'Hell Yeah' and other fun moments

[Jim di Griz]

As per a few kind requests to hear some of my impressions and activities whilst discovering this fine game, I thought I'd start with a few moments which I felt went damn sweetly.

Okay, in truth they are probably nothing compared to what most of you have already experienced. I did enjoy the following instances though - call them achievements not required by the game, made more enjoyable by the fact that they were self concocted.

At the north-eastern gun shop, I got the mission to destroy a rival supplier's shipment in the south-west. I'd already spent most of the day exploring the north-east and knew once I reached the north-western bus station I'd not make the trip all the way down south in time before my lady returned home from w@&k - so I grabbed one of the fast dune hoppers and decided to see how far I could outrun any persuit.

Keeping purely to the dirt tracks for better speed, I barreled on down through Cattle Xing, leaving shouts and any following merc jeeps far behind, despite loosing power gradually to too much lead injection in the engine... ;)

I got over the first bridge and then down to the second after the railway line before the engine died, predictably halfway over the bridge. With angry mercs to my rear coming at me from three sides and a bunch ahead spoiling for a fight, plus the boats on the river, I had an interesting half-hour of trying to stay alive long enough to unlock that safe house and get a save point. Fortunately I did all that and lived to fight another day. So in all I managed to get almost half way down the northern map in one dash - seems all those hours racing buggies in DiRT 1 & 2 really paid off.

Fun part 2: today I started with the railyard mission. Having scoped it out from the rocks above, I opted to drive all the way around and approach from the south, as I had seen an interesting looking hole in the perimiter there. On a slow approach, I spotted a lone merc running back to the railyard from the desert, popped him with my sniper rifle then took out the three on the main building roof from behind. The real fun started when I got close to that gap in the corrugated sheeting wall. First off I saw the lurker at the south-west corner, so shot him and crouched down under cover of the raised bit of sheeting set at right angles to the hole I was aiming for. Hearing voices, I just waited there for a moment, then heard approaching footsteps. The first to arrive found the dead merc, stopped and exclaimed something like "Christ..." then joined him in a heap, followed three seconds later by another, all dead on the same spot. I heard footsteps swishing through the grass from the other direction, turned and dropped the merc coming around my hide from behind. I spent the next few minutes alternatately covering each approach to my hidey-hole until they stopped coming. By then I had six dead on one side and three on the other. I only found two others after that, quite a successful venture in all.

[Binnatics]

...seems all those hours racing buggies in DiRT 1 & 2 really paid off.

I know these tracks damn well too  ;) heheh

Great experiences mate. Must have been really crowded with all these pursuers after that run :o

About the railyard mission; I've at least tried that south approach once myself. It indeed pays to wait patiently. I remember being hasty and rushing in various times, which kept me busy for quite some more time(and more tries) that when I had waited for them to come look for me instead :-D

[Jim di Griz]

...Great experiences mate. Must have been really crowded with all these pursuers after that run :o

Cheers - yeah, I think there were something like five burning wrecks on the north approach slope to the bridge by the time it was all over, plus another off on the side road  :)

I think we're lucky that the game elves come and clear all this stuff up after we're gone, otherwise it'd be one big burnt-out scrap yard from one side of the map to the other by now.

[Binnatics]

I think we're lucky that the game elves come and clear all this stuff up after we're gone, otherwise it'd be one big burnt-out scrap yard from one side of the map to the other by now.

Indeed. It would get kind of bloody in the end ;)

[PZ]

Great stories Jim  :-X

When you blast through the Cattle Xing, it is quite the challenge to stay alive because the mercs are excellent marksmen, and easily target your engine.  When I go through that area I use several methods - if approaching from the north, I usually snipe all I can and then torch the place.  There are plenty of flammables to make it quite the fireworks show.

The Rail yard missions are among my favorites, and I always approach from the hidden path to the east.  It is just so much fun to snipe from above and torch flammables.  One time I went there with the flare pistol and managed to kill almost all of the mercs with fire.

