Fireblade Game FAQ/Walkthrough (v 1.10) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Game: Fireblade System: Xbox Publisher: Midway Developer: Kujo Genre: Action Released: Fall 2002 [US] (Xbox) Website: www.midway.com Author: rtbull (GameFAQs ID) E-mail: [email protected] Version: 1.10 04/25/03 (orig. 02/08/03) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- _____________________________________________________________ | | | | | Fireblade Game FAQ/Walkthrough, v 1.10 | | | | | | Major Sections | | | | I. Introduction, Copyright, etc. | | Introductory Comments | | Xbox Controller | | Fireblade Game Overview | | Campaign 1-4 Overviews | | | | II. Fireblade Quick/Start Guide | | A. Essential Techniques / Notes | | B. Weapons | | C. UES Vehicles & Stats | | D. Additional Notes | | | | III. Mission Overviews, Tactics & Walkthroughs | | [ walkthroughs for difficult missions ] | | | | IV. Enemy Numbers, by Mission | | | | V. Closing Comments | | | |_____________________________________________________________| Versions: 0.25 - Completed 2/8/03 0.50 - Updated on 2/24/03 - Campaign Two Overview - Campaign Two Missions 0.75 - Updated on 2/28/03 - Campaign Three Overview - Campaign Three Missions 1.00 - Updated on 3/8/03 - Re-Rated C2/M5 (Train) as Hard (Walkthrough) - Campaign Four Overview - Campaign Four Missions 1.10 - Updated on 4/25/03 - Intro: Xbox Controller Section - Vendetta/Talon Helo Comparison - New Section: Enemy Numbers, by Mission =========================================================================== ==================================== I. Introduction, Copyright, etc. ==================================== =========================================================================== - Introductory Comments - Copyright Info - Xbox Controller - Fireblade Game Overview - Campaign 1-4 Overviews ============================================= INTRO: Introductory Comments ============================================= Fireblade is similar to other games where you progress linearly through missions, solving problems, and where the sequence in which you act is often critical to success or failure. Fireblade can be very frustrating at times, especially missions 3 and 5 of Campaign 1 and M3 of Campaign 2 starting out. Use persistence and master certain techniques and tactics and you\'ll have success. The objective of this guide is to provide the appropriate level of assistance you need to get through the entire game. To begin, read the Quick/Start section for hints and techniques. If that\'s not enough, then go on to read the mission Overviews, and Tactics & Approach. Finally, Walkthroughs are provided for the toughest missions: (C1/M3,M5), (C2/M3,M5), (C3/M5), and (C4/M1,M5). This FAQ/Walkthrough now covers up through all four campaigns in this updated version. For the most part this guide is complete, but I\'ll do updates in the future to add additional instruction or make corrections if necessary. This guide is specifically for Xbox, but may also generally apply to other console Fireblade games. ============================================= INTRO: Copyright Info ============================================= This Fireblade FAQ/Walkthrough is copyrighted, 2003, by me, as author. (gamefaqs.com ID: rtbull, [email protected]) I am not affiliated with Midway or Kujo Entertainment. Fireblade is a trademark of Midway Home Entertainment Inc. If you would like permission to post this document on a website other than www.gamefaqs.com, please send the email request to [email protected] and include the URL of the designated website, with your name and contact information. This FAQ is not to be edited, altered or changed without my permission. Questions, comments, and suggestions should be sent to me at [email protected]. ============================================= INTRO: Xbox Controller ============================================= [A,B,X,Y] Fire Missile/EMP A Thermal Imaging B Turbo X Stealth Y [Thumbsticks] Copter Movement L Fire Missile/EMP L (click) Altitude/Strafe R Select Target R (click) Sniper Aim L (stealth mode) Sniper Zoom R (stealth mode) [Triggers] Rockets L Minigun/Canon R [Other] Pause Game Start Camera View Back Sniper View Pad (up) Sniper View Black ============================================= INTRO: Fireblade Game Overview ============================================= Fireblade puts you up against the renegade forces of the UES, or United Eastern States. There are 4 campaigns consisting of a total 20 missions - although the Xbox game cover says 18. The campaigns take place in the mountains of Switzerland, a South American desert, Latin America, and the Artic. You fly either the Talon transport chopper or Vendetta attack chopper in each mission depending on the objectives. Both have stealth capabilities and a moderate armament of weapons (consisting primarily of missiles, rockets, a minigun, and an EMP canon). The missions range from relatively easy to very difficult, and there are no custom difficulty settings for the game. You extend your weapons, health, and other capabilities by flying over power-ups, which usually become available when enemy vehicles are destroyed. To