1. Search and Rescue
2. Common Ground
3. A Disturbing Discovery
1. "Search And Rescue"
Cheddar Gorge
Somerset, England
July 13th, 1951 0952 GMT
This chapter is very short, but very intense. You'll also be getting a new weapon as you step through the walkway out to the street. The XR-005 Hailstorm will soon prove to be a favorite. You need only travel from one block over to the next, but it's not going to be an easy trip. Look around the area where you start for any pickups you might need. Any ammo for any weapon is a good thing. There is only one way up the road you can go and it won't take you long to figure out you are going the right way when the Hybrids start popping out from behind the houses to both sides of you. Take cover wherever you can find it and pick off the attacking Hybrids as you make your way down the street. If you can help it, try to save your grenades for now. While these Hybrids are pretty aggressive, they are only a teaser for what is about to come.
As you make your way down the street and around the corner to where the bus is blocking the road, you should be able to clear this entire area until nothing is left standing. Although you can hear the battle on the other side of the bus, it isn't coming to you, you're going to have to go to it. When the first area is clear, head into the grassy area in the corner to find a dead guy in an odd looking uniform. He will have Intelligence Document #19 next to him. Gather up all the goodies you can find before you head over to the "other side of the bus".
When you're ready to head into the intense stuff, look to the left side of the bus for a short stairwell that will lead up to a raised area next to the bus. Creep carefully up the stairs and you will come out on the raised area looking at the backs of two Hybrids. They are focused on shooting at the building directly across from you, which is where they have Cartwright trapped. Whatever you are going to do to these two, do it quick, because as soon as you do it, two more are going to come around the corner ahead and to your left. The grenade launcher isn't a bad idea in either case here.
When this area is cleared, you have a couple of options. As you can plainly see over the railing, there are many a Hybrid down on the street and they need to be eliminated. You can start throwing grenades over the rail down into the street to take out small groups in the corner, or you can go around the corner of the building where the last two Hybrids came at you from and take the stairs down into the street. Neither idea is real safe, but then nothing is at this point. Hopefully now that you are more than halfway through the game, I don't have to tell you to keep your head down if you are going to be throwing grenades over the railing.
If you decide to go down to the street, look out to the right and the left when you reach the bottom of the stairs. Hybrids like to pop out of buildings and out from behind walls without warning, and it would be real easy at this point to find yourself snuck up on. When you do make it to the street, make very good use of cover and chip away at the Hybrids with all the strongest weapons you have. If you'd like to see something fun, arm the Hailstorm, aim above the heads of a group of Hybrid and let loose with the L1 "auto turret" function. Kick back and watch as a beautiful blue ball hovers in the air and rains death down on them. The Hailstorm is going to be very useful indeed.
Keep your head low and your eyes open, and before long you'll hardly believe yourself that the street has fallen quiet. Don't let the silence get you too comfortable though, as it is quite possible a lingering Hybrid waits around a corner for just the right moment to clobber you. Gather up what you can and be sure and check out the building that was behind the most intense group of Hybrids before entering the house where Cartwright is. That building has quite a collection of health and ammo to get yourself fixed back up. When you have everything you need, approach the house Cartwright is in and the cut scene that ends the chapter will play.
2. "Common Ground"
Cheddar Gorge
somerset, England
July 13th, 1951 1137 GMT
I'm going out on a limb here and I'm going to say that this is most likely the easiest chapter in the game. It's also pretty fun since you spend most of the chapter driving the LU-P Lynx Jeep with Cartwright manning the mini-gun up top doing most of the shooting for you. The jeep handles really well so when the chapter begins, take it for a spin before you take off to tackle the objectives and get used to the steering and spinning around with the E-brake. When you are ready, head off the road to the left away from the tunnel that you can't get through. Head up to the bluish domes in front of you. As you approach the closest one, you will begin taking fire from the dome.
Get used to this technique because you are going to use it for the rest of the level. Ram through the barriers between you and the dome and use the jeep to mow down the Hybrids attacking you on the ground. Don't stop the jeep or you are going to take a lot of damage, so just keep circling the first dome as fast as you can, mowing down everything on the ground that is trying to shoot you. If you need to veer away from the dome a little bit to get a straggler, feel free to do so, just keep circling the dome until all the Hybrids have been flattened. If your health drops a bit, park at the back of the dome and just wait a second until it regenerates, then continue. When everyone is down on the outside, drive grill first up to the doorway of the dome and let Cartwright take out as many of the Hybrids inside as he can with the mini gun. When you believe you have cleared out as much as possible, park the jeep around the back of the dome and get out.
