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RED Volunteers: Burning down the park
Posted By: Mark LevinDate: 4/7/04 4:05 p.m.

RED's difficulty finally begins to let up a bit, as this level will give you 2 powerful new weapons that make things significantly easier.

The first thing to do when entering the level is to rush out and grab the 2 shotguns that teleport in right in front of the elevator. You've been gathering shotgun ammo since the beginning of the game; now you finally have a use for it. The "holy Shotguns" will kill any Metalloid with one shot up to a pretty good range, and it's easy to hit them since it's a wide burst. Kill everything in the area - it's a lot easier when you have enough room to effectively dodge the homing shots and circle strafe - then head through the smashed grating and into the park maintenance area. Step into the small room with the 2 circuit panels to trigger an ambush of sphere bots; kill them and the 2 floaters through the window and smash both circuits. Leave the room and continue around the corner, take out the sphere and head bots and tab the 2 pay phones. The one to the right is a pattern buffer; the one to the left is a terminal with a brief update from Ian.

After this, you enter the park proper. Watch out for the floater in the room to the left, and grab the shotgun ammo behind the vending machine. Keep going through the open area into the "hub".

Use the Mercury to shoot all the Metalloids in the area past the grate; don't go through the grate yet because their shots will usually hit the transparent wall (but not all the time, so try to dodge them anyway). Stepping past the midpoint of this area will trigger an ambush on both sides, retreat to the cleared-out field if you need to get your bearings. Once they're dead, move on to the new area. Step into the corner structure to get more ammo, then shoot the switch with the shotgun from the grass (this avoids an army of head bots that would appear if you walked into the alcove). Head back to the hub room and go through the open door.

This area is a fairly large hedge maze, which would be quite difficult if all the Metalloids in it were less reluctant to attack you. Most of them just float there and wait to be shot down. Take it slow, use the shotgun, and make sure to always have somewhere to dodge when attacking an enemy. Eventually, you'll find another switch; this one must also be hit with the shotgun because you can't get close enough to tab or punch it. It opens another door back at the hub.

This area has a pool or stream running through it, and it can be a bitch to complete. There's a new type of Metalloid on the distant island, who fires a rapid stream of what appear to be Hunter bolts. Kill him first, then shoot the floater trying to hide behind a tree and the other one off to the left. At some point, a horde of sphere and head bots rises from the pool; kill them all. If you fall in the water, the elevator's to the east.

Jump onto the island to pick up the powerful yet bizarre Conch Miner and a few ammo clips for it. This weapon can be very effective against the Metalloids, and even against crowds of Organics. Its primary trigger fires a stream of electricity that has the same "crowd control" effect as the railgun from Evil (damage is greatly amplified when shooting tightly packed groups of monsters); this also means you shouldn't use it at point-blank range because you'll get hit too. The second trigger lays mines; I never found these very useful. You also won't get any extra mines for a while.

Keep going through the door and kill everyone admiring the tree (watch out for the second upgraded Gunner), then tab the steel plate at the far end of the room. Consistent use of meaningful textures like doors and terminals is not really one of Ian's string points. Shoot everyone, grab all the ammo which for some reason is floating at chest height, save on the left phone (why are these reversed from the previoius pair of phones?) and read the message on the right. The logout message is a bit silly and doesn't really fit the mood, a minor niggle which will continue to periodically interrupt the atmosphere for the rest of the game.

When you exit this room, the door slams shut behind you. Can't have youy running back and saving or the level be *too* easy and we'd get confused about which scenario we're playing (fortunately, there's a pattern buffer at the beginning of the next level, surrounded by monsters of course). Kill everyone, then head down the stairs to the west. Ian tells you some bad news: Michael is moving across the city to get closer to the local arsenal, and if he gets there the Metalloids will be able to significantly upgrade their weapons. Time to head into the sewers...

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Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

RED Volunteers: Burning down the parkMark Levin 4/7/04 4:05 p.m.
     Re: RED Volunteers: Burning down the parkMark Levin 4/7/04 4:08 p.m.
           Re: RED Volunteers: Burning down the parkSteve Levinson 4/7/04 4:35 p.m.
                 Re: RED Volunteers: Burning down the parkMark Levin 4/7/04 6:05 p.m.
     Re: RED Volunteers: Burning down the parkDr. John Sumner 4/8/04 3:04 a.m.
           Re: RED Volunteers: Burning down the parkMark Levin 4/8/04 6:05 a.m.

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