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| SPACE GRIFFON VF-9 FAQ & WALKTHROUGH |
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By: Lady Abaxa
contact information: vampiro_penguin (AT) yahoo (dot) com
Copyright 2009
This guide has been written and posted at GameFAQs under the Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license in the United States. This
means that you are free to Share and Remix this work as long as the following
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Attribution: my full name and a link-back to the original FAQ.
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release it under the same, or similar, license.
A more detailed listing of this Creative Commons license can be found by
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------------------------------
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| FOREWORD |
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Thank you for joining me. Space Griffon VF-9 (Aoi Hagane no Kihei: Space
Griffon in Japan) is a Playstation game published in 1995 by Atlus. It got a
graphical overhaul and was re-released for the Sega Dreamcast in Japan
under the name Bluesteel Variable Formula Space Griffon.
There are few resources online for this game. Because of this lack of
information I decided to write a simple FAQ for anyone who might have
questions. Although the game is pretty straightforward it is by no means a
walk in the park. This FAQ will cover a basic walkthrough with minimal
spoilers, the game's controls, enemies and items you'll find scattered about
HAMLET, and then my thoughts about the story and oddities.
This was written for the North American Playstation release of the game. I
cannot guarantee any of the information in this guide will be applicable
for other versions. I also played this entirely via emulators using an original
game disc. There are some issues in emulation that will crop up. I cannot
say how this game plays using a Playstation 2 or 3 or if it will even run at
all. You can check the Bugs section at the end of this guide to see what
potential problems may turn up.
With that said let's dive right in shall we?
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Section A: Introduction
Section B: Start-Up and Controls
B1: Backstory
B2: Controls
B3: New Game and saving
B4: Heads-Up Display (HUD)
B5: Menus
Section C: Playing the Game
C1: Griffon variable modes
C101: Combat
C102: Assault
C103: Cruise
C2: Combat Basics
C201: Introduction to Combat
C202: Sensor Markings
C203: Weapon Timers
C204: Effects of Damage
C205: Avoiding Damage
C206: Picking Up Items
C3: Advanced Strategies
C301: Enemy Lock-Ons
C302: Weak Points
C303: Vanishing Icons and Scanner Range
C304: Weapon Mount Differences
C305: Corner Sniping
C306: Cruise Rapid Assault
C307: Creeping Fire
C308: Hit & Away
C309: Rocket Sniper
C310: Orbiting
C311: Shield Use
C312: Strikethrough
C313: Mode Shifting In Combat
Section D: Characters
D1: Player Character
D2: Non-Player Characters (A-Max Cleaners)
D3: Other Characters
Section E: Walkthrough
PREFACE
Part 01 TO THE MOON, ALICE!
Part 02 DEEPER INTO HAMLET
Part 03 SILENCE AND INTRIGUE
Part 04 LUNAR TEARS
Part 05 GRIFFON REBORN
Part 06 SYSTEMATIC ELIMINATION
Part 07 THE LONG HUNT
Part 08 THE GAUNTLET
Part 09 THE END IS NEAR
Section F: Items
Section G: Weapons
G1: Beam Weapons
G2: Machine Guns
G3: Linear Cannons
G4: Rocket Launchers
G5: Gun Launchers
G6: Weapon Table
Section H: Enemies
H1: Standard Opponents
H2: Bosses
Section I: Story
Section J: Oddities
Section K: Bugs
Section L: Challenges
Section M: Version History
You can use Ctrl+F to quickly skip to a specific section by searching for the
header.
---------------
----- SECTION A: Introduction -----
Space Griffon VF-9 is a first-person survival horror shooter game set on the
moon in the not too distant future. This guide contains citations from the
manual in the Story and Character sections so I won't go into the story
here but suffice it to say this IS a horror game although it's not the same
kind of horror game that you might be used to.
Space Griffon is not like Resident Evil. It doesn't have enemies jumping out
of walls to scare you. It also isn't like Clock Tower where you periodically
trigger an implaccable man's assault and then have to run around looking for
a way to shake them off. Finally, it isn't like Silent Hill or Siren and there
are no supernatural horrors waiting to devour the protagonist's soul.
No, Space Griffon harkens back to much older roots. It is a psychological
tale predicated on very real (even if it's stretched for the sake of narrative)
problems about family, colonization, industry, research, and exploitation.
The story may seem to build slowly but that's the way this much older
storytelling model works. It goes back to Shrek's onion metaphor. Effective
horror is also like the onion - it has many layers laid down one on top of
the other. There are ethical and moral dilemmas for the protagonists just as
much as there are logistical problems.
Now this game was made back in 1995 so it's necessary to keep in mind
that the Playstation was still a new console, 3D was in it's infancy (being
quite expensive and time intensive compared to traditional animation) and
there were new hurdles for developers in developing for compact disc-
based systems. It was created by the now-defunct Panther Software, Inc.
The story was written by Kenji Kamie while the game was designed by
Reisuke Kanda. Panther Software didn't have much of a staff. The entire
development team was about the size of the pool of voice actors hired
for the north american version. Judging by the credits they didn't even
have someone dedicated full-time to music. It didn't have a big budget for
fancy special effects and had to make do with the bare essentials.
Bring plenty of imagination with you to this game and you'll be just fine.
The game was localized for North America by Atlus. I must point out that
Atlus does NOT actually reprogram the games they localize for the U.S.
market. They translate them and perform script insertion. Any actual
programming necessitates assistance from the original developer back in
Japan. I want to make this clear because there is no lip-synching in this
game. If that would have required going in and modifying the game's
programming it would have to have been done by Panther Software as
Atlus America isn't able to take on that duty. Blaming Atlus for that problem
is thus pointless.
[This is a practical decision by Atlus. Just ask any romhacker and they'll
tell you just how much it takes in proverbial blood, sweat, and tears to get
a good working understanding of a single game's code, let alone dozens. It
is always preferable to let the original coders handle it.]
Okay, so there's no lip-synching to match the english speech. There's also
no subtitles option - sorry hearing impaired. Don't let that get in the way of
enjoying the game. A full game script is WAY beyond the scope of this
guide.
---------------
Well seeing as how you can't define something by what it's not I should
answer the following questions.
Q: What is Space Griffon? How does it play?
A: Space Griffon is a survival horror first person shooter. You pilot a
variable formula fighter craft called the Griffon as part of a team sent by
your mutual employer, A-Max Cleaners, to remove all hostile units from their
lunar facility HAMLET.
In addition, you were also sent to investigate the sudden disappearance of
another team from your parent company A-Max Factories who went to
ascertain the reason all communications with the lunar colony fell silent.
Play is chiefly focused around moving the Griffon through HAMLET's corridors
searching for hostiles to eliminate while other members of your team break
into HAMLET's security systems and databases to prep the facility for
recolonization.
At set times in the game animated cutscenes will advance the plot. These
can be skipped but doing so can leave you scratching your head wondering
what the hell you're supposed to be doing. Although the player character,
Jim Billington, will leave his VF to participate in cutscenes all play is
limited to when he's in the Griffon. There are no opportunities to run around
with just a pistol or what have you.
There are many items to be found in HAMLET. Some are purely for gameplay
like weapons and VF supplies. Others are plot coupons in the form of keys,
parts, and documents. These too will be located while moving the Griffon
through HAMLET. The number of plot coupons needed to finish the game is
rather small for the genre and you will generally find what you need close to
where it's required. For example, if you come across a locked gate that can
be opened the key will be on that floor as an item to pick up. The game
won't make you solve a ridiculous out-of-place block puzzle then stand on
your head for it either. The chief obstacles are enemies, not puzzles.
Q: Does this game have multiple endings?
A: Sadly, no. There is only one ending for this game.
Q: Well what about unlockables? Any of those?
A: Nope. There are some rare weapons to collect if that tickles your fancy
but the game does not keep track of how many enemies you kill, your
accuracy rate, or completion time. (Please keep in mind the clock only
accumulates time outside of cutscenes and menus. Thus it will never be
100% accurate.)
Q: Is this an open-ended exploration game?
A: No. You will be sent to specific areas in order to pursue one objective at
a time. To enter new areas you must complete your objectives and locate
keys. Although you may defeat enemies around you in any order you wish
(and there are some that you can choose to ignore all together) there is
only One Path for the plot and the game will hold you to it. If you try to go
somewhere you're not supposed to be the game will flat out stop you.
Q: Help! The game keeps crashing!
A: If you're playing on an emulator then I sympathize. There are at least
two points where the game can get stuck trying to play dialogue. My
advice is to save to the memory card, load up your game in a different
emulator, and try to pass the crash point. Space Griffon allows you to save
at any time that you're not in a cutscene. There are 5 save slots per card
so save often and rotate saves. Keep one slot as a fallback "safe save" at
a point in the game (like when you first arrive on a new floor) that you
know is viable. If you do this you're far less likely to work yourself into an
unwinnable situation.
Q: I'm stuck! What should I do?
A: Make sure to carefully check ALL the little cubbies you can stick your
nose into because that's where items are hidden for Jim to discover. To
see the item icon pop up on the scanner walk into the cubby a little ways.
If you still can't find a key item kill all enemies and check their wreckage.
Check the terminals on the floor as well - this includes computer-filled
rooms. The game might be waiting for you to reach a specific point so it
can advance. Finally clear out absolutely everything that isn't an ally. Most
mission objectives include a "kill all enemies" component. Keep an eye on
your mini-map when battle mode is OFF for enemy signatures. You'll know
when a purge objective has been completed because Jim will tell BOSS.
If you're *still* stuck call BOSS, BIGHORN, or STORMY. Chances are one of
them will know what you're supposed to be doing. Likely, you've missed a
step or already picked up the item in question and forgotten about it.
Q: Why is there no music? Is something wrong?
A: That's normal. Most of the game has no background music. You'll only
hear it in the pre-game scenes, the animated cutscenes, and the ending.
Q: Do you know any codes for this game?
A: No I don't and you won't find any in this guide, either. All the advice and
passwords were gleaned from multiple playthroughs using no cheats of any
kind - just dogged persistence. (Full disclaimer: I did use savestates but it
was in the interest of completeness and not because I was ever stuck.)
---------------
----- SECTION B: Start-up and Controls -----
B1: THE STORY
(as told in the manual)
2148 A.D. October 17th Lunar Plant "HAMLET" Shut Down
In the Year 2148 A.D. October all communications with the moon's largest
structure "HAMLET" were lost. The leadership of the huge conglomerate
"A-MAX FACTORIES" decided to immediately call into action their private
army AMC (A MAX CLEANERS) to investigate the grave situation. Jim
Billington (call sign "KID") started up his Tri-formula mechanical armor, the
VF "GRIFFON," and headed out to investigate what had happened at
"HAMLET" with five of his comrades.
Lunar Surface 2148 October 31
BOSS, STORMY, BIGHORN, KILLER, THIEF..
and KID.
-----
Immigration to HAMLET began in the early 22nd century. Approximately 70
percent were single, young, healthy scholars and scientists. Others coming
to HAMLET included the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain
HAMLET and the life support systems. A number of former soldiers needed
to test the experimental weapons being developed at HAMLET also went
there. For security purposes, all non-essential personnel were forcibly
returned to Earth after a short residence at HAMLET. (If they were to be
completely naturalized into the Lunar world it might have been a different
situation. However this never happened.)
Around the year 2148 in HAMLET the resident scholars and scientists had
begun to marry each other and have children. Many people were born and
raised in HAMLET and never visited Earth. Third generation HAMLET
residents were just beginning to be born.
[That's verbatim what's in the manual. You can blame their writer for bad
grammar and general lack of coherence. I also think that the 2148 year
for when residents began to marry has to be an error in the manual. That's
the year the game takes place and there are third-generation lunar-born
citizens referred to elsewhere.]
-----
From the introduction sequence when the game is in attract mode:
Original Project Design: 1969
Project Organizer: Senator W. Jordan (U.S.)
Co-organizers: S. Hill (U.N.) and A-Max Factories (U.S.)
Initial Construction: November 5th, 1983
Initial Immigration: March 10, 2053
Project Overseer: B. Watt (U.N.)
"HAMLET --- Meaning a "small village" was the property of the huge
conglomerate A-Max Factories whose main stay was the products for the
military. At the facilities, development of the moon's natural resources, as
well as production of food stuffs, medical supplies, and military weaponry
were being carried out. Because of the confidential nature of the
research, the newest security system was installed and constantly being
upgraded to completely shut out outsiders. The facilities themselves were
designed with living quarters, various factories, farming areas, and natural
resource mining facilities to allow them to be completely self-sufficient. A
hundred years after being in operation, there had been several waves of
immigration and the results were that 85% of water, food, and various
living supplies were self-supplied. There were military personnel, factory
workers, researchers, miners, and their families living there making it a
lunar city with a population close to 1,000 people.
"In recent years, there were pure HAMLET residents were born and raised
on the moon. The moon's minerals as well as drugs and military weapons,
difficult to produce on the earth, were being made and exported to the
earth. In addition, Lunar Tears, which as known as the "stone that brings
happiness" was very popular on earth and was making HAMLET more and
more known to everyday people.
". . . Then suddenly, HAMLET completely stopped communications with
the earth.
"HAMLET NOT RESPONDING TO COMMUNICATIONS!!---
"The headquarters at A-Max Factories decided to immediately send in their
own private military arm, A-Max Cleaners."
[Once again that's verbatim what is in the game. If you want a version
that's been cleaned up it's down in the Story section.]
---------------
----- B2: CONTROLS -----
This game was released before the advent of dual shock controllers so all
movement must be done with the D-Pad. There are 3 controller settings
accessible from the System menu during play or under Options on the
starting screen. If you have a memory card your preferences will be saved
and automatically loaded from Slot 1.
Controller Default Settings:
START: pause and exit menu screens
SELECT: opens menu window while playing
when the game is paused hitting Select brings up
a Continue or Quit option
DIRECTIONAL INPUTS:
UP: move forward
DOWN: move backward
LEFT: turn left
RIGHT: turn right
X BUTTON: this has a variable function
Battle mode is ON: fire selected weapon
Battle mode is OFF: not used except to select
options in menus
Circle BUTTON: toggles Battle mode on and off
Square BUTTON: this has a variable function
Battle mode is ON: cycles through weapon mounts
always moves from left to right
Battle mode is OFF: examine found items
(see also: item list)
If Battle mode is OFF this button functions as a brake.
While held the Griffon can only turn. Use this if you need to
come to a sudden stop.
Triangle BUTTON: Hold this button and press up or down on the D-Pad to
tilt the Griffon's cockpit in that direction.
Targeting is fixed to the center of view.
(see also: combat basics)
L1: slide left without turning
R1: slide right without turning
L2: this has a variable function
Battle mode is ON and shield deployed and selected:
move shield to the left
otherwise: change from Cruise to Assault or from
Assault to Combat modes
(no function when already in Combat mode)
R2: this has a variable function
Battle mode is ON and shield deployed and selected:
move shield to the right
otherwise: change from Combat to Assault and from
Assault to Cruise modes
(no function when already in Cruise mode)
Cutscenes and some dialogues can be skipped by pressing the X button on
the controller. This is not recommended the first time through the game as
important information may be lost.
---------------
----- B3: Starting a new game and saving -----
To start playing a new game just pick the 'New Game' option. In order to
save your game a standard Playstation memory card with 8 blocks is
required. Only 1 Space Griffon save per memory card is supported however
this saves all of your preferences and has 5 save game slots so the game
isn't as much of a memory hog as it might seem.
If you don't have a memory card or just want to horse around the game
also has a password system. Passwords are supplied if you exit the save
screen without saving and can be entered from the main menu. Each is 30
characters long and is comprised of both letters and numbers. Take care to
enter the correct password or you may drop into a blank area or the wrong
floor entirely. Restoring from a password also starts you at the beginning of
the floor and any data retrieved from terminals must be recovered.
As passwords do not record the exact amount of energy and body you had
when you quit expect the numbers to be a little off. Conversely if you get
yourself into an unwinnable situation you can try to continue with the game
by using a password.
---------------
----- B4: Heads-Up Display (HUD) -----
Valuable information is displayed as part of the HUD. It is visible whenever
Jim is inside the Griffon. I'll start at the top and work my way counter-clock
wise. This is with the Battle mode OFF.
Compass: At the top of the screen a simple compass reading is shown in
green. This shows the cardinal direction that the Griffon is facing.
Auto-Map: The orientation of the auto-map is fixed and can't be changed.
The Griffon is the center of the map where it is represented by a
small yellow triangle. Enemies are displayed as red squares.
Griffon Mode: Combat, Assault, and Cruise are displayed here. The Griffon's
current configuration mode will be highlighted. L2 ascends the list
while R2 descends. After the Griffon is upgraded Cruise mode is
forever lost and no longer appears in this list.
Energy: Each little tick represents 200 units of energy out of a maximum of
8000. If energy drops to 399 or less a blinking warning will appear
here. The red end of the bar is the gauge's bottom. If energy is
fully depleted the craft's movement will be crippled, defense drops
to 0, and energy weapons cannot be fired. In short, don't run out
of energy.
Energy is slowly drained from the Griffon's power supply by
moving through HAMLET. The rate at which this occurs depends
on how much energy has been dedicated to movement.
Body: This is just like energy except it represents the Griffon's health. It
also starts blinking a warning if it drops to 399 or less. If Body is
depleted the Griffon will be destroyed. Game over.
Level and Output power: These four lines sit on the right side of the screen
just above Body. It's actually two distinct pieces of information.
Level: This shows the computer's level:
Action Response Level (ARL)
Instead of Jim leveling up it is the Griffon's computer that does
the learning. The only effect of a higher level is to decrease the
time required by weapons to recharge before firing again. To
increase this value defeat enemies.
The amount of experience gained per enemy is slightly random.
This means that, depending upon how much experience is given
over the course of the game, it may be impossible to reach the
maximum possible level. This should not provide any obstacle
to completing the game.
(see also: weapons)
The three output gauges below level show the amount of energy
the Griffon has dedicated to the three outputs as determined by
the mode it is currently in. These automatically change as the
Griffon shifts through modes.
(see also: Griffon variable modes)
The following changes take place when Combat mode is turned ON.
Instead of the compass at the top of the screen a Distance gauge appears
in yellow. This shows the distance between the VF and the
closest enemy within sensor range. The fuller the bar, the farther
the enemy.
The automap changes to the armor scanner. If there is no enemy within
range NO DATA is displayed. The display can only show the enemy
closest to the Griffon. It will appear as a frontal scan within the
box. The color range indicates weak points in the opposing unit's
armor. Hitting a weak point inflicts more damage to the enemy.
Weak points are the hotter colors. The Griffon must have an open
line of sight to scan enemies.
More information about enemy weakpoints and armor can be
found in the enemies and strategies sections below.
Below the armor scanner two lines of text are shown. The first is
the opposing unit's Battle Rating. The higher this value, the
stronger the enemy. This is used alongside the Griffon's response
level to determine how long the Griffon must wait before it can
fire again.
The second number is Predicted Durability. That is the enemy's
health. When reduced to 0 the enemy is destroyed.
B.R. and P.D. are only shown if the Griffon has data on the enemy
in its database. This information can be downloaded from
terminals scattered throughout HAMLET. For enemies not listed in
the database B.R. and P.D. are always shown as 0000.
Weapon Mounts: This is shown above the Energy and Body gauges. The
order of the mounts is that the lefthand mount is on the left,
righthand is on the right, and the middle is (naturally) in the
middle. The left and right mounts are the Griffon's hands and are
used to hold the various types of guns available. The middle rack
is mounted above and behind the cockpit and can only hold rocket
launchers. It is also the only slot available in Cruise mode as the
hands are fully retracted.
More information concerning weapon mounts can be found in the
Combat Basics and Weapons list sections.
Gun Sight: The sight is fixed at the center of the Griffon's field of vision.
There are 5 different icons used and each one is specific to a
different type of weapon.
More information about weapons as relates to combat can be
found in the Combat section below. A list of all weapons available
throughout the game is in the Weapons list.
---------------
----- B5: Menus -----
While playing the game hitting the SELECT button brings up a menu so long
as the game isn't in the middle of dialogue. The commands are, in order:
COM:
This is the Griffon's communication system. Select a name from
this list to start talking with the person in question. They will
generally remind KID of what he is supposed to be doing at the
moment so you can use this command if you have forgotten.
If that person is unable to respond a 'no response' will be
displayed. If you want to get the most out of the story you
should regularly call up your allies.
DATA:
Four submenus are accessible from here. They are
VF, FLOOR MAP, MACHINE, and MONSTER.
--VF:
A list of all the team's variable fighters is found here. Choosing a
name brings up a screen with more detailed information about that
VF. Only the Griffon will display the energy output bars.
--FLOOR MAP:
This will display the map for the level KID currently occupies. After
downloading data from a terminal more specific information can be
found here. You cannot cycle through the maps. Only the current
floor is shown.
