1. Burning Bridges
2. On the Ice
3. Giant Slayer
1. "Burning Bridges"
River Thames
London, England
July 14th, 1951 0849 GMT
When you begin, you are standing on the bridge looking down into a town square where your allies are in a massive firefight with the Hybrids. It looks like a mess, and it is, but your main focus here is only going to be on three enemies. As soon as you have control, don't bother wasting time trying to pick off Hybrids from a distance, they aren't your main problem. Arm the Carbine or the Bullseye, run straight off the bridge and turn left around the first building. You will see a Hybrid right in front of you when you do, so pick him off and then enter the building to the left through the hole he was standing in front of, and expect another Hybrid just inside. Take the second one out as well and then head upstairs. You have some allies up here to help you out. This is going to be your nest for the next few minutes, so get comfortable up here.
If you haven't seen or heard it already, your first target will soon appear in the courtyard, the friendly neighborhood Stalker. Keep your distance from the windows and holes to avoid the fire coming in from below and from the Stalker. Stay where you can keep an eye on the Stalker without getting hit and wait for it to move away for a moment. It will usually go to the corner exactly opposite from you and stop with its back turned your way. Aim in with your Carbine and give it hell. When it shakes off the first attack, it will use standard operating procedure and be nine kinds of pissed off and share this with you by lobbing rockets your way. Back off into a corner and avoid them at all costs. You can try to go downstairs to avoid the rockets, but don't think he can't hit you down there either and doing that also sets you up for possible Hybrids coming in from the street. You can finish this taking very little damage and never leaving the 2nd floor if you just keep an eye on things. Wait the Stalker out and he'll soon enough give you another opportunity at his Power Core. Repeat this until he is destroyed.
After Stalker #1 is out of the picture, in will walk Stalker #2. His pattern out in the street will be a little bit different, but just keep an eye on him and you will figure it out pretty quick. Also be on the lookout for a couple of Hybrids to come up the stairs to search you out. They aren't a real big deal, but it's easy to get focused on the Stalker and not realize they are coming. Sometimes your allies will take care of the for you but I wouldn't rely on that. Again, look for the opportunity to take a crack at the Stalkers Power Core. There isn't a whole lot up here for Carbine ammo, so if you run out, switch to the Bullseye or maybe even the Auger. You'll soon have him out of the way too.
Your last headache in this area will come in the form of a Widowmaker that will come from the left area up the street. This is the first time you will face one of these while you are on foot, so if at all possible, keep your distance from her snot balls. If you are shooting at her, and you will be, she will be tossing them up onto your floor. They didn't leave that LAARK ammo up there for you for no reason. Pull that bad boy out and let her have it. She likes to move around on you and she's fairly quick, so make sure you have a true shot at her before you let loose. Before you empty the LAARK, she should go up in smoke, and when she does you'll get a radio call that bridge is ready to blow. A cut scene will ensue and when it's over, you'll be standing out in the courtyard and all will be silent. You'll wind up standing in front of an archway that will lead you to the next section. Instead of going through it, first search the courtyard area to get stocked up on ammo and health. Be sure to check the building opposite from the one you were in and go up to the second floor to restock the LAARK and anything else up there. (Apparently they had planned for this to be an alternate perch for you as well)
Now return to the arch to continue. Just through the arch at the corner ahead on the right there will be a Hybrid. Watch for him right away and he won't know of your presence yet. Use that as a chance to drop him with a Carbine head shot. Don't celebrate right away, because there is another one inside the building he was standing next to. Drop him as well before moving on. At this point, you can either go to the right, where the Hybrids were, or to the left through a broken fence. If you are planning on picking everything up in this game, go to the left through the fence. When you approach the next corner, turn right arm the Fareye and carefully peek around the pile of dirt. Go slowly enough and you should spot a Steelhead before he knows you are there. Put a Fareye round in his skull then be prepared to deal with the Hybrid he was with since you now have his attention. Tag him with the Bullseye and get him out of the way.
Just up this road past that first pile of dirt, be cautious of the two mine portals near the curb on the right. They are the first kind you ran across in the game, the laser beam type. Past them and just past the body of the Steelhead, there is a pile of debris in a little tiny alcove. Walk up the pile to pick up Intelligence Document #32. When you have it, go all the way back the way you came. You can continue ahead into the alley past where you killed the first two Hybrids, but the only thing you're going to find over there are two mine portals and a dead end, not to mention some Leaper screams that you can't seem to figure out where they are coming from. Enter the building the Hybrids were in instead and go up to the second floor.
