1. Angel's Lair
2. Last Hope
1. "Angel's Lair"
Chimeran Tower
London, England
July 14th, 1951 1208 GMT
You've made it into the tower and entered the last setting for the game. At the end of the elevator ride, step off and walk down the hallway collecting everything you can get your hands on along the way. When you reach the other end, there will be a short ramp that leads up into a small tunnel. As you walk up the ramp, you will pick up the Bullseye Mark II. The Mark II works just like the first one you had, except now the rounds that come out are blue and they are twice as powerful. Ordinarily I'd say this was great, except now the enemies you will face are twice as strong and they're carrying the same damn weapon. The only thing we've achieved here is that you are going to get hurt faster. Awesome.
As you continue through this short tunnel, you'll get your first look at a real live Angel. She pops down in front of you by surprise. When she does, just back away from her. She will not attack you and in just a second she is going to take off and disappear just as quick as she appeared, but she is going to scream at you and if you are standing too close, her breath hurts. I mean literally, it hurts. It will take 25% off your life if you just stand there staring. When she is gone again, walk to the edge of the tunnel and drop down to the platform below. Scoop up the LAARK ammo to refill from your recent encounter with the Widowmaker.
Have some heavy stuff ready as you proceed up the pathway from here. Air-Fuel grenades are a real good thing to have at the ready as well as your Mark II. As you get farther up the ramp, you will get swarmed by a stronger strain of Hybrids called, what else, Advanced Hybrids. To be sure, every Hybrid you see from now until the end of the game will be an Advanced Hybrid so you'll know what I'm talking about. They are armed with the Mark II as well, and it will put a serious hurting on you. At the first sign of their approach, which usually a pretty blue Mark II round coming your way, toss an Air-Fuel grenade in their direction and keep watching. There are no less than 12 Hybrids in this little party, so you can be sure that one grenade will not be enough. Toss up a second one and then let rip with the Mark II to finish off any stragglers. Just a bit further up the ramp past the ambush is a round platform with some equipment on it. 4 more Hybrids hide amongst the equipment. Good time to play with the tag here. They have the cover, you don't. When those 4 are done, step on in to the platform and pick up the generous helping of health.
When you have everything here and have caught your breath, flip the switch in the middle of the platform and watch the door open in front of you. This bridge appears empty for the moment but when you get about halfway across, you begin your first fight with an Angel. She is pretty quick and can dart away from your fire with ease. While she is at it, she is also hurling wads of green crap at you that travels at a pretty decent speed. This is no Widowmaker snot ball, this stuff is moving, and when it hits the ground it releases a green cloud that damages your health if you are standing in it. You have the LAARK loaded if you feel like doing it that way, but she is pretty spry and will often dodge your rockets. It finally occurred to me to whip out the Fareye and aim in at her in "focus" mode. One shot to the head took her out, but I'm unsure how much I had damaged her with other weapons before I had this epiphany.
After she goes POOF, the doors ahead of you will open and a whole load of angry Menials will hobble your way. When you stop laughing long enough to start disposing of them, watch for a lone Hybrid up ahead that will also start shooting. Clear away the Hybrid and the Menial swarm all the way up and into the next round platform room. Before going any further, you may have noticed as you crossed the bridge that you can see through the floor, and there is another pathway underneath it. In the middle of the bridge there are two ramps that will take you down to this walkway. Collect the ammo and health down here that you need and go back up to the newest platform room.
Exit out the other side of this room and start up yet another bridge and look for two Steelheads patrolling ahead. If you can catch one with Fareye, by all means do so. There is another ramp down to a lower walkway on your left and sometimes the second Steelhead will hide down there and wait for you to come by just so he can ambush you so watch for that. Leave the ramp alone for the moment and move ahead to seek out three more Hybrids. They will be up in the round room ahead. If you only find two, there is another ramp that leads down below to your right, and he likes to hide down there. When everyone is all taken care of, then you can go down one of the ramps to the walkway below and pick up the LAARK ammo along with Intelligence Document #35. Return back up top and step onto the round elevator platform at the end of the bridge.