--MACHINE:
This section contains technical data about the machine enemies
scattered throughout HAMLET as acquired from terminals.
--MONSTER:
This is just like the option above but concerns the myriad
biological monstrosities created by the research staff. You will
need to find a special terminal to download this data.
WEAPON:
This is one screen KID will be seeing a lot of. There are 7 weapon
slots but one is permanently occupied by the Griffon's shield.
Information is, from left to right:
Name: the weapon's name
Graphic: the weapon's picture
ST: firepower/base damage per shot
Ammo: remaining rounds
E: energy use per shot
Slot: which weapon mount it occupies, if equipped
To equip a new weapon use the UP and DOWN buttons on the
D-pad to highlight the weapon (or shield) then LEFT or RIGHT on
the D-pad. This cycles through the mounts that weapon can fit
into. R = right hand, L = left hand, M = center weapon rack. Set
the mount by hitting X when the desired letter is shown. Any
weapon already in that mount will be de-equipped.
[The manual says such weapons are *discarded* but that is not
true. They are just put in storage.]
Note that only rocket launchers can occupy the M slot and the
shield can be adjusted while in use.
(see also: weapons list)
ITEM:
This is the general inventory screen. UP and DOWN on the D-pad
are used to select items. X will use the item. If it's the first time
doing so KID will say a little bit about the item - this can be
skipped by hitting X again.
Some plot-relevant items must be used from this menu.
(see also: items list)
SYSTEM:
There are 6 options available in this menu. They are:
--SAVE:
This opens the save menu so that the game can be saved to a
memory card. If there is insufficient free space a warning is
instead shown. You can also format the memory card here if it
isn't already formatted. If you exit this screen without saving a
password is displayed.
--LOAD:
The opposite of saving. This option allows you to load a saved
game. If no data or no card are found you will be instead taken to
the password screen to enter a password if desired.
--DISPLAY:
All display settings default to ON. If you want to turn any of these
off (not recommended!) you can do so right here.
--CONTROLLER:
Use the LEFT and RIGHT buttons on the D-pad to cycle through
the three configuration settings and find one suited to your
playstyle. The default configuration is what is covered in the
Controls section above.
--SOUND:
The four options here allow you to set the volume for each type
of sound in the game and to swap between Mono and Stereo.
---------------
----- SECTION C: -----
C1: Griffon variable modes
The Griffon is a VF - shorthand for Variable Formula. If you are familiar with
Macross or Robotech then the different modes should already be old
territory. The available modes for the Griffon are listed below. Although the
other VFs brought by the AMC also have alternate modes they cannot be
accessed by the player and thus will not be discussed.
C101:
COMBAT: This mode prioritizes weapon energy output. It is a humanoid form
also known as 'Soldier' in Macross. As it is the tallest mode it is
the most vulnerable to enemy machine-gun fire. COMBAT mode
has the lowest movement and defense.
It is best used in straight-up firefights where you can limit return
fire in some way. If you're looking to maximize damage per shot
COMBAT mode is what you want. Just keep in mind the reduced
defense and movement when in this mode. (The idea behind
COMBAT mode is to kill your enemies before they can hurt you. It
is a very powerful mode late in the game when the Griffon's ARL
is high.)
Type 1:
Movement Power: 800
Energy-Gun Power: 1200
Defense Power: 1000
Type 2:
Movement Power: 1000
Energy-Gun Power: 1400
Defense Power: 1200
C102:
ASSAULT: This mode balances all three outputs. It is halfway between the
humanoid COMBAT mode and the vehicular CRUISE mode. In
Macross it is known as Gerwalk mode.
While learning the game's controls and general combat ASSAULT
is the best mode. While it lacks the offense of COMBAT mode the
higher mobility of ASSAULT means it can evade enemy fire and
takes less damage per hit by comparison. If you have the space
to move around during a firefight and want as many weapons on
hand as the VF permits then ASSAULT is the practical option.
Type 1:
Movement Power: 1000
Energy-Gun Power: 800
Defense Power: 1200
Type 2:
Movement Power: 1200
Energy-Gun Power: 1000
Defense Power: 1400
C103:
CRUISE: This vehicular mode is the ground equivalent of Macross's Jet
mode. Although the Griffon cannot fly this mode shifts energy
entirely to movement and armor. CRUISE mode puts the Griffon low
to the ground and thus high shots may easily sail over the VF
without harming it. It has the highest movement and defense but
a weapons power rating of 0.
CRUISE mode is optimal if you just want to get from Point A to
Point B. The only weapons useable in this configuration are rocket
launchers. This mode has a special tactic in tandem with rocket
launchers which is discussed below in Advanced Combat.
After the Griffon receives an overhaul COMBAT and ASSAULT are
powered up at the cost of losing CRUISE mode permanently.
Type 1:
Movement Power: 1400
Energy-Gun Power: 0
Defense Power: 1600
Type 2:
mode not available
---------------
C2: Combat Basics -----
In this section I'll touch on the basic rules of survival for Space Griffon.
Tactics specific to certain enemies are in the advanced section.
----- C201: Introduction to Combat -----
The most basic rule of combat is that to survive you must destroy your
enemies. Doing so is often easier said then done. In this game you defeat
enemies by reducing their durability to 0, or, in special instances, by
inflicting enough damage so they retreat.
(These will be noted in the walkthrough.)
If the Griffon is hit by enemy fire it will sustain damage and its current
Body value is reduced accordingly. As death occurs at 0 Body it is therefore a
good idea to limit how much damage the Griffon sustains whenever possible.
All of this should be pretty self-explanatory.
As mentioned previously under controls the Griffon's targeting is locked to
the cockpit's centerpoint. To adjust your aim hold the Triangle button and
press up or down. This game was made before the advent of Dualshock
controllers so this is the workaround. While holding Triangle you cannot
move forward or back (for obvious reasons) but you can turn and slide left
and right using the L1/R1 buttons.
----- C202: Sensor Markings -----
The Griffon's sophisticated sensors can detect enemies, allies, and items
which can be picked up and will display one of five different sensor icons.
Units can be detected from a significant distance away, even through walls.
Items however are only visible from a short range.
Ally Unit: There are two boxes and some text. The lower left box
has IFF and the upper right has a barcode. These units are friendly to Jim
and will aid him throughout the game. If you get close to an ally you might
engage in conversation with them.
Item: A crosshair of two long horizontal lines and two short
vertical lines. When you see this icon you can get close and pick up the
item with the Square botton when the icon turns red provided Battle mode
is OFF. Oddly enough you can pick up items in CRUISE mode despite the
lack of hands.
[The following are enemy units. They are automatically hostile and will open
fire as soon as the Griffon is in range.]
Robot: A circle broken by readings appears. These include both
the military forces of HAMLET and the automated defense systems.
Bio-Monster: This icon is faux 3-D with four sets of lines pointing
back to a vanishing point in the center. These strange creatures were
created in HAMLET for an unknown purpose. Bio-monsters, being living
things, never leave behind wreckage.
Monster: These special and rare monsters are shown on screen
by an icon with a long horizontal line in the middle, and what can best be
described as a rollercoaster viewed from afar sitting on top. The word
'Alert' is legible.
----- C203: Weapon Timers -----
Ok, so we know how to read the sensors, how to aim, and how to fire the
Griffon's weapons. Let's get down to the nitty gritty then!
As mentioned before the Griffon has an Action Response Level. It starts at
0 and rises as Jim defeats enemies throughout HAMLET. It is important to
seek out and destroy enemies whenever possible in order to level up the
Griffon's computer as quickly as you can. Most of the time that will be your
objective anyway.
The ARL controls the wait time between shots for all weapons except
Vulcans (which have no wait time). This is explained as the time necessary
for the Griffon's onboard computer to perform necessary calculations and
for energy-based weapons to fully recharge. Note that wait time ONLY
applies when an enemy is actually in range. There is no delay between
shots otherwise so be sure to take some time at the beginning of the game
to become accustomed to weapon controls prior to needing them.
When Combat made is ON you'll see that there is a 6-segmented yellow
display under the weapon graphic. When a shot is fired and there is a wait
timer the weapon graphic will drain of color and refill one segment at a time
starting from the righthand side. When all the segments are filled the timer
is up and another shot can be fired. For Vulcans the left segment will flicker
briefly but there is no delay and the button can be held down for maximum
rate of fire. (There is a small amount of lag when an enemy is on screen
which reduces the maximum rate of fire. If you continue to hold the fire
button after the target is destroyed the rate will suddenly shoot up and you
can accidentally waste rounds. Holding the button only works for Vulcans.)
The timer is independent for each mount. If you only have one weapon then
you will have to wait for that one to fully reset. Here we have the benefit
of multiple weapons. Fire the first then use Square to switch to the next
weapon in line and continue the assault. As the timer is attached to the
mount slot and not the weapon occupying it swapping weapons in battle
is not a workaround.
If the enemy is weak you can defeat them easily by spamming shots. If you
destroy them before they even get a chance to fire back the Griffon will
escape the battle unharmed. Take advantage of having a high response
level whenever you can.
When the Griffon's ARL increases a message will be displayed:
"Machine Control Pattern Memorized. Action Response Level Upgraded."
The maximum level is 50.
----- C204: Effects of Damage -----
While Jim is trying to destroy his target they are, of course, attempting to
do the same with him. For most of the game the Griffon has such superior
armor and Body to any individual enemy that it can simply stand there and
take any and all hits with little danger of dying. However damage adds up
over time and there are limited Repair Units scattered throughout HAMLET.
Limiting damage - particularly in the early parts of the game - will leave
Jim with more resources for when the truly dangerous opponents appear.
Believe me, you *will* want as many power and repair units for the final
boss as you can carry.
There is a secondary danger related to the Griffon's weapons. When enemy
shots hit a loaded weapon mount the weapon itself can be damaged and
even destroyed. There is no way to repair these damaged weapons and
they are automatically discarded upon entering the weapons screen. If you
run out of weapons you will be unable to damage enemies.
BROKEN will appear in the HUD in the mount slot. Some weapon types are
more prone to breaking then others. As weapons can be equipped or
removed at any time at no penalty it is wise to only use what you actually
need at the moment. That way a heavy weapon needed later won't be lost
because a guard robot scored a lucky hit.
----- C205: Avoiding Damage -----
Alright, now that that is covered what should we do to avoid taking
damage? Well, if you can, eliminate the opposition before they can open
fire. Dead enemies don't hit back! Spam weapon fire to the enemy's weak
point as quickly as you can when you are higher level then they are.
For most firefights the Griffon's best defense is HAMLET itself. Narrow
intersections, doors, ramps, etc. provide cover which cannot be destroyed.
You can quickly slide behind a protective corner between shots using the
L1/R1 buttons. Doors automatically shut if the Griffon isn't near and cannot
be opened by other units (except during certain scripted sequences).
----- C206: Picking Up Items -----
When an enemy is destroyed it may drop an item which Jim can recover.
This only happens for enemies that leave behind a pile of wreckage. Besides
items which are scripted to appear on certain corpses these drops are
semi-random. Due to this it is possible to work the system if you're patient
enough. Use the SAVE function before clearing out a group of potential
item-droppers. If nothing appears reset and try again.
An enemy can only drop a weapon it actually possesses. Additionally, the
game keeps track of their ammo-useage (despite enemies technically having
infinite ammo) and will deduct this value from a weapon drop. Any weapon
that would be reduced to 0 ammo is instead automatically discarded. If you
are looking for a specific drop you need some way of preventing the target
from expending all their ammunition.
Battle mode must be OFF to pick up an item. Also, although wreckage can
stack only *one* item can be dropped or picked up at a time irrespective of
how many enemies died on the same tile.
One final point: the game needs the enemy close by in order to finish the
dying sequence. If you move away before it can finish your target will still
be "alive" and stuck in limbo. When you see the screen flash you'll know for
certain it has been destroyed.
---------------
C3: Advanced Strategies -----
This section includes more advanced tactics for dealing with the many
threats lurking about HAMLET. In order to complete the game you will need
a solid grasp of most of these.
----- C301: Enemy Lock-Ons -----
This distinctive sound will quickly become ingrained in your head. The
Griffon lacks a lock-on function but most enemies have it. The AI doesn't
have perfect aim but it's pretty accurate. The only weapons that are a
guaranteed hit for the AI are beam guns and that's because of the high
shot velocity. Live and learn, or the opposite as it were.
A lock-on is visually indicated by a set of four yellow box corners appearing
over the weapon system prepping to fire. Just like the Griffon all enemies
have limited range. If you move far enough away that the scanner icon
shifts out of red the lock-on will be broken.
You can use this behavior to your advantage when facing a tough enemy
and you have room to backpedal - especially when using a door to soak
enemy fire. If you don't do this the moment you move back into range the
enemy will continue shooting like nothing happened.
Some enemies never display the lock-on notification. This is because the
Griffon cannot predict when they will fire. These enemies often fire
erratically. Experience will be your only guide when they show up.
----- C302: Weak Points -----
You'll probably notice that the armor scanner displays what can best be
described as thermal imaging. Part of the graphic will be in brighter colors
then the drab green. This shift shows changes in armor density. The hotter
the color the weaker the target's armor is in that location. Shots to these
locations inflict greater damage. Take advantage of these weaknesses
whenever you can and you'll find your foes falling much faster.
Specific weakpoints are included in the enemy list.
----- C303: Weapon Mount Differences -----
There are important, if subtle, differences between firing from the left or
right hand. The gun in that mount will fire towards (but not always ON) the
gun's crosshairs with the shot originating from the appropriate side. This
distinction is important because even if the crosshairs are on the target
the shot can be blocked by intervening structures. Enemies can also shoot
down your non-beam fire with their own weapons.
Rocket launchers are fired from the Griffon's center and, unlike all other
weapons, DO have a lock-on feature. There is no way to specify which
enemy will be targeted by the launcher - they will seek out the closest
enemy - even if said enemy is on the other side of a wall. Rockets travel
out first in a straight line and take wide turns. They cannot double back
or change course once launched. Keep in mind that if you're right in front
of a door shooting into a room and your target is by the wall the rocket
cannot turn sharply enough to hit them.
A few enemies have the ability to deflect rockets. Whether this is an
intentional ability or a collision error is unknown but this 'feature' isn't
included in any boss.
Thankfully.
----- C304: Vanishing Icons and Scanner Range -----
The armor scanner needs direct line of sight in order to show any
information about the target. In addition, once you are in visual range of
the enemy the scan icon will disappear from the HUD. These are two things
to keep in mind with the narrow confines of HAMLET. Fast moving flying
enemies can be hard to track without the icon. Keep an eye open for the
tell-tale lock-on signature (if applicable).
Every enemy close enough to be in visual range is also in firing range. You
will have to track them with your own two eyes. If this becomes a problem,
such as several fliers just waiting for a door to open, try backing up far
enough that the scan icons return.
----- C305: Corner Sniping -----
In order to understand how this functions you'll need to be used to weapon
mounts. The concept is very simple: you shoot part of an enemy visible
from around a corner while it can't shoot back. As long as you hit the
enemy (just don't hit a shield) you'll damage it.
This is definitely the safest way to dispose of your enemies but it doesn't
work against everything. Froajell and Power Armor in particular simply
refuse to sit still. Sometimes a Hauberk or HPS be tricked into a corner if
you start to enter their room then backpedal. These enemies try to follow
the Griffon in a straight line. Flys can be tricked into getting stuck if you
strafe behind the corner. In all these cases carefully peek around because
if you move too far the enemy will catch on. Tassets are the easiest to
corner snipe because the broad width of their legs.
The only two weapons that work for corner sniping are linear cannons and
beam guns. Rockets and gun launchers are a waste of ammo with this
strategy. Vulcans *might* work but this type of gun fires slightly off center
and has a nasty tendency to clip through the edges of enemy models. You
can burn an awful lot of ammunition before realizing something's wrong.
----- C306: Cruise Rapid Assault -----
Because this strategy uses CRUISE mode it is unuseable in the second half
of the game. A variation on this can be done in ASSAULT with any weapon
but the sheer speed of CRUISE makes it shine.
You'll need a rocket launcher to do this and an open direct line to the
target. Approach so that the icon turns red then quickly fire two or three
rockets and rush forward. If done correctly the rockets will be fired before
the Griffon gets into scanner range and there won't be a delay but just late
enough that you can get into damage range before the first one connects.
They'll slam into their target in rapid succession inflicting lots of damage.
As soon as the rockets land shift the Griffon into reverse and quickly back
up out of retaliation range. This is most effective against larger opponents
who take more then 1 or 2 rockets to destroy. If the enemy is still moving
then repeat as necessary. When done correctly this technique can destroy
even heavy enemies in wide open rooms without taking any damage.
----- C307: Creeping Fire -----
This is based on the above principle but it works in any mode. There is a
tiny window of opportunity where the enemy is in range but the AI thinks
the Griffon is too far away to pursue. You must be very light on the UP
button to sneak into this window.
The distance meter will be maxed out and you'll be affected by the enemy's
battle rating but you can take as much time as needed. If the enemy does
begin to approach slowly backpedal. This strategy is especially effective
against Spaudlers. It doesn't work against Sedlash or Guard Arms as those
enemies have no movement and consequently have large awareness radii.
(Technically it also doesn't work against Robbage but those bio-monsters
are almost always found in places where corner sniping or strafing are
better options.)
This tactic only works if you see the enemy from afar and can approach it
without intersecting its awareness area. Like the Griffon, enemy sensors
can detect you through walls and they will move around to meet Jim at the
door or other entry point. If the intended target shares the area with other
units it may be possible to clear them out without alerting it.
----- C308: Hit & Away -----
This tactic also relies on mobility. The idea is to quickly enter firing range,
shoot, then get the hell out of dodge. Most of the time this will be diving
behind cover or backing up so that a door automatically shuts. If cover isn't
available then it comes down to footwork. In narrow corridors the Griffon's
huge size makes this very difficult.
There are few enemies that turn slowly enough to stay in their blind spots.
Tank-types are best for this while Barmail and Hauberk tend to keep their
shields between themselves and the Griffon. Flying enemies can be evaded
if you keep moving but that makes it harder to shoot back. Fast opponents,
particularly Power Armor, use this same strategy themselves.
A specific form of Hit & Away involves T-intersections. If the enemy is
stationary and sitting inside the passage get close to the wall and use the
L1 or R1 button to slide in front of the enemy. Fire a shot or two then
quickly continue moving. This tactic works against Guard Arms, Sedlash,
and a few Robbage.
----- C309: Rocker Sniper -----
For this tactic you'll need a rocket launcher. Its use is to clear out
multiple flying enemies waiting to swarm the Griffon the moment it enters a
room. For maximum effect be sure that there aren't stronger enemies right by
the door who will just soak up the rockets.
Stand back far enough that the door is shut and watch the icons for a
second. Those that are moving from side to side are the ones you want.
Wait until one is about to float in front of the door, step forward just
enough that it opens, fire a rocket (or 2), then step back so the door shuts
- this is important to make sure you're not shot back.
Rinse and repeat as the situation requires.
----- C310: Orbiting -----
Orbiting is the practice of circling the target while keeping it centered in
the gun sights. It's rather difficult to do this for three reasons.
Orbiting requires enough space to circle the target and very few rooms
offer that. As a correlary to that problem you have to get the target far
enough away from a wall so you can move behind them. The second
problem is Space Griffon's lack of a lock-on feature or even targeting using
one of the analog sticks. Now this isn't terribly hard to counter with a bit
of practice. However, it's the third problem, the game's own collision engine,
that combines issues 1 and 2.
The Griffon is a very large craft for HAMLET. Its size isn't necessarily a
hinderance (size affords it more armor, for example) but it does mean that
you must always be aware of where you are in relation to walls. It helps
while moving around in combat to briefly switch off combat mode so you can
see the mini-map again. Not only will hitting or even clipping a wall stop the
Griffon but if you back into one the craft will automatically start turning
based on if its facing slightly left or right.
That covers potential roadblocks. Time to explain how to perform this
technique. To orbit in Space Griffon hold either the L1 or R1 button and use
the LEFT or RIGHT buttons on the D-pad to continuously turn. It takes
some practice to get the right rythmn down. Technically this can be done
in any mode but the slow speed of COMBAT means this tactic is useless
for many opponents.
If you don't have enough space for a full 360 degree path you can perform
half orbits. Circle for as far as you can go then stop and reverse direction.
Just be very careful that you don't accidentally walk into enemy fire while
changing directions.
----- C311: Shield Use -----
The shield might seem to be fairly useless but there are several times in the
game where you're forced to fight a nasty opponent in a narrow corridor
where evasion is tough and escape impossible. If it comes down to taking
damage with the Griffon or its shield, the shield is the better choice
whenever feasible.
The shield can never be destroyed - only reduced to 0 armor. When
equipped it appears in either the right or left weapon slot just like any
other weapon. When cycled to a large translucent green graphic covers part of
the HUD. Weapons fire that comes into contact with this graphic is blocked
by the shield. Other shots may strike the Griffon. The shield can be moved
to the left and right by the L2 and R2 buttons, respectively.