Enter the doorway and pick off anyone that remains on this lower floor. There will still be a couple of Hybrids left on the upper floor, so keep yourself out of trouble and arm the Auger. Aim up through the ceiling and take down whoever is left up there. Head up the ramp when you think all is clear and do a quick check to make sure none of the sneaky little rats crammed themselves in a corner to avoid your Auger. There is always going to be ammo and health lying all over this upper floor, so grab up what you need and look for the Chimeran switch on the back side of this upper level and give it a flip. Dome 1 complete. Head on back to the jeep, climb in and make for the next dome that is a stones throw away.
Use the same technique to stake your claim on the second dome. Circle, flatten, circle, flatten, when all clear, grill up to the door for Cartwright, park behind the dome and clear the rest of the dome by hand to flip the switch upstairs. When you have flipped this second switch, you will have opened up a barrier allowing you to continue onward. Just after you pass through the newly opened gate, veer off course a bit and look for a small, broken down shed tucked in between a tree and a bush. The shed is holding some Hailstorm ammo and Intelligence Document #20. Climb back in the jeep and continue on in the only direction you have to go.
As you pass through a low valley, you'll be attacked by a swarm of Leapers. Not to worry, simply drive back and forth over them until they are all squashed. Not far past the Leapers, a couple of Hybrids will pop up out of nowhere. Just run them down and continue. Go down into the lower area to pick up some ammo by the burning jeep if you need some. If not, continue around to the next pair of blue domes. Repeat the same steps to take over these two domes as you did the first two. Get both domes cleared out and both switches taken care of and you'll be able to pass through yet another gate.
You will almost immediately be pulling up on a Chimeran drop ship that is depositing a container of Hybrids onto the ground. Silly fools, run them over and move on like they were never there. It doesn't matter whether you go high or low as you continue, you're going to end up in the same place. You'll only be on pavement for a second before you'll have to veer off again to head up the side of this mountain. This path is a bit longer than the rest and it will zig zag back and forth across the face of the mountain. You will occasionally come upon some "mini-domes" I called them, with a Hybrid inside waiting for you to arrive. Nose the jeep up to each dome as you get to it and Cartwright will quickly lay them to rest.
When you finally reach the top of this path and come up on the final two domes, you are going to use the exact same procedure to clear the domes as you have for all the rest, only this time you will need to be aware that some Steelheads will be thrown into the mix and you will have the additional Auger rounds coming at you. Even still, you should have no problem clearing things out in a jiffy. Steelheads go "SPLAT" just like all the rest of them. When you have cleared out the first dome and you have taken control of the top floor, use the turret up here to clear out most of the group on the top floor of the other dome. You can save yourself some extra trouble by getting this out of the way from over here.
When you have taken over the last dome and raised the final gate, climb back in the jeep and take off. Head down the paved road briefly and look for a barrier off to your right. When you see it, turn off the road, smash through the barrier and this terribly easy chapter comes to a close.
3. "A Disturbing Discovery"
Cheddar Gorge
Somerset, England
July 13th, 1951 1220 GMT
Cartwright feel like it would be a good idea if the two of you split up at this point. I guess he didn't enjoy the ride over here. When you gain control after the cut scene, the very first thing you can do is zoom in on the two Hybrids way off in the distance with your Fareye. Just aim through the gate. When you do this, the large bay door on the building behind them will open and Menials will begin to come out. Open the gate in front of you and head toward them. Kill them as you approach. Only take a step or two inside this "building", because not long after you do, Bullseye rounds will start coming at you from above and a rather large crowd of Menials will suddenly materialize in front of you. Back out of the building to avoid the Bullseye fire and mow down all the Menials as you go.
When you have laid down the last of the Menials, pick up the Fareye again and take care of the three Hybrids up on the walkway at the back of the building. When all is quiet, enter the building again and do a quick check of the area for any Menials that seem to be on their own plan. Most often they will have all come out, but every once in a while you get that one that decides he wants to have a mind of his own. Grab up ammo and health if you need it and don't forget to take the ramps up the sides and check the walkway above.
When you are ready to continue, notice that there are two doors at the back of the building. Take the door to the left first. Be ready when you step out. You will be attacked from the left by two Hybrids and a Steelhead. Go back into the building if you wish to get the Hybrids as they funnel in through the door, but arm yourself with the Auger since the Steelhead has one too and he will be firing at you through the building. Eliminate these three threats and continue down the path from where the enemies came It is a dead end path, but you'll find some useful ammo down there as well as Intelligence Document #21. Head back into the building to find that two Slipskulls have joined you. Tag and frag the little guys and lets get on with things.