get the highest stat ratios, you\'ll need to handle the Vendetta or Talon skillfully, apply the best weapons against the targets, evade fire and maintain health, have patience and be resourceful. The missions have a good variety of environments, objectives and tasks you perform, and degree of latitude you have to choose your course through a mission or whether you follow a predetermined path. Fireblade is a game that\'s probably best to take your time on. You\'ll require numerous replays on tougher missions. There are no instant action or multiplayer features. So completing the missions, raising your stats, and trying out alternate strategies is where you get your value from this game. ============================================= INTRO: Campaign 1-4 Overviews ============================================= Campaign One Overview ------------------------- Mission 1 is a basic training mission, with no time requirement. Go through it a second time to improve on mastering missiles, rockets, gunfire, and the EMP. When basic training is completed, you return with the instructor to briefly defend the training base. Stick around and battle the enemy for as long as you want on subsequent replays. In Mission 2 you blow up two bridges, and the sooner you do this the less enemy vehicles cross to attack the base, which you are tasked to defend as an objective. Mission 3 uses the stealth mode throughout the mission, and proper firing of the EMP and sniper canons is critical. You also need to know what targets to hit, in what order, and what ones to leave alone. Mission 4 is a mission played at your own pace and direction. You eliminate 2 communications towers and 3 bases, but you have no time limit or sequence in which you need to do this. So use M4 to master the various weapons, weapon combinations, strafing and evading, and so on. (You\'ll need these skills for M5.) Mission 5 is the most difficult of Campaign 1, and will probably take most people a number of replay tries before successfully completing it. You destroy 3 fleets, destroy a supply depot, and defend a village. Most people won\'t have a problem with fleets 1 & 2 and the 2 secondary objectives. Destroying the 3rd fleet seems near impossible, until you figure out the optimum approach (see walkthrough below). Luck also factors in somewhat in eliminating the 3rd fleet. Campaign Two Overview ------------------------- This campaign is situated in the South American Desert. There are also 5 missions to this campaign. I rated missions 1,2,4 as moderate and 5 hard. Mission 3 is the most difficult for this campaign - or at least seems that way until you get about halfway through the mission. In mission 1 you defend a base from attack, safeguarding two buildings plus some scientists. You get minor help from Brooks and a couple friendly tanks. The firefights are a bit frantic at the start but level off to miscellaneous infantry cleanup work inside the base. In mission 2 you have to rescue Brooks in a downed helicopter. You fly the slow transport helicopter Talon which is less adept at maneuvers. There are several waves of vehicle attacks, and then after boarding Brooks, you have to defend against a few pairs of UES chopper attacks. Mission 3 is the most difficult so far to this point, or at least in regard to sniping infantry. You protect a special ops team that includes Brooks, whose objective is to recover a stolen Vendetta at a UES base. You\'re responsible for the safe entry and exit of the ops team vehicle, and Brooks\' safe getaway in the Vendetta. M3 is worth the effort to get through, as missions 4 and 5 are fairly decent. Mission 4 requires you to lend support to a sizeable array of vehicles that attack a well-defended UES base. You see missile turrets for the first time and have to defend against UES helicopters. This mission is fairly lengthy since you have to destroy about everything. For mission 5 you back up the special ops team once again, who is trying to steal UES rail gun technology from a train inbound to a UES base. There are 6 or so battles of vehicle attacks throughout the mission. One of the challenges is trying to stay oriented to where the train tracks are and where the ops team ambushes the train, all while fighting off the UES. This mission has a good variety of action. Campaign Three Overview ------------------------- To me, Campaign 3 appears to be the easiest one so far. I assigned mission 1 as moderate in difficulty, 2-4 as easy (although I didn\'t work mission 4 through properly and so the rating may actually be more moderate - I\'ll replay that mission in the correct order when I have more time.) Mission 5 is the only one that gives you any real trouble, and I rated it hard. So mission 5 has a walkthrough. Although this campaign is easier, all 5 missions are still pretty interesting. Campaign 3 occurs in Latin America. In mission 1, you provide support to 3 convoys of vehicles that are attacking a UES position at the top of a crater. There are different ways you can play this mission. Mission 2 requires you to use the rail gun to fire down some ventilator shafts to destroy enemy hideouts in underground tunnels. (Not