Unlike weapons the shield graphic has no timer. The yellow coloration
displays its remaining armor value. If the shield's armor is fully depleted
it can no longer absorb damage but it is not destroyed.
----- C312: Strikethrough -----
Strikethrough is easy enough to understand: two blasts that meet in
mid-air collide with each other and cancel out. Strikethrough thus means
those attacks that aren't subject to such collision and continue moving
until they hit something solid. The only weapons in the game that truly
have this ability are beam guns. All others are subject to being shot
down. This works both ways, of course. If you're under attack by an
enemy carrying a rocket launcher the rockets can be shot down by any
non-beam weapon. This makes Vulcans more useful due to their high
rate of fire.
----- C312: Mode Shifting In Combat -----
To put it bluntly - don't do it. The Griffon must come to a complete stop to
change configurations. If you absolutely must change modes get to a safe
spot first. Making yourself a sitting duck is not a good way to win battles.
---------------
Section D: CHARACTERS -----
D1: Player Character -----
James Billington [KID]
Voice Actor: Eric V. Kelso
VF: Variable Formula-9 Griffon
Height: 6.77 m (combat)
4.49 m (assault)
1.40 m (cruise)
Weight: 8.27 t
Speed: 158 km/h
Crew: 2
[manual entry]:
Age: 19
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 148 lbs.
Nationality: United Kingdom (England)
He basically has a cheerful disposition. However, at times he
becomes careless with his language. Despite his youthful appearance he is
physically well built. Soon after his enlistment into the AMC Jim volunteered
to participate in going to HAMLET after learning of the mission. During the
mandatory period required to qualify for the mission he scored very high in
the computer simulator and was judged acceptable for the mission. Jim's
call sign is "KID."
My Take:
Jim is who you'll be playing as throughout this game. He's a good-
natured guy and a bit of a greenhorn. Don't let his age fool you, however,
because he knows perfectly well how to operate his VF. If Jim is killed in
battle the game is over.
D2: Non-Player Characters -----
Konrad Von Eibol [BOSS]
Voice Actor: Julian MacFarlane
VF: Heavy Variable Formula-8b AVENGER Commander Edition
(Avenger CV)
Height: 8.02 m
Weight: 16.01 t
Speed: 68 km/h
Crew: 2
[manual entry]:
Age: 35
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 204 lbs.
Nationality: Germany
Captain of the Squad "JAM MAKER" which was sent to HAMLET.
He is silent and cool in nature. He has participated in many missions which
include the "Silicone Chip Gang Capture" and the "Fast Breeder Recover"
missions. He is currently under lifetime contract with AMC. His call sign is
"BOSS."
My Take:
Boss indeed. This is the guy who will be giving you your orders
and telling you where you should be going for much of the game. He is a
protective fellow who wants to get his squad back to Earth in one piece as
quickly as the mission allows.
Oreag Arnderson [KILLER]
Voice Actor: Rob Cracker
VF: Heavy Variable Formula-8b AVENGER Strike Edition
(Avenger SV)
Height: 8.44 m
Weight: 17.43 t
Speed: 71 km/h
Crew: 1
[manual entry]:
Age: 40
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 233 lbs.
Nationality: United States of America
Has the most experience as an A-MAX CLEANER and accordingly
has the longest career. He is very muscular in build and trains himself
vigorously. His appearance deceives his age. He dislikes people like SMILEY
who can't seem to take things seriously. His call sign is "KILLER."
My take:
Oreag is the team's tough guy. He's been around long enough to
know how to survive virtually any situation and hates it when teammates
question his skills. Because he is very proud of his experience Oreag can get
himself into trouble by biting off more then he can chew and not calling for
help when he really needs it.
Rauzein Shizevinov [BIGHORN]
Voice Actor: Brian Matt Uhl
VF: Heavy Variable Formula-8b AVENGER Artillery Edition
(Avenger AV)
Height: 8.02 m
Weight: 19.64 t
Speed: 51 km/h
Crew: 2
[manual entry]:
Age: 28
Height: 6'10"
Weight: 280 lbs.
Nationality: Ukraine (Russian extract)
Was once an NBA player but retired due to a knee injury. Although
he doesn't look it he is very gentle and does not like combat. He is in charge
of information gathering for the HAMLET mission. His call sign is "BIGHORN."
My take:
This is the guy who acts as Captain Konrad's first lieutenant. He
is very good at getting into databases and is a skilled VF mechanic.
Although he talks slowly he's not dumb by any stretch and it's easy to like
the big guy.
Maria Hansfield [STORMY]
Voice Actor: Lenne Hardt
VF: Light Variable Formula-5c MILAN C-Works Edition
Height: 5.96 m
Weight: 3.85 t
Speed: 168 km/h
Crew: 1
[manual entry]:
Age: 25
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 115 lbs.
Nationality: United States of America
No previous employment records exist. No knowledge of Maria's
prior experiences before becoming an A-MAX CLEANER is known. She is part
Latin in ancestry. Despite her gentle appearance Maria has a quick temper
and can be very rough in her ways. She is known as the destroyer at AMC
(in reference to her own machine). It is often speculated that Maria joined
AMC just so she could be violent. She is very moody and is an expert with
guns. Maria's call sign is "STORMY."
My take:
Ahh, the Token Female Character. She's dressed for maximum
fanservice to boot! Maria will be working alongside Jim for the early parts of
the game and has a VF customized for speed which can turn into a large
motorcycle. Although not as knowledgeable as her comrade Rauzein she is
quite capable of keeping her VF in working order. Just be careful as
she does have a fierce temper.
Mark Smiley [THIEF]
Voice Actor: Greg Dale
VF: Light Variable Formula-4d VIPER
Height: 5.92 m
Weight: 4.72 t
Speed: 122 km/h
Crew: 1
[manual entry]:
Age: 26
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 121 lbs.
Nationality: United States of America
A smooth talker and previously worked at a private detective
agency. He's very humorous and gives the impression of not being serious.
He is very athletic and is well versed in the martial arts that he learned as
a private detective. Cooking is a hobby he enjoys and despite what others
may believe he is very good at it. His most precious possession is his LUNAR
TEARS which he received from his girlfriend. Smiley's call sign is "THIEF."
My take:
This guy's a goofball all right. He's very likeable and easy-going.
Along with Maria he'll be working in Jim's neck of the woods for the early
part of the game and it's funny listening to the banter he and the other
cleaners get into.
D3: Other Characters -----
--- SPOILER ALERT ---
There are minor spoilers in this section. A more detailed discussion of all
the characters is down in the Story section.
Francis Lakewood
Voice Actor: Colleen Gordon
This scientist is found by BOSS and KID unconscious where she
locked herself into an isolated room. She was once an assistant to the
esteemed Professor Mabel.
----
Mary Lakewood
Voice Actor: Julie Oppenheimer
Francis's half-sister Mary was placed in cryogenic stasis. She is
discovered by KID when he searches the area. Afterwards she occupies the
Griffon's gunner seat and alternates between being an annoying little brat
and somewhat helpful. She and Francis do not get along.
----
Professor Mabel
Voice Actor: Dean Harrington
A top-ranking scientist in HAMLET and for whom Francis worked.
He vanished in the chaos of the outbreak and is presumed dead.
----
Brigadier Lukesonoff
Voice Actor: Dennis Falt
A high-ranking officer of the A-MAX CLEANERS, this guy only gets
a brief role in the game and that's a few lines said over a video connection.
----
Android RZ02
An android referred to by Brigadier Lukesonoff.
----
The Announcer
Voice Actor: Barry Gjerde
The Announcer's one role is during the end cinematics. He's ultra
cheesy as befitting his tiny role in the game.
----
The Computer
Voice Actor: Kimberly Forsythe
The Griffon doesn't have a computer voice. This one belongs to
the HAMLET Emergency Systems. I'll leave it to your imagination why they'd
need that in this game.
---------------
o--------------------------o
| Section E: WALKTHROUGH |
o--------------------------o
E1: PREFACE -----
I suppose this would be the real meat and potatoes of this FAQ now
wouldn't it? The walkthrough is broken down into segments. It has been
written for minimal spoilers. If you want my opinions on the story scroll
down to the Story section below (or use Ctrl-F to get there faster.)
Within each part things are further broken down into rooms and regions
corresponding to their map names. I'll only briefly touch on cutscenes. As
the map cannot be rotated I'll use cardinal directions. At the end of each
mini-segment will be this:
Items to be found: stuff!
That will tell you what you can pick up in the area if you want to go poking
around. As you cannot return to most areas grab what you need while
you're there.
Periodically you'll see a password. You can use these if you get hopelessly
stuck or hit a point where the game keeps crashing.
0 = zero, o = letter 'O'
---------------
E2: WALKTHROUGH PART 01 TO THE MOON, ALICE! -----
This is the very beginning of the game. There's a bit of talking to establish
the setting then you'll be in control of KID inside HAMLET's shuttle deck on
level 1. Take a few minutes to become acquainted with the controls. Just
ahead you'll see something pop up on your scanner. If you approach you'll
find it's BOSS looking over an empty shuttle sitting in the hangar. That
couldn't possibly be useful now could it? *wink, wink*
If you're in the mood for a little humor try calling STORMY or THIEF. You
cannot reach BIGHORN or KILLER at this time.
Since the Griffon has no info about the facility the mini-map can only show
NO DATA. On the east and west ends of this room are ramps leading up to
two gates - one on either side. If you try to leave through the east door
THIEF calls and stops KID. Instead head through the west partition.
Just around the corner from that gate is Elevator 4 but there's no need to
jump in it. A lone Cricket, the very first enemy of the game, is in the next
room. Fortunately KID won't have to fly blind for much longer as BOSS,
responding to THIEF's request, sends all of HAMLET's maps to the squad.
Right after that the mini-map will be enabled. There are three small rooms
dead ahead and another Cricket. In the first is a tiny card. (How does the
Griffon pick this stuff up?) While the third has the game's first terminal. It
requires a five digit number before it will cough anything up. Hmm, that Card
has three such numbers printed on it. You could try all three or you could
just skip right to the third and input 53260.
This begins the first floor map and enemy data download. It's not much but
it will display the battle rating and predicted durability of the game's
lowliest guard robots.
A quick glance at the map shows an open room to the north and a long
winding passage advancing further into the compound. In the interest of
avoiding backtracking go to the open room. Two Cricket's patrol here. There
are some goodies to loot in the cubbies.
A lone Buoy floats just down the hall. One shot from the default beam gun
will down it. Elevator 1 - an express route straight down to the mines - is
just up ahead but, once again, KID's orders are to clean out the first floor.
There will be plenty of opportunities to go gallivanting around other floors
later. A second lone Buoy is west of Elevator 1.
Items to find: Repair Unit (2)
Card
Small Beam Gun
The path splits three ways here. The first route heads east through an
arced passageway that's currently locked behind a card reader. The
northeastern passage is inaccessible as Jim sees it's a deadend and refuses
to go there - for now. Head northwest. A Cricket waits in ambush.
Two Buoy try to pincer the Griffon at the four-way intersection. For these
weak enemies it's not a problem to take a hit or two. They go down quickly
anyway. As you've probably deduced there are many cubbies spread about
HAMLET - some off the beaten path. As these have a chance for goodies
it's always a good idea to check them out.
STORMY calls about Elevator 5. I'm only pointing this out because much
later KID will be kicking himself for not recalling this particular call.
Your objective is to locate a card key that can open the locked partition
we passed earlier. Once it is obtained return to the locked door and open it.
You must actually go into the inventory and select the key.
Items to find: Power Unit
Card Key
Small Vulcan
Make your way around the arc. Boss 001 is just up ahead. Don't worry it's
a training fight. Afterwards Jim will be locked inside the partitions and has
to enter a passcode to unlock them. Hope you grabbed that Card from
awhile ago. If you didn't and flub it three times THIEF calls to tell you
what it is.
(The code is 53260 - the same code used to access the terminal on this
level. Great security, eh?)
Items to find: Small Rocket Launcher
Okies, wagons north! Two more Buoy are in the first wide corridor. If you
haven't adjusted your weapons yet now's perhaps a good time to do so.
Just before entering the next chamber a warning comes out over the radio
from STORMY and THIEF. Couldn't possibly be poignant could it? Nah, that
Tryser just ahead just wants to chat, that's all. NOT! It can drop a Medium
Beam Gun if you're willing to farm it.
There's evidence in the next room that someone else has been hunting
here. Unfortunately wreckage left from enemies beaten by KID's allies never
yield items. Oh well. There's only one path to continue the story.
After some more talking STORMY tells KID to destroy all hostiles. I love it
when they say that. A Cricket and a pair of Buoy think they're tough enough
to take on KID. In the room south of that are two Tryser who want to pick
a fight. When they're dead THIEF broadcasts an emergency signal. The
game even goes so far as to open the map and show you where he's hiding.
First, however, there's looting to be done! Elevator 3 is to the west. Just in
case you missed the first terminal room another is in this area. No worries
about THIEF. He's on rpg time and NPCs can't open doors outside of
cutscenes. Head down the ramp and face Boss 002. It's not particularly
strong but the ramp and beams make it a real pain to get around this room.
Items to find: Repair Unit (2)
Power Unit (3)
Small Beam Gun
When the coast is clear approach THIEF to get a nice cutscene. That
wraps up part 1 of this walkthrough.
---------------
E3: WALKTHROUGH PART 02 DEEPER INTO HAMLET -----
After STORMY drags KID down to level 2 you'll resume play right next to
elevator 3. She departs to claim the south section and, as mentioned, the
map will not have any specific details until a terminal is found.
Password: MASFF CAGZ3 5V4KK XU0Ro EE0H3 L7HZS
Now's the time for saving and healing if needed. Just ahead is a convenient
terminal. KID doesn't know what the code is so he calls STORMY. She gives
him the first four digits. KID has no choice but to guess the last number.
To reconnect with any terminal just back up and approach again. The
correct number is 11630. That wasn't hard now was it?
There's killing to be had! In the first room are two Buoy and a new enemy in
the first Tortoise. Down the passage a Small Vulcan can be had and the
partitions leading south are currently locked. KID will be heading this way
later so if you don't need the gun just leave it there.
To the immediate north east is a lone Cricket. *yawn* Two tiny Tortoise's,
one to each room, patrol just to the north. Keep going north and turn west.
You should receive a message from THIEF. It's not terribly important.
Although it's not strictly necessary you can call STORMY and tell her about
the floor map data you found.
Items to find: Small Vulcan
Small Rocket Launcher
Repair Unit
You probably noticed a ton of robot signatures emanating from the Guard
Robot Hangar Deck. It's packed with enemies. In fact, it might just be the
largest concentration of enemies in a single room. Not to worry, however,
for the hangar has two floors connected by a ramp and the guard robots
are spread out. Three Buoy approach KID as soon as he enters. A Tortoise
awaits at the bottom of the ramp. Three more Tortoise and 3 Buoy are all
that's left of this section. Afterwards KILLER calls and advances the plot.
There's a good chance something dropped from the Tortoises so scratch
around the wreckage. Then head up the south ramp for some lootin'.
Items to find: Master Key
Power Unit
A key implies there's a locked door to be opened. Head down to the locked
gate visited earlier. You'll know you're close when KILLER calls again. When
you reach the door use the Master Key and head inside.
--Security Room
A Trsyer waits at the opposite end of this room and it drops a key item: the
369 sensor. This Tryser is armed with a rocket launcher of its own but it's
slow to react and easily picked off. Because it always drops the sensor it
never drops the launcher.
A Buoy and another Tryser are in the next room. There's a second Buoy
after that and a Cricket hides in the southern room. A second terminal is at
the end of the hall to the north. Head south to the three cubbies to receive
a call from THIEF with more plot advancement. The third cubby is locked.
Use the Master Key to unlock it and grab the plot coupon inside.
Items to find: Small Rocket Launcher
Power Unit
Repair Unit
Small Beam Gun
No. 369 Disk
Now this next part is a bit confusing. You still can't enter the south area
where STORMY's roaming, you can't jump back on elevator 3 and there are
no more enemies in KID's neck of the woods. Hmm, I wonder just how
STORMY's doing? You can call her for a bit more plot. Head north towards
the storage facility. A call from THIEF keeps KID up to date on where the
comedy relief is. The important part to remember is that elevator 1 has
been unlocked.
To advance the plot at this point you *must* have the 369 sensor.
Otherwise you'll be left wandering about aimlessly with nothing to do. If you
didn't loot that Tryser go back and do so. Head to the northwestern room
to receive a warning from STORMY. Unless you bothered to call her earlier
her dialogue won't make much sense.
Well, she said the creature was heading towards KID from her position so
let's intercept shall we? Just around the corner and he runs into Boss 003.
Refer to the boss section if you're having trouble with this one.
Afterwards STORMY wants to meet up in the security room. As this is the
last you'll be seeing of this area be sure to grab any and all items before
you get there. BOSS relays orders for KID to head to level 1 and then take
elevator 4 down to level 7. He also gives kid the common passcode for that
floor: 63340.
The southeastern area is now accessible. There are two goodies to be
found and the remnants of STORMY's handiwork should you want to go
admire it. Once you're absolutely sure you're done go to elevator 3.
Items to find: Power Unit
Small Linear Cannon
On level 1 check the map for elevator 4. (Hint: it's west of the shuttle
bay.) There will be more calls as you cross the distance. It should be
completely safe. Thus ends this segment of the walkthrough. Buh-bye!
---------------
E4: WALKTHROUGH PART 03 SILENCE AND INTRIGUE -----
BOSS automatically sends KID the map data for this floor as soon as he
arrives. The first thing you can do is run straight to elevator 3. There are
no obstacles or enemies in the way. Why did BOSS want KID to take
elevator 4? No idea. Since there is no rush it's time for some lootin' and
shootin'!
Each of the control rooms is guarded by a pair of Guard Arms. There is also
a terminal which can be accessed using the code 63340 which BOSS gives
KID upon arrival. He doesn't need the floor data but this adds a little bit
more information to the enemy database.
The direct route is immediately blocked off by a partition so it's the long
way around. There are two more sets of Guard Arms but it's not necessary
to destroy them all - unless you're trying to squeeze every last drop of
experience out of this game. A final pair blocks the northern hall. A
cutscene begins as soon as KID enters the target room.
Items to find: Power Unit (2)
Well, let's obey BOSS's orders and take elevator 3 to level 4. As soon as
you exit the elevator the Griffon receives a distress call from STORMY. The
yellow block on the map is where she is. You might notice something in that
area on your mini-map.
Anyway a new floor means a search for a new terminal is on. The gates
heading north is locked for now so ignore that. Proceed down the hall to
the western partition and head south. As soon as the door opens a
Tortoise will head towards you. The room at the end is a huge terminal room
that asks for a disc which KID doesn't have yet. This area demands
backtracking later.
Items to find: Repair Unit
To progress return to the central southern partition and head into the
connecting corridor. It's highly unlikely you'll be sandwiched in here but
keep an eye open anyway. The western chamber has a Vulcan-toting
Tryser alongside a Bouy. Another Tryser and two more Buoy guard the
southern hallway. Sometime during this part THIEF should call to advance
some plot. There are two wiley Tortoises in the east chamber.
Items to find: Power Unit (3)
The terminal for level 4 is in a cubby on the south side. The right access
code is 21832. This updates the enemy database again. Head east, then
north as the locked partitions demand maximum walking length. A pair of
Buoy try to valiantly defend the hall.
Walk down to the IFF signal and rescue STORMY from the ugly Robbage
that's munching on her VF. How did this thing catch her? The world will
never know. As this thing is no stronger then a normal Robbage it's not
even worth the title of mini-boss.
Items to find: Optical Disk
When you're back in control it should be obvious what needs to be done.
The terminal deities demand a disk. This updates the monster database to
include bio-monsters. Then head all the way back to where that Robbage
was sitting. That's the only means of accessing the three rooms just north
of elevator 3.
Room one is empty. Room two has a trio of gate-camping Moubase. A final
Moubase resides in room 3. Just approach the gate to the isolated block
and KID automatically closes it. Back to elevator 3. Yes, you have to walk
all the way around again. It's faster in CRUISE mode.
*Author's Note* I forgot to try entering the isolated block before killing all
the Moubase. Thus I cannot say what might happen for anyone who does.
Do so at your own risk.
Items to find: Small Rocket Launcher
Password: 3JXQo N4JDG KPYDG WXWVF 4PEYN 8XAVE
Level 5 is the factory where HAMLET's military units are built. As such it can
be a pain to clear out. As KID has no idea where STORMY is there's no
choice but to make a systematic sweep of the area. The first room has a
Breasts and Buoy combo.
The room just to the west is the armory. There are weapons galore to be
found here. There will be plenty of chances to grab them during this mission
so don't sweat it right now. Just make a mental note about that Gun
Launcher. The interconnected halls to the south are also devoid of enemies.
