House of Ashes – Theatrical Cut walkthrough (Part 2)
This is the first part of our House of Ashes Theatrical Cut walkthrough and guide. We’ll talk about the following chapters: Underworld, Pazuzu, The Temple, and Breaking Up.
Underworld (Nick)
Nick finds himself in an underground cavern. Soon, you’ll encounter Jason.
- Premonition: Squeeze – Inside a small room near the statue’s giant hand. Don’t interact with the door or you won’t be able to return to this area.
After passing through the door, you’ll find Clarice and Merwin. Clarice gets dragged away by something, but Nick and Jason manage to free their other marine brother.
- QTE/possible death – Jason and Nick are trying to administer first aid to Merwin. But, the creature is right behind them. If you do the button-mashing QTE here, Nick accidentally suffocates Merwin and kills him. Try to avoid this mishap, especially if you chose not to call for air support earlier.
Pazuzu (Salim and Eric)
Salim is the first character that you control in this chapter. You’ll find the corpse of an Iraqi soldier here.
- Premonition: Daylight – Check a niche next to the first dead soldier that Salim encounters. If you try to jump across the bridge, you won’t be able to return here.
- Important decision/QTE – Jump across the gap and go through the darkened corridor. Open the door and Salim will see one of the creatures. It’ll chase after him. Choose to run and pass the QTE sequences so he doesn’t stumble. Once Salim makes it back to the main area, a truck will fall on the creature and flatten it.
You’ll take control of Eric this time. He and Rachel seem to be okay (again, try to pick friendly dialogue options whenever possible).
- Premonition: Fallen – Follow Rachel through the tunnel. Once you see a fork, head down the tunnel to the right.
In the next area, Eric will come across a small Pazuzu statue, as well as other secrets. Once you examine the chasm, the two will rappel down to the temple.
The Temple (Rachel and Jason)
- Premonition: Ultraviolet – Go to the opposite end of the large chamber to find a small room. The stone tablet is in a small nook next to where you’d see the “Creature Features” secret.
- Randolph’s Journal 1 – On a desk inside a small tent. It’s next to the gasoline canisters.
Our main goal here is to power the generator. Before you do that, make sure to examine all the objects and files here to find more secrets. Several here will tell you about the team of archaeologists led by Randolph Hodgson.
Another thing you might miss is the “Dynamite” secret. It’s on the pool in the center next to the machine gun. Interact with the blinking icon and move the camera so that Rachel is directly staring at the detonator. The camera should zoom in and you’ll obtain this secret.
As for the generator itself, you’ll need to pick up the duct tape on a desk, as well as the gasoline canister near a small tent. Rachel and Eric will have a conversation here, so try to be nice, too.
After the generator has been powered up, you’ll get control of Jason. He, Nick, and Merwin are still being chased by the creature.
- Important decision/QTE/possible death – Aim-and-shoot to hit the creature. When you reach a fork, choose to go through the sloped area. Making mistakes here could spell Merwin’s doom.
It’s back to Rachel’s perspective. You can interact with the radio to hear about what happened to the team of archaeologists.
- Important decision – Eric wants to get back with Rachel. As mentioned earlier, you want to pick the friendly/romantic responses. Now, though, you have to admit to Eric that there’s someone else. He doesn’t know that it’s Nick, but he’ll find out soon enough. This will affect the Until Death bearing. After this touching moment, Dar arrives and fires on the estranged couple. The two will run off.
The perspective switches back to Jason and co.
- Important decision/QTE/possible death – Merwin will say that he wants to be left behind. Choose to save him. He’ll die if you leave him here.
Breaking Up (Eric)
Eric and Rachel are running away from Dar. They find themselves staring at a dark chasm.
- QTE/important decision/possible death – There are a couple of QTEs here that rely on timely button presses. After a while, Rachel falls down the chasm with Eric holding on using a rope.
- Cutting the rope causes Rachel to fall (don’t worry, she’ll be alive).
- Refusing to cut the rope leads to a button-mashing QTE. The second time you’re prompted, Eric will fall and get impaled on a stalagmite.
- If you fail the earlier QTE, Dar will quickly find Eric and Rachel. He’ll shoot Eric. If you fail this QTE sequence, Eric gets killed by gunshot and he also gets impaled on the stalagmite for good measure.
Naturally, we want to keep Eric alive. Just cut the rope and pray that Rachel forgives you later. Anyway, let’s go to the next part of our House of Ashes Theatrical Cut walkthrough to discuss additional chapters.
