All that T&R talk in the AOTCR thread got me itchy; haven't been out on that night-time excursion for quite a while. As well as that, fellow cyborg Two Finger has been emailing me about the level, and something he said suggested a new challenge: to get through on Legendary with only AR and grenades (without yourself or Keyes dying). Oooh, nasty.
So, I fired up T&R on Legendary and braced myself for the worst. I got through the first area but it left me with only two health bars and no Marines. Ouch - must do better next time. Later reinforcements were likewise slaughtered, but I managed to get through and up to the ship to fight the boarding battle. Luckily I've had a fair bit of past practice there with AR and grenades, and it paid off. Sarge bit the dust but I got four bozos through. Not that it made much difference in the long run: we made it to the hangar where the game later ends, but they were wiped out in seconds. The red Elite up above was a real pain. I wasn't making much progress on him from down below, so I decided to just work around him. I killed enough enemies to trigger the Hunters, and by this time I was beginning to have glorious visions of getting through this AR challenge first go. Sadly it was not to be. I slightly misjudged a Hunter swipe and got knocked off the ship, falling to my death. Arrggh! So needless and so disappointing. Challenge failed.
I continued anyway, to see how bad the rest of the task would be. As it turned out, there was a nasty bit higher up in the hangar where I again got killed; so even if I hadn't fouled up with the Hunter, I probably still would've failed. I kept on going and released the Marines; but yes you guessed it, Keyes got himself killed. Gah! Stay at the back you pipe-smokin' fool! But on a second attempt I got him safely to the end, and we all flew back home for tea and biscuits.
So, failure this time, but at least I know it's doable. I'll probably give it another go tonight. Anyone else care to try, and maybe talk tactics for certain places? The tactical element makes it a really interesting experience; you really have to think hard about how to tackle things. Also there's quite a lot of tension because you know you've only got this feeble popgun, and there are Elites out there with plasma rifles! If Legendary is too frustrating try Heroic; that's still going to be a good challenge.
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