Items to find: Power Unit (2)
Medium Beam Gun (2)
Small Vulcan (2)
Small Beam Gun (2)
Small Rocket Launcher
Tesler Manager
Medium Vulcan
Small Gun Launcher
Small Linear Cannon
A terminal is down the hall and to the south. At the moment KID doesn't
have the access code for this terminal. [It's 77986.]
Continuing deeper into the factory KID first encounters another Buoy
followed by a Breasts. Inside the adjoined room is a second Buoy. An IFF
signature should be visible but let's secure the immediate area first. To the
southwest is another Breasts. Elevator 4 - currently inaccessible - is also
here. Opening the door to the IFF signal reveals a missing teammate.
Items to find: Pitch Trim Compensator
Hurray for fetch quests! The compensator is close by. Search
systematically and you should find the other part. The large room to the
south is a packed auto-noid hangar. A Buoy and a trio of HPS-03s wait in
here. All three are equipped with dual Vulcans. One is easily picked off at
the door but the other two like to try and ambush the Griffon as soon as it
walks in. As the southeastern door is unlocked it's possible to book it
through this room down to there and split up the remaining HPSes. Down
that hall the next partition is locked.
With both required items in hand return to STORMY for another cutscene.
Then run along and get her Tesler Manager. When you get back there's
more cutscene to watch (or skip).
Items to find: Paper
Ride Height Sensor
Power Unit
Bombs
When you're back in control you'll be in the armory with STORMY. This is a
great time to pick up that Small Gun Launcher if you haven't already.
Approach and speak to STORMY three times to advance the plot. She
mentioned a key. That couldn't be useful later now could it?
*Author's Note* I've always gone directly to talk to Stormy 3 times to
flesh out her dialogue. Thus I cannot say what will happen if you decide
to leave the armory immediately.
The area has partially respawned - it IS a factory after all. Just down the
hall is a new Buoy to greet KID. East of where STORMY was hiding is the
Breasts to go along with it. There are several important calls including one
from BOSS that turns the plot upside down - in a good way!
The remaining enemies consist of two Buoy. Grab the Bombs and listen to
STORMY's penchant for demolitions. KID won't enter the northern area.
Instead head east and look for the attachment points. An alert will sound
when the Griffon is close enough to one of them. Then go into your
inventory and manually select the Bombs.
Items to find: Repair Unit
They're automatically detonated when you meet up with STORMY. Due to
structural damage it is impossible to enter either area. New enemies to hunt
down include a Buoy and two HPS-03s. This is your LAST CHANCE to grab
any desired items from the armory. There will be one brief opportunity later
in the game but by then most of those weapons will be obsolete. When
you're absolutely sure you're ready to leave meet up with STORMY at
elevator 3. Boss 004 will jump into the conversation.
After this a long and very important cutscene plays. When it's over KID will
be on level 9. That's where this part of the guide ends. Till next time!
---------------
E5: WALKTHROUGH PART 04 LUNAR TEARS -----
BIGHORN automatically sends everyone a copy of level 9's map.
Password: GJWJG CDH14 8LS7A 02NR1 UPEYN SBGLH
The immediate objective is to meet up with the rest of the team at the
other end of the cargo road. Up north are some goodies to loot and a
terminal. The passcode for this one is 95621. It also updates the guard
robot database.
Items to find: Repair Unit
Power Unit
There will be a short bit of dialogue between KID, STORMY, BIGHORN, and
KILLER then they split up one per path. KID is ordered north to point 2. It's
conveniently the longest path of the four as well.
There are three Moubase straight ahead. The first room is empty with not a
monster or a goodie to grab. Keep going until a cave-in traps the Griffon.
Another rocket-armed Tryser is just ahead. It can drop a Medium Rocket
Launcher as a rare weapon. If you have an open weapon slot I recommend
trying to farm it.
A second vulcan-armed Tryser is down and around the corner. This one has
a good chance of dropping an item. There are a pair of Tortoises in the
large adjoined rooms. One is at each end. Although you don't have to fight
either of them where's the fun in that? Down the hall is a Breasts. A second
Breasts will try to ambush the Griffon at the last intersection.
Head down to the room at the end and enjoy the trippy cutscene with
cheesy dialogue. Plenty of imagination is required.
Items to find: none
When you're back in control you'll be on level 6 standing in front of elevator
3. Take a moment to get the Griffon in order before launching the hunt.
There's a lot of killing to be done. This is the south area of level 6. You
may recall that KILLER got his head handed to him somewhere on this floor.
[I will clear this area clockwise starting from elevator 3.]
Immediately to the east is as good a starting point as any. Starting with
the two rooms there are a two HPSes, one per. A lone Tortoise patrols the
hallways between. The south hallway connects this area to the storage
facility, elevator 3 and some goodies to loot at the west end of the hall. A
terminal is just north of elevator 3. The passcode is 30429. It updates the
auto-noid database to include Tassets and Cuilboil.
This floor contains the first concentrations of truly dangerous opponents.
NEVER get caught in a crossfire from this point on or the Griffon will be
shredded. You should surpass ARL 20 during this mission.
Items to find: Power Unit
The storage area to the south is next. On the east side are two Tassets
just waiting to pounce the moment KID walks in. They have a good chance
of dropping item packs. There are another pair on the opposite end of this
chamber. Just be careful not to engage both at the same time.
Head south, search the cubbies for more loot, then search the southern
corridor for enemies. There should be a sentry Breasts down there.
Items to find: Medium Linear Cannon
Power Unit (2)
Large Vulcan
Repair Unit
Medium Vulcan
Medium Rocket Launcher
Head around the corner towards the north - ducking into the first set of
cubbies to grab a plot item stashed inside. There will be a second Breasts
to the north. There are also piles of wreckage left over from allies in this
region. Although it's possible to continue north and enter the factories let's
clean out the middle region first.
Items to find: Laser Cutter
Repair Unit
A third Breasts patrols the central hall. At the very end is elevator 4. The
west room has a Tortoise and the east an HPS. After all enemies in this
region are slain BIGHORN advances the plot with another call. Meet up with
STORMY to gain full access to factory 1.
Being a factory it has some dangerous enemies inside. They include a
Hauberk, an HPS, and a second Hauberk who stubbornly guards the
southern gate. There is a final HPS to wrap up the kill count. When all
enemies have been dispatched STORMY radios a warning that the enemy is
mobilizing in KID's area. Translation: there's backspawn to plow through.
Items to find: Medium Gun Launcher
Waiting for KID in the room adjoining the factories is a single stationary
Hauberk armed with a rapid-fire Vulcan. It is protected both by its shield
and heavy armor. Creep just close enough to shoot at it and it will just
stand there staring at you while doing nothing. If you've been studious in
accessing terminals you should have the Hauberk combat data and will be
able to see its remaining durability. Use that to determine if you're
getting past the shield or not. If you still have that Small Gun Launcher
from level 5 now's a good time to put it to use. Each hit from it will do
100+ damage to that auto-noid.
I was debating on whether or not to upgrade this encounter to mini-boss
status. Although it technically qualifies - high level, heavy armor my beam
guns couldn't punch through, fairly high damage vulcan, and more health
then other Hauberks - that tiny window where it can't shoot back deflates
the entire battle.
If you absolutely must fight it head on remember that Hauberks try to
keep their shields between themselves and the Griffon while turning. This
means that entering its room and trying to orbit this Hauberk can be
incredibly frustrating. Alternating between the shield and a heavy weapon
while staying stationary would be a better idea.
BOSS calls asking for a Laser Cutter. Head back to elevator 4 and take a
ride down to level 8.
SPECIAL NOTE: Make sure to grab that Medium Gun Launcher. Put it aside
for now because you'll be needing it against a boss here soon enough.
Trust me when I say that saving it for said boss will be worth it.
Okay, level 8. A pair of Crickets attack at the first intersection. A pair of
Tortoises patrol the next room. To the north BOSS calls again, this time
impatient. He tells KID to just run past the guard robots. Yeah right!
(collision issues aside...) Just north of that spot there's another Cricket.
Approach BOSS's IFF signature to trigger the next scene. KID automatically
puts his Laser Cutter to good use.
Items to find: Power Unit
Repair Unit
Afterwards it's back to level 6. As per BOSS's orders any guard robots KID
left behind to reach the power room must now be destroyed. He can go
take a gander at the huge atomic pile - HAMLET's central power supply.
However there isn't much point in doing so. There are no items and all doors
leading past it are locked.
Back on level 6's south side the only remaining areas are factory 2 and the
laboratories. The factories are still operational and there is some backspawn
to contend with. First of all is a fiesty Tasset to the northwest of elevator
4. Guarding the entrance to factory to is an HPS-03. The final auto-noid is
another Barmail. Although it has a shield it doesn't have the strong armor
from that super-Hauberk awhile ago.
There's also quite a bit of wreckage from STORMY's purge. As usual there
are no items to loot from them.
An elevator huh? Can't be at all dangerous. Let's investigate!
Ha, ha! Boss 05 jumps KID in the elevator. Refer to the boss section if
you're having problems with this encounter. So concludes this segment of
the walkthrough. Until we meet again.
---------------
E6: WALKTHROUGH PART 05 GRIFFON REBORN -----
The Griffon permanently loses CRUISE mode from this point on, as BIGHORN
explained in the cutscene. However COMBAT and ASSAULT now use the
type two statistics. The Griffon is also restored to full Energy, Body, and
Shield strength. Hurray! That's the only free healing in the game so enjoy it
while it lasts.
A small energy-saving tip: If you don't have far to go use COMBAT mode
instead of ASSAULT. Type 2 soldier mode is a reasonably fast walker and
will burn less energy in the process. Over the course of the second half this
can save you some power units which will be needed because all the good
beam weapons burn energy like crazy.
Password: T8NF2 LIJ0E EVGQP EENMF 8AYN7 7MNoJ
Alrighty then, off to level 8. BOSS and BIGHORN are still inside the hangar
working on something but you can stop and look at their VFs. The Griffon
will be in COMBAT mode. Head to elevator 3. This takes Jim to level 7.
Remember that the elevators leading to level 8 took the cleaners to an area
that was sealed off from the rest of the floor. What Jim needs to do is to
take the northern ramp instead which grants access to the otherwise
inaccessible area of level 8.
*Author's Note* I didn't think to stomp around level 8 before proceeding
to level 7.
If you never triggered the partition locking event the last time Jim was on
level 7 that gate will be open but the gate just north of it is locked anyway.
Drat! There goes hoping for a shortcut. Oh well, go around again to reach
the main control room for HAMLET. There's some looting to do there.
Items to find: Medium Gun Launcher
[Be sure to grab this weapon as it will be a great help in an
upcoming boss battle. If you don't have room to carry it leave
another weapon behind in its place.]
Power Unit
In the northeast corner of level 7 is the ramp to level 8. The game should
pause momentarily to load the new floor. Just as you enter the floor proper
BIGHORN should call. The important part of this call is that BIGHORN gives
KID the terminal access number for this floor: 49887.
Just ahead are two Guard Arms. To the west is elevator 5 - which is not
running because it lacks power. Remember STORMY's comment waaay back
on level 1? I pointed it out earlier. To the east is the terminal. As the
number given to KID is never added to the list it is important to remember
or record the number if you want the floor data for level 8.
Seeing as how elevator 5 leads to other inaccessible areas it would be a
good idea to get it running again. Up ahead are two areas. The east leads
on so turn west to destroy the Cricket there. Its twin guards the other
side. Down the hall, in the cubby at the dead end is a plot coupon Jim
refuses to pick up just yet.
Items to find: Small Rocket Launcher
Power Unit
Cable
Two more Guard Arms guard the only corridor heading deeper into the floor.
They should be a piece of cake by now. The only route is south as the
eastern hallway is locked. Each adjoining space has a single Fly. Yes,
you must destroy ALL of them or you won't be able to advance to the
next area. They're not very bright and it's easy to avoid getting into a
crossfire with them. One shot from a Medium Rocket Launcher will down
each of them.
A Tortoise guards each end of the adjoining intersection. At the end of the
hallway over on the east side is the power supply switch. It's marked on
the map. Jim will automatically interact with the switch if the Griffon gets
close enough but it doesn't work right now.
If you try to approach the central control block Jim will note that there are
no enemies and refuses to enter. This means you've missed some of the
baddies and need to backtrack. This can also happen if didn't allow an
enemy to finish blowing up before moving away. Return to the enemy
stuck in dying limbo and it will be counted as deceased.
Once all enemies are down the Griffon will pick up an emergency signal
and BIGHORN will call. He tells Jim to go destroy the Guard Robot Control
System. The area will also be repopulated by new guard robots.
Although unnecessary for the plot there are Tortoises to blow up for
experience. There are four in the 3 stacked rooms - 2 in the second
and 2 in the third. One guards the power supply switch and the dead end
on the opposite side as well. When you are ready approach the block Jim
wouldn't enter earlier.
Inside is Boss 006. Refer to the boss section if you're having trouble with
this encounter. BIGHORN will call again once it's been destroyed and
explain how to repair elevator 5. Defeating this boss should give the Griffon
an additional response level. (You should be approaching ARL 30 by this
point: I was 27.)
To make the repairs Jim must first return to the power supply switch and
try to turn it on again. Unfortunately ePSXe 1.70 likes to crash loading this
dialogue. You will have to find a workaround if you are affected by this
error.
After flipping the switch Jim notices the cable has been cut. Hmm, it needs
a new cable eh? Not a problem! Run and get the replacement cable then
return. Jim fixes the problem without any further trouble. After talking with
BOSS head to elevator 5.
If you have anything you need to get on levels 7 or 8 now is the time as
Jim never returns to either floor later in the game. If you left a weapon to
pick up the Medium Gun Launcher back on level 7 and want to get it back
this is your last chance to do so.
It's time to clear out that previously-unavailable region of level 2.
CAUTION! There's a Power Armor practically waiting for Jim as soon as he
steps off of elevator 5. It's not high level so quickly beam spam it.
Password: 28IL5 STDU1 1I3DC RoHAJ 00FGH HIJKo
Just to the south are two more Power Armor. You can opt to plow south or
west from this point on. As I've already started heading south that's where
I'll continue. A Tasset guards the passage looping back north towards the
elevators. Just south of that is a locked gate that demands a key.
Items to find: Magnet Key
Large Vulcan
Repair Unit
Alright then, north it is! There's another Power Armor up there. The units
in this region can be rather generous with drops. Poke around to replenish
your weapon supply. Down the hall to the west are two terminals in the
tuning fork-shaped alcove. They're disabled right now and can't be
accessed. Just make a note of them and keep going.
Items to find: Power Unit
Medium Rocket Launcher
Alrighties in the next chamber is a dangerous level 65 Tasset. Yes, you read
that right - I did not typo that battle rating. It also has 410 durability. It
can drop one of three things: a power supply pack (common), a Large
Vulcan (rare) OR a Large Rocket Launcher (super rare).
Corner snipe this sucker before it can unleash fast volleys of vulcan shots.
If you're playing on an emulator farming this beast can be tedious but the
launcher will be helpful. Once it's down pat yourself on the back because it
is the highest level enemy in the entire game!
The room it was guarding is the Main Terminal. It's deactivated presently
and Jim notes a slot for a magnetic key. See? It wasn't a waste to start
south after all! It isn't immediately necessary to activate the main
terminal but it will save some backtracking later if you do.
Continuing west you may notice the walls look ... strange. There's a reason
for that but you won't find out until much later in the game. A pair of Guard
Arms defend each of the two hallways to the laboratories. Elevator 2 is up
here as well.
The lab doors are locked. At this point Jim needs to activate the main
terminal to proceed if he hasn't already. Then return to the tertiary
terminal to receive some information about a cryogenic facility and a
number: 03050. Sounds like a passcode to me. The other terminal has
information about the floor itself which you'll also need.
Hmm, Professor Mabel's room eh? That sounds like something worth
investigating. BOSS calls to notify KID that he's arrived on level 2. Just
around the corner is Boss 007. It shouldn't be too much of a threat after
the GRCS.
Items to find: Medium Linear Cannon
After it runs away continue heading to Professor Mabel's room. After all
the talking when you get there Jim will notice that something was dropped
on the floor in all the commotion: a card key. It's Card Key 2.
There's a gate to unlock! Return to the partition Jim couldn't open earlier
and pass through. The hallway to the west is an empty dead end for now.
On the other side is another Power Armor. When you reach the cryogenic
facility a cutscene plays.
Items to find: Power Unit
During the cutscene in the cryogenic facility Jim is required to enter a
passcode in order to continue. If you input the wrong number the scene
ends and Jim is put back in the Griffon just outside. You'll have to sit
through part of the scene again.
When it's over Jim will have company in the Griffon. There's also been some
backspawn for story purposes. Just around the corner to the north is a
floating Breasts. There's another just up ahead. A third new enemy, a
Hauberk, is to the west. It's a scripted encounter so don't bother trying to
corner snipe it.
After all the talking follow BOSS's orders and head to elevator 7. It's just
north of elevator 5 where you first entered this floor. Level 3 is the only
floor in the game where there are NEVER any enemies to fight. Enjoy the
nice relaxing blue motif.
Just ahead are elevators 6 and 5. BIGHORN soon calls to advance more
plot. There's a terminal up ahead. The passcode is 14297. This updates
the level 3 map. What's odd is the farm area to the west has no access
elevator or ramp. How in the world did THIEF get in there anyway?
Items to find: Power Unit (2)
As soon as you approach the medical bays a familiar face turns up. Head
to elevator 7 and take it to level 4.
Thus ends this segment of the walkthrough.
---------------
E7: WALKTHROUGH PART 06 SYSTEMATIC ELIMINATION -----
Password: YMFJ6 0ML3C HNMDG TKQJ5 VKAoD QEK4L
Or: FU63S P6AQ5 DMoIo 8D8AZ UA2JA ST2PY
Ahead of you at the end of the hall will be a terminal if you missed it on
your first trip to this floor. Trying to enter the Isolated Block right now
just results in the partitions closing right in front of you so instead head
towards the distinctive bio-monster signatures. This area is divided
into blocks on the map so I'll use that structure for this segment.
You should be at or very close to ARL 30 by this point. BOSS will call just
before you reach Block 1. Pick up all desired items before leaving each
block as Jim automatically locks the partitions behind him.
--Block 1
Two Moubase occupy the west room and 2 Froajell the east. They can be
a pain to hit so take a little time to aim and don't let them pincer the
Griffon in the hallway between.
Items to be found: Power Unit (2)
Medium Gun Launcher
--Block 2
In the next room a Barmail is patrolling. Following that is a lone Tasset.
Although the Barmail looks like it has a cannon mounted on it's shoulder
extensive efforts to farm it yielded nothing but armor packs. The Tasset
can drop another Large Rocket Launcher.
Items to be found: none
--Block 3
Go around and down to find another Barmail on guard. An HPS-03 awaits
you in the next room.
Items to be found: Large Beam Gun
--Block 4
See that big room ahead? Yup, that one with all the bio-monster readings
inside it. That's the next target. The good news is that it's just a bunch of
Froajells. Oh wait, that's not good news is it? *sigh* a Vulcan is handy here
so the Griffon doesn't burn a ton of energy shooting thin air. Pick them off
one at a time and retreat to the entry hallway if they start to swarm you.
Items to be found: Repair Unit
--Hallway to Block 5
Meet up with Stormy just up ahead. She walks around the corner and
promptly vanishes into a plothole until she is needed again.
This long hallway has closed partitions forcing Jim to go the long way all
around and through all the bio-monsters.
The first hallway is guarded by a Sedlash and it retaliates to being shot
by firing a big burst of ... whatever it is they fire. The second sports an
easy Robbage that shouldn't present any trouble. The third hallway tries to
be tricky with a Robbage right around the corner. At the other end is
another Sedlash.
Items to be found: Energy Unit
Medium Rocket Launcher
--Block 5
Meet up with BIGHORN and continue onward until you get a cutscene.
If want, you can walk forward and see where the monster punched
through a security fence and escaped into an inaccessible area. The
partition leading north to the Isolated Block will open from here. It's
already been cleaned out (by STORMY? BIGHORN?) as you can tell from the
many piles of wreckage lying around. There are no items to be had.
Afterwards follow BOSS's orders and jump on elevator 4 to level 3. It's at
the end of the hall where you saw Francis.
Password: 8BR6N B5BB5 5729o 7WE0L 7G1AU WCM7K
Or: o05Yo LKP7o Y9D9H DM4DC 9QJ2V XL4YM
Now hurry along (there are no items in this section of floor 3) back down to
the remote area of floor 4.
---- FLOOR 4, Block 6
BOSS will promptly send instructions on where to meet up with you so get
to work clearing out everything between the two of you. If you forget just
look at your map and there will be a blinking yellow block to remind you.
A pair of Tassets guard the first room. It's one minor Tasset and another
more powerful elite Tasset armed with Vulcans + Rocket Launcher. Don't
rush in and get into a crossfire between them. That's a good way to get
torn up. The minor Tasset should be easy to corner snipe from the door.