As you head for the other door, you will pick up a new toy. The XR-004 Sapper aka the "Snot Ball Gun" (see the weapons section to clarify that). Put it away as it is fairly useless at the moment and open the other door. Three Menials will be there to greet you when it opens. Wipe them out and head down the path to the left. As you near the end of the fence, look to your right for a Hybrid and a Steelhead. The Steelhead starts firing before you even see them, so that should quickly give away their position. These are the only two enemies in the area at the moment, so feel free to run for cover wherever you need to, but if you've already got your Auger in your hand, they won't be around long enough for you to need cover. When they are out of the way, continue along the path to the next building. It looks pretty quiet in there and indeed it is. There's no Chimera in there to bother you. The room is, however, a mine field. So watch your step and be ready when they pop up. Gather up whatever you want from in here and head out the only other door in here.
When you exit this building, start down the path to the left. As you near the last large piece of equipment on your left, a Gray Jack will pop out from behind it. Back quickly away from him and lay into him with the Bullseye to put him down before he can get to you. The first Gray Jack will be quickly followed by a second, so continue to pound away with the Bullseye until they are both down. After that attack, the two lonely Menials approaching in the distance is almost comical. Lay them to rest and continue forward. You'll hear from Cartwright, and he is nearby. Approach the bridge at the end of the path cautiously. As soon as you step on to the bridge, two Hybrids will come straight at you. Fortunately, the bridge is narrow, so just mow them down with the Carbine or the Bullseye before they can do too much damage. There is also a Steelhead at the other end of the bridge, but Cartwright will take care of him for you. As soon as you step off the bridge, get behind cover and help Cartwright finish off the attack from the hill above you.
Come out from behind your cover and continue to move forward around the barriers in the direction the Hybrids on the hill were. As you round the barrier, you'll be met with another set of Hybrids on the other side. There is lots of cover here, for the Hybrids, so the Auger will work out well in this area. When the path lies quiet again, continue forward and up onto the ridge at the end and enjoy a cut scene of you and Cartwright gazing in wonder at the Chimeran Tower. When the cut scene is over, Cartwright will yell at you to follow him, so do that. When get a little further back down the hill to an unexplored gateway, Cartwright will encourage you to go first because he is such a good buddy that way.
Enter the gate and look to the large area of equipment to your right. You just know by looking at it that a firefight is going to happen down there, it's just a matter of when. In the blink of an eye, the question will be answered when a Gray Jack comes running at you. If you back away quick enough, it will attack Cartwright, and this will give you time to aim in on it with your weapon of choice to put it down. At this point you are probably also taking Bullseye fire from down in the equipment yard. There are four Hybrids in there and a couple of Menials. Take care of the Menials when you see them, but tag and frag the Hybrids to reduce the number of ammo flying at you. When all falls quiet again, explore the area and grab whatever ammo and health you need before you go to the back of the equipment yard.
Head through the opening you find in the fence back there and proceed down the path to the left. When you have to make a right turn, look down that new pathway and be ready for two Gray Jacks and a wave of Leapers. Your buddy Cartwright does a darned fine job of helping you out here. When the coast is clear, continue down the path and follow it back around to the right again. As you move around some equipment, Cartwright will yell out a warning about mines. When he does, back quickly away before the three Hedgehog mines can do any damage to you. Keep an eye out for any more mine portals, but before you get to any, you'll be attacked by three Hybrids. Toss a grenade their way as they come out and you won't be worried with them for long. Approach the end of the path, being very cautious of more Hedgehog mines. Go all the way to the doorway at the end of the path. Have your Bullseye in hand with a full clip and enter the door. It will be quiet when you first step in, but not long after Cartwright steps in behind you, you'll find that you are in there with a Hybrid and a handful of Slipskulls. It gets a little hectic in there, and the Fareye Cartwright is using is a bit too slow to be effective against the Slipskulls. Try to get rid of the Hybrid first, and then focus your attention on tagging the Slipskulls. This was the first time in the game I had seen a Slipskull actually stand on the floor rather than stick to the walls all the time. Be wary of the red beam from their pistols. When you've taken care of the dangers in this room, gather up any health you can find if you need it and get ready to open the big door. One last blast and you're out of here.
As soon as you open the door, you will see a bridge that leads from top to your level on the left. Rushing down this bridge will be a Steelhead and a couple of Hybrids. Take down the Steelhead first since he poses the greatest threat, then pick off the Hybrids. When the first little group is down, there will be another couple of Hybrids to come running down. Tag and frag and the area should fall silent. As you exit the building, turn to the left and walk around beside the building. Look for a dead soldier over here. He'll be lying next to Intelligence Document #22. Pick it up and head up the bridge out of this area. When you approach your jeep, the chapter will come to a close.
Continue to Bristol . . . |