a big use of the weapon, but there are sufficient enemies surrounding the vent areas to make it interesting.) For mission 3 you use stealth, or not if you don\'t want to - you have the option. Thermal imaging definitely helps, and the action mostly takes place inside 2 city areas on both sides of a river. Mission 4 has you lending support to the special ops team (2 APCs) that rescue a group of prisoners at a UES base. The action is varied, and is probably fairly hectic in places if played through properly. Finally, in mission 5 you really need to watch your health. This is another mission that you have to know what to attack and what to leave alone. Your special ops team makes it to a UES dam, plants charges, and then you have to extract them to safety before the dam blows. Campaign Four Overview ------------------------- Starting off, mission one is pretty hard, but if you know a good approach through, its not too bad. Then missions 2 and 3 I rate as moderate, 4 is actually somewhat easy, and finally 5 - this one is extremely difficult to get through. You\'ve got to have everything working well for you, including a bit of good luck. Once you complete it, you get to view a pretty good mini-movie of a missile being shot from a satellite. Walkthroughs are provided for missions 1 and 5. Mission 1 requires you to destroy two fort defenses in the Artic Circle. In mission 2, you use swarmer missiles for the first, and only time. You get 40 missiles, and there are no power-ups for it so enjoy them while you can. You stop and destroy two large hovercraft, a number of snowmobiles and then a fairly well-fortified base. Mission 3 requires you to use stealth and careful planning to eliminate various hovercraft and snow vehicle patrols while rescuing the special ops team from a village. Not a very difficult mission though. Mission 4 is basically a minigun shoot-up where the only tricky part is distinguishing friendly POWs from enemy infantry. Then finally, the hardest of all Fireblade missions - The Fortress. You have to deal with a variety of threats and its a race against the clock to do your work while the satellite stays in view overhead. Throughout campaign four, the enemy uses the rail gun against you. For the most part it is not very effective except in mission 1. You need to use the rail gun yourself in mission 5 to destroy the giant laser that comes up out of the fortress. =========================================================================== ==================================== II. Fireblade Quick/Start Guide ==================================== =========================================================================== A. Essential Techniques / Notes B. Weapons C. UES Vehicles & Stats D. Additional Notes ================================================ Quick/Start: A. Essential Techniques / Notes ================================================ Notation: (C1/M5) = Campaign 1/Mission 5 and M5 = Mission 5 The following is a list of key skills and techniques that, if you master them, should assist you substantially in passing the more difficult missions. 1. Camera Perspective -- Use the camera perspective that works best for you. The cockpit view probably makes for better weapons accuracy and flight performance for most people. Use the Back button to switch views. There are 4 available camera views. 2. Altitude Control -- Switch the Altitude control from Inverse to Normal and see if that improves your flying performance. (Start button > Options > Altitude > Normal) 3. Sniping Infantry -- Critical for mission 3 (C1/M3) success. To bring down infantry, whether standing or moving, always make a double shot. For running infantry, move your target reticle ahead of the soldier and wait until they reach your reticle, then hit them with 2 quick shots. For other moving infantry (they move erratically), follow behind them with the reticle and wait until they reverse directions, and then take them down with a double-shot to the legs. 4. Minigun targeting & firing -- Critical for mission 5 (C1/M5). Some UES vehicles, such as jeeps and other light armor, explode after a 2 second minigun burst. Others, such as the large hovercraft, require about a 10 second burst. Know what it takes to down each UES target, including infantry (0.5 second burst). Once your target has begun to destruct, release the right trigger to allow the gun to acquire another target. The gun will try to lock on the target closest to your center of screen. 5. Weapons Impacts -- Be aware of what it takes (in bullets, rockets, or missiles) to take out each type of vehicle or craft. This is helpful when you have limited weapons. For instance, use the minigun on jeeps and small water craft - don\'t waste missiles on them if you need to conserve. (see the UES Vehicles & Stats section for a chart on UES hit levels) 6. Strafing and Evading -- When evading enemy fire, remember that their bullets and missiles track to where you\'ve been, not where you are going. You get hit usually when you double back when strafing or when you move haphazardly. Try using a smooth circular strafing arc when surrounded by multiple enemies. 