Push the button to ride up to the next level. When you get there, look for the tunnel leading out of this room and step on in. Once inside, you'll get your words of wisdom for the day: "Two eyes good, six eyes bad." Head down the tunnel as it curves around (this is going to sound really silly but you'll thank me for it in a minute) and as soon as you see a Hybrid in front of you, turn around and start back and there will be another one sneaking up behind you. Blast him down and then you can turn around and handle the two that were in front of you.
At the end of the tunnel is a large room with out of service Stalkers dangling from the ceiling. The two Hybrids and three Slipskulls in here are very much in service however. Before even dropping into the room, eliminate the Hybrids first, followed by a little tag and frag on the Slipskulls who conveniently spend a lot of time on that big post in the middle of the room. For fun, make sure you hit one of the dangling Stalkers and watch it swing in the breeze.
When you have killed all you can, step down into the room and creep sideways to the right as you look ahead to the next area. If you've crept well, you should see a Hybrid patrolling ahead that is still unaware of your presence. He makes beautiful Fareye fodder. That shot will get the attention of three Menials that are on the platform overhead. Blast them as they come down the ramp. The room should be unoccupied at this point, so go up the ramp on the left side of the room and collect the ammo at the top, then cross over the platform to exit into the next tunnel.
This is a very short tunnel and comes to a room similar to the last one. You probably won't have to exit the tunnel to grab the attention of two Hybrids just inside the room and if you back away, the will come into the tunnel to get you. One of them will even be so kind as to toss in a Hedgehog, so be on the lookout for it. Use your Mark II to drop these brave souls.
Continue to stay in the tunnel while you survey the scene ahead. Arm the Fareye and you will see a Hybrid patrolling on the floor to your left. More importantly, look up at the top of the ramp to the right and you'll see a Steelhead blending nicely into the background. Make him your primary target of course. This will grab the attention of the Hybrid on the floor, so be ready for him to come looking for you. Don't go getting all cocky yet. There is still another Steelhead standing at the top of the ramp to the left blending in just as nicely. Slowing down time with the Fareye will handle him as well and the room will now be safe to cross.
Gather the ammo from your fallen foes and exit the room through the tunnel that the last Steelhead was standing in front of at the top of the ramp. There two health pick-ups in here and the room at the other end of the tunnel is free of hostile life forms, so walk on in and step on the round platform. Push the button to ride up to yet another floor and find the odd looking tunnel that leads out of this room.
As you go through this tunnel, don't be alarmed by the mechanical noise as you go. It is nothing that is going to hurt you. Turn right out the door at the end, grab the ammo out here if you need it, then turn left and look for the entrance back into another tunnel. When you turn right to look down this next tunnel, be sure to check out the two Slipskulls zipping around the next room. Tag and frag so you can move forward.
Step down into the room, and again ignore the mechanical sounds. Grab the health there if you need it and watch the lovely cocoons move about if you would like. When you are ready, step into the next tunnel and go to the doorway out of it to the left. When you step out, there is a low wall that curves around to the right. You have to jump up on it to proceed and walk carefully around it without falling off the edge to your death. When you are about halfway around, 4 Hybrids pick this opportune moment to jump out from the right and give you a Blue Bullseye party. Since you are in a precarious spot, run straight at them to get off of the beam and blast right into their face. If you are thinking quickly enough, don't even move and throw an Air-Fuel grenade over there. When all is said and done, there are two doors to your right. One of them doesn't go anywhere but it does have some health in it and the other is the tunnel to move on, which also contains a health.
Move through the tunnel out into the next large round room. There is lots of cover in here, but you don't need it as the room is unoccupied. Exit out the tunnel on the other side and go to the door on the left. When you step out this door, turn immediately right and be ready for two Steelheads. Be happy that at least you aren't standing on a balance beam this time. With the Steelheads dead, proceed past them and enter into the tunnel on the right.
Walk on through and the texture of the tunnel will change and slope sharply upwards. Watch the hole at the top of the slope for a couple of Slipskulls that don't want you to pass by. Tag and frag and move on to the round elevator platform at the end of the tunnel. Push the button to start the ascent and in just a moment, the chapter will end. It's almost over now.
2. "Last Hope"
Chimeran Tower
London, England
July 14th, 1951 1513 GMT
Ok boys and girls, this is it. Chapter Last. You've made it this far so there is no sense in stopping now. It's not going to be an easy trip, so let's get started . . . .