When you get up here, you will be able to hear the grunts of the enemy, but will not be able to see them. You can try to lob a couple of grenades over the roof across from you to draw them out, but it doesn't seem to work. You'll have to do it the hard way. There is a pallet here with some ammo on it. Use it to run and jump across to the other roof. As soon as your feet touch the shingles on the other side. The two Hybrids will pop over the peek of the roof just a little to your right. Blast them down quickly.
Once you are safely over there and the two Hybrids are gone, you are still going to hear the grunts of Chimera ahead. They aren't in the alley between you and the next building and you can't see them from where you are. You will again have to jump over to the next building. The ammo lying on the other roof is a hint that you can just jump straight across. When you land on the other side, again two Hybrids pop over the roof, and I got the added bonus of 3 or 4 Leapers with them. Blast away with your Bullseye and quiet things down. Try not to back off the edge of the roof in the process, but at the same time, try not to cross over the peak yet either.
Standing just on the flat part of the peak, look to the right around the little dormer piece on the roof into the alley below. If you whip out the Fareye, you should be able to put a round in the head of the Steelhead that is standing down there with his back kind of to you. When you do it, be prepared because you now have the attention of another Steelhead that you could not see in the alley directly below you. If he can't see you, you can bet he's going to be using his Auger to find you, so pop over and shoot him quickly or throw a grenade his way to silence him. When they are clear, drop down into the alley.
Go the only way you have to go and pass through the arch. As soon as you do there is a small courtyard on your left with either a little tiny garden arch you can pass under or a fallen piece of the fence to walk through. As soon as you do, your going to get ambushed through that hole in the wall across from you and it is a vicious ambush of two Hybrids and a Hardfang. I recommend trying to get an Air-Fuel grenade over in that corner before you pass into that courtyard as that usually seems to do the trick. Hammer away with the Bullseye until the grenade has a chance to do it's job. There is a nice little pile of ammo and health there next to the dead soldier before you go through the hole.
You are going to walk through the hole in the wall and quickly turn to the left. Have the Carbine or Bullseye at the ready as you are immediately facing a small Leaper ambush that is being backed up by a Gray Jack. Spray this little party down until everyone is dead. Go down to the fire escape at the other end of the alley, but before going up, head to the end of the alley and grab Intelligence Document #33. Only go about halfway up the fire escape to the first landing. Now turn around and back up the stairs very slowly until you just see a Hybrid on a rooftop in the distance.
Pull out the Fareye and give him a round to the head. You shouldn't have attracted the attention of the other Hybrid yet, so back slowly a little further up the fire escape and look a little further to the right. Another clueless Hybrid should come into view. Plant a Fareye seed in his skull as well. Those are the only two enemies on this roof, so go ahead on up and walk all the way across the roof to where you sniped the first Hybrid up here. At the end of the roof, turn to the right and go to the edge of the roof and you'll be looking across the top of the archway you passed through earlier, into the side of a building.
The bottom floor of the building across from you is being patrolled by two Hybrids and a Hardfang. Toss in a grenade or two to get things rolling, then pull out the Bullseye and blast whoever is left over. Focus on the Hardfang before he can hit you with his Arc Charger if you didn't get them all with the grenades. You can now drop down to that floor and pick up the ammo lying there for you. You can walk over that LAARK all day if you want, it won't let you have it. If it does, let me know. A little farther and we're home free.
Head down the steps on the front of the house and to the hole in the wall at the bottom. Watch across the street a little to the left as you pass through the hole. Two Hybrids and a Steelhead will be coming up the stairs from the subway station entrance over there. Get back behind the wall for cover if you just want to shoot it out, or give them an Air-Fuel grenade to play with. If you can place a Hedgehog right in the middle of the street, that will do the job as well. When the street has been cleaned, go down the steps into the subway tunnel to end the chapter.
