Just released by Mateusz Skutnik, creator of the excellent Submachine games: the second installment in the spy-themed Covert Front point-and-click series, Covert Front 2: Station on the Horizon. You play the role of Kara, a spy in an alternate reality where World War I begins in 1901 and technology is much more advanced. Physicist Karl von Toten is on the verge of a great discovery and it's your task to uncover his secrets. This is the second of four chapters and begins with Kara inside von Toten's mansion with key intelligence in hand. Now she must escape with her life to inform her superiors of the shocking truth.
Play the entire Covert Front series:
The beauty of the Covert Front series (and the Submachine games) is the art direction and sense of mystery. Mateusz wraps rich environments around intruiging storylines and sprinkles puzzles that are just tough enough to make you want to see them through. Not too difficult, not too easy, but just right.
Play Covert Front 2: Station on the Horizon
Read all our Covert Front series reviews and walkthroughs...
Walkthrough Guide
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Wow...there was a time I was totally stuck, but since I had no walkthrough to rely on, I did manage to stumble my way through!
Walkthrough:
Turn on the light in the tunnel
Click twice to Strike a match to light it and see your surroundings. If your light runs out, strike another match. You have unlimited supply of matches until you find the light.
Go in the forward direction 5 times, until you see a wall with 2 thick green wires going across the bottom of the wall, and 3 thin blue wires near the left bottom of the wall.
Notice particular stones in the wall are sticking out. There are 3 stones in a wall, 1 on the left, 1 nearer to the top and 1 on the right. Press all those stones in.
Go left. Press the button on the fuse box. It will light up the tunnels. No more matches!
Opening the gate near the water tunnels
Pick up the resistor on top of the fuse box you turned on lights with.
Go back twice to your right. There's a corridor on your left.
Enter the corridor, go left, forward, forward. Click the fuse handle.
Go back twice. You will notice a rock lying on the left bottom side. Click on it. It will roll over into a different position.
Go back, right, forward. Click the resistor lying in between the pressured gas holders. You can click them and they will wobble, it doesn't do much.
Go back 5 times. You should be at the bottom of the stairs with the red brick circular entrance. Click the rock on the left and let it roll over.
Go back. There are 2 big stones, one on the left, the other on the right. Click on both of those and let them roll over.
Go back. There is a stone on the left wall, near the bottom. Click and let it roll over.
The gateway near the water is opened.
Going into HeadQuarters and turning on the lights
Go forward twice, back to the red brick circular entrance. Go in, forward, forward.
You see two tunnels near the water - one on the left, one forward. Take the left one, go forward 3 times. Pick up the fuse on the ground.
Go back 3 times, back to where the 2 tunnels entrances are. Enter the tunnel straight ahead. Go forward, pick up the movie reel on the right. Go right, make a mental note of the doors, it's useful for later.
Go back 3 times, back to the 2 tunnel entrances. Go to your right. (optional)Click the paper on the ground on the left for a read. It's about properties of Helium.
Go into the now opened gateway corridor. (optional)Click the note on the ground to read. Go forward, enter the opened steel doors.
You are in their headquarters. Click on the map on the table. Note the layout of the place. Go back.
(optional) Click the paper on the ground. It is of you, the spy. Go back, click the paper pinned on the right column. Have a read of the captive's thoughts. Go back.
Go in the left most door. Click the toolbox on the right. Get the screwdriver. Go back. Click the fuse box above the toolbox. Use the screwdriver to unscrew lid. Put your resistors in the bottom slots. Put your fuse on the left. We cannot light up the fuse box yet, we will need to find the middle resistor or substitute in the HQ.
Go to the further away right hand room. Click on the red wire on the right. This is the substitute for the middle resistor. Go back, in the left most room, place it into the fuse box, and pull the fuse handle. The lights will turn on and the indicator button will turn green.
Getting the code and entering the locked room
Go back to the main room with the map in the middle. Go to the rightmost room. Click on the cables on the right. Click the notebook on the left. Read each of the 3 notes - it will help you understand what's going on. Go back to the main room.
Go to the further away left room. Click on the square panel on the cable unit on the table. Use the screwdriver to unscrew. Click the cable onto the area. Send the message. Once finished, take note of a blinking white button on the left. Click the button next to it and a note will come out. Read it and write down the password, you will need this for the locked room later.
Go back to the main room, go straight ahead. Click the panel on the side of the right hand room. Enter the buttons left to right to figure out what numbers they are, and then click the button on the button to clear. Enter the code you got from the machine. The metal door will open.
Final escape to ending
The metal door will open. Go inside and pick up the 3rd movie reel. Go back, go to the left room. Take the 1st movie reel from the left hand stand. Plug it into the machine on the right and watch the clip. Remove the 1st reel and put the 2nd movie reel in, watch it. Remove the 2nd and put the 3rd in. Note the angles/positions of the wheels for the wall, replay it and write it down if necessary.