7. Rockets -- Rockets are best used when stationary, particularly when combined with the EMP canon and when stealth is not required. Rockets are also effective when you approach a convoy of vehicles or craft from low and behind where you can get reasonably close and be fairly accurate. 8. Targeting Missiles -- (critical for M5) Fire, retarget, fire, evade... You need to master this sequence and be able to fire and retarget quickly, while evading enemy fire. When chasing a group of vehicles or vessels from a distance, you may only be able to lock onto the last 2 targets. When closer to or in the midst of a number of enemies targets, you can quickly fire/retarget/fire... out your entire rack of missiles. Be careful you don\'t lock onto a target that has already been fired upon or you\'ll waste missiles. The missiles are dumb in that they won\'t acquire a new target once fired. However, you can be reasonably assured that once a missile has locked on and been fired, the target will be destroyed, unless the enemy vehicle requires 2 missiles (large hovercraft and the helicopters). 9. Acquiring Power-ups -- (critical for M5) In times of furious combat, you need to be able to identify and acquire power-ups quickly and efficiently - a single pass at full speed. They show up on the radar as green markers but are sometimes difficult to see on the radar and down below. Missile racks are particularly difficult to see, and especially so on the river in mission 5. You can toggle momentarily to your Thermal Imaging mode (B button) to help see power-ups on the ground or in the river. 10. Radar Use -- Though it is hard to read and the symbols are difficult to identify sometimes, use your radar to locate enemy threats (in red), where to fly for your next objective (blue or yellow arrow at the edge), where the power-ups lie (green markers), units you need to protect (blue box), and to monitor your Stealth Indicator. When in stealth mode, gold bands will arc up from the bottom of the radar when you are approaching an enemy too closely and risk detection. 11. Health Indicator -- Each health power-up replenishes your health by about 25-33% of full. So when your health is nearly gone, you\'ll need at least 1 or 2 to regain at least 50% health. 12. Turbo Boost -- (critical for M5) Be able to read the boost indicator. Four arrows (>>>>) turn solid white when turbo has regenerated. To the right of the arrows is a bar measuring the total boost left. For mission 5 you have about 5 good solid turbo boosts you can use. Save most or all of them for the 3rd fleet at the end. (See the M5 Tactics and Walkthrough for more on this.) Turbo is not available for the Talon transport helicopter. ================================================ Quick/Start: B. Weapons ================================================ Your weapon loadouts, when full, are as follows (Xbox): 8 Missiles 48 Rockets 6 Rail Gun Steel Slugs 40 Swarmer Missiles (used only in C4/M2) Respective power-ups replenish you back to these levels. (You get Unlimited EMP Canon, Sniper Canon, and Mini-Gun.) MiniGun / Sniper Canon -- The minigun will lock onto the target nearest the center of the screen. As soon as you\'ve destroyed one target, release your right trigger to allow the minigun to lock on the next target. For infantry, only hold the trigger for 1/4 to 1/2 a second before releasing. Use the scope in non-stealth for a rapid burst of shots, but note that the bullets disperse in a widening pattern after about one second. You can take out distant targets with guns and rockets by using the scope and non-stealth. The minigun and rockets actually have a striking distance capability that is beyond the point which missiles can lock on a target. You can be beyond enemy detection and enemy fire, and effectively take out the enemy with the minigun and rockets. Limit the minigun to successive one-second bursts in this case. While in stealth, the minigun turns into a sniper canon, but is only effective against infantry, not vehicles. Rockets -- Rockets are useful if you can fire from a stationary position without being exposed to enemy fire. During a combat melee, a barrage of rockets can do a fair amount of damage to a close group of vehicles or an infantry squad. Rockets also work well when coming up behind a convoy of vehicles or water craft, when you are close enough to be fairly accurate with your aim. Use the sniper view with rockets for greater accuracy while hovering in a stationary position. Missiles -- Push the L thumbstick to fire and the R thumbstick to switch to another target. What targets you lock onto are generally determined by where your targeting reticle is pointed. So be careful you don\'t fire a missile, switch to another target, fire, then switch back to your original target. The missiles are not smart enough to find a new target on their own if their original designated target is destroyed. You can also effectively use the scope with the missiles - press up on the directional pad. Often you can fire from a distance and be relatively safe from any enemy return fire. You only get 8 missiles per rack so use them effectively. EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) Canon -- The EMP canon can be used against vehicles as well as infantry, and is a necessity for use with stealth in mission 3, campaign 1. The EMP will eliminate an infantry soldier with a single shot, and will sometimes do so without alerting nearby infantry. When you need to be stealthy against a small group of infantry, try taking the first out with the EMP before using the Sniper Canon on the others. Rail Gun -- You use the rail gun for the first time in mission 2 of campaign 3. (You might also have the opportunity to use it in M4 and M5 of that campaign. The enemy uses the rail gun against you in M5, but I wasn\'t able to determine if it had any impact on me during the firefights I encountered. The infantry shoot the rail gun for the UES.) You can tell when the rail gun is fired because it makes a series of blue rings out to the target. Swarmer Missiles -- This weapon shoots multiple warheads at targets you light up prior to firing. To select the targets, press and HOLD the A button or the left thumbstick. Then release to fire the missiles. You get about 40 so use them sparingly. You only get to fire one rack for this weapon in C4/M2. As far as I can tell, there is no power-up available in that mission either. At times, you can use missiles, rockets, and the minigun simultaneously and have them firing on separate targets. Rockets fly unguided to where your reticle is aimed, the minigun locks onto targets near the center of the screen, while missiles lock onto targets near where your reticle is pointed. ================================================ Quick/Start: C. UES Vehicles & Stats ================================================ Below is a chart showing weapon counts necessary to destroy the various UES targets. (Gun bursts in seconds are estimates.) (burst) Guns Rckts Missls EMP Hovercraft: Large | 10 sec 8 2 2 Medium | 5 3 1 1 Small | 4 2 1 1 Ground Vehicles: APCs | 4 sec 1 1 1 Light Armor | 2 1 1 1 Heavy Armor | 8 4 1 1 Other: Artillery/AA | 5 sec 1-3 1 0-1 Helicopters | 8 3 2 2 Infantry | .5 sec 1 1 1 When missiles need to be conserved, use them on large and medium hovercraft and heavy armor. Use the minigun on small craft, light armored vehicles, and APCs if you need to. The EMP is not effective against the missile turret (AA). I group Artillery and Anti-Aircraft (AA) together. Enemy Fire: [1] The enemy fires to where you are, or hopefully were. They don\'t anticipate your movement, and they don\'t shoot randomly. Therefore, if you properly strafe and evade, usually in a continuous arc from side to side, you should be able to avoid most gunfire and missiles. [2] In addition to [1], flying over an enemy convoy at the maximum height usually enables you to avoid enemy hits since their bullets and missiles will track behind you. [3] Moving from high-to-low or the reverse is almost as effective as side-to-side evasion. You are least vulnerable when both types of movement are used. [4] Another successful evasive technique is to fire one or two missiles, and then dip below a ridge or behind a structure. Wait a second or so, then repeat, or move slightly to the right or left and then reappear. Below is my informal assessment of which enemy vehicles are the most dangerous to your helicopter. (highest danger ranked first) Missile Turrets Heavy Armor Missile Trucks & Missile Hovercraft AA - Anti-Aircraft Guns (stationary) APCs (use some type of minigun) Jeeps and Infantry (small caliber) Tanks (fires a single intermittent shot) UES helicopters are usually fairly easy to evade, depending on the environment. Often you can manage to take out 2 or 3 at once, even just primarily using the minigun. The minigun and missiles are the most effective against airborne helos, but you can occasionally be successful with the EMP as well. The enemy chopper will fall from the sky if hit by the EMP twice. If you have room to back up, you can allow your minigun to acquire the enemy chopper, then just retreat and stay out of range from its return fire. Fireblade Helo Comparison -------------------------- AV-76 UV108 Vendetta Talon -------- -------- Dimensions: Wingspan 10.5m 21.5m Height 3.5m 7.5m Length 12.8m 25.0m Payload: ARK17 Missiles 8 8 ASP Rockets 48 48 30mm Cannon Y Y 22mm Silenced Rifle Y Y EMP Rifle Y Y Combat Troops N/A 6 Flight Modes: Combat Operations Y Y Transport N Y Stealth Y Y Jet Turbo Y N Top Speed Mach 0.8 180mph Turn Speed 180deg/sec 120deg/sec Maximum Lift 4g 2g The Vendetta is faster with better stealth capabilities, while the Talon has superior armor for transport purposes. ================================================ Quick/Start: D. Additional Notes ================================================ 1. Flying too high up and close to a mountain ridge will slow you down and make you an easy target for the enemy. So give turns and bends around mountains a moderately-wide berth. 