I remember the game well enough to almost relive what you're describing  :-X

[Art Blade]

Good read there, Jim :)

The rail yard story reminds me of probably my second attempt to get it over with when I wasn't yet too familiar with the surroundings. I had chosen the hidden path up the rocks and crawled along the rocky ledge overseeing the yard and felt safe when I saw the mercs walking around down there. I happily took out one after another with a sniper (probably dart) and was convinced they'd never manage to get me as it was apparently unclimbable. To my utter surprise and shocked to the bones I found myself trapped and my way out cut off from the back by a bunch of mercs who had somehow managed to get up to my location, probably with an evil grin on their faces when opening fire at me. Ever since I made sure to cover my six  :-D

[PZ]

Jumping to the rock ledge as far toward the south from that sniper position minimizes the Wild Bill effect - I hardly ever get caught by surprise any more.  :-()

[Art Blade]

Yeah, we learn from experiences as long as we survive them. Which reminds me, what doesn't kill us makes us weirder.  :-()

[Jim di Griz]

Yeah, we learn from experiences as long as we survive them. Which reminds me, what doesn't kill us makes us weirder.  :-()

like it!

I got caught the first time in exactly the same spot Art, barely made it out alive (no rescue buddy at the time to rely on) so leaving the mission incomplete. I think I started up on the rocks PZ mentioned during the second approach before moving down to mix it up with the remainder. Did it again today to get the gas containers, came in from the desert, which was...interesting.

By way of an update - I've managed to lose three buddies now  :'( that's something I'll be prepared for in the next playthrough  :-[ I'll be taking a fast buggy for the side mission  that ends at the train wreck site and all automatic weapons for the northern Oasis one - it doesn't give you much time to get up those ladders, does it? There again, I might have been disorientated and a tad indiscriminate in my grenade lobbing as soon as I emerged... ;)

[PZ]

I never came in from the desert side - might give that one a go the next time.  :-X

[Art Blade]

Hehe  :-()

Well, I think we all got used to going through rescue buddies like a white-glowing axe through butter. And we enjoy it. Why? Wait until you see the end of it  >:D On the other hand, if you want their side missions.. you might want to do them first and only then dispose of your beloved feathered and tarred fr.. err, your best buddies  :-() Check the tips topic, I wrote up a couple of strategies how to do what, which, when and why with buddies  ;)

And two key words: "Oasis + ladder" = headbutt the mission designer right then and there. And shove a pineapple up his bum and rip the pin out through his throat, say "ta-dah" and RUN >:D

[Binnatics]

Yeah, them best buddies; they bring out the best in you >:D 8-X

[Jim di Griz]

...And two key words: "Oasis + ladder" = headbutt the mission designer right then and there. And shove a pineapple up his bum and rip the pin out through his throat, say "ta-dah" and RUN >:D

:) so I'm not the only one then  :-X I wonder if game devs in future might do something along the lines of the Japanese w@&k-place practice of providing an indestructible, life size effigy of the boss and put it in a room with a rack of Bokken swords for the staff to vent their frustration on. The devs could do a virtual representation of the level designers so the players can let off steam shooting, blowing up or burning the snot out of them in an areana  ;)

Nicely hinted at regarding the ending all  :-X and thanks  :) - unfortunately I caught sight of that end snippet by mistake some time ago, so I know what to expect already...

[fragger]

Great stuff so far, Jim :-X :)

Just curious - what difficulty level are you playing on?

Nicely hinted at regarding the ending all  :-X and thanks  :) - unfortunately I caught sight of that end snippet by mistake some time ago, so I know what to expect already...

I was wondering why you didn't seem too cut up about your buddies buying it...

[Jim di Griz]

Normal difficulty, I think. First playthroughs I generally choose that to guage the true difficulty level. Are the three very distinct in their differences?

A  bit peeved today, I just did the last mission on the northern map - as I had a stealth loadout, I had no choice but to go to Mike's Bar and rescue them as I didn't fancy waltzing into Pala without some heavy ordnance. I cleared the area then went inside and there were only two of us by that point, so we got swamped.

Next thing I knew I was over on the south map, safe enough and proceeding to do the bits required of me when I saw that my stats simply classed my buddies from the north as amongst the abandoned  ??? I could understand that if I'd gone for the church instead...

Games, eh?

[PZ]

That part of the game is a bit funny, but in reality it does not matter if you choose Mike's or the Church - you still end up in the same place.

[Jim di Griz]

Yeah, I thought it might be. That was the Jackal in the hut wasn't it? The first scene at the start, I could hardly make any features out, so couldn't be sure during the north/south cutscene.

[PZ]

You got it - the Jackal; one of the few times you actually see him in the game.

[fragger]

Re: the difficulty levels, there's quite a difference between Normal and the hardest level, Infamous. On Infamous the mercs can bring you undone very quickly, plus your ammo-carrying capacity is severely limited, e.g. only two hand grenades (three once you buy the webbing) and the equivalent of only a couple of clips of ammo for each weapon. I'm not 100% sure but I think the mercs' shooting may be more accurate too.