Go back. Turn the wheels on the wall to the positions as shown in the movie reel. The lift doors has opened. Go back to the place with the 2 tunnels, enter the tunnel straight ahead, go forward and turn right. Enter the lift and press the button.
Watch the ending, give all the items in your inventory to the person in the car. Get the card the person gives you, read it.
Congratulations, you have finished this part of the game!
Posted by: shobaday | October 20, 2007 7:40 AM
A walkthru.
It's only the neccessary steps, you can read some documents, for example that are nott needed to beat the game but make the storyline more comprehensible. If you meet any such psheets or pictures, just read them :)
Also, you'll find the game with some items in your inventory. You collected them in the first episode.
For the first part you'll often have to strike a match and then do it again for matches are not everlasting, ouch! But, no worries, you'll be able to turn on the lights sooner or later :)
So, let's start. Go ahead twice. You'll find a brick tunnel entrance to the right and a flight of stairs going up to the left. Take the stairs
Once up, go to the corridor on the left than right (just click a bit left of the match). Go until you can. You see four long gray bells. between two of them, on the floor you find resistor #3. Go back three times.
Go where the green cables lead (click on the brick-pattern). This is the trickiest part, at least was for me to discover what to do here... If you look closely, you'll see that some of the bricks are sticking out of the wall. Push them (there are 3 such ricks). You hear that something's happened elswhere. Go right. On that grey boxlike something slide the left button down.
Congratulations: you turned on the lights, which means no more matches and burnt fingertips! Oy veh!
Also, on the top of the box there's resistor #1. Take it
Go back twice and the to the arched corridor on the left.
This time go left. Go until the end of the corridor (you have to turn right twice on your way. Pull the handle down
Go back 4 times. You should be at the red brick-tunnels entrance that looks like a washing machine. Descent the tunnel. Go until the end of the tunnel. Don't be afraid at the end of the tunnel, that grey slime isn't dangerous.
Once in the slime, take the tunnel entrance that's directly on front of you. Go ahead twice. There are some more long grey bells but pay no heed. On the right there's a reel of film ("movie reel #2") on the floor. Pick it up. Go back to the green slime.
This time take the tunnel on the lest. Go ahead twice and you'll see a fuse on the floor. Pick it up and head for the slime again
Go right in the slime. You'll see some strange grey devicewith two large cogwheels but pay no heed again, take the gate up in the wall instead.
Once up there, go ahead. You are at a metal door. Go in. You're in a study with a desk in the centre and five doors opening, two to the right, twp to the left, one opposite you. Take the farther door right.
You should be in a sort of kitchen. On the right there's a long table and a piece of red cable on it. Take it. The cable, not the table :) Go back to the study
This time take the nearer left door. Click on the toolbox bottom right and take the screwdriver from it once the box is closeup. Click on the wall-box just above the toolbox. When it's closeup, undo the 4 screws with the screwdriver. The lid falls off. Insert the two resistors in their places and the red wire-piece in place of resistor #2. Put the fuse between those yellow holders on the left. Then slide the handle above the resistors left. You've powered up something.
Go back to the study and take the nearer right door. It's a kind of mass bedroom. On the right, in front of the book case you see something screwy on the floor. Take it - it's kind of a cable set.
Go back to the study and take the farther left door You are in a sort of encryption room. Directly in front of you there are two dark grey metal boxes with cables coming out of them. On the top box's right side there's a small rectangle. Click on it.
Unscrew the lid and attach the cable-set you've just found in the bedroom. Watch the small cutscene of you typing your report and then send it. Then click on the button of that grey box bottom left (with that slip of paper next to it). A new slip comes out with today's code on it. WRITE IT DOWN!!! The code seems to change from game to game and you're going to leave the slip here, s if you don't have it when you need it (in about two minutes...) you'll have to come back for it.
Go back to the study. It's time to enter the fifth door directly in front of you. Do so.
You see fur code-wheels in front of you on the wall and two doors left and right. Next to the door on the right there's a code-box. Click on it.
Here's where you need that code for today. Typing it in seems a piece of cake but wait! the buttons are all shuffled up, so the first button is not #0, the second isn't #1, and so on. The layout is this:
Top row: 8 0 5 9 6
Bottom row: 3 4 2 1 7
This doesn't seem to change game by game.
When you're finished typing the code in, press the bottom button. The door should open.
Once in, take the reel of film ("movie reel #3") from the rack on the right. Go back once.
Take the left door. You should be in a movie room. You can see another reel in front of you, above the stool. Push the small green button on it's holder and then take the reel.
