1-03 - Homecoming

Part 1-03: Act I Chapter III -- Homecoming

Scrounging for Food and Supplies

As the chapter begins you are notified that it depicts events from an hour before -- meaning that they took place prior to the battle on the ship -- and as you can see, it concerns the team from the chopper that came back early with Prescott. 

The crew includes a very hot Aussie girl -- just so you know, other than girls from Holland, Australia has the hottest women in the world, and I am not saying that just because I am an expat Aussie married to a Dutch girl...  OK, yes I am, but still...

After you hop off the chopper and start working your way through the area you will notice the empty husks and one of your mates will worry about Polyps.  From there you head up the street and turn to the right, following that cross-street.  Stay to the left side and, as you work your way along on the left you will spot a white wall with a sign next to a green gate advertising brekkie -- head inside and, just past the corpse on the ground ahead you will find the next collectable item (JOURNAL -- COLLECTIBLE 7 of 19) that also happens to be the 5th collection item in the first Collection, so picking it up unlocks the Achievement 'Collector' which is worth 5 GP.  Good on ya mate!  Well done!

Before leaving the courtyard pick up the FRAG GRENADES over by the opposite wall, and then exit through the gate and continue to the left, where you are confronted by some of the locals, who put you in the spotlight and read you a ration of shit.  They are willing to trade food for a go at your female teammate but Cole does not roll that way.  Good man, Cole!

-- The Playground --

Go through the alley to the plaza and cross it to the playground gate, which you have to kick a few times to get open since you don't have Jack with you...  Move across the playground to the dilapidated slide shed near the center to trigger an attack -- during the attack you need to blow the pods off of the pair of stalks in order to halt the Lambent from spawning, but first you need to take out that nasty one with two tentacles... Eeesh!

Once you succeed in ending the main attack the other gates blow open but, before you leave the playground through those gates, back up to the dilapidated slide shed thingy in the middle and go inside, where you will find the next collectable item -- (CHILD'S DIARY -- COLLECTIBLE 8 of 19). Now mate, before you do anything else, once you have read the diary, you know you have to slide down the slide a few times, right?  Of course you do!  The only thing that would make this any better would be a fairy floss machine and some lemonade...  I am just saying...

Working your way down the street you come to a blocked-off section with Razor Wire -- in the alley to the right are some FRAG GRENADES if you need them.  Head through the Razor Wire and down the street to the store parking lot, where you take on more Lambent and shoot out the pods on the three stalks that are here...

-- The Store --

First be sure to collect any ammo that you find here, and then smash the crates in the nearby corner for a GNASHER SHOTGUN and AMMO BOX.  Break through the boards covering the doorway and take out the Polyps, working your way along to the far side of the store past the Photo Department, where another stalk spawns and you kill more Lambent.

Now here is the thing -- when you reach that point, instead of heading to the left towards the well-lit area, which if you do it is understandable, head right into the shadows and around to the other side where you will find the checkout counters, and on the very end of the first counter, your next collection item!  The (GROCERY LIST -- COLLECTIBLE 9 of 19) has a rather mixed list on it, indicating that the person who made it had no clue how bad life was about to get for them....

Success at the Store

At the far end past the vending machines is an AMMO BOX, you will want to grab that, and then backtrack to the better lit area, taking out the Lambent you encounter on the way through. 

Behind the counter where the Lambent was shooting from is an audio display for a product that Cole evidently endorsed before the world went to crap -- funny to play it right?  Also there is a LONGSHOT on the floor nearby if you want that...

Be sure that you take out the pods on the stalk ahead, and the Lambent, before you cut through the chained door in the very back and through a second door inside that area.  Smash the crate to use the switch to raise the gate, then go inside and man the loader suit.  Head out into the main room and kick the case out of the way, and then exit the suit by pressing 'X' for a moment.

In the corner over your right shoulder is an office, and inside the office there is an AMMO BOX, as well as a collection item (COG TAG #3 of 15 -- COLLECTIBLE 10 of 19) on the desk that you should get now.   Good on ya!  That is over half of the collectable items for this Act!

Now head back to the suit and get in, grab the pallet of food and take it outside through the door on the far left -- though you can smash the others so that your mates can engage the enemy outside easier first.  Outside you will need to boot some vehicles out of the way -- the suit is pretty good armor, so you can actually attack the enemy you encounter by stomping them as you move through the area to the drop point, which is marked by green smoke!

Delivering the pallet of food to the chopper ends the chapter, unlocking the Achievement 'We Struck Gold, Son!' (10 GP) which you get for finding the food.