When it's down there's just enough room to orbit the dangerous one.
The room just to the north is empty so if you need some room to breathe
there ya go. Afterwards you'll receive an important message from BOSS.
Take a second to make sure you're ready for battle, then continue on. A
locked partition forces the Griffon south and around to a scripted battle.
I don't consider this boss-worthy material as it's just a rehash of what
you've faced before. If you're having trouble with this encounter try
COMBAT mode at close range and the biggest beam gun you've got.
Items to be found: Repair Unit
After this meet up with STORMY again. Hark! My ears pick up the sounds
of battle over yonder! KID and STORMY go to see what the commotion is
all about and run into BOSS and another confrontation with our old pal Mr.
Monster. You know the drill by now. When the dust settles STORMY tells
KID to finish cleaning house.
In the room you passed are a pair of Tassets. They should be close to the
door so take care. A partition just to the east leading north is locked so the
only route is the long way. To the north a Robbage is tucked just behind a
corner where it can shoot at Jim if he gets too close. This monster picked
a bad spot, however, as it is easily sniped before ever becoming a threat. A
Sedlash guards the only hall north but its counterattacks are easily evaded
now that there's room for the Griffon to strafe.
[If you leave the Robbage alive you can walk past where the Sedlash
stands guard and enter a part of the floor that would otherwise be off
limits due to cutscene interference. There's no point in doing this unless
you're just curious.]
Afterwards Jim automatically returns to the medical bay and a new
animated scene starts. Thus ends this segment of the Space Griffon VF-9
walkthrough. See you in the next part!
Items to be found: Power Unit
Large Vulcan
---------------
E8: WALKTHROUGH PART 07 THE LONG HUNT -----
Alright, if you haven't saved in awhile now's a good time to do so. After
that long cutscene Jim will be back outside the medical bay on floor 3. He'll
still have all the damage he's suffered so heal up if needed.
Password: SJ33K DQGLI LQoEG 2U7V8 W6T5S XGLQY
Or: REM3I 8NVAo PSoCC HDNo7 WVHQB L61HG
Go and meet STORMY at elevator 5. Your destination is floor 5. It's been
repopulated thanks to the automatic factories so watch your step. Maria
sends Jim east to clear out the Factory blocks so let's keep to the order.
Each block will be sealed after completion so pick up any desired items
while you can. In addition to that once you enter a block you can't leave it
until all the enemies are destroyed. If you try Mary will admonish Jim and the
Griffon is pushed forward. So if you get caught at the door you'll either
have to fight it out right there or try to walk into the room.
You can't enter the northwestern area just yet as that is where Maria is
hunting. You should be at or very close to ARL 35 by this point.
--Factory Block 1
This area has an HPS-03, and two Flys. The HPS is the threat here as it is
a beastly level 43 auto-noid. It will patrol just far enough from the door that
you can slip by while its back is turned and take out a Fly on one end.
Then corner snipe the HPS. The second Fly should be no problem after that.
Items to find: Medium Linear Cannon
--Factory Block 2
Unfortunately a Hauberk is right inside this room. Once it is destroyed a pair
of Flys await down the hall. Fortunately the Hauberks and HPSes in later
blocks are not of the same high level as the one in Block 1 and the Griffin
should have a high enough ARL to quickly spam shots to their weak points.
Take them out quickly and limit damage to a minimum. There's still quite
a lot of floor left.
Items to find: Large Vulcan
Repair Unit
--Factory Block 3
Block 3 consists of the three large rooms vertically stacked. An HPS-03 is
just inside the first while a Hauberk is in the third. There are no items
here. The HPS is one of the very few enemies who can drop a gun launcher.
This one is of the medium variety. That also means that a direct
confrontation with it can be quite painful.
--Factory Block 4
An HPS-03 is, again, waiting for Jim the moment the door opens. Just down
the hall another Barmail sits but this one carries two shields and thus is only
vulnerable to damage from the back, sides, or above or below the shields. If
you're having trouble try backing up and getting out of range so it stops
chasing the Griffon. That will give you a chance to consider your options.
While scrounging around you should get a clue on your sensors as to the
whereabouts of Spanky McMonster.
[BTW, Francis, I hate to tell you this but...
EVOLUTION DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY! Sorry, bad pseudo
-science grinds my gears.]
Items to find: Repair Unit
Power Unit
Large Rocket Launcher
--Factory Block 5
[When Mary tells Jim about this block the game may hang trying to play
Jim's reply to her. Save before approaching.]
Two little worm monsters are here. They're weak and low level so take them
down quickly. Afterwards the road back will be completely locked off. More
information about the worms can be found in boss entry 008.
Down the hall a Power Unit can be found. The next worm can't be hurt
because it's waiting for you to get close enough to trigger the next scene.
There will be plenty of yapping before Jim can complete his approach.
Items to find: Power Unit
[Note, another crash point is just ahead in ePSXe 1.70. When you reach
the final turn before the distinctive icon Francis will call and the game may
hang trying to load her dialogue.]
Boss 009 is right up ahead. Afterwards Jim, Rauzein, and Maria split up
again to finish off the remaining enemies. Blocks 6 and 7 have already been
cleaned out by the other AMCs so let's head to 8.
--Factory Block 8
Well, actually the first stop is the circular room north of block 8. Two
Hauberks are here. One is armed with a beam gun and the other a Vulcan.
Back around and down the hall is a lone high level Spaudler.
The next room contains a low level linear-cannon sporting Barmail and a
higher level HPS with a vulcan. Now there's a choice between two rooms.
The eastern one has another Barmail sporting twin shields. The western has
an HPS and Fly combo.
Items to find: Power Unit (3)
Large Beam Gun
Large Gun Launcher
Large Linear Cannon (northern area)
With that cleaned up head back to the elevators. A Spaudler will be waiting
for you in the hall. That is the last one. Before finishing it off MAKE
CERTAIN that you have at least 400 Body. If you're at critical heal up before
it dies. Afterwards Maria appears followed by Rauzein. After all the talking
the Griffon will automatically make its bold escape. You will take some
damage during this sequence. If your Body is too low you can be killed right
here. If you were in COMBAT mode before you'll be put in ASSAULT instead just
before the scene plays out.
Ok, that finishes this segment of the Space Griffon VF-9 walkthrough. Next
time we join our heroes things look a bit grim for the A-Max Cleaners!
---------------
E9: WALKTHROUGH PART 08 THE GAUNTLET -----
Jim will be alone, truly alone, for the first time since he arrived on the
moon. Attempts to contact Maria and Rauzein are met with static and Mary's
zonked out in the back seat. Jim was dumped in the eastern region of level
6 which is where the machines of HAMLET would go to get scrapped. Now,
however, they're searching for prey.
Mabel will repeatedly taunt Jim throughout the upcoming obstacle course.
Taking one look at the minimap should give you an idea of how you'll have
to navigate. It's the same as before and it's intended to force you to walk
as many steps as possible to reach the end.
The first obstacle are 4 pairs of Guard Arms. The icons are so close
together that aiming can be difficult. It helps to go by the targeting
squares that pop up. At the end of the next hallway sits a lone Spaudler.
You should reach or be very close to ARL 40 by this point.
Down the next hall and just past the partition is a lone floating Breasts.
Continue on to face two Power Armor and another Breasts. Two more are
in the next area. Two more Power Armor are in the open room and they will
take advantage of the space to spam Vulcan fire. Continue on towards the
elevator.
If you're curious you can walk south through the open gate, then east,
and finally north all the way back to the disposal area. Elevator 7 no longer
functions, unfortunately. If you avoided being shot by the Guard Arms Mary
never has her waking up scene. Despite this she still starts talking once
you're on the elevator.
Items to find: Power Unit (2)
Repair Unit (2)
After the elevator ride you'll be back in a familiar area of level 2. Any
items you left on wreckage here previously will still be available. After
meeting up with Rauzein get ready for Boss 010.
After that fight continue down the path until you get a scene. When the
talking is done the only route left is north. We've got a date with one very
ugly monster with bad dialogue so no sense being late. Unfortunately he's
taken off like the coward he is.
Upon leaving Mabel's room you'll receive a distress signal from Rauzein.
Being a prick, Mabel has shifted around the partitions in the area so
navigating by the map is useless. You'll have to find your way (there's only
one route) through old fashioned looking about. When you find Rauzein
there will be more talking then you can hop on elevator 2 and ride down to
the north area of level 6.
You might remember mention of this floor from waaay back. This was where
KILLER was getting creamed by HAMLET's military forces. Hmm, Jim
mentioned he wondered where the monster could be watching him from.
Now where could that be?
There's a Control Room on the map. Considering it's at the very end of a
long, winding gauntlet it seems like that's where we should go.
Normally I don't point out items like this but straight ahead at the end of
the hallway is a Power Beam Gun. If you have any sense at all you WILL be
grabbing this gun. It's the best beam weapon in the game, bar none. Sure it
drains 40 energy per shot but it's got 120 power so who cares? This floor
has the strongest enemies in the game.
Okay, one chamber at a time. The first has a Cuilboil and two Ride Turrets.
The Cuilboil has a small chance of dropping the only Super Cannon Jim can
find in the game. The next chamber has two Spaudlers. Get one to chase
you back to the door and dispose of it. The second one can be destroyed
by actually going into the room as it is (finally!) large enough for evasive
maneuvers. The third room has a trio of Breasts.
At the end of the hall, to the left, is a terminal room. If you're up to date
with your terminals you shouldn't need it. A pair of double-shield Barmail
start the next set. Then comes a pair of rapid-firing Tassets. The last room
has four Ride Turrets and two Cuilboil. (It's like they're trying to kill you
or something!) Walking into the middle of that is asking for trouble.
Items to find: Repair Unit
Power Unit
Power Beam Gun
Large Rocket Launcher
Yet another confrontation with Monster McBlabsalot is just up ahead in the
form of Boss 011. It's a short battle and you should be familiar with it by
now. When that's done keep heading north to reach the control room.
Three Ride Turrets and twin Cuilboil guard access to the control room. One
of the Cuilboil may drop a Heavy Vulcan. If it does and you have room go
ahead and take it.
Proceed into the control room and acquire the necessary data. Time to put
those BOMBs Jim's been carrying for much of the game to use! Ahh the
sweet smell of demolitions in the morning. Continue south, set the bombs,
and meet up with Mabel where he's sulking in his room. A very brief fight
ensues before he transforms into an even uglier form.
The game takes over at this point. Relax and enjoy the show.
Items to find: Power Unit
Repair Unit
Large Beam Gun
This concludes this segment of the Space Griffon VF-9 walkthrough. One
more to go.
---------------
E10: WALKTHROUGH PART 09 THE END IS NEAR -----
Boy is it. After riding the elevator you'll be on the 2nd floor ... again.
Mary wants to go grab something from her room so let's humor her, shall we?
She'll tell you if you head down the wrong path.
After the cutscene you're back in the Griffin. Head to elevator 5. Your
destination is the first floor shuttle deck. As that is where the game began
the way should be familiar. Prepare yourself for the final confrontation. Jot
down your password or save as the final boss is the toughest enemy in the
game and might require several attempts to defeat.
Final Password: 3ST3G C8J4R XHJCH TMUYP IQFF0 ZKCWo
Or: 9BCoV LBM4S R51oN 5UDDE CH9QD ZD7M0
The final battle will catch up to you in the shuttle bay. Unload everything
you have and if you've been keeping up your Action Response Level there
should be no delay in your firing timers. You can check the boss section for
more on this particular fight.
Enjoy the ending and congratulations on beating this game!
A reader named Nick sent in the following tip:
"At the end of the game, when you're on Level 1 heading for the shuttle deck
with Mary, instead, head northwest. If you remember at the beginniner of the
game, you come across a locked partition blocking a corridor that leads further
north. However, you now have the Laser Cutter, and can cut it down (even Jim
realizes this). On the other side, you'll find a shit load of Repair and Energy
units, and a new weapon called the "Mega Laser" which is the best Beam Gun in
the game. I didn't find this out until my 2nd playthrough long ago, but it
would've helped my first playthrough a hell of a lot if I had known about it
at the time. A good tidbit for 1st timers."
I checked this out and it's true. In order to bring down the partition use
the Laser Cutter from Jim's inventory. There is one repair and one energy
pick up to the west with 20 units of each. The Mega Laser itself is to the
north and is indeed a beam gun. The stats for this weapon are down in the
weapon list.
---------------
o------------------o
| Section F: ITEMS |
o------------------o
You begin the game with 10 repair, power, and armor units.
All other items must be found.
CARD:
This is the first story-related item and can be found on level 1. It
has three security codes printed on it:
21832, 49887, and 53260.
CARD KEY:
Another early required item. This will unlock a partition on level 1.
It otherwise has no use.
MASTER KEY:
Found in the Guard Robot storage facility on level 2, this key
opens several gates on that floor.
No. 369 SENSOR:
This odd little device is discovered in the remains of a defeated
enemy early in the game and is attached to the Griffon's sensors
automatically. It will detect a certain enemy.
The 369 SENSOR is always ON once acquired and will display a
yellow gauge at the top of the screen under the distance meter if
it detects anything nearby.
No. 369 DISK:
Found on level 2 this disk has information vital to the team's
success. BOSS will want to take a look at it.
OPTICAL DISK:
A disc located on level 4. It is used in a terminal on the same floor
and provides information on many monsters.
PAPER:
This page has several security codes written on it that can
provide access to HAMLETs scattered security terminals. The
numbers are automatically added to the displayed list when you
reach a terminal. They are:
14297, 45318, 95621, 30429, and 77986.
TESLER MANAGER:
A spare VF part from level 5. It is incompatible with the Griffon.
PITCH TRIM COMPENSATOR:
Another VF part on level 5 that Jim can't use.
RIDE HEIGHT SENSOR:
The third spare VF part.
BOMB:
Initially found as a pack of 8, these plastic explosives must be set
and detonated and are thus unsuitable for combat. They are used
to demolish certain troublesome structures within HAMLET.
LASER CUTTER:
Found on level 6 BOSS will need this item to cut through a locked
partition. It afterwards remains as part of Jim's assorted goods.
CABLE:
Found on level 8 this spare power supply cable will be necessary
during the repairs of elevator 5.
MAGNET KEY:
Found on level 2 this special terminal key will be needed to
start up the floor's network.
DOCUMENT:
This piece of paper has the code for the Cryogenic Facilities
written on it. It can be examined in the inventory screen and Jim
will read the code out loud. The code is 03050.
CARD KEY 2:
This gate key was lost somewhere on level 2. Perhaps someone
should have kept a better eye on their belongings?
REPAIR UNIT:
This unit is found in packs of 2-5 as random drops from wrecked
enemies and as item pick-ups around HAMLET. There are a limited
number of them. Each one restores 400 Body for the Griffon.
POWER UNIT:
Like the REPAIR UNIT this is also found in 2-5 packs and is limited
in quantity. One unit restores 400 energy.
ARMOR UNIT:
The third randomly available drop this item will restore 20 points
of armor to the Griffon's shield.
---------------
o---------------------o
| Section G: WEAPONS |
o---------------------o
Several types of weapons can be found in Hamlet. The Griffon starts the
game equipped with a Small Beam Gun and a Small Rocket Launcher. Jim's
VF has 7 weapon slots but one is permanently allotted to the shield so in
reality there are only 6 slots. One of these will pretty much always be a
beam gun of some sort. All other weapons have finite ammunition.
Weapons can be destroyed in battle if they sustain direct hits. As a general
rule of thumb larger weapons can take more damage before breaking. Once
a weapon is out of ammo the slot displays EMPTY. If the weapon is ruined
the graphic displays BROKEN. Both types are automatically discarded upon
entering the weapon screen. Neither can be repaired or reloaded.
Only opponents that leave behind wreckage can drop guns. The weapon
left for Jim will be one which the machine was using prior to being blown sky
high. The amount of ammunition left in its magazine will be equal to its
maximum minus any spent firing at the Griffon. Ammo for enemies is
technically infinite but the game keeps track in an unusual way. Rockets
and gun launchers are usually 1:1 but other weapons have less
helpful ratios. What this means is that the game deducts X amount of ammo
from the weapon when it drops based on Y number of shots. So, for example,
rockets and gun launchers deduct one shot from remaining ammunition per round
fired by the NPC. This is why the maximum ammo capacity for the Super Cannon
and Heavy Vulcan are listed with question marks because I don't know what the
ratio is. It may also be 1:1 but I'm erring on the side of caution.
Each projectile travels at a set velocity. In other words, after firing the
weapon it takes time for the projectile to reach its target. This is what
makes it possible to dodge most weapons. Note the *most* as beam
weapons have a velocity that is nigh-instantaneous and cannot be dodged.
The damage dealt by a shot is modified by three things: point of contact,
gun power level, and distance. Distance is chiefly a factor for beam guns
and less so for everything else. The armor level at the point of contact
is the biggest modifier after gun output level. Having a high output level
can be the difference between glancing harmlessly off the enemy and
punching through. Yes, it is possible to do zero damage.
*AUTHOR'S NOTE*
The english version actually calls the medium guns "mid-sized." I call them
medium in this guide as a matter of convenience.
------WEAPON LIST-----
----- G1: Beam Weapons
Small Beam Gun:
Type: beam
Power: 30
Ammo: infinite
Energy per use: 10
Slots: R/L
This is the most basic weapon in the game and Jim starts with
one equipped. It will be his weapon of choice for the first couple of areas.
Medium Beam Gun:
Type: beam
Power: 60
Ammo: infinite
Energy per use: 20
Slots: R/L
An upgrade for the Small Beam Gun. It does slightly more damage.
One of these will be the Griffon's main weapon for much of the game.
Large Beam Gun:
Type: beam
Power: 90
Ammo: infinite
Energy per use: 30
Slots: R/L
3rd tier beam gun. Until you get the Power Beam Gun this is a
good base weapon to use.
Power Beam Gun:
Type: beam
Power: 120
Ammo: infinite
Energy per use: 40
Slots: R/L
This rare weapon is only available as a pick-up on floor 6 late in
the game. It is an upgrade to the Large Beam Gun.
Mega Laser:
Type: beam
Power: 180
Ammo: infinite
Energy per use: 60
Slots: R/L
This extremely powerful weapon is hidden on the first floor behind
a sealed partition that can only be opened when Jim returns to the area at
the end of the game.
----- G2: Machine Guns
Light Vulcan:
Type: machine gun
Power: 5
Ammo: 400
Energy per use: none
Slots: R/L
This is the weakest weapon in the game. It's only good for the
weakest foes as it has abysmal firepower.
Medium Vulcan:
Type: machine gun
Power: 10
Ammo: 400
Energy per use: none
Slots: R/L
Slightly better then a Light Vulcan.
Large Vulcan:
Type: machine gun
Power: 15
Ammo: 400
Energy per use: none
Slots: R/L
It's not a bad gun per se but it takes many shots to down most
enemies around where you'd find it.
Heavy Vulcan:
Type: machine gun
Power: 20
Ammo: 280 (400?)
Energy per use: none
Slots: R/L
This is another rare weapon only available at the end of the game.
It is the strongest machine gun you can get. You will only ever find this
weapon as an enemy drop.
----- G3: Linear Cannons
Small Linear Cannon:
Type: voltage gun
Power: 50
Ammo: 50
Energy per use: 20
Slots: R/L
Linear Cannons are, per shot, stronger then a beam gun but have
limited ammunition and drain more energy per shot. Each round from one of
these inflicts a bit less damage then a rocket of the same size and they
don't home in. For enemies where the beam gun you're carrying isn't enough
to punch through armor a linear cannon is a good alternative.
Medium Linear Cannon:
Type: voltage gun
Power: 100
Ammo: 50
Energy per use: 30
Slots: R/L
The tier 2 linear cannon.
Large Linear Cannon:
Type: voltage gun
Power: 150
Ammo: 50
Energy per use: 40
Slots: R/L
This is the best linear cannon you can find lying around HAMLET.
Super Cannon:
Type: voltage gun
Power: 200
Ammo: 40 (50?)
Energy per use: 50
Slots: R/L
This is the best linear cannon in the game. It is only dropped
by Cuilboils. If you can get one of these the final boss will be much easier
provided you have good aim.
----- G4: Rocket Launchers
Small Rocket Launcher:
Type: guided rocket
Power: 60
Ammo: 12
Energy per use: none
Slots: M
The smallest rockets you'll find. They can easily destroy the
lightest enemies. Rockets automatically home in on the nearest enemy.
Some foes cannot be locked onto.
Medium Rocket Launcher:
Type: guided rocket
Power: 120
Ammo: 12
Energy per use: none
Slots: M
Tier 2 of the rocket launcher.
Large Rocket Launcher:
Type: guided rocket
Power: 180
Ammo: 12
Energy per use: none
Slots: M
Save these for the tougher opponents. They're in short supply.