Hardcore is a good compromise between difficulty and - well, fun. Hard enough to be challenging, easy enough to prevent frequent blue language outbursts :-() Having said that, and having played the last few games on Infamous, I now find Normal to be a cakewalk by comparison.

[Jim di Griz]

Ah, so it has four difficulty levels then - something like Uncharted though only crushing was really challenging there. I'll definitely be doing it hardcore next time as those mercs do tend to faff about sometimes when they see you.

Cheers for the run down of their merits.

[Art Blade]

those mercs do tend to faff about sometimes

:-X

[Jim di Griz]

Had a fun moment at the roadblock with the sniper and RPG guy toady. I didn't know any merc had them so was pulled up just short of the GP and having fun with the .50 cal when a rocket came straight at me.

I actually ducked  but had the instinct to dismount too before it hit.

Gotta love this game!

EDIT: I thought the trophy 'Dawa ya moto ni moto' was just something you'd get for stirring up both sides in the safe zones and was wondering why I didn't get it after spending part of a night dashing into Pala, planting charges, blowing up groups with my RPG and variously being the neighbour's kid from Hell...

The actual escape mission was way cooler though  :-D

[mandru]

The difficulty settings are a bit odd in FC2 as to how they change the game.

It seems that the only thing that changes at higher difficulty levels (besides the amount of ammo and first aid you can carry) is how easily you can be hurt.  I don't think the mercs aim any better, they are still using the same weapons against you as in lower level difficulty settings and I know that their numbers at the different points of interest are not increased by notching up the settings.

[fragger]

I wasn't sure about the mercs' accuracy. Maybe it's because they do more damage that it just seems like they're more accurate :-()

The .50 cals really hurt on Infamous. Just a couple of hits from one of those and it's rescue buddy time...

[Jim di Griz]

My latest 'proud moment' was the mission in the Dogon Village where I needed to destroy the kiln. Two shots is all it took from start to finish, including the RPG to blow the kiln.

I came in from the extreme north end, crept up all stealthily like and crouched at the village's north eastern corner for a short while, pondering the best approach.

I saw a few mercs on idle patrol but predictably not grouped together. I had the AS50 an Uzi and RPG on me, so stealth wasn't really going to be an option - as usual, I hadn't htought this through. As luck would have it, I could see a small propane tank that game baddies tend to leave carelessly lying around the place, though only one merc was stood anywhere nearby.

I then saw on the higher path slightly north of the one with the gas tank, a merc moving just out of sight, presumably on patrol. I guessed he was heading down to the same location as the idle merc near the tank. I could also hear him talking to another.

It's now or never I thought. Lining up on the propane I waited until the new merc was also in sight and shot the tank - shot one. Apparently it killed four of 'em and remarkably no alarm was raised. Perhaps they were used to malfunctioning propane tanks...well, it seemed that way.

Going with the flow, I moved on upwards, taking the higher path just recently vacated.

The next few minutes (felt like fifteen) were full of fraught, furtive dashes from cover to cover as I climbed steadily higher, still unchallenged.

Then I was on the uppermost level of the village proper, just below the kiln area and still I'd met no one. Now it was getting intense and I had a wild hope of making this w@&k without the usual group of mercs appearing out of nowhere and attempting to jump up and down on my head.

Being so convinced that I'd missed a subtle clue somewhere, I was moving back and forth, quartering every possible angle amongst the huts to check for said bunch of mercs, when I saw one crouched right in front of me...out came the machette and in one chop, he was peaceful.

Oddly enough, the mortar jockey saw this as his cue to home in on me. Apparently the subtle sound of a machette that couldn't be heard be someone two metres away, was crystal clear to him, wherever he was (still don't know btw.) Naturally, I shot off to the upper level and he stopped lobbing shells. Oddly enough, no one thought to come and look why he'd decided to shoot of a couple of rounds like that.

So there I was, on the top level, target found and the whole area scoured for any more lurking mercs. I'd seen the hang-glider on the ledge earlier, so as my next task I found out where the path was leading to it, as in the aftermath I really wanted to avoid any awkward social encounters on the way back down.

All set, I lined myself up on the target from a safe distance, then popped my second shot of the mission off - mission complete.

Okay, that was two shots and a swipe with a machette - I still think it was cool  :) and I got away clean too  :-X