker stowed away in the small cargo hold of the Space Shuttle. Space Station is followed by L18: Crash Site.

L17S1: Space Station Hub

Beginning of the Level

L17S1 starts out with Parker stowed away in the small cargo area of the Space Shuttle. Exit this cargo hold by climbing the ladder up to the door in its ceiling. You'll find one Ultor tech down on the bottom platform of the shuttle. As soon as you try to jump down to the bottom platform, you'll notice this level of the game features low gravity physics. These physics affect movement by increasing jump travel and decreasing fall damage. The shuttle is now docked to the Space Station so exit the same way you came in and the doors will open up to reveal a tall entry way with a glass bridge on one end that spans the width of the room. On the left you'll see some windows from a guard station where a Merc stands ready to shoot at you. On the right end of the glass bridge you'll find a room with health, armor, and ammunition hidden in some yellow boxes guarded by a mercenary. The other end of the glass bridge curves left after another Merc to a ladder where you'll find the merc standing behind the windows you saw on the left of the entryway. Visiting these rooms is optional as the door you need to reach is at the opposite end of the entryway from the shuttle and it's unlocked. There's a small cylindrical room behind this circular door which is guarded by two Meca Turrets. The exit door from this cylinder is on the right and labeled "REACTOR". The hallway behind the REACTOR labeled door is guarded by another Merc. On the left of this hallway you'll find another door marked "REACTOR" which leads to the actual Nuclear Reactor powering the Space Station. There's a room with computer equipment guarded by a Merc before you reach the tall section of the station housing the nuclear reactor. At this point you can look/explore but it's best not to touch! You will need to return to the reactor later in this level but you should unlock the section of the Station that has the Escape Pods first so Parker can escape to continue the fight. Returning back to the hallway that connects to the reactor, the end opposite the entrance features another large cylindrical section with orange lights. The ladder in this cylinder goes down to the bottom of the Space Station and up to the top of the Space Station. The bottom of the Space Station is locked for now so you'll want to ascend to the top of the ladder. There's a platform at the top of the ladder with an unlabeled door which opens into an unguarded hallway. Halfway down this hallway you'll load into L17S2.

After visiting the top section of the Space Station

As you descend the Space Station after unlocking the bottom section via a console in the top section, you'll briefly revisit the L17S1 map on your way to the bottom section of the Space Station. The way to the Escape Pods in the bottom section of the Space Station is heavily guarded so it's a good practice to clear the way before initiating the core meltdown in the Reactor room. Descend the same ladder you used to reach the top section to reach the bottom section. There's another door at the bottom of the ladder which opens to an unguarded hallway. While traveling through this hallway, you'll load into L17S3.

After clearing out the bottom section/overloading the reactor

After clearing out the way to the escape pods, you'll visit L17S1 one final time to enter the large reactor room. Enter that room and on the opposite side from the door you'll find a ladder which goes up and down the reactor section. Best practice is to go to the bottom first and press the button on a diagonal wall on the opposite side of the room than the ladder. Be careful to avoid the liquid at the bottom of the reactor as Parker will take damage in it. After pressing this button, return to the ladder and ascend to the top platform where there will be another button on the wall near the ladder. Mentally prepare yourself before hitting this button because once you do a countdown will start. You'll need to reach the escape pod before the countdown gets to 0. The amount of time you have to reach the escape pod decreases on harder difficulties:

Difficulty	Time limit
Easy	90 seconds
Medium	55 seconds
Hard	45 seconds
Impossible	35 seconds

After pressing the button, descend the ladder and head toward the bottom section of the station as fast as you can.

L17S2: Satellite Control

You'll load into L17S2 while traversing the hallway at the top of a ladder at the end of L17S1. Continue through the hallway into a cylindrical section with another ladder which will be guarded by a Meca Turret. Ascend the ladder and you'll find two platforms at the top with multiple doors accessible from each platform. The only door required for progress is the door labeled "Security" on the the top platform (there is another door labeled security on the lower platform but that is not necessary to visit). Going through that door will lead you to a hallway with a door on the left. Go through this door and there will be a console in the second room on the left (second openable door, but third metal panel). There will be a large button behind the console you need to press to unlock the bottom section of the Space Station. Hendrix will message you to confirm you unlocked the bottom section after you press "Use" on the button. At this point you could head back down toward the bottom section of the ship. But there's a lot of rooms at the top of the section you can explore for the sake of exploring or for ammo/health/armor pickups. The door labeled "Security" on the lower platform leads to a small side mission where you can destroy four computers that control the laser satellites. This side quest is not necessary for progression (you're destroying the entire station anyway) but if you're one who enjoys exploration the Space Station has a lot to offer.

After exploring (or not), head back down the way you came toward the bottom section of the station and you'll load back into L17S1.

L17S3: Living Quarters

Before Overloading the Reactor

You'll load into L17S3 in a hallway which leads to another cylindrical section with a ladder that goes down to the bottom section of the Space Station. This cylindrical section is guarded by a Meca Turret. The only door you need to go through is at the bottom of the ladder and is labeled "ESCAPE POD". Behind this door will be a hallway leading to the Escape Pod room. It's guarded by three well armed Mercs (one of them has a Rail Driver). You can't use the escape pod yet (you'll get a message that the escape pods can only be used if the nuclear core is overloading) but clearing it out like this makes escaping much easier.