----- G5: Gun Launchers
Small Gun Launcher:
Type: micro missile
Power: 120
Ammo: 6
Energy per use: none
Slots: R/L
Gun Launchers are portable, hand-held (by VFs) rocket launchers
that fire unguided missiles. They have the highest damage-per-shot ratio
but are the rarest weapon in HAMLET. The name sounds a bit misleading as
they don't launch actual guns. [Then again, maybe they do...]
Medium Gun Launcher:
Type: micro missile
Power: 240
Ammo: 6
Energy per use: none
Slots: R/L
A heavy-hitting weapon. These are rare so save them for bosses.
Large Gun Launcher:
Type: micro missile
Power: 360
Ammo: 6
Energy per use: none
Slots: R/L
If you use this against anything but the biggest, baddest foe in
HAMLET (a.k.a. the final boss) you're a fool. There's a grand total of ONE
of these bad boys lying around.
----- G6: Weapon Table
Want to compare and contrast weapons quickly? Here ya go!
---- Weapon Table ----
Name | Type | Power | Ammo | E | Slots
S.Beam Gun | beam | 30 | Inf | 10 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
M.Beam Gun | beam | 60 | Inf | 20 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
L.Beam Gun | beam | 90 | Inf | 30 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
P.Beam Gun | beam | 120 | Inf | 40 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
Mega Laser | beam | 180 | Inf | 60 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
Li.Vulcan | machine | 5 | 400 | 0 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
M.Vulcan | machine | 10 | 400 | 0 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
La.Vulcan | machine | 15 | 400 | 0 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
H.Vulcan | machine | 20 | 400? | 0 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
S.L.Cannon | volt | 50 | 50 | 20 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
M.L.Cannon | volt | 100 | 50 | 30 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
L.L.Cannon | volt | 150 | 50 | 40 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
S.Cannon | volt | 200 | 50? | 50 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
S.R.Launcher | rocket | 60 | 12 | 0 | M
----------------------------------------------------
M.R.Launcher | rocket | 120 | 12 | 0 | M
----------------------------------------------------
L.R.Launcher | rocket | 180 | 12 | 0 | M
----------------------------------------------------
S.Gun Launcher | missile | 120 | 6 | 0 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
M.Gun Launcher | missile | 240 | 6 | 0 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
L.Gun Launcher | missile | 360 | 6 | 0 | R/L
----------------------------------------------------
---------------
Section H: ENEMY UNITS -----
H1: Standard Opponents
----- Machine: Guard Robot -----
CRICKET:
Height: 5.28 m
Weight: 0.65 t
Speed: 21 km/h
Attack Strength: 430
Defense Strength: 740
Special Function: none
Wreckage? yes
Notes: This is the first and weakest enemy in the game. It is a
battle pod with two thin legs. A Cricket fires weak beam blasts. To destroy
it shoot the pod.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
TORTOISE:
Height: 2.21 m
Weight: 0.32 t
Speed: 99 km/h
Attack Strength: 730
Defense Strength: 680
Special Function: hover
Wreckage? yes
Notes: This is the first enemy who is even remotely challenging
to hit. It hovers just off the ground and flies back and forth in combat firing
beam blasts. Because of its small size a Tortoise can be difficult to
hit with conventional fire. Take these guard robots out as they first
approach the Griffon and they'll be little more then speed bumps.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
BUOY:
Height: 2.71 m
Weight: 0.53 t
Speed: 34 km/h
Attack Strength: 550
Defense Strength: 340
Special Function: hover
Wreckage? no
Notes: This floating machine is usually destroyed in a single shot.
They are slow moving and have a weak beam gun.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
FLY:
Height: 2.57 m
Weight: 1.45 t
Speed: 125 km/h
Attack Strength: 990
Defense Strength: 1040
Special Function: fly
Wreckage? no
Notes: This hovering attack drone has twin beam guns. Despite
the speed rating above they aren't very fast. They are a minor annoyance
unless mixed in with ground units. One rocket is usually enough to destroy
this nuisance.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
BREASTS:
Height: 6.78 m
Weight: 3.88 t
Speed: 31 km/h
Attack Strength: 1810
Defense Strength: 1830
Special Function: hover
Wreckage? no
Notes: This floating artillery station is slow moving and its large
size makes it easy to hit. It attacks by firing the cannons mounted on its
undercarriage. I have no idea why this guard robot was named the way it
is in the english translation but it is what it is. The bot slowly rotates as
it floats and its weakpoint is the central structure.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
RIDE TURRET:
Height: ??
Weight: ??
Speed: ??
Attack Strength: ??
Defense Strength: ??
Special Function: fly
Wreckage? no
Notes: This is a more powerful bot in the same line as the lowly
Buoy but is faster, does more damage, has more armor, and far more
durability. They are easily shot down by rockets but be careful as these
robots only appear at the end of the game alongside Cuilboil. Because this
enemy is not listed in the database I assigned it a name based on its
appearance and behavior.
----- Machine: Guard System -----
GUARD ARM:
Height: 2.14 m
Weight: 0.41 t
Speed: 0 km/h
Attack Strength: 480
Defense Strength: 520
Special Function: none
Wreckage? no
Notes: This guard system always appears in pairs. It is an
immobile defense system consisting of a base box attached to a wall and an
arm equipped with a beam gun that extends and retracts in a methodical
manner. To destroy this enemy shoot the gun or the arm itself. Don't
shoot the box as each hit there does only 1 damage.
----- Machine: Manned Mechs -----
TRYSER:
Height: 5.43 m
Weight: 15.4 t
Speed: 46 km/h
Attack Strength: 1140
Defense Strength: 1100
Special Function: none
Wreckage? yes
Notes: This is the first 'heavy' enemy encountered in the game.
A Tryser is a tank, complete with treads and turrets (or rocket launchers)
mounted on top. They are slow moving. Their weakpoint is in front of the
weapon mount. They are vulnerable to linear cannons.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
SPAUDLER:
Height: 5.21 m
Weight: 32.5 t
Speed: 20 km/h
Attack Strength: 3770
Defense Strength: 3320
Special Function: none
Wreckage? yes
Notes: This heavily-armored tank has a distinctive rounded body
to distinguish it from a Tryser. They are otherwise a direct upgrade to the
former machine. The weakpoint is the central of it's three turrets. They
are vulnerable to linear cannons.
Spaudlers have an atrociously bad drop rate for items and seem
to never drop weapons of any sort.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
HPS-03:
Height: 4.21 m
Weight: 2.43 t
Speed: 80 km/h
Attack Strength: 1920
Defense Strength: 1490
Special Function: none
Wreckage? yes
Notes: An HPS-03 is a humanoid, piloted machine equipped with a
weapon on each arm. They never carry rockets but can be found with beam
guns, linear cannons, and vulcans. They share many design similarities with
Barmail auto-noids.
There is also an "elite" version of this machine equipped with a
shoulder-mounted gun launcher (which can drop as a weapon pickup). Be
on the lookout for this version. Try to avoid direct combat if you can. A
linear cannon hitting its weak point will destroy the elite version quickly.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
POWER ARMOR:
Height: ??
Weight: ??
Speed: ??
Attack Strength: ??
Defense Strength: ??
Special Function: hover
Wreckage? yes
Notes: This enemy is not listed in the database. It is a large suit
of powered armor with several Vulcans for rapid fire. This enemy approaches
quickly and tries to evade return fire by moving from side to side. Its
weakpoint is the face. They are not very strong enemies individually.
----- Machine: Auto-Noid -----
BARMAIL:
Height: 7.00 m
Weight: 14.19 t
Speed: 55 km/h
Attack Strength: 2410
Defense Strength: 2100
Special Function: A.I. controlled
Wreckage? yes
Notes: This auto-noid is equipped with its own shield. Its weak
point is, for lack of a better descriptor, the groin area. (Ouchies!) The
shield it carries cannot be destroyed. They tend to keep the shield between
it and the Griffon while turning.
There is a variety of humanoid auto-noids very similar to Barmail
but who have two shields and attack using twin shoulder-mounted rocket
launchers. They are vulnerable in the face (the body structure is about
halfway between a Barmail and a Power Armor). To sight this target from
a distance line up the Griffon's gun sights above the machine icon center.
Draw a line through the center of the circle extending up. This variety can
drop rocket launchers.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
HAUBERK:
Height: 7.93 m
Weight: 19.77 t
Speed: 44 km/h
Attack Strength: 3400
Defense Strength: 2880
Special Function: A.I. controlled
Wreckage? yes
Notes: This auto-noid is equipped with its own shield. It too will
try to keep the shield between itself and the Griffon while turning. Its
weakpoint is the center of its chest. The distinguishing feature of a
Hauberk are the reverse jointed legs and slightly hunched posture. Like the
HPS series they can appear with a wide variety of weapons.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
TASSET:
Height: 6.01 m
Weight: 20.8 t
Speed: 64 km/h
Attack Strength: 3230
Defense Strength: 2500
Special Function: A.I. controlled
Wreckage? yes
Notes: This spider-like machine is first encountered as a mini-boss.
It attacks using the turrets and usually have a beam + vulcan combo.
Although fairly tough they aren't very bright and the broad width of their
legs makes it easier to corner snipe them compared to other auto-noids.
There is also an "elite" version of Tasset. These have a distinct
orange color and carry a large rocket launcher (which can drop after they
die). They are a bit larger then the run of the mill variety and quite deadly
at close range.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
CUILBOIL:
Height: 4.71 m
Weight: 28.2 t
Speed: 40 km/h
Attack Strength: 4120
Defense Strength: 4010
Special Function: A.I. controlled, Float-Beam
Wreckage? yes
Notes: This experimental machine is only found at the end of the
game. It is one of the strongest opponents Jim will face. Well, just take a
gander at those numbers! It sports twin cannons mounted (linear cannons,
vulcans, or beam guns) on top of a heavily armored body. The Cuilboil's
glaring weakness is its slow turning speed. The Griffon can run circles
around this thing in ASSAULT mode and its guns are fixed forward.
Each CUILBOIL has a chance to drop a rare weapon. They are
the only source of Heavy Vulcans and Super Cannons in the game. I have
absolutely no idea what a Float-Beam is supposed to be.
----- [Bio] Monster -----
MOUBASE:
Height: 1.50 m
Weight: 0.4 t
Speed: 74 km/h
Attack Strength: 1200
Defense Strength: 1150
Special Function: none
Wreckage? no
Notes: This little guy floats just off the ground and fires energy
blasts when it gets close. Its not terribly quick but it likes to move from
side to side in battle. They don't have much durability.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
ROBBAGE:
Height: 6.21 m
Weight: 8.4 t
Speed: 2 km/h
Attack Strength: 2100
Defense Strength: 2340
Special Function: none
Wreckage? no
Notes: This monster is always stationary and slowly fires energy
blasts directly in front of it. Its defense is high and it has decent
durability but it is usually found in places where cover is available. The
lock-on for rockets does not work on this bio-monster. You must be close for
the rocket to hit.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
FROAJELL:
Height: 1.29 m
Weight: 0.1 t
Speed: 41 km/h
Attack Strength: 1440
Defense Strength: 1290
Special Function: fly
Wreckage? no
Note: These little things are a PAIN to hit. Their 'center' puts the
bio-monster icon pointing just under them. Aim at the top line to hit these
creatures. They flit, only stopping to fire a few shots or if they get stuck
bumping into the ceiling. Unload as many rounds as you can whenever they
stop for a second and don't let them surround the Griffon.
Froajell have an especially-annoying ability to send rockets careening off
into nowhere. They can be hit and damaged but more often then not the
rocket veers off and slams into a wall instead. The trick is to be close to
them and fire *only* when the Froajell stops moving.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
SEDLASH:
Height: 7.14 m
Weight: 3.2 t
Speed: 0 km/h
Attack Strength: 2800
Defense Strength: 1990
Special Function: none
Wreckage? no
Notes: This enormous plantlike creature is stationary and has a
weak regular attack. It looks like it shoots little shell-less pods that
inflict moderate damage. The Sedlash's main threat is that each time it
detects hostile fire it releases a big burst of these little pods. That
wouldn't be so bad except the SEDLASH is usually found in narrow hallways
where there is no room to get out of the way.
At T intersections where its possible to strafe back and forth ASSAULT
is always fast enough to avoid the counterstrike but COMBAT is a tiny
bit too slow unless you fire at the last possible second. Its difficult to
get the right rhythm with COMBAT mode.
---------------
H2: BOSSES -----
Obviously there are spoilers in this section. Where these
enemies appear is covered in the walkthrough.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
001: Monster 01
This is more of an introductory battle then a boss but oh well. Savor the
ease with which this monster can be fought off because it won't last long.
Anyway, the beast fires red energy blasts at the Griffon. Jim will not
retreat so this is as good a time as any to put that shield to work. The
creature's weak point is its face.
Once its suffered enough damage it makes a hasty retreat and shuts those
plot convenient partitions around Jim.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
002: HPS Guardian
This military unit is a standard HPS-03. The thing that moves it into the
boss category is the early point in the game where it appears. As with all
HPSes the weak point is the groin. It doesn't have as much durability as
later units but has enough armor that unless you're hitting the weak point it
suffers little damage. Having poor weapons doesn't help.
It also doesn't help that its room has both a ramp and numerous columns
that are just perfect for running into. Pump a few rockets into this beast
and put it down before it can blast holes in the Griffon.
Now here's an easy way to beat this mini-boss without taking any damage
at all - if you want to be a bit cheap. It requires a rocket launcher with at
least six rounds left. When you descend the ramp the HPS should be at the
other end of the room. Ideally it should be sitting in the northwestern
corner. If not try going back to the northern room and luring it there.
Approach it from the east side, fire two rockets and backpedal. What you
want is to lure it so that one of the two beams in the room is standing
between you. The beams are open structures and if you stand with it
perpendicular between the two of you it will block anything that doesn't
go straight through the space in the middle.
Then pump 4 more rockets into it to finish the boss off.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
003: Monster 02
This adult form of the monster will set the standard for all its appearances
to come. See that room to the left? Quickly tap L1 to slide into it as soon
as the controls will respond because the monster wastes no time in opening
fire. It still shoots red blasts. They do more damage this time. However this
battle is easily won without suffering any damage.
Put a weapon in the right mount and corner sniper this sucker. It won't take
long before it tucks tail and runs off. If you must fight it head on a Vulcan
will be handy and aim for its face. Rapid vulcan fire in that area will
suppress some of its countershots.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
004: Tasset Stalker
This thing will jump out of an elevator along with an exasperated Oreag.
He'll ask you and STORMY for help with the thing but doesn't contribute to
the fight itself. Oreag's machine is the red Power Armor. Instead of shooting
your friend in the back aim high and pelt the TASSET. At this point in the
game it is much higher level then the Griffon.
Because STORMY is standing right there you cannot move at all. She'll
contribute bursts of Vulcan fire. All enemies are programmed to focus
exclusively on the player so she is in no danger of dying. Using the shield is
a good idea here. Although you can use heavy weapons to end the fight
quickly they are better saved as Tassets will soon become a regular enemy.
Besides, STORMY piles on plenty of damage on her own.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
005: Zombie Oreag
This guy emulates the very Tasset that gave him problems in life and tries
to sneak up on Jim at an elevator. He's a tough mini-boss for that stage of
the game and the fact that he jumps you at the very end of a floor doesn't
help. The goal is not to destroy Zombie Oreag but to drive him off.
As KID is trapped in the elevator there's no room to maneuver the Griffon.
Zombie Oreag has no such problem with the much smaller Power Armor.
Block shots with the shield while the timer ticks down. As long as you
survive this fight you don't need to worry about how much energy or body
you lose. In fact do NOT heal or recover energy unless you're on the verge
of dying. You'll automatically be restored to full health and energy after
this fight so there's no sense in wasting items.
Zombie Oreag presents a real boss fight. Armed with four distinct weapons,
three of which are potent Vulcans, that little "powered suit" as Maria
jokingly called it packs a nasty punch. If you have any rounds left in that
Small Gun Launcher now's a good time to use them. (Don't use a medium
launcher - you'll need that for bigger, badder bosses later.) Otherwise a
rocket launcher will help cut this fight short. As Oreag cannot run out of
ammo and has a very high rate of fire speed is king here.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
006: Guard Robot Control System (GRCS)
This large system is mounted on the ceiling in the power system's main
area and consists of a central control unit defended by four turrets -
one on each corner of the structure. It has a room all to itself.
The objective is to destroy the control unit. It has no weapons and is
protected by a set of panels that go up and down. To damage the control
unit you must shoot the curved area in the center. Complicating this
process are the four high-level turrets. As long as even one is operational
the Griffon's firing speeds will be abysmal. Each fires beam blasts, does
decent damage, and can take quite a beating.
As rushing inside is a great way to get shot to pieces let's take it one
turret at a time. A Medium Gun Launcher is HIGHLY recommended for this fight.
If you have two this will be smooth sailing (provided no weapon breaks). Don't
use more then 3 shots from a launcher per turret. That's a waste of very
precious ammunition.
To damage a turret aim high towards the base. It can be tough to gauge
this properly solely by the icons. Walk forward just enough that you can
see the first two. They will open fire while you're lining up. Fire one beam
or linear blast followed by a single launcher shell then back up out of range
while your timers reset. It should take three cycles of this per front turret.
There's plenty of room if you need to break lock-ons.
Now you have a choice. It is possible to destroy the core at this point but
the angle of fire can be tricky. It is faster to destroy the remaining turrets
as the core is low level in relation to them but has a boatload of durability.
Oh well, once you're past the first two turrets the others should be little
trouble. Once it is destroyed the defense systems on level 8 will be
completely disabled.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
007: Monster Version 03
This is another attack by the familiar monster. It's almost a perfect mirror
of version 02. Quickly get into the cubby to the right for cover. If you go
far enough the monster will turn and be unable to return fire while you
corner snipe it from there. It will turn and fire at least one shot to cover
its retreat but if you see it coming its easy to avoid.
This encounter is hardly even worth the boss title. It's here to avoid
spoilers in the walkthrough.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
008: Viral Worms
There are several of these little buggers. They are weak individually -
attacking only with a slow-firing energy blast. These guys are only included
here for completeness. The last worm you'll face looks like you should be
able to sniper it from around a corner but can't because it's a scripted
encounter waiting for you to get close. It runs off to join up with the other
worms and create the next boss.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
009: Monster Version 04
In order to damage this boss you must get close enough for a warning.
This is the combined version of all the viral worms into a single, immobile
tower. It attacks by firing the familiar blue bolts from the fleshy outgrowths
on its shoulders. Once you do enough damage a cutscene plays. The
creature's weak point is the center of its chest.
It isn't necessary to shoot at all during the second phase. The objective
is only to survive long enough for Francis's enzymes to dissolve the beast.
Just be patient and save your ammo.
This isn't a tough boss but you can guess how close it is to dying by the
frequency of its attacks. It fires more blasts over a wider area as its
health drops. Some damage seems to be unavoidable with this boss
because it spreads out its blasts all over the hallway.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
010: Zombie Oreag Redux
This time he doesn't get the drop on Jim. By this point the Griffon's ARL
should be in the low 40s which is high enough to beam spam him in the
face. A couple shots from a rocket launcher will soften him up nicely. This
boss is otherwise just like fighting a conventional Power Armor. It just has
more health and fires much faster.
Once you do enough damage it's curtains for Oreag. His craft explodes
leaving behind only some smoldering wreckage.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
011: Monster Version 05
Professor Mabel has finally lost patience with Jim. Emerging from his hidey
hole he stomps down a hallway in level 6 to attack the young cleaner.
Those suspicious looking gates you just passed? Oh yes, they're going to
be used in this encounter. Rauzein tries to call Jim and warn him to back off
but before our hero can beat a hasty retreat Mabel locks him in.
This is just like the previous encounters with Professor Mabel (save the
fleshy tower). Now he has more health and does more damage per shot.
When you inflict enough damage a new script kicks in with Mary accidentally
blowing the rest of the Griffon's emergency missiles. It's all right though
because it sets Mabel ON FIRE!
Yeehaw. Nothing quite like a good old fashioned barbeque. Screaming in
pain he runs away again - shutting the partition behind him.
[-----------------------------------------------------------]
012: Final Boss - Mabel VF
This fight occurs in two stages and it's just Mabel himself piloting a VF. He
is armed with four [!] shoulder-mounted beam guns along with twin linear
cannons (one on each arm). Invisible walls fence in the area so there's no
running away. It's also very hard to hit his weak point in stage two from
an angle. For that reason I don't recommend trying to evade. His rate of fire
is extremely fast anyway and you can only avoid the linear cannons.
In stage one Mabel's weak point is the VF's head. He methodically moves
back and forth in a straight line provided you are facing him head on. If you
back him up against the invisible wall he can't retreat but the guns on his
arms extend out far enough that if you're too close you'll hit them or his
shoulders which won't inflict any damage. Back up a bit.