You can watch the reels' contents by placing them in the movie machine on the right and pressing the big round black button on it. Only reel#3 is of real importance. Reel#1 shows, well, who? YOU! sneaking in the mansion (hope you played the first episode of the game :). Reel#2 shows two soldiers exiting the mansion with something that looks like a (dead?) body wrappoed in sheets.
But reel#3... It shows some strange brain experiment. Watch closely as the surgeon is tkaing the strange wired helmet from one room to another (where you found the second reel on the rack). For some seconds you see those four code-wheels on the wall set to the right position! You can try to memorize the positions, but here's a screenshot of them:
http://supremacy.hu/groundzero/pix/covertfronthint.jpg
Go to the reels, but be sure to take all 3 reels with you - you'll not be able to leave without them!
Go back once (to the code-wheels) and set them in the correct positions. You'll see an elevator's door sliding open somewhere. You're close to the end.
Go back 5 times. You should be back in the greenish slime. Take the second tunnel that leads to the grey bells. Turn right. There's the open elevator.
Enter the elevator. Turn right. Push the button.
Whatch the cutscene of the elevator ride and you sneaking out of the mansion.
You're outside.
Another cutscene of you waiting in the street and a car coming to a halt next to you. Someone from inside the car asks for what you've collected. Give them the film reels, the documents (from episode 1) and that "unrecognized" object. He'll take it and give you a card. It has your next mission that's probably the story of the next episode.
Sorry for all the typos and other mistakes, I was trying to be as fast as i could :)
Posted by: bioLarzen | October 20, 2007 10:16 AM
Walkthrough!
Banishing the darkness:
If you sit around for a few seconds, it will tell you what to do: "I have to light a match." Click the matches, then the middle of the screen. Do this again whenever the match goes out, you've got an infinite supply.
Permanent light:
From the start, walk forward five screens, until you're facing a brick wall.
There are three stones here that you need to push into the wall.
http://picasaweb.google.com/funnyman3595/CovertFront2/photo#5123419741873654306
Once you've done that, turn left.
Pull the switch.
It's the little ball on the right side of the box, directly beneath the left edge of the lamp.
Lifting the grating:
The next thing you need to do is lift the grating that's keeping you from getting into a new room.
There's a switch you need to pull.
Go to the room just before you stare at the brick wall. Turn left twice, follow the path to the end.
Getting power to the new rooms:
In the bottom left room of the new area, there's a fuse box, but you can't get into it.
Looks like you need a screwdriver.
Grab the one from the toolbox and use it on all four screws.
Once you're into the box, you'll notice that there are some things missing in here. One large object on the left, three smaller ones at bottom.
The large object is a fuse.
You can get it by backing out to the main sewer room and following the left path.
It's sitting on the floor just inside the grate.
The three small objects are resistors. Each one only fits one of the three spots.
Resistor one is sitting on top of the box that you used to turn on the lights.
Resistor three is also nearby. Back up two screens, turn left, then right. Follow the path one more screen, and the resistor is laying on the ground between a couple of cylinders.
Resistor two is missing, you'll have to improvise.
Use the wire from the upper left room of the new complex. It's the red object sitting on the right hand table, between the mugs.
Once you've got all the pieces in place, just pull the switch.
Sending a message:
You'll need a cable to connect with.
It's in the lower right room of the complex, hanging on the bookshelf at right.
Enter the upper left room.
You'll have to alter the machine a bit.
Zoom in on the plate in the lower left-corner of the machine just right of center. Unscrew it with your screwdriver and plug in the cable.
Getting into the vault:
The vault is in the new complex, straight ahead then right. You need to use the keypad to unlock it.
Once you've sent the message, notice anything new in the communication room?
Hit the button on the machine at lower left, read the code it prints (changes each game).
The keypad is a bit tricky, because it's not normal.
The buttons are:
80596
34217
Submit
Movie reels:
There are three.
One is at the right hand side of the vault.
Another is in the small machine just left of center in the room opposite the vault. Press the green button to retrieve it.
For the last one, back out to the main sewer room and go forwards twice. It's sitting on the floor next to the staircase.
Getting out:
Watch the movie reels on the large machine at right opposite the vault. Insert them in the top, then click the black area to watch.
Reel 3 is the important one.
Just before the end, we see someone walk into the vault. Notice anything?
Set the dials on that wall like they are in the video. To get to the exit, return to the main sewer area, go straight twice, turn right, enter the elevator, turn right, and press the button. Don't forget to grab the movie reel from the machine first!
From here it's easy:
Just hand all your objects through the car window, take the card, and look at it. You win!
Don't forget to stop and read the various papers lying around, they help set the atmosphere and explain some of the miscellaneous unusable objects we've seen.
Posted by: FunnyMan | October 20, 2007 10:47 AM