: Personally I found rubicon to be one of the most
: rewarding, challenging scenarios i've ever played. Harder than RED. Yep, I
: said harder than RED. Reason being? F#CKING MASER BOBS/NEW ENFORCERS!!!!
: YAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!!!!
Interesting comment. I have always been baffled by those who place Rubicon in the league of hard scenarios when I managed to get through it on TC so handily. I'm no vidmaster, although I obviously have become quite skilled over the years. I think that the key point is that every monster has its vulnerability and learning what these are and how to exploit them is a big part of the game. We all know the vulnerabilities of the original Marathon monsters and most of us can take down single hunters and S'Pht with our fists. Rubicon's fighters and troopers are actually easier to kill as they won't fire back when being hit. The maser bobs and enforcers are definitely a challenge.
In the case of the former, you can outrun them, but the best way to take them out is to sneak up on them and to fire just about anything at them. They are incredibly vulnerable, so even the magnum is effective. When there are multiple maser bobs, just firing a grenade is often sufficient to take them both out, although you will miss being able to collect their weapons. In the case of the new enforcers, those guided bolts are definitely a killer. It is very difficult, although not impossible to outrun them, but eventually the enforcers will get you. They are very readiy stoped by dual magnums or a spray of bullets, so I find the best approach to be to sneak up on them and fire before they have a chance. Dual shotguns won't work with them - you'll always take damage. If you're interested, the way I approached the denizens of enforcers in Hell Pfhor You was to use rockets. This sacrificed picking up their weapons (something John Sumner would not approve of), but it made it fairly straight-forward.
I suppose the problem I have with RED is that I haven't figured out the monsters' vulnerabilities, yet. Unfortunately, the player is so thoroughly ambushed in the first real level that it's hard to get to square one.