Step off the elevator when it get to the top and move into the short tunnel to look into the next room. See that big pile of ammo in there? Figure the odds you're just going to jump down in there and grab it. As soon as your feet hit the floor in there, you'll be met by a combo Leaper/Roller ambush. At this point in the game, you should know how to handle it. When they are gone and you have collected the ammo you need, look behind the wall on the left side for two health pick-ups and Intelligence Document #36. You probably don't need the health right now, but remember it's there.
When you enter the next section, two large sections of the walls will drop down and on the other side an ally will be having it out with a Widowmaker. Whip out the LAARK and let her have it. Once again it took all 4 rounds from the LAARK and an extra half a clip from the Carbine and down she went. By all means, run back to the first room and reload the LAARK, but do it quick because you have five Hybrids on your heels. Run behind the wall where you picked up the document for cover and pick them off as quick as you can.
You are now free to explore this massive chamber and the generous supply of ammo and health it has to offer. Keep your ears open for periodic Leaper attacks while you search. They are usually very small attacks of no more than three Leapers. When you've seen all you wanted to see, head up the short ramp into the only tunnel out of here (besides the one you came in, of course). As you move through the tunnel, be ready for two small sets of Rollers to drop from the ceiling. Before stepping out onto the conduit at the end, look way up and to the right for two Steelheads up above. They are a long ways away, but you can bet they see you. Welcome to Steelhead City.
I hope you are good with the Fareye by now. Snipe the two Steelheads that are now shooting at you. With those out of the way, look for yet another standing on the conduit ahead of you. With any luck, he is still clueless and has his back to you, so take him out before he buys a clue. Things get a little slippery here.
These conduits are a little bit narrower than the ones from a few chapters ago, so walk carefully ahead and keep your eyes looking as far ahead on the conduit as possible. When you see another platform, you'll also get two more Steelheads. These guys are sharper than the last and they will see you right away and I'm not sure, but I thought I saw one of them laughing at me because I was standing on not much more than a thread while they hammered away at me. This is when being good with the Fareye and utilizing the "focus" comes in real handy. When you've managed those two, continue up the conduit. When you reach the platform, you get three more Steelheads on the other side. Two are standing on the next conduit you have to travel and the third is in the entrance to the tunnel at the far end. Good thing they put all that Fareye ammo in the middle of this platform. If you've taken a beating through all this, don't be ashamed to go all the way back to the room you started the chapter in to gather health, that’s why I told you to remember it was there.
Enter the tunnel where the last Steelhead went down and the circular door will open. If you thought the Steelheads were fun, the next area is where stuff really starts to hit the fan. As you enter the next area, you see in the distance that an aircraft has arrived to drop off some relief. Your optimism is short lived when the plane is suddenly ripped out of the sky by an Angel. It's between you and the Angel now and it just gets worse from here. Dodge the Angel's green gas goo and pound her with some LAARK shots to loosen her up. Finish her off with whatever else you have handy.
As soon as she is gone, Hybrids come in on the walkways high above you in addition to yet another Angel. You can handle this situation in any order you wish, but my suggestion is to run from cover to cover picking off the Hybrids above one by one with the Fareye. Maintain an eye on the Angel so you can get away from her green gas goo when you need to. There are about 5 Hybrids up there, so pick positions where you can take down one while not getting hit by the others. Working your way around the room, you should be able to find plenty of cover to get them one by one. When they are all gone, you are now free to run around the room focusing only on the Angel.
If it is just you and the Angel left, you should have a fairly easy time running around the area to locate some more LAARK ammo. There are 4 more boxes, where else, over closer to where the Angel is hanging out and the door that will eventually lead you out of here. When you finally get the flying snot blower to explode, the area is clear, so of course THEN you will get backup.
Grab up everything you can possibly get your hands on before you leave this area. Things are only going to go downhill from here. Take the tunnel out of the area when you have what you're going to get. On your way through it, you'll get a small ambush of Rollers, followed not long after by two Slipskulls. After the Slipskulls, keep an eye out as you continue forward for Intelligence Document #37, the last document in the game. You can cruise on down to the end of the tunnel and climb on the round elevator platform. Hit the switch and head on up to the home stretch.
