1. A Desperate Gamble
2. Ice and Iron
1. "A Desperate Gamble"
City Outskirts
London, England
July 14th, 1951 0505 GMT
You are in what appears to be a 50's British version of a shopping mall. You can step safely out into the main area. You are in no danger out here or any of the shops unless you get close to the arched doorway at the other end which is the exit to the next area. Explore the shops for supplies then move toward the doorway. When you reach it, you'll hear familiar screams. You are under an attack of Rollers and they have brought a Steelhead along for backup. Standing in the doorway and trying to blast it all away with the Carbine is pretty much suicide, so back away and fend off the Rollers as quick as possible so you can focus on eliminating the Steelhead. You're not going to see a lot of him so the Auger is the best bet here. Before you move onward, look to the right side of the same wall that the doorway is on. At the opposite end of it, you should see a couple of vending machines and a
garbage can sitting next to a grate with Carbine ammo in front of it. Use a melee attack to knock out the grate and crawl in. You'll find some Hailstorm ammo and Intelligence Document #29 in there. Crawl back out and move on.
When you first step into the next area, it all looks pretty quiet, but it's a big area and it's about to get real unfriendly, real fast. Step into the shop that is immediately on your left. Go to the farthest door and pop back out just quick enough to trigger the attack. All total, you'll have 6 Hybrids on ground level coming to you, 2 of whom will be on the raised platform out in the center. In addition to this, a Hardfang will be in the group, so be looking for him to come in the left hand door as you are looking out. You will also have 3 more Hybrids firing at you from the balcony on the other side of the area from you, but I'd save them until you have taken care of the more immediate concerns.
A good course of action here is a Hailstorm auto-turret in the middle of the room, followed by an Air-Fuel grenade in the left hand doorway. This should take a major bite out of the crew on the ground with you. As long as you stay in this shop, you should be able to pick off anyone else that tries to come in. All the while, be sure to stay out of the line of fire of the 3 up on the balcony. When it doesn't look like anyone else is coming in, switch to the Fareye and put a stop to the antics of the Hybrids above. When all sounds quiet, step cautiously out of the shop and look to the left. If anyone is going to be left, that is where they will be. If not, you are good to continue on around to the other side. Be sure to look around for ammo and health in the shops and on the platform before heading over to the stairs to move onward.
When you have what you want, head up the stairs for another fight. You've got three Hybrids in the shop right at the top of the stairs and two Steelheads coming from the other end of the platform. If you want to do this a little at a time, run back down the stairs away from the Hybrids line of fire and the Steelheads will eventually come down the stairs after you, allowing you to take them out first. When they're gone, you can head back up and get busy on the Hybrids. When they are all gone, you have to go through the shop to get around the cart that is blocking the path.
Grab anything you need in the next shop and turn right at the end to continue on. As you move across this back wall (you'll be right above where you started the level) you will be treated to a Roller ambush being backed up by a Hardfang. Back into the shop to funnel the Rollers in and also to provide some cover from the Hardfang's Arc Charger. The Carbine does a fine job on all of them as long as you can avoid the Arc Charger. Grab any health from the shop you are in or any of the shops on the opposite side if you need it after the fight.
You are safe to walk down the other side until you get just past the mid-section, at which point a Hardfang will pop out from a shop and three Hybrids will pop out a little further down. Slip left back into a shop for cover and expect the Hardfang to follow you in quickly. Be ready for him and mow him down as he comes in the door. The Hybrids hold their position, so you can "pop and shoot" from inside the shop to get them out of your way. You are now safe until you reach the windows at the far end.
When you do reach the windows, look outside and you'll see some Hybrids heading your way over the hill. There is a turret on that hill and one of those guys is going to be trying to man it. Do your best not to let him. The rest of them will head toward the building you are in at the opposite end. Some will make it up the stairs and head toward you as you cross this walkway. On their way, they will unleash some mysterious source of Rollers so be on the lookout for those to come with them as well. If you don't watch those Rollers, they seem to end up anywhere and pop up unexpectedly.
Work your way across to the patio on the opposite end. If you aren't otherwise occupied, check out the shop just before you exit the building for any supplies. When you are ready, head down the stairs on the patio, and be ever watchful for more Hybrids or Rollers on your way down. When you reach the bottom, be careful to look before you jump out of there. There is often two Hybrids out there waiting for you. You have to pass through the downed helo to continue on and the only thing left to contend with before you do so is a small swarm of Rollers that roll in around the front of the helo. When you've managed your way through them, walk through the helo. No, you don't get to use the mounted guns on the helo. Sorry.
As you step out of the other side of the helo, you will have a makeshift bunker and what looks like it could have been a town hall at one point. There is nobody inside the bunker, nobody alive anyway, but you do have another fight hidden over that way. First, go behind the columns of the town hall and you will immediately take fire from two Hybrids at the opposite end of the building. A Hedgehog should do them nicely.
Now head back around to circle around the left side of the bunker. Before you even see anyone on the other side, you are probably already aware that there is a Steelhead over there. When you pop in to their view, give them an Air-Fuel grenade to play with and that should wipe out most of the foursome that is waiting over there. Pick off any survivors. If you feel so inclined, there is some ammo inside the bunker if you want to crawl in to get it, but there isn't a whole lot in there.
Your next destination is the hole in the ground behind the bunker at the base of the other building. It is a tunnel that leads in to the bottom floor of that building. Once inside, leave the room and go to the right, then left again into the room by the armoire that is sticking out in the hall. When you enter the room walk through the pile of rubble to your left and through the hole in the wall to the next room. There will be a dead soldier on the bed, some ammo and Intelligence Document #30.