When you do enough damage Rauzein will appear and blow open the craft's
cockpit. Mabel responds to this by moving the two shields to protect
himself. Now the only way to damage him is to hit that tiny gap between
the shields. This makes stage 2 a royal pain in the rear end. It helps to aim
high so that when he gets closer you can still inflict damage.
As this is the final enemy of the game there's no reason to hold anything
back. If your body or energy start to get low refill them. Rockets and gun
launcher shells will take a nice chunk out of his health but count on some
of them being shot down. You will probably have to fall back on a beam gun
of some sort.
There's really no other way to win this fight. Either you have the resources
necessary or you don't. If you're not sure about your accuracy wait until
he gets close then look for the crimson peeking through the shields and
adjust accordingly. Once again, it helps to aim up as if you were going for
the neck/chest.
If you've been thorough with your slaughter you should ARL 45+. For
whatever reason Mabel's battle rating isn't real great. I guess he should
have taken that VF out more often eh? Beam spam when he gets close and
swap to a heavier weapon when he backs up again. You shouldn't run out
of ammo that way. Unfortunately should you run out of ammunition or all
your weapons break there will be no way to kill Mabel and your only options
will be death or resetting the console.
---------------
Section I: Story -----
Here's where I'll be talking about Space Griffon's story. I don't recommend
reading anything below before beating the game at least once. There are
major spoilers here!
To start with I'll go through the NPCs one at a time.
o-------------------------o
| MAJOR SPOILER ALERT !! |
o-------------------------o
----- Konrad von Eibol [BOSS]
Let me start by saying that I genuinely liked all of Jim's comrades. I found
things about each one that endeared them to me. Konrad was no
exception. At first he screamed of the hands-off mission control guy who
sat in a room barking orders. After he and Rauzein cracked the database
and poor Oreag blew himself up Konrad stepped up to get his hands dirty.
He was a man who always had a plan and although BOSS stuck to the
rules he didn't cram them down your throat.
He knew well enough that if he were to die he'd come back as a zombie.
He had a long run-around trying to weasel information out of AMC HQ and
spoke directly with Brigadier Lukesonoff. Given the Brigadier's attitude later
in the game it should be no surprise that Konrad suspected things weren't
as headquarters were trying to make them appear. I can respect the fact
that although he repeatedly admonished Jim not to take the monster on
directly it later became clear the reason for that is because he felt the job
was his responsibility. Was there some guilt for the loss of Oreag and
Smiley? Maybe. They were his responsibility and he said that he would
handle anyone who started showing symptoms.
It's a shame we never get to see just what kind of firepower his upgraded
VF packs. Apparently Konrad and Monster #1 got into quite a fight. In fact
he did so much damage to the beast that it was killable by Jim and Maria.
Konrad died as he lived: as a noble soldier. He didn't want to become a
zombie and probably suspected that AMC wouldn't let any of them leave
HAMLET anyway. So he did what he thought was best for the team.
Konrad is described as having a lifetime contract to work for AMC. It must
be disheartening to know you're roped for life and your employer has been
committing gross violations of human rights in order to develop biological
weapons. Now pile on seeing the squad under your command slowly getting
picked off, suspicions that said company is out to get you, and the
possibility of turning into a zombie and Konrad's sacrifice makes more sense.
Let's raise a glass to this fine character. Captain Konrad, you were sorely
missed after your sacrifice.
----- Oreag Arnderson [KILLER]
Oreag is a character haunted by his own superb reputation. He and Rauzein
are immediately sent to secure the control center down on level 7. Facing
growing opposition from HAMLET's defense systems Oreag breaks off and
ascends to level 6 in order to disable the supply network.
Unfortunately he bites off far more then he can handle and ends up ditching
his VF. This is despite repeated concern over whether he needs help and
Oreag's consistent insistence that he can handle things.
No, Oreag, you can't.
At this point I'm conflicted about this character. If he hadn't of been so
blindly stubborn early on he probably wouldn't of had to ditch his machine
and go traipsing about the virus-laden facility getting himself infected in
the process. Although he did end up in a nice suit of power armor it wouldn't
have gotten to that point if he had just sucked up his stupid pride and
admitted he needed backup.
On the other hand that suit of power armor is probably the only reason he
was able to reach Jim down in the mines. You see, Jim couldn't fall back
because the tunnel behind him had collapsed. Oreag took route 1, Jim went
down route 2 to the north, Maria searched route 3 to the northwest, and
Rauzein put-putted down route 4 in the southwest. Route 1 was the
shortest and route 2 was the longest. (Gotta have max room for tension
there.) About halfway down the tunnel the ceiling partially collapses. It
doesn't completely block the way back but there's no way the Griffon was
fitting through.
Smelling a trap - the other three had each chased down bio-monsters
instead of Smiley - they rushed to meet up with Jim. Oreag had the
shortest distance to travel and could slip through with little trouble. So
it's really no surprise he reached Jim first. Hell Oreag opened fire on Smiley
while Jim scrambled away.
Just going by the 3D animation of the scene that follows is both silly and
nonsensical. Oreag's armor is only half the monster's size yet Jim can't get
a clear shot. He had no problem shooting the Tasset stalking Oreag. The
truth is that this was an oversight in designing the models. Well, that and
the difficulty in animating 3D back in the day. Instead I keep in mind the
still drawing just before that. The creepy monster was holding Oreag's
machine from behind. What did it plan to do then? We'll never know.
Oreag intentionally detonated something. The specifics are a bit hazy but
it was enough to bring down the house around he, the monster, and Smiley
such that everyone thought the lot of them dead. He couldn't have blown
up his machine because it appears later. Obviously he died from injuries
sustained in this altercation. The alternative would be that he was taken
prisoner and forced to become a zombie. As Oreag showed no signs that
the disease had set in, carried no lunar tears, and had no dialogue when he
returned I'm going with the simpler theory that he died of explosion-
induced injuries but wasn't actually blown up. Or that he was so badly
injured that the virus was able to take advantage of his immune-
compromised condition. Plenty of time passed to make repairs to his armor
(or just get another suit).
[The alternative theory would posit Mabel and Smiley as more villainous -
willing to commit torture to forcefully convert humans. Although the two
did try trickery they never fell back on brute strength after Smiley's attack
on Jim. Theory 2 is the more revolting one and is perhaps more appropriate
for the genre but without any evidence I'm forced to side with theory 1 for
the time being.]
One interesting final note is that Zombie Oreag tries to pull the same stunt
with Jim that his Tasset stalker got him with. Zombie Oreag follows Jim to
an elevator intent on ambushing him there. Fortunately the Griffon's sensors
were having none of that jazz and barked at Jim "Hey, stupid, turn around!"
----- Rauzein Shizevinov [BIGHORN]
Rauzein has perhaps the worst position of the whole crew. He is actually an
android sent by the bigwigs at AMC to monitor the mission. In addition to
that he is well aware that at day's end a program will kick in, call HQ, and
begin hunting down all survivors for summary termination. That wouldn't be
so bad except Rauzein was apparently programmed so well (to mimic being
a human) that he has a sense of morality and *likes* his allies. Whoops, AMC
outdid themselves.
The game doesn't start dropping hints that something's weird about this
character until well after the halfway point. It may seem a bit late but
that's when you're down to half your starting crew plus a couple of civilians.
There's plenty of time to zoom in on those desperate survivors.
Before turning killer android Rauzein is a calm, collected man who is very
good with machines. He personally works on the Griffon, his own VF, and
Captain Konrad's to install new hardware and improve their odds of survival.
His VF can breach closed partitions. Several times he clears out areas on
his own (you can see his handiwork later). Rauzein is solely responsible for
numerous technical victories.
As the guy responsible for information gathering his first success is breaking
into HAMLET's database. Later when they are tracking the monster he goes
to the factory's power supply and disables it so no new machines will be
built. Then he adjusts the air filters to remove the sensor-jamming the
monster has been spreading around.
Sometime in all of this, before trying to sacrifice himself to destroy the
mutated super form of Professor Mabel, he rigged HAMLET's central
nuclear plant to take out the entire facility. It had to of been before that
because the collapse destroyed his VF and most of Rauzein's synthetic skin
alongside activating his kill switch. He immediately began to carry out his
final orders after that. There wasn't enough time for him to dig himself out,
call home, track down Jim and Mary, get deactivated (somehow) by Jim,
wake back up and *then* sabotage the plant. After that scene Jim
immediately went from the second floor to the first to board the shuttle. In
order to arrive in time for his heroic moment in the final battle Rauzein
would have had to run immediately to the shuttle deck after rebooting.
[The explosion would trigger the tired old "nuclear facilities blow up!"
fallacy but it's left vague enough not to. Apparently the plant's meltdown
merely triggered a series of secondary effects that then resulted in
HAMLET collapsing under its own weight. It was already badly damaged
from multiple mine cave-ins, parts of levels 5 and 6 demolished via bombs,
Maria punching Smiley through a wall, and Mabel himself smashing around
the off-limits zones.]
As for his android name RZ? Well listen to how his allies pronounce RauZein
and how he does.
----- Maria Hansfield [STORMY]
Ahh, Maria. She's bought into machismo such that she can't dig herself back
out. That leads her to butt heads with Oreag and Smiley because she
doesn't want to be considered weak (they're just as guilty).
My one question is: How the hell did she get caught by a Robbage? Those
things have a max speed of 2 kilometers an hour. Her VF TURNS INTO A
FRICKIN' MOTORCYCLE! The only solution I can come up with is that she
was knocked around to the point of losing consciousness. Heck it happened
to Jim.
Okay, okay, so she gets shoved into a damsel in distress position ... twice.
I can let it slide since she wasn't the only character to need rescue. Let's
see, Jim had to bail out Smiley, was rescued himself by Oreag, then later
dragged out of an elevator bleeding and unconscious by someone, came to
Oreag's aid along with Stormy, helped Konrad commit a heroic sacrifice,
answered Rauzein's distress call, and tracked down Francis.
Everyone needed a helping hand at some point in the narrative.
Maria has a hilarious scene when Jim enters a chamber she's camped out in
with her broken-down VF. She draws and aims a pistol at him and says he's
fortunate she didn't fire. Despite the absurdity of her little gun punching
through the Griffon's heavy armor (Why do we need these big energy guns
if that's the case?) Jim humors her and announces his presence via
loudspeaker next time. It's deliciously campy.
While repairing her VF out in the field Maria and Jim have some time to chit
chat. She shows a softer side here and later when she fills the role of
medical officer. Make no mistake Maria is no fool and knows what she
wants. But it is telling that she advises Jim, after Konrad has died and she
has essentially taken command, to leave the AMC as soon as he can. When
Jim asks her what her plans are she avoids answering the question.
Her role as replacement leader is where she (and Rauzein) truly shine. The
smiles and laughter from before are replaced by a fatalistic determination.
Judging by her reaction when Konrad called the team and told them about
the virus she seems pretty horrified at the notion of joining the undead.
It isn't clear just how she moved Francis from where she lay, badly
wounded, to the shuttle. As her VF only has space for 1 I'm going to wager
a guess she picked up Francis, power armor and all, and carried her there.
During the trip the armor was probably the only thing preventing Francis
from bleeding out. Maria acts like she has medical training. That would be
basic knowledge for any medical professional.
Maria's fatalism comes to a head when the now-insane Smiley returns. She
listens as Smiley taunts Jim over the radio and remarks that the only
escape is total annihilation. Stepping up to face her former ally she tosses
out poignant taunts that send Smiley way off the deep end into full-on
zombie territory. Her ultimate fate is unclear as she apparently decided she
was too cool for on-screen death. Instead she charges Smiley with such
force that both of their VFs breach the wall behind him leaving a huge
gaping hole. HAMLET's sensors react by closing a partition right in Jim's
face so that he can't pursue them.
This was deep underground and there was no explosion so it can only be
speculated what happened after her charge. When Jim returns to the
breach after the walls have been shifted around by Professor Mabel the hole
is gone. Did the two of them die on impact? Did they continue to beat the
hell out of each other? Where they crushed by tons of rock as HAMLET
collapsed?
Down in the mines Maria told Smiley she was coming to save him. Oh boy
did she keep that promise.
----- Mark Smiley [THIEF]
Mark is easy to both like and hate. I credit much of that to his voice actor.
He's a suave fellow who tries to act like the stereotypical cool cat but has
just enough goofiness that it's impossible to completely buy into the
persona. It's clear that he understands the danger in HAMLET but that he
isn't taking it very seriously. Trouble is something that bothers other people
like Oreag, not him.
Early in the game Smiley is the first AMC who needs to be rescued. He uses
too much energy too quickly and is forced to hide out while his VF
recharges. This necessitates Jim come take out the mech that was looking
for him. Maria also responds to Smiley's distress call but doesn't arrive
until the threat has already been dealt with.
Mark is fairly competent on his own. After his initial brush with disaster he
is more careful and doesn't require any further assistance until he vanishes
in the mine. All the while Smiley jokes about his lucky Lunar Tears - ignorant
all the while to what they're actually doing to him. His dialogue for the
first third of the game shows the attention to detail the script writer paid.
Some reviews say this game has no replay value. I must respectfully
disagree. Once you know what's really going on Smiley's once-playful banter
suddenly becomes an ominous drum march marking his steady descent
towards death. For one brief conversation he's shown holding a fruit from
the agricultural sector that he'd been munching on. No big deal, right? It's
easy to miss. However, when Captain Konrad's revelation call reaches
the team (which I shall now call the "Oh Shit" Call, or OSC) words fail to
express what a few simple pixels can.
The horrified looks in the OSC scene are not confined to Mark. Jim and
Maria are equally shaken. Maria even goes so far as to say she feels faint.
However, even after stammering out that he had done something incredibly
stupid Smiley shrugs it off by clinging to his good luck charm. Space Griffon
reminds players that the very things we cling to for comfort may not be as
benign as we like to think. It is as true in real life as it is in this game.
Then during the big exposition cutscene with Smiley still down in the mines
Oreag and Maria note that he looks different. He also acts differently. To
put it bluntly his demeanor is "not all there." It seriously sounds like he's
tripping out. This wasn't long after the OSC scene, either. The comments
about Smiley's complexion don't make much sense until you see what the
369 virus does to its hosts. Hearing the comments on later runs - which is
easy to overlook as just more back and forth between Oreag, Maria, and
Smiley - puts his decline into perspective.
On the flip side is the villainous Smiley. This character is just as debonair
but his every word drips with malice. He makes a great side villain to go
along with Mabel. By using twisted emotional appeals Smiley seeks to
convert, not kill, his old friends. His perverted new perspective sees those
who succumb to the virus as a new, improved race. This is reflected in how
he admonishes Jim for slaying Oreag despite the latter's state of
zombification. Smiley goes so far as to call Jim a murderer.
It's a real shame that his appearance was so brief.
Jim is fortunate that Oreag came to his aid in the mines. Otherwise Smiley
might have gotten a chance to demonstrate his martial arts prowess. Even
if he had gotten back to the Griffon on his own Smiley and Mabel were
coordinating at that point and it is unclear whether Jim could fend both of
them off. Judging by sensor readings just before Jim walked into the cavern
Mabel was waiting just off-scene to intervene directly if needed. After
Mabel grabbed Oreag, Smiley returned to his own VF and joined the battle
on Mabel's side by attacking Oreag.
----- Jim Billington [KID]
If anyone could be said to suffer from cheesy voice acting it's Jim. Half his
lines are narm-worthy. It's alright, I'll forgive silly 90s voice acting. This
game needs some humor anyway.
Jim has one logical freakout moment that shows that even the rookie can
have a good idea even if machismo would frown upon it. After Captain
Konrad calls the team back to the databank and shows them the outbreak
records Jim starts saying the whole squad should just pack up and head
home. Wussing out? I'm willing to bet most people would do the exact same
thing. That's the reasonable response.
[Warning: Incoming Wall of Text!]
Let's make one thing clear. A-Max Cleaners are not true military. They're
paramilitary. They're a step above private security. They genuinely ARE
over their heads with this mission and Konrad knows it. But they have
their pride and reputation to think about. As things stand at the end of that
cutscene the odds are pretty bad. They've all been infected by a virus
which has no cure, has been spread all over the installation, and has a 100%
zombification rate for the dead. Even if you don't turn quickly there's still
a good 20% chance that you'll develop the full-blown disease and succumb
anyway. That's a one-in-five rate. There are 6 members of the squad. Do
the math. The symptoms are, at best, very vague. The reason some people
develop the full disease is unknown. It makes the afflicted hyper-aggressive
as evidenced by HAMLET's zombie military (who are still very much trying to
hunt them all down and kill them). It's obvious that if they need help there's
no one to supply it but each other. No aid is on its way from headquarters
either. Another squad will be sent only in the case that the first one all met
a gruesome demise. The virus has already wiped out HAMLET's native
population and even an A-Max Factories recon team sent to help out.
HAMLET's automated defense systems, which include massive factories that
continue to pump out defenders, have determined that the only course of
action is to kill the cleaners. Then there are all the bio-monsters. Many
have escaped from their holding pens only to vanish in HAMLET's myriad
levels. On top of all that a monster is running loose. Its origins,
motivations, and capabilities are all a mystery to the cleaners. It appears,
attacks, and vanishes just as quickly. Obviously it is intelligent as it only
attacks lone cleaners and runs away when it sees that its attacks aren't
effective. As if that wasn't enough the plucky pilot sent down to clear out
the mines is acting odd and just reported seeing someone nearby. Now, the
cherry on top of that great big cake is the fact that the longer it takes them
to complete their mission the greater the odds of failing become. The number
of A.I. enemies will steadily increase while the cleaners deplete their
limited ammunition. They are humans who need sleep, food and water. Sleep
could bring a surprise attack. All the food and water in HAMLET have been
contaminated by the virus. When the supplies they brought with them run
out they will have a choice: risk eating what's in HAMLET or go without and
slowly die of dehydration (yes, they would be starving too but they'd die of
water loss long before then). Even *if* they succeed in their mission and
leave HAMLET they will still be carriers of the disease and will turn into
zombies upon death.
In short, I don't begrudge Jim one bit for wanting to get the hell out of
there. It's not particularly good for morale to announce "Hey, guys I hate to
tell you this but you're all infected by this wacky super virus that will turn
you into zombies upon death. Oh yeah there's also a significant chance
you'll become a zombie and try to eat your friends anyway. We're not quite
sure why that is. There's no timetable for it either so any of you that
survive this mission will have to be quarantined back on Earth to prevent
assaults upon loved ones eager to see your return. I'm sure you understand.
Oh yeah, one more thing. All the people that knew anything about this virus?
They're dead. They could have waited until after developing a cure but I'm
sure our scientists will work that out. Have a nice day."
Enough about that. Jim suffers from a pinch of the same stubbornness that
plagues Oreag. When he starts feeling ill he just shrugs off all suggestions
to go rest. A cough alone isn't worrisome but he really should suspect the
virus and not sit there rationalizing to himself that it's "just a cold." He
doesn't escape the story unharmed either. Zombie Oreag's ambush leaves
him unconscious with a head injury that will, of course, never be brought
up again. Modern medicine I tell ya. Eventually the lad starts coughing up
blood yet STILL shrugs it off when Mary tries to offer him medicine. It isn't
until Francis practically hits him over the head with the truth that he
submits to treatment.
Jim is fortunate and very lucky to survive the mission. So many things could
have gone wrong. Despite his victories Jim is in for a rough time when he
gets back to Earth. I somehow doubt the AMC bigwigs are going to let him
blab about their secret research after all the effort to ensure no survivors.
Jim's best protection is Brigadier Lukesonoff's impatience in finding out just
*who* the survivors were. Too bad shuttles re-entering Earth's atmosphere
have got to land somewhere.
If Jim makes a safe landing he, Mary, and Francis are still infected and may
be contagious even after taking the antiviral medication. Hell, there's no
mention that the air on the first floor was ever purified so technically the
shuttle itself was contaminated. The Griffon most certainly is - monster
chunks notwithstanding (see the section on the Ending below for more)
it was practically swimming in virus-mist for hours on end. Getting out of
HAMLET was only the beginning of their problems.
----- Mary Lakewood
Although she looks like a young adult Mary acts like a petulant child then
gets indignant when everyone around her treats her like one. It's little
wonder that Jim almost throws her out of the Griffon .. more then once. It
isn't until she has to confront her older sister that she starts to grow up.
Mary has three major contributions to the plot. The first is when she shoots
her sister Francis in the med bay. Although it's a glancing blow the shock
of it forces Francis to rethink her callous campaign of revenge. The second
is her accidental missile barrage aimed at Professor Mabel. This error ends
up breaking two oxygen pipes in the corridor and setting Mabel alight.
Her third plot contribution is actually the first one she makes. Following
Konrad's death Jim is thrown for a loop. He sits in a corner of the med bay
wondering just how the hell they're going to survive without the captain.
In an effort to cheer him up Mary convinces Jim that he has to keep going
and makes him promise to take her to Earth when it's all over. Holding to
that promise is what gives him the focus needed to finish the mission.