2. "On The Ice"
River Thames
London, England
July 14th, 1951 0938 GMT
You begin in the tunnel leading to the subway station. You can turn off the flashlight because you only need it for about three steps anyway. I personally found the flashlight annoying and useless anyway so I never used it. The first room right ahead of you contains a slaughter if you go rushing in. The room right in front of you contains 5 Hybrids and the room at the back has 4 more. Just to keep things interesting, there is an alcove on the right side of the first room with some Leaper Pods in it, so if you do venture into the room, you damn well better stay to the left side until you have put down all your attackers. Grenades are your friends, as far as this little skirmish is concerned.
With the area Hybrid and Leaper free, you can look around for ammo to stock back up. As you go into the room to the back, you can safely go down the stairwell to the left and pick up the one and only health your going to find after that fight. When all is as good as its going to be, arm the Hailstorm and step down into the other stairwell. As you come into this area, launch an auto-turret into the far left corner and quickly back out to where you came in. There are 3 Steelheads and 3 Hybrids in here. Avoid the Auger fire coming through the wall until they get bored and stop. When they do, step back down the stairs and launch another auto-turret into the middle of the room and back out again. (There was a reason they put Hailstorm ammo right at the entrance to the stairs) If the second auto-turret didn't do the trick, a third one probably will. If not, there aren't going to be many left at all, so just head on in and pick off what's left. When the room is all clear, there is a single health and some Hedgehog ammo at the back of the subway cars.
Leave the area by going up the stairs at the opposite side and turning right at the top. Turn left again and instead of getting excited at all the ammo, arm the Auger and aim it down and to the left. There is a blocked off subway tunnel down there with two Hybrids in it. Seek them out with the Auger and you can take them down without ever seeing them. Now you can pick up all the fun stuff.
As you start to head down the stairs, keep an eye to the left behind the derailed subway cars. Another little welcome wagon will start to come out from over there in the form of a Hybrid, a Steelhead and three Slipskulls. You can go at them head on if you want, but if you want to stay safe, run back up the stairs and back around the corner. Use the Auger to finish off the Hybrid and the Steelhead, then you can stay back around the corner a bit while you home in on the Slipskulls with the Bullseye to tag and frag those little freaks. There is a health in the subway car if you need it and that is the way you need to go to continue anyway.
Walk through the subway cars. You'll have to exit to the right at one point and walk under the cars back over to the left, then re-enter the cars to continue until you come to a final car that you will exit to the left. Move swiftly when you do and throw an Air-Fuel grenade down into that tunnel. You have two Steelheads down there waiting for you. Make sure they are dealt with and head down to the two openings at the end of the tunnel. Health and ammo wait for you here.
Now you can exit through one of these openings and gather up the ammo on the ground outside. Have the Carbine or the Bullseye at the ready as you start up the hill to the right. Before you get too far, two Hybrids will jump down from the left. Take them down before going any farther. A little further up, two more will come down for you, so repeat the procedure.
Now you need to be even more alert as you continue up the hill. On the ridge above you to the left are two manned turrets and two more Hybrids. One of the turrets is a little further ahead and that is going to be the one you see first, however, you will probably hear it wind up first and at that point, the two Hybrids will already be jumping down to come after you. Back down the hill and take care of the Hybrids. Now creep back up just far enough to glimpse the turret. Toss a grenade up there and put a stop to him. To see the second turret, which is actually closer and DIRECTLY to your left, you will have to come even farther up the hill. Move just right so that you can just see the top of his head and put a Fareye in it.
All is not quite well yet. Turn and look down the hill you just came up and slightly to the right at the ridge the first few Hybrids jumped down from. Hopefully you haven't caught the attention of the two Steelheads standing down there under the arch. If not, aim in with the Fareye. These guys are standing one behind the other, and since they haven't seen you yet, you can zoom in and take your time lining up the first shot. Take the shot and immediately go into "focus" mode so you can line up and drop the other one before his fire gets to you.
Head down the ridge under the arch where the two Steelheads were and walk all the way around until you find the burning Spire. There is all kinds of ammo around here as well as Intelligence Document #34. Grab everything up and head up the path to the right of the Spire with the lone health lying in the middle of it. You will come up to where the Hybrids manning the turrets were and you'll be met by two more Hybrids coming right at you. Quickly lay them down to continue.
