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| - Although you start out on foot a Spectre will soon arrive to pick you up. Since the spec-ops commander stubbornly refuses to give up his Wraith, the Spectre is the best we can do for the moment. (In lower difficulties, he will leave the Wraith and you can choose which vehicle you want). Interestingly, the level starts you out very close to your ultimate destination. Any attempts to head right for the control room, though, will likely be foiled by the cheap instant death barrier down below the cliff. Your first priority is to upgrade your vehicle to something a bit more robust, as you'll be wading through quite a few enemy Ghosts, as well as a couple of Wraiths. Thus, rather than jumping right into the combat at the beginning, I'd recommend boosting ahead a bit and boarding the first available Wraith, as shown in the next video. QuickTime (3.9 mb) | WMP9 (5.9 mb) The biggest danger associated with this tactic is probably being shot apart by Ghosts while you're boarding the Wraith. However, if you don't waste any time, you should usually be able to make it to the Wraith and complete the boarding before you really get swarmed. Using grenades to kill the driver can help speed up the process, though you run the risk of destroying the Wraith along with him. As your allies don't let little considerations like, say, the fact that you're clinging to the vehicle that they're firing on slow them down, there's also the danger of friendly fire. Partly for this reason (and partly to avoid getting caught in the explosion if it gets destroyed), I'd suggest parking your Spectre behind the rock before boarding the Wraith. Once you've safely gained control of the wraith, you can relax a bit. Obliterate any Ghosts that may be pestering you and move ahead to engage the two enemy Wraiths near the door. I'd recommend attacking them more or less head-on, as shown in the next video. QuickTime (3.4 mb) | WMP9 (3.4 mb) The small tree on the right can actually help provide a bit of cover, intercepting some of their shots. You could try flanking them from around the little hill on the right, but the narrow path severely restricts your movement, making you an easy target. Note that there's also a Phantom out past the cliff to the left who may fire on you at some point. From this distance, though, he's not really much of a threat, so you should just ignore him and focus on the Wraiths. Take a moment to savor vaporizing the Brutes running around on foot with the Wraith's cannon. When the area is clear, it is suggested to exchange your useless Plasma Rifle for a Brute Shot and as much ammo as you can find before heading inside. Unfortunately, you won't run across an Energy Sword for a while, so the Brute Shot is the best you can do for melee attacks. Once inside, proceed through the hallways, making sure to exchange your equally useless Plasma Pistol for a Beam Rifle along the way, until you enter a two-level room guarded by a phalanx of five Brutes on the upper level. A couple of additional Brutes will also enter through the upper door after you've killed off a few members of the initial group. You might be inclined to sit back in the hallway and use your newly-acquired Beam Rifle to pick off the Brutes from a distance. The problem with that tactic is that not only is it tedious (with all of the grenades bouncing around, it can be hard to get a clear shot unless you're cloaked), but your Hunters will take a tremendous pounding, and at least one of them will most likely die. The Hunters can be a valuable distraction in the next battle, and so it really pays to keep both of them alive. Thus, I'd recommend moving in on the Brutes right away, before they can deal out too much damage. Although there are quite a few of them, they tend to focus their attention on the Hunters, which makes it much easier to sneak up the ramp and kill several of them from behind before they even know you're there, as shown in the next video. QuickTime (2.1 mb) | WMP9 (2.1 mb) Make sure not to use your cloak too early, as you'll want to save it for when the Brutes arrive through the door. If necessary, you can also drop down to the lower level after taking out the first group. Note that, for some reason, the Brutes in the second group (even those that have gone berserk) have a tendency to retreat back the way they came when they're losing the battle, so if you don't finish them off here you'll have to deal with them in the next room. As usual, collect Plasma Grenades and Brute Shot ammo after the battle. As you proceed through the next door into the large cavern, you'll find yourself on one arm of a U-shaped platform that curves around to the right, while five Brutes occupy the other. Another group of two Brutes, two regular Jackals, and two Jackal Snipers will arrive from the cave on the opposite side after you either kill off most of the original Brutes or you approach the exit. The easiest way to survive this room is probably to run right through, as shown in the next video. QuickTime (1.7 mb) | WMP9 (1.6 mb) Jumping the chasm at a couple of points helps to speed things up and bypass the brute in the turret, though sometimes you may end up taking quite a bit of fire from the main group. Be sure to save your cloak for the end, as you'll need it to avoid the snipers. Despite the effectiveness of this tactic, I'd recommend fighting this battle merely because it can be rather fun. If you've been following my advice, you should be carrying a full sniper rifle, and so it's certainly possible to sit back and snipe everything. However, closing in on the enemies right away can work just as well for killing them all as it does for avoiding them. If you're quick enough, you can manage to get around behind the second group while they're still mostly bunched up, as shown in the next video. QuickTime (3.1 mb) | WMP9 (3.0 mb) Otherwise, if the second group manages to disperse, you'll just have to take out the first group and then approach the remaining enemies in whatever way seems best, as shown in the next video. QuickTime (3.5 mb) | WMP9 (3.5 mb) Note that you can always crouch jump over the low wall in order to flank the enemies, when necessary. Whatever you do, I'd advise against standing around in the vicinity of the turret brute. There are several exploding objects nearby that are easily detonated by brute shots and possess a dangerously wide kill radius. Continuing onward, you'll reach a short bridge defended by several nearby jackals, as well as a jackal sniper and several drones at the far end. The next video shows how I usually approach this battle. QuickTime (2.1 mb) | WMP9 (2.1 mb) Note that a phantom will appear on your left to complicate matters when you're about halfway across, so once you start moving I wouldn't stop until you're safely out the other side. In my view, there's not much to be gained from fighting the drones except pain, so I'd recommend running right past them. The timing of your cloak is very important here, as the drones will send a barrage of plasma fire your way if you wait too long, which will usually cancel your invisibility. Continue up the hallway and into the prison. Once again you'll have to deal with two large contingents of brutes, with the second group showing up, as usual, when enough members of the original group have fallen. Three jackals also lurk up on the walkway around the center of the room. Despite the large number of enemies, though, a relatively mindless tactic is all that's really necessary to clear the room, as the next video shows. QuickTime (7.3 mb) | WMP9 (7.0 mb) It's very easy to die if you take too long to fire a burst of needles, as the brutes will quickly start launching grenades and shooting carbines your way. The Needlers tracking is pretty forgiving, though, so you won't have to aim too carefully; but don't forget to use your cloak when it's available. It's possible to free your captured allies from prison during the battle (just shoot the little force field emitters in front of the cell doors). However, they won't last very long with all of the brutes around, so I usually don't bother. Sometimes, there will be a prison cell that holds two Hunters. If you really want to finish this quickly, free your elite allies and the hunters. It may buy you some time. Note that the door by the brutes will stay locked until the second group arrives, so even if you're planning on just running through the prison, you'll still have to kill at least a few of the enemies. When the battle is over, you should pick up the energy sword if you haven't already and exchanging your Needler for the beam rifle. Fill up on grenades, and free your allies as well, though they won't be able to help you for very long. Continue through the next hallway, which eventually leads you to a large platform outside.
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