Later she becomes useful (although she does nothing to help Jim while he's
plowing his way through HAMLET's military). More often then not, though,
she's being knocked around in the gunner's seat and wincing in pain. At the
end of the game it is Mary who preps the shuttle for launch while Jim is
busy fighting off Mabel's final assault.
----- Francis Lakewood
Francis is an anti-hero at best. She starts off as an unconscious survivor
rescued by Konrad and Jim. After Mabel kidnaps her she morphs into a villain
who talks trash and keeps chanting the "You'll never understand" mantra to
her sister. When Maria tries to talk some sense into her in the med bay
Francis attempts to rationalize the loss of everyone she ever knew or cared
about in Hamlet as acceptable - something they would agree with in the
end. She is, of course, dead wrong and it's just a rationalization she makes
to justify her reprehensible actions.
Her callous veneer isn't as tough as she tries to portray, however, as she
collapses in momentary shock when Maria tells her they've killed the
monster. In the struggle for Maria's firearm it ends up in Mary's frightened
hands. Francis scoffs that her naive little sister would never open fire and
is proven wrong when the gun goes off. The bullet grazes her arm but the
message behind Mary's action screams loud and clear.
Sinking to the floor in shock Francis has an epiphany. Her campaign of
revenge is NOT what's best for her family. It isn't even wanted by her
family. She has created a terrible weapon that has destroyed the very
thing she wanted to protect and did so in the name of Acceptable Losses.
In addition to that she's staring into the faces of those sent to help and
they're none too happy about their dead comrades. Her bigotry fueled a
genocide set in motion by her own hand and for which the innocent people
of HAMLET had to pay the ultimate price.
After her heel face turn Francis starts revealing some of the tragic history
of HAMLET, her relationship with Professor Mabel, and the antiviral drug
that can prevent the sick cleaners from getting any worse. When the team
rolls out to hunt down the viral signatures she also enters the conflict by
donning a suit of powered armor and hurrying to the agricultural sector to
culture a bacterial enzyme that breaks down infected cells.
Through the speed of plot she is then able to arrive with a flask of said
enzymes just after Jim starts fighting a souped-up form of the monster.
Expressing regret for what she has done she ignores the plan and charges.
Francis delivers her payload but runs headlong into a plasma field
protecting the monster in order to do so*. The field repels her and
inflicts life-threatening injuries. Unable to treat them without a medical
professional Maria takes Francis to the empty AMF shuttle and puts her in
a stasis capsule.
Francis has the odd distinction of being the only character to survive a
heroic sacrifice in this game.
*I'm only making an educated guess that it was a plasma field.
----- Professor Mabel
Professor Mabel is the true villain of this story. That's not to excuse the
culpability of AMC's leadership but he devised the plan to cause a zombie-
creating epidemic on Earth and cultured virus #369 for that express
purpose. It was all in the name of revenge. In order to "punish" A-Max
Factories for forbidding them from leaving HAMLET he was perfectly willing
to kill billions of innocent people in the process.
His bigotry was such that he couldn't distinguish the few who were
responsible for his exile and everyone else. He divided humans between
Earthers and Lunars - a false dichotomy built to perpetuate the Us and
Them mentality so integral to his ideology. The ends definitely justified the
means to him.
The #369 virus, or it's mother strain at least, had been around for over a
century. The lab records state that the first strain was produced on August
23, 2036 in a facility known only as Asrazel. If research had been ongoing
since the HAMLET colony was first established in 2053 that would mean
that several generations of virologists had participated in the research.
Professor Mabel and Francis had quite possibly been working with the
thing for most of their careers. It's at least refreshing to see a more
realistic research timeframe in a video game. Anyway, this isn't essential to
the plot but it's some interesting backstory. Moving right along...
As evidenced by his shock when attacked by the #369 proto-blob in the
security video he didn't understand the full implications of the virus's
release. Why he was in the mines to begin with is not known. Was he
looking for the proto-form to study it? You have to be pretty confident in
your antiviral drugs to go hang out around the very thing that accelerates
the virus's growth.
Ok, so how was it that there were multiple monsters running around
HAMLET? As Mabel specifically referenced Jim's initial run-in with the
monster at the very beginning that must have been the "real" monster. It
grew from a juvenile state into a tougher adult body not longer after that
confrontation. But that monster never spoke - only roared. It wasn't until
after Francis was removed from the picture that Mabel gained a voice
audible to the cleaners. She said he communicated to her but she did
not say specifically that he spoke to her.
Francis said that #369 can reproduce asexually through mitosis. Okay,
that's believable and it's suggested that the mass for the monsters came
by assimilating the tissue of living creatures in HAMLET. First it was vermin
then likely livestock and human tissue. That doesn't explain what the
monstrous creatures were eating to fuel themselves but since when have
horror games bothered to answer that question?
In the final battle we get to see Mabel's true form is that of a tentacled,
blood-red creature that bears only a slight trace of human semblance in its
face. It is entirely possible that this is how Mabel survived being blown up
with Konrad. He was really only piloting a massive organic fighter. This
notion is further reinforced when he abandons his fire-damaged skin and
retreats into a huge blob to form a new body.
The viral worms are an early stage of the monster's juvenile stage and were
created either through reproduction or the formation of a new monster from
viral biomasses unconnected to Mabel. They appear to have consciously
chosen to form together into a single creature for mutual protection. The
form chosen cannot move so other then firepower it lacks in all ways that
would be useful to perpetuate its existence.
This mass reacts to Francis's voice but only with unintelligible roars. She
even bemoans his lack of human emotions. So that brings me back to the
question of Mabel's sudden voice. It is fitting from a narrative perspective
to ramp up the horror by making the monster speak but it is also tactically
sound. Konrad, the competent leader and planner, is dead and Francis, the
one person who knew #369s weaknesses, is comatose. Up until that point
Mabel had been steadily winning by attrition. However, at the same time he
wasn't able to directly confront the cleaners because of the firepower of
their VFs. Every time he tried to fight Jim he got his ass handed to him.
The strategy was psychological warfare to buy time for the virus to kill the
infected and re-raise them on Mabel's side.
Consider...
At the beginning of the game, shortly after the AMCs first arrive, Jim runs
into Mabel who is much weaker at that point. The "monster" is much
smaller and lacks the thicker armor its later incarnation would gain. Jim
repels the creature - earning a grudge that would span the rest of the
game. Shortly after Mabel flees this first time KILLER calls and apologizes
for his prior wisecrack because the monster appeared on level 7 then ran
away again. It isn't long after this that HAMLET's zombie military springs to
life (no pun intended).
THIEF and STORMY had been clearing the region of guard robots as
evidenced when KID catches up to them and finds wreckage strewn about
but the Trysers are still intact. There's no need to destroy a machine that
sits lifeless so they must have assumed they were unmanned and ignored
them. Logically, then, Mabel must have gone out to see what all the fuss
was about - having been alerted by the guard system - and when he
realized he couldn't fight the cleaners directly he somehow signaled his
zombie minions to awaken. This process would be repeated many times
over the course of the game. Mabel maneuvered bio-monsters and the
auto-noids to fill his mazes and hope they could wear down his enemy.
The gloating sometimes gets annoying - Mabel doesn't have the best lines
in the game. Yet it's this part where his evil brilliance is fully manifest.
Mabel purposefully manipulated Smiley into attacking Jim and probably sent
the zombified Oreag after the protagonist. These had great shock value in
and of themselves but also demonstrate just how much control Mabel could
exert over those infected by virus #369.
As Jim slowly pushes further towards his sanctuary Mabel pulls out his last
two cards: Oreag and Smiley.
Oreag is sent out as a demented taunt to Jim. Mabel seems to be certain
that the rookie won't shoot his own (former) friend. He is, of course, wrong
on this point. Seeing Oreag only spurns Jim to keep fighting. Then Smiley
appears still friendly and talkative. Now we can hear just how insane the
virus makes its carriers. Smiley speaks of grandiose plans to fill the Earth
with "their kind." He offers Jim one last chance to join them and when he is
refused sneers and points out that if Jim will not convert willingly that he
can force the change through death. [Note, this is where I got the idea
that they *might* have forced Oreag to succumb rather then him dying by
his own hand.]
When Smiley is killed Mabel flees to the last sanctuary he has in HAMLET.
The Professor turns out to be a colossal coward as he hides behind
HAMLET's remaining military arm tossing taunts out over the radio. In the
end he is undone by his own anger. Mabel storms out of his sanctuary to
attack Jim again and is badly injured thanks to a goof on Mary's part. This
leads to the death of his bio-mass craft.
Then Mabel pulls one of the best twists of the game. Seven years before
Metroid Fusion dropped an Omega Metroid on Samus Aran just as she was
about to board her ship and escape an exploding orbital station Space
Griffon ambushed Jim Billington in HAMLET's shuttle deck with Professor
Mabel in a super VF.
Both games pulled a fabulous last minute switch. Thought you were going
to fight the ultimate form of #369? Too bad, sucker! That variable fighter
IS the ultimate form of #369 as far as the game is concerned. It's a tough
machine with more health and weapon systems then any other single foe
in the game, bar none.
[By the way, just where the hell was Mabel keeping that VF the whole
game? He must have been extremely desperate to hop in a machine given
how confident he was in his super virus.]
----- Brigadier Lukesonoff
This guy's role in the story is really short but important. He is the Grade-A
prick who commands RZ02 to seek and destroy. For maximum gloating
purposes RZ02 has a small video screen on his chest. Don't ask what
practical purpose *that* serves. It just means Lukesonoff has a brief
speaking role in the game. He doesn't even seem to care who the survivors
are and just assumes it's either Konrad or Oreag.
Well, gee, it's nice to know he has such confidence in the team.
Lukesonoff serves as a lukewarm secondary villain to give a face to AMC's
megalomaniacal super-secret conspiracy. In practice it comes off a bit
hamfisted and not just because of the brigadier's clich� lines. Captain
Konrad called up headquarters way back demanding some answers and
related to the team that AMC would love to just drop a neutron bomb on
the place and call it a day but it's too close to a U.N. facility. As Konrad
told the tale it seemed that AMC's leadership was at least amicable to their
situation.
Was Konrad lying? Comparing lines and his orders it seems highly likely that
he knew something dirty was going on. Whether that was because of
something Brigadier Lukesonoff said during their private conversation or
because Conrad had enough experience with AMC leadership to know that
corruption existed is anyone's guess.
Just how does the AMC leadership think they're really going to "take over
the world" anyway? (Let's not get into how horribly clich� such a massive
and impossible conspiracy is anyway.) What, were they going to blackmail
people? Were they just going to turn #369 loose and hang their non-
existent vaccine over people's heads? Selective assassination followed by a
worldwide epidemic because they made their super virus too good at
spreading? I don't think they thought this plan through very well.
----- Virus #369
Early in the game on level one THIEF pries open a cockpit and broadcasts
what he finds to KID and STORMY. Inside is a zombified man with distinct
red tendrils in the background. It seems that the process involves the slow
transformation of the infected's body into a tendril mass like the state
Professor Mabel is in at the end. In the end phase the infected retains their
intelligence and capacity for speech.
When Jim starts showing symptoms they show up as a pneumatic cough
which progresses to bleeding in the throat and mouth. Smiley, having been
fully infected thanks to his Lunar Tears, develops boils and skin loss. Prior
to that the virus has taken a neurological toll. When agitated the virus's
symptoms seem to worsen for Smiley. First the boils appear when he
attacks Jim in the mines then just before the two fight again in VFs he
goes fully zombie and loses the ability to speak. Mabel also had this
problem for most of the game. It seems that damage to the throat will
eventually restrict the infected to grunts and growls until they finish
the transformation process.
The red mass that swallowed the professor was the proto-369 organism
born from the infected lab animals who transformed and merged together
into one entity. The reason it then attacked the professor is not clear. It
may have attacked everyone it ran into and Mabel was able to integrate
himself into the creature due to a strong will or antibodies.
Or it could have attacked and absorbed Mabel purely by the power of plot
to provide an antagonist for this game.
----- The Ending
I haven't been a fan of the stinger ending for a long time now. When any
trope is overused it loses its power. That's what's happened to the stinger
ending. Too often it's appeared. In fact it's far more shocking when there is
no stinger since the genre in general has become so used to its presence.
As I outlined under Jim's section above including a gotcha about the
monster isn't even necessary for the virus to reach Earth. In addition to
that Smiley and Maria's bodies were never found. Sure they were
underground when Maria went crashing through a wall but most of HAMLET
is inaccessible to the Griffon because it's too small to enter (Mabel was
getting around somehow...).
I know Jim says he doesn't notice some details but I'd think a huge
pulsating bit of monster on the Griffon, which he'd have to walk right past
to reach the flight controls, would at least raise an eyebrow. It can't even
go anywhere seeing as how it lacks any form of locomotion.
So while the "official" ending has a gotcha part I just ignore it. Such is the
beauty of a distinct lack of sequels.
I understand what the writer was trying to do and that was set up a
sequel hook. I've already talked about what *might* happen to Jim, Mary,
and Francis. Half of it was joking around but I chose my words carefully.
That brings me to Francis's survival. It's part of the sequel setup that
would never bear fruit. The writer needed her to survive because she's an
expert on the virus and she can provide additional plot coupons down the
road. But, she had to be removed from the immediate narrative in order
to ramp up Mabel's threat level. The cleaners briefly had an effective
weapon against the monster but its use involved losing the one person who
knew how to make it. Besides, if they decided not to include her in the
sequel she could conveniently die of her injuries.
--Introduction Clean Up
The game's introduction that plays during attract mode has spotty grammar
and far too many run-on sentences. If you want a version that doesn't
make english cry like a sad panda here ya go:
"HAMLET - meaning a small village - is the property of the global military
industrial conglomerate A-Max Factories. Initially conceived and
constructed as an international effort lasting some seventy years, A-Max
Factories took control of the installation as a subsidiary after colonization
began and continues to operate it as such. Periodic waves of immigration
replenish the colony's population and allow residents to return to Earth
without hindering the colony itself.
"The lunar environment provided opportunities to produce goods which
were too costly or risky to assemble on Earth. This included research in
agriculture with an emphasis in pharmaceutical applications, medical
technologies, and continuing research in A-Max Factories myriad military
hardware lines. The colony was initially heavily dependant upon imports
to sustain itself but over the course of the last century has reduced its
dependency to a mere 15% of its total needs. It has self-sustaining
farms, vast subterranean mines, water and air recirculation systems,
and automated factories able to build most of what the residents need.
The population, nearing 1,000 people, is comprised of everything from
miners and laborers to scientists and retired military.
"The sensitive nature of the military research required stringent security
protocols. An advanced AI-driven security system was installed with
branches throughout HAMLET. The defense systems were intended to
protect HAMLET from any potential military incursion from both the earth
and other lunar installations.
"A small percentage of HAMLET's population became permanent residents.
Marriages occurred, families formed, and children were born having never
set foot on Earth. The existence of lunar-born humans has largely gone
ignored by the people of Earth. It has only been recently, with the huge
upsurge in the popularity of Lunar Tears - the "stone that brings
happiness" - that interest in HAMLET itself has increased.
"On October 17 all communications with the colony suddenly ceased.
"A-Max Factories decided to immediately send in their own private security
arm, A-Max Cleaners."
---------------
Section J: Oddities
These are some odd things that don't fit it any other section.
When Conrad is backed into a corner of level 4 with the monster there's a
visible emergency partition that's open. It never closes and its existence
is puzzling. What where the developers thinking with that one? Oh yes,
and in that same battle it's hard to see it at the default distance but if
you get close it becomes clear that BOSS is actually holding the monster
from behind with his VF. Payback's a bitch!
------
Francis, a biologist, gets evolution and life cycles confused. Evolution does
not occur to individuals but to populations and takes lots of time. Evolution
is "change over time." What Francis describes isn't evolution. It's the
natural lifecycle of a #369 organism. No biologist worth anything would
make such a stupid mistake. Chalk that one up to pure bad writing.
------
While purging the northern section of level 5 Rauzein removes the floor's
atmosphere in order to purge the viral mist jamming their sensors. They
specifically say "remove the atmosphere." This isn't an issue until after
Francis makes her suicide charge. She's in a powered suit that presumably
has its own air supply but afterwards the suit is opened so everyone can
see just how badly injured she is. In addition the only way to assess her
wounds would be to leave their VFs and make a close inspection. So how
is it, if the atmosphere was removed, can Jim, Mary, Maria, or Francis
still breath?
It's a small plot hole but annoying. Either Rauzein cycled new air in or an
automatic failsafe did so.
-----
When Jim is dumped on level 6 by Mabel's machinations Mary is asleep in
the Griffon's gunner seat. She isn't bothered when the Griffon is hit by
enemy fire during the escape scene but will be woken up if the VF is later
hit by a Guard Arm not far away. However, with care it's possible to
destroy the Guard Arms without being shot at and complete the level
without taking any more damage. If you do this Mary's wakeup scene
never plays.
This oversight wasn't accounted for. When Jim hops on the escape
elevator she's awake and talking as if the wake-up scene had happened.
-----
During the last segment of the game it is revealed that the climate control
for levels one and two have malfunctioned and those two floors have
dropped in temperature. This is waved off as they are exposed to space
but the physics of a vacuum prevent that from happening.
A vacuum is actually an excellent insulator as heat can only pass through
it in the form of radiation. As heat travels much more quickly through direct
molecular contact (electrons absorb energy when atoms bump into one
another and become excited) it would have flowed from the once-warmer
air into the structure itself and then into the ground until all parts reached
the same temperature and an equilibrium appeared. As HAMLET had been
in operation for over a century such a balance of energy would have
happened long ago. Thus, the only way the temperature of the first two
floors could have dropped so quickly is if a method of drawing heat out
of the air was introduced such as a refrigeration system.
The method given in game is simply wrong.
-----
Mabel's VF has twin shoulder-mounted launchers. When he shields the
cockpit with the two shields the tops clip through the launchers.
Design fail!
----
Either Spaudlers NEVER drop weapons or they do so at such a low rate that
the odds of ever finding one are astronomical.
----
The damage and energy-per shot use of the Mega Laser suggest an unknown
beam weapon between the Power Beam Gun and itself. Anyone looking at the
weapon chart should notice the gap in the otherwise-orderly weapon
progression.
This does not necessarily mean there's a 'lost' weapon for the player as
the gap could indicate an enemy-only gun such as what the Spaudlers use or
Mabel's beam cannons.
----
It does not seem possible to enter the agricultural area of Level 3 in any
"legal" way while playing the game. This is odd because it exists on the map
and is referenced twice when NPCs go there.
---------------
Section K: Bugs
The game may experience hang-ups while trying to load dialogue. There
are two points where I always crashed while using ePSXe 1.70. These two
points were:
After defeating the GRCS when checking the power switch so that Jim can
go get the cable.
At the last turn before approaching Boss 009 Francis is supposed to call
to finalize the plan of attack.
You'll know if it has crashed if the portrait appears and animates but there
is no speech and the game never advances.
----
Sometimes the Griffon's shots clip through the edges of enemy models
without inflicting any damage. This is particularly true for the legs of the
humanoid auto-noids.
---------------
Section L: Challenges
Here are some things you can do to increase the replay value of this game:
1.) Try to improve your end time. Extra props if you use the total playing
time and not what the game's internal timer says.
2.) Use only the weakest weapons available. It's harder then it sounds since
some enemies have a high enough armor value that dinky little tier one guns
do absolutely nothing to them.
3.) Minimum level run. Try to complete the game defeating as few enemies as
it will let you.
4.) Always use X Mode. Complete the game with the Griffon ALWAYS in the
mode chosen for the challenge. CRUISE mode is obviously difficult seeing as
how you lose it halfway through the game. If you do opt for that in the first
half you're completely dependent upon Rocket Launcher drops.
5.) Berserker Run. Always stay close to the enemy - never using any form of
Hit & Run and trying to overwhelm them with massive firepower as quickly as
you possibly can.
6.) No Damage Run. This is technically impossible because you take damage
during certain scripted events and there are several encounters where it
seems infeasible to avoid all damage (Hello, Zombie Oreag!).
7.) Minimal Damage Run. Use as few repair units as you can throughout the
game. This is probably as close to No Damage as can be done in this game
without hacking or cheating.
There is no benefit to beating a challenge other then personal satisfaction.
The game does not track accuracy, enemies killed, or total damage received.
---------------
Section M: Version History
v1.0: initial "finished" version for submission to GameFAQs
v1.01: cleaned up some typos *shakes angry fist at typos!*
I adjusted the formatting to better suit GameFaqs, added the new license,
and the Challenges section.
v.1.02: an extremely minor update to correct some typos
v.1.10: more typo corrections and sentence fragment elimination
corrected the energy-per-use of the Large Linear Cannon and added the
quick comparison table for the weapon list, added some extra Find anchors
throughout the weapon list for ease of searching, added Mega Laser info
(thanks Nick!)
--- END OF FILE
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