Just like the top section of Space Station, there's only one room you need to visit but I'd encourage you to explore the rest of the rooms for fun and for health, armor, and ammo pickups.

After exploring the bottom section, head back up the ladder and load into L17S1 to get to the reactor and initiate the meltdown.

After Initiating the Overload of the Reactor

You'll load back into L17S3 with the timer counting down. Get back to the escape pod room as fast as you can and press the button on the left to load into L17S4, a cutscene showing the destruction of the Space Station.

L17S4: No Level Name

Level L17S4 is unnamed and unattributed in the game files and does not feature any gameplay. Loading up L17S4 from the console only plays the cutscene that closes out the Space Station part of the game. This cutscene shows Parker escaping from the Space Station before the nuclear reactor destroys it.

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 ===Beginning of the Level===
-L17S1 starts out with Parker stowed away in the small cargo area of the Space Shuttle. Exit this cargo hold by climbing the ladder up to the door in its ceiling. You'll find one Ultor tech down on the bottom platform of the shuttle. As soon as you try to jump down to the bottom platform, you'll notice this level of the game features low gravity physics. These physics affect movement by increasing jump travel and decreasing fall damage. The shuttle is now docked to the Space Station so exit the same way you came in and the doors will open up to reveal a tall entry way with a glass bridge on one end that spans the width of the room. On the left you'll see some windows from a guard station where a Merc stands ready to shoot at you. On the right end of the glass bridge you'll find a room with health, armor, and ammunition hidden in some yellow boxes guarded by a mercenary. The other end of the glass bridge curves left after another Merc to a ladder where you'll find the merc standing behind the windows you saw on the left of the entryway. Visiting these rooms is optional as the door you need to reach is at the opposite end of the entryway from the shuttle and it's unlocked. There's a small cylindrical room behind this circular door which is guarded by two [[Meca_Turrets| Meca Turrets]]. The exit door from this cylinder is on the right and labeled "REACTOR". The hallway behind the REACTOR labeled door is guarded by another Merc. On the left of this hallway you'll find another door marked "REACTOR" which leads to the actual Nuclear Reactor powering the Space Station. There's a room with computer equipment guarded by a Merc before you reach the tall section of the station housing the nuclear reactor. At this point you can look/explore but it's best not to touch! You will need to return to the reactor later in this level but you should unlock the section of the Station that has the Escape Pods first so Parker can escape to continue the fight. Returning back to the hallway that connects to the reactor, the end opposite the entrance features another large cylindrical section with orange lights. The ladder in this cylinder goes down to the bottom of the Space Station and up to the top of the Space Station. The bottom of the Space Station is locked for now so you'll want to ascend to the top of the ladder. There's a platform at the top of the ladder with an unlabeled door which opens into an unguarded hallway. Halfway down this hallway you'll load into L17S2.
+L17S1 starts out with Parker stowed away in the small cargo area of the Space Shuttle. Exit this cargo hold by climbing the ladder up to the door in its ceiling. You'll find one Ultor tech down on the bottom platform of the shuttle. As soon as you try to jump down to the bottom platform, you'll notice this level of the game features low gravity physics. These physics affect movement by increasing jump travel and decreasing fall damage. The shuttle is now docked to the Space Station so exit the same way you came in and the doors will open up to reveal a tall entry way with a glass bridge on one end that spans the width of the room. On the left you'll see some windows from a guard station where a Merc stands ready to shoot at you. On the right end of the glass bridge you'll find a room with health, armor, and ammunition hidden in some yellow boxes guarded by a mercenary. The other end of the glass bridge curves left after another Merc to a ladder where you'll find the merc standing behind the windows you saw on the left of the entryway. Visiting these rooms is optional as the door you need to reach is at the opposite end of the entryway from the shuttle and it's unlocked. There's a small cylindrical room behind this circular door which is guarded by two [[#Meca_Turrets| Meca Turrets]]. The exit door from this cylinder is on the right and labeled "REACTOR". The hallway behind the REACTOR labeled door is guarded by another Merc. On the left of this hallway you'll find another door marked "REACTOR" which leads to the actual Nuclear Reactor powering the Space Station. There's a room with computer equipment guarded by a Merc before you reach the tall section of the station housing the nuclear reactor. At this point you can look/explore but it's best not to touch! You will need to return to the reactor later in this level but you should unlock the section of the Station that has the Escape Pods first so Parker can escape to continue the fight. Returning back to the hallway that connects to the reactor, the end opposite the entrance features another large cylindrical section with orange lights. The ladder in this cylinder goes down to the bottom of the Space Station and up to the top of the Space Station. The bottom of the Space Station is locked for now so you'll want to ascend to the top of the ladder. There's a platform at the top of the ladder with an unlabeled door which opens into an unguarded hallway. Halfway down this hallway you'll load into L17S2.
 ===After visiting the top section of the Space Station===
 As you descend the Space Station after unlocking the bottom section via a console in the top section, you'll briefly revisit the L17S1 map on your way to the bottom section of the Space Station. The way to the Escape Pods in the bottom section of the Space Station is heavily guarded so it's a good practice to clear the way before initiating the core meltdown in the Reactor room. Descend the same ladder you used to reach the top section to reach the bottom section. There's another door at the bottom of the ladder which opens to an unguarded hallway. While traveling through this hallway, you'll load into L17S3.