Go back out of here and as soon as you try to go through the other way, you will come under attack. A Hardfang will rush you, so drop him quick before he gets you with the Arc Charger. There is also a Hybrid out in the hall to your right and another in the room across from you shooting through the hole in the wall. If you stay in the first room after you have stopped the Hardfang, you can use the wall between you and them for cover so you can pick them off. The only way to go from here is to the room across the hall. Be prepared for some Rollers and a Slipskull in that room. Some Carbine rounds into the doorway should handle that problem.
Move through the hole in the wall to the next room. Right outside the door is the lobby and its one more battle so you can end the chapter. If you run across the hall to the opposite room, you'll trigger the onslaught. A Hardfang will rush in, so be ready for that. There are two more Slipskulls bouncing around out there as well as three Hybrids shooting from the stairs on the right. The Fareye is a reasonable option here for the Hybrids. As always, the best solution for the Slipskulls is the tag and frag of the Bullseye. You will know when you have cleared the room because you will get a radio call from Captain Parker. When you do, head up the stairs, down the hall and through the rooms to end the chapter.
2. "Ice And Iron"
City Outskirts
London, England
July 14th, 1951 0742 GMT
Instead of saving this for a final fight, you start off right away in a mano y mano battle with a Stalker. Quickly head into the bunker just to your left. If you watch every move it makes, you can defeat the Stalker with nothing more than your Carbine and never leave this bunker to do it. Move around inside the bunker and keep cover between you and the Stalker. He will repeatedly try to fire his machine guns into the bunker and he seems to know kind of where you are, so as long as you move to keep cover between you you will stay safe. He will continuously change positions to get at you, but just keep moving around. Soon, he will seem to get bored with you and walk away from the bunker and just stand there with his back to you. This is when the ball falls in your court. Aim in with your Carbine to the Power Core on his back and lay on the trigger. The impact will shock him and he
will freeze in position for a moment to give you time to empty the clip.
When he starts to move again, you can be sure he is going to be plenty pissed off, so get on the opposite side of the bunker from where he is. He is going to throw a few rockets at you and one hit takes half of your health if you let one get at you. When he is done with the rockets, he will resume his taunting with the machine gun. Again, after a while he will get bored with you and walk away. Repeat the Carbine attack. Again, he will come at you with rockets and repeat the cycle. On the third Carbine attack you should have destroyed him. No rest for the weary, you aren't done yet.
A Titan will now enter the scene. I recommend getting out of the bunker now because you are fish in a barrel to him in there. Get away from him as far as you can, pop a Bullseye tag in him and let him have it while you run away. A couple more tags, a couple more clips of ammo and you have yet another exploding Titan. You are safe now, and a helo overhead is dropping a tank in for you. Pick up any health and ammo laying around that you need and hop in the trusty tank. More tank stuff . . . .wooohoooo!
Right away you meet a new enemy, The Widowmaker. This gigantic spider-like creature throws snot balls of her own. Blast through the barricade and start in on her with the cannons and machine gun. The snot balls don't seem to do too much damage to the tank, but that doesn't mean to let her sit there and throw them at you. Eliminate her as soon as you can. Two Stalkers follow her down the road under the archway. Blow them away and proceed through. Be sure not to miss the third Stalker up on the hill to your right.
Advance up into the large square ahead and look for two more Stalkers up on the hill in front of you. Be sure not to ignore the little pockets of foot soldiers on the ground as they are doing damage to you, albeit very little. If you park right at the corner of the square, you should be able to eliminate all the immediate threats without moving. Another Stalker will approach across the square to your left. When everything seems clear, turn left across the square and look to the road ahead to turn left again. Two more Stalkers will come down this road as you head that way. When they are out of the way, proceed up that road and watch for the Steelheads and Hybrids that pass over the walking bridge above you.
As you reach the top of the hill, another Widowmaker will leap over the building to your left while a Stalker moves in from the right. Give them everything you've got to get them out of the way. There are also two Steelheads shooting at you from the rooftop just ahead and to the right. A quick cannon blast puts a stop to that. Turn left here and drive around to the next place you can take a left. The road looks blocked off at the other end because it is. There is a Titan down there that needs a few cannon blasts and then a couple of Hybrids need to learn not to screw with a tank. As you advance forward, you'll know you're done because you will be automatically kicked out of the tank.
Continue up the street the way you were going and go between the two piles of snow. You'll notice that it suddenly hasn't snowed over here. Enter the building through the door on your left. The first floor is unoccupied, so go down the hall to your right into the other room and look for Intelligence Document #31 behind the counter. Once you have it, go back out to the room you came in to originally and get ready to head upstairs.
When you reach the top and move into the room, the stairwell behind you will collapse and you will be trapped up here. This will attract the attention of three Hybrids and a Steelhead in the stairwell, so they will pop out to say Hello. Take care of them quickly and head off to explore the rest of this floor. You should find one more Hybrid in the next room over. Continue through that room and follow it around picking up ammo and health as you go if you need it. Eventually you will wind up back in the same hall you came in through and some of the Hybrids from upstairs may have come down to meet you while you searched this floor. Take them out as you come to them and eventually make it back to the room with the stairs. The remainder of the Hybrids and one more Steelhead should come down the stairs looking for you. Pick them off one by one as they appear in the stairs. When the last Chimeran is dead, the chapter will automatically end. If for some reason the chapter isn't ending and there are no more Chimerans coming down the stairs, you will just have to go up there and hunt down your missing monster or monsters.
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