Keep moving around the bend until you see another burning Spire. Be careful here because you will probably get a Hedgehog grenade thrown at you from some unidentifiable location. I'll identify it for you. There is a big rock on the other side of the burning Spire. Behind the big rock are two more hybrids. Throw an Air-Fuel grenade over behind the rock to take care of those two comedians. The only thing left after that are the 5 Menials making their way up to you in the lower part of this ridge to your right. When they are out of the way, keep going up the ridge from where the Menials were coming and when you see the Carbine ammo, look into the sewer tunnel to the right for a dead soldier and a detonator. Approach the detonator to end the chapter and watch the cut scene of the explosion.
3. "Giant Slayer"
River Thames
London, England
July 14th, 1951 1055 GMT
You and Cartwright are together again in your happy little jeep. Things are a bit more urgent this time as you have a Stalker barreling down on top of you. He isn't too big of a problem if you just drive around him in circles. Cartwright will be wailing on him with the machine gun and as long as you just keep going around the Stalker in fast circles, he'll never lay a round on you. When the Stalker has passed on into oblivion, drive around the area and look for the gate. It should be pretty easy to find as it will be marked with incoming Bullseye rounds. Drive over to the gate and run over anyone wandering around out there, then just park grill first in the doorway and wait. Any further Hybrids will be sawed into pieces by Cartwright as soon as they step in front of the jeep.
When you get a good long pause between Hybrids, hop out of the jeep and Cartwright will follow. Pick up the ammo in front of the door, head in, turn left and be ready for a Hybrid to come running down the hall at you. At the end of the hall is a large room with a bunch of equipment in it to use as cover. You are going to need it because there are two Steelheads in here along with about seven Hybrids. With Cartwrights help, you shouldn't have too much of a problem getting them all out of the way. There is plenty of cover for you here as long as you handle the Steelheads quickly.
When that skirmish is over, look into the distance to see the Stalker parked off in the distance. There are two more Steelheads patrolling around it and if you can keep your distance and aim in on them before they see you, you can get them out of the way with your Fareye. When they have been eliminated, run up to the Stalker, grab the health and ammo in the corner if you need it, the push triangle to take climb in the Stalker for some more fun.
You have heard it talked about, and maybe seen a picture or two, but now for the first and (Thank God) only time, you will face a Goliath. He is pretty much just an oversize Stalker armed with mortar rounds and rockets. These are the guys that launch the Spires, although you're not going to see him do it. Step out into the snow and the Goliath will appear around the rock formation in front of you. Right away, start hammering away at it with both the machine gun and the rockets. Overheat the machine guns be damned, just lay on the R1 button and stay there. Let them overheat. They'll cool down when they do and then start back up again. Every time the rockets reload, fire another one. The Goliath is going to take a whole lot of punishment before he finally goes down, so keep yourself moving to avoid his mortars and rockets because you won't take nearly the punishment he will. You don't have to venture very far out of the starting position, but you do need to keep moving back and forth to avoid his fire. Don't forget to press X while you are moving to use the "dash" feature. You may get lucky and drive the Goliath back around the rock formation and then he will park himself on the other side of the barricade to your left. If he does, his mortars won't go past the barricade and you can just sit there and hammer him while avoiding the occasional rocket until he goes down.
When the Goliath has finally had enough and dies in a brilliant explosion, look to the right for two Stalkers to come around the corner, one behind the other. Act quickly to put them out of their misery, especially if you took any kind of significant beating from the Goliath. When you have cleared them out of your path, drive over to where they came from and around the corner. As you pass into the next area, look to the right for two more Stalkers in the distance. Try to get rid of them while they remain in the distance and they will more than likely never get a shot off at you. With them gone, there will be nothing left between you and that big doorway buy some ground troops. Some allies will also be dropped in from above to lend a hand. Blast as many ground troops as you can from the Stalker, and when you have cleared all you think you can, approach the door and you will be
automatically ejected from the Stalker so you can proceed.
Arm yourself with the LAARK before you walk in. The chapter is about over, but it's going out with a bang . . .or four. When you get inside, you'll get a quick cut scene and a Widowmaker will come smashing through a wall. Start in on her right away with the LAARK. I'm not sure if I missed her once or not, but I used up all 4 rockets on her, then about a half a clip of Carbine ammo later, she was done for. The trick here is to just keep backing away from her and keep on firing until she goes down, or up depending on how you look at it. When she does, the chapter will end and you will see that you lose Cartwright's help from here on out.
Continue to the Chimeran Tower . . . |