At the top, grab up everything you need from around the platform and move in to the tunnel. You will get a brief cut scene, and when it is over you'll be tossed into a little more mayhem. The first concern is obviously going to be the Titan right in front of you. Hopefully by now you can quickly deal with him via the tag and frag method. Keep yourself out of his fire as best you can in this narrow area. When he is beaten, you will be encouraged to move forward.
As you push forward, you'll run into more Hybrids along the way. Things are really crazy now and only getting crazier, so keep your wits about you. Handle the Hybrids as you come to them one by one. When you come around to another Titan, you're almost looking at the finish line. Take the Titan down quickly. Use the LAARK if you want to. When he is out of the way, press forward to where he was, handle the Hybrids that remain and when you can't go any further, take a right up the ramp and a right again behind the clear barrier and eliminate the two Steelheads waiting for you there.
The whole game boils down to this very point. It's one hell of a ride the rest of the way out. Hit the switch the Steelheads were guarding and your focus should now be on the pillar in the center of the room. There are four glowing orange rods around that pillar and you must destroy each one as the shields covering them come down. The first shield to come down will be the one directly to the right as you are looking at the pillar from the switch, so quickly move over to the ramp on that side of the switch.
The Chimera will now throw everything they have available at you. An Angel will appear and begin its assault as you hammer away at the exposed rod with any of the most powerful weapons you have. Be sure that Advanced Hybrids will also be attacking from the bottom of the ramp as you go. Focus on destroying that rod while doing your best to keep the attacking Hybrids away and dodging the green goo from the Angel. You have allies helping you, but they offer very little for you as far as protection. They mostly run around like idiots and scream encouragement. The first rod seems to explode pretty quickly, and as soon as it does, run like a bat out of hell back across the platform behind the switch to the left over to the ramp on the other side. You are going to go counter-clockwise around the pillar.
Same as last time, give that rod everything you can throw at it to get it to explode. The Angel is still throwing goo at you and Hybrids still come up the ramp at you, as well as across the platform by the switch which is now to your right. If there is a strategy here, I'm not sure what it is because you are in the midst of complete mayhem. Dodge the Angels goo and blast Hybrids as they approach. The only good piece of advice I can give you here is to NOT zoom in on the rods. Use your reticle in normal mode so you have some peripheral vision to see oncoming attacks. When the second rod is destroyed, there will be a brief pause before the shield comes down from in front of the third rod. Use this time to grab any health and ammo you can find, and give a thought to trying to eliminate the Angel if you can.
Head down the ramp and again to the left to the next rod. Watch for Hybrid attacks from both sides while you wait what will seem like half an hour for the next shield to come down. It's not really that long of course, but it will feel like it. Put some more well placed ammo into the Angel if you didn't manage to take her out before. When the shield does finally start to come down, there is no need to wait for it to be completely out of the way. Start shooting the top of that sucker as soon as you can get rounds to it. You are closer to it than you were on the ramp, so zooming in on it shouldn't even be a consideration anymore. Give it all you've got and get that rod to explode. When it does, run around again to the left, watch for anything and everything to both sides of you and say "Hi" to a second Angel.
There is another uncomfortably long pause before the shield comes down on this last rod. It's actually shorter than the last pause, but it doesn't feel that way. While you wait, lay some rounds into the new Angel while you dodge her goo and watch for more Hybrids. As soon as the shield starts to come down . . .the very second it starts to come down . . .start blasting that rod with the strongest weapon you have left. If you are going to die trying to complete this battle, its going to be about one Carbine round short of making that rod explode. Give it everything you have. When you finally destroy that last rod, watch for anything coming from anywhere. You have completed the game, but there is another uncomfortably long pause before your vision fades to close things out.
When your vision does fade, place your controller gently on the floor in front of you, place your hands behind your head and pat yourself on the back.
Congratulations my friends, you have completed PS3's flagship game!
The cut scene after the credits are done rolling is well worth the wait.
There is only one thing left to do now . . . .
PLAY AGAIN!! The new weapons the second time through make it even MORE fun!
If you made it this far, let people know that CandiedSkull got you here! |