2. You\'ll receive a bronze (50%), silver (75%), or gold (90%) medal depending on your total kill ratio - which combines all the enemy infantry, vehicles, and structures for the mission. For completing the secondary objective you receive a Distinguished Service medal. You obtain a Purple Heart medal if you complete the mission with only a sliver of health remaining (you can also intentionally knock your health down at the end of a mission to receive this). Lastly, there is a medal for completing each campaign as well as one for finishing the entire game. 3. A single rocket shot in the midst of a group of infantry is very effective. If properly placed, a rocket can take out a squad of infantry and also inflict some damage on other nearby targets. 4. When you destroy an enemy vehicle or vessel from a distance, quickly switch to sniper view (non-stealth) to identify if and what type of power-up has been released. 5. Toggle to Thermal Imaging mode to also help see power-ups as you are flying along. 6. The Mission Map available to you has very limited use and benefit. Ideally, it should have been designed to allow you to zoom in on areas for better inspection. 7. The Mission Log is useful at times for showing previous messages and commands for what tasks or actions you need to conduct. 8. You might find it helpful to track or log your replays on harder missions. This can help you plan your strategy or approach for successive replays, it can put you back in the proper frame of mind for the mission if you\'ve set the game aside a few days, and it\'ll help you see where you\'re making progress. 9. Use a timer and set it to 4 minutes or so to alert you to go back and re-EMP vehicles when you need more time to accomplish your objectives. (Vehicles return to normal operation after 5 minutes.) 10. In missions where you transport Brooks or the ops team, or escort a vehicle or two, you\'ll see status indicators for your friendly forces. These appear on your HUD below the turbo meter. =========================================================================== ================================================= III. Mission Overviews, Tactics, Walkthroughs ================================================= =========================================================================== - Mission Listing - Mission Ratings - Mission-By-Mission Overviews, Tactics, Walkthroughs (hard, difficult) ------------------------- Mission Listing ------------------------- Campaign 1 - Mountains of Switzerland M1 - Welcome To Fireblade M2 - Defend The Base M3 - Crack Their Encryption M4 - Strike Three M5 - Take No Prisoners Campaign 2 - South American Desert M1 - Vendetta Facility M2 - Rescue Brooks M3 - Vendetta Recovery M4 - Takedown M5 - Stop The Express Campaign 3 - Latin America M1 - Crater Carnage M2 - Flush \'Em Out M3 - Downtown Destruction M4 - Jailbreak! M5 - Dam & Blast Campaign 4 - Artic Circle M1 - Beachhead M2 - Hunt & Kill M3 - Rhames In Trouble M4 - Round \'Em Up M5 - The Fortress ------------------------- Mission Ratings ------------------------- Below is my arbitrary rating of the Campaign missions. Mission walkthroughs are included only for the hard and difficult missions. 1 Simple 2 Easy 3 Moderate 4 Hard 5 Difficult ------------------------- MISSION-BY-MISSION ------------------------- [Overviews, Tactics, Walkthroughs] Walkthroughs: Campaign One (M3,M5); Campaign Two (M3,M5); Campaign Three (M5); Campaign Four (M1,M5) CAMPAIGN 1 [Mountains of Switzerland] C1, Mission 1 - Welcome To Fireblade ---------------------------------------- Rating - 2 Easy Objectives: P1 - Acquire Power-Ups and Rendezvous with Brooks (instructor) P2 - Destroy Mini-Gun Targets P3 - Destroy Rocket Targets P2 - Disable (EMP) Vehicles and Snipe Target Dummies P5 - Fall Back with Brooks Overview: Training mission. Learn to fire the weapons, use stealth, get power-ups, use speed boost, identify enemies (gold circle at base of object) and friendlies - those you are assigned to protect (blue circle around base). Brooks is your wingman. She provides instruction in this mission, and then teams up in some other missions for various tasks. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- Learn to fire the various weapons effectively and to properly use stealth along with the EMP and sniper canons. Go back and replay the mission if you want more practice engaging the enemy while in the midst of battle - toward the end of the mission. Replay: When Brooks meets you by the river and instructs you to boost on to the home base, go back and fight the enemy units around the training base. You can get the gold medal and achieve a 100% ratio if you find and eradicate all the enemy. C1, Mission 2 - Defend The Base ---------------------------------------- Rating - 2 Easy Objectives: P1 - Defend Home Base P2 - Destroy Bridge 1 P3 - Destroy Bridge 2 P4 - Destroy Remaining Units Overview: Blow up 2 bridges, then destroy enemy vehicles attacking the base. Not a hard mission and take your time if you want. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- A volley of 5 or so rockets at a single point of the bridge will bring it down. Practice coming up behind a convoy of vehicles using rockets and gunfire, and use missiles against distant vehicles. Work on acquiring power-ups efficiently (one pass at full speed). There is no timer but the sooner you take out the bridges, the fewer enemy vehicles that will cross and require eliminating back at the base. Replay: Go after the enemy units on the other side of the river to gain higher ratios and the gold medal. C1, Mission 3 - Crack Their Encryption ---------------------------------------- Rating - 4 Hard Objectives: P1 - Drop Off Special Ops Team P2 - Destroy Infantry Patrol 1 P3 - Destroy Infantry Patrol 2 P4 - Destroy Infantry Patrol 3 P5 - Spec Ops Team Completes Data Intercept P6 - Extract Spec Ops Team Overview: Need to use stealth throughout the mission, or at least until the special ops team completes their objective. Use the EMP canon against the vehicles and against the first of a stationary group of infantry, and sniper canon the moving infantry. The Y button switches to stealth, and B brings up thermal imaging. Need to shoot moving infantry in 2 shot bursts, and shoot for their legs as they appear to be somewhat protected by vests or equipment. Watch your stealth indicator - gold circular bands that arc up from the bottom of your radar when you get too close to an enemy. Rhames is the special ops commander. Move slow throughout the mission and follow Rhames\' commands. The key to success in this mission is to quickly snipe down any patrolling infantry before they reach the base to sound an alert. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- When you encounter a small group of infantry standing around, if you EMP the first, the others may not become alerted and may enable you to snipe them easier. To snipe infantry that dodge or \"float\" around erratically, follow close behind them with your target reticle as they move, and then hit them with a 2-shot burst when they reverse direction. To shoot running infantry, aim just ahead of where the soldier is running and fire a 2-3 shot burst as soon as your target reticle turns red. Shoot for the legs if you can since most infantry take 2 shots to eliminate. Walkthrough: ---------------------- [1] Patrol Post 1 - snipe the watchtower, EMP the 2 vehicles, then rocket them. [2] Patrol Post 2 - snipe the 2 towers, EMP the 4 vehicles, then rocket them. [3] Patrol Camp 1 - EMP the soldier with back turned to you, EMP the vehicle, then snipe the 2 infantry. Fly up to the level of the camp on the ridge and follow the ridge along at that height. [4] (optional) Snipe the lone watchtower at the base of the mountain ridge. [5] Ignore the roving vehicle patrols to the right (to the north when positioned at Patrol Camp 1), the 2 watchtowers to the far right, and their 3 parked APCs nearby. [6] Patrol Camp 2 - EMP the solder with back turned to you, EMP the vehicle, then snipe the 2 infantry. [7] Fly to the 3 flares and drop off Rhames and the special ops team. Wait for Rhames\' command, then lift off s-l-o-w-l-y. [8] Per Rhames\' command, take out the 4 patrolling infantry. Use double-shots for each soldier, and aim just ahead of any running infantry to cut them down. Don\'t let them reach the base. [9] Per command, take out the 3 patrolling infantry closer to the base. Don\'t let them reach a building or get too close to the base. [10] Go ahead and take out the 2 watchtowers inside the base at this point if you wish. [11] Per command, take out the 2 patrolling infantry by the Comms truck. Wait until they move to the right side of the truck and quickly take both out without hitting the truck. [12] Rhames and team will complete their task with the Comms truck and then depart toward the extraction zone located far to the left of the enemy base. Make sure to take out the 2 base watchtowers if you haven\'t already done so. [13] You may need to take out a small group of patrolling infantry coming down from the mountain on the left. [14] Take out the 3 patrolling APCs on the road near the extraction point. You can EMP all 3 and then rocket them if you wish. [15] Land on the 3 flares, wait for Rhames and team to board, then lift off - and the mission ends. Replay: (1) If your cover is blown, you can still manage to salvage the mission by destroying 4-5 vehicles that will bolt for the enemy base. If you can take them out with missiles before they get too close, then you can proceed with eliminating much of the extra enemy infantry and vehicles that are some distance from the base. (2) After you drop off Rhames and snipe all the necessary infantry patrols and the Ops team completes their own objective, you can secure their extraction point and then fly around and destroy any remaining infantry, vehicles, and structures to get 100%. C1, Mission 4 - Strike Three ---------------------------------------- Rating - 3 Moderate Objectives: S1 - Destroy Communications Array P1 - Destroy South Base P2 - Destroy East Base P3 - Destroy West Base Overview: Not a difficult mission, but time consuming because you have to destroy 2 communications towers (secondary objective), and 3 enemy bases (3 primary objectives). Use stealth effectively, protect your initial sortie of friendly vehicles and they\'ll assist you some - but they are not necessary for success. This mission is mostly to develop your skill at using missiles, rockets, and miniguns in a combination of long range as well as close combat situations (if you wish). If you really want to take it slow, use stealth mostly and use the EMP and then rocket everything. There is no time limit for this mission. Don\'t forget to destroy the base buildings as well. Side Bonus: At one of the bases are 4 UES helicopters. If you harass the base long enough, 2 of the helicopters will come after you, giving you a chance to practice some aerial combat. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- Not much to say about this mission other than to work on proper weapons use and weapon combinations, while mastering strafing because you\'ll need these skills for M5. Take your time and use stealth and/or scope to check out an area before engaging. Replay: Complete this entire mission without using stealth. C1, Mission 5 - Take No Prisoners ---------------------------------------- Rating - 5 Difficult Objectives: P1 - Destroy Fleet 1 S1 - Destroy Ammo Supply Depot P2 - Destroy Fleet 2 S2 - Defend Village P3 - Destroy Fleet 3 Overview: You need to (completely) eliminate 3 fleets plus 2 secondary objectives (Destroy the Ammo Depot and Protect The Village). Critical skills include smooth strafing with the minigun. Success depends largely upon picking up 1 or preferably 2 missile racks when engaging the 3rd fleet at the end. Also need to use the boost with the 3rd fleet once the timer starts. Use your missiles efficiently, which means fire out the complete rack before picking up a new one. If missiles are low, use the minigun and lock onto the tiny boats. Rockets are effective against the boats if you come up from behind low and close. There is a timer for this mission, but it doesn\'t get activated until you pass one or two bends past the village. You get 2:30, which is enough time if you use the boost multiple times, and make effective use of your missiles and minigun. You get about 5 good turbo boosts during this mission, which is plenty if saved all for the 3rd fleet. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- Use boost multiple times against the 3rd fleet. Boost to initially catch up with Fleet 3. Use boost to go back to get a passed missile rack, if necessary, and then boost again to catch back up. Use boost to catch up with the second group of Fleet 3, and use boost once more to catch the leading large hovercraft with the stolen fuel bomb. Don\'t bother with the EMP canon against the 3rd fleet. You\'ll lose too much time stopping, getting set, firing and then trying to catch up again. Plus you\'ll still have to destroy them after they\'ve been disabled. Try not to waste missiles on the smallest craft as a short 4 second minigun burst can take them out. Toggle to Thermal Imaging mode to see power-ups down on the river. The 3rd fleet is composed of 2 groups. The 1st group has 1 small hover, 9 medium, and 1 large - (a 12 missile requirement). The 2nd group has 2 small, 7 medium, and the lead large hover with the fuel bomb - (11 missile requirement). So if you start out with a full rack of missiles, and manage to pick up 2 more (24 total) then you can eliminate the 3rd fleet just with missiles. If you add in some effective gunfire, and rocket shots from low and behind a few boats, all while managing your health, the mission becomes much less difficult. Walkthrough: ---------------------- [1] Take out fleet 1 with whatever combination of gunfire, rockets and missiles you want. Reload with power-ups. [2] Come up to the south side of the supply depot from a distance, but don\'t go too far to the left side of the depot or that will trigger fleet 2 to start moving. Switch to stealth. EMP the vehicles and rocket them. Switch off stealth and gunfire infantry. [3] Reload with power-ups and then take off after fleet 2. You may want to use turbo boost to initially catch up. Use a combination of missiles and gunfire, while strafing and evading enemy fire. You can switch to stealth/EMP and immobilize a few craft including the large hovercraft, and then take off after the remaining ones and cut them down before they flee too far past the village. If you have to, fly over the village and take out any that get away, and then come back to save the village. Make sure to also destroy any of fleet 2 you EMP-immobilized. [4] To defend the village, switch to stealth and EMP all vehicles, then rocket them. Switch off stealth and gunfire the infantry if you wish. [5] Proceed toward fleet 3. When you turn the bend and the timer starts, use the turbo to catch up with fleet 3. Fire missile, switch target, fire missile, evade... rapidly and then repeat to take out the straggler crafts. Immediately start looking for missile power-ups. Often you\'ll get 2 missile racks among the 1st 3-4 craft you destroy. Note where a missile rack is located if you still have missiles left. Fire them out and then turbo back to pick up the missile rack, and then boost forward again to catch back up. Also use gunfire for the smallest craft and save the missiles for the medium and large hovers. Boost forward to catch up with the 2nd group of fleet 3 and use missiles/gunfire effectively. You\'ll need to pick up a 2nd missile rack (the 3rd rack total, 24 missiles altogether) to get the highest chance of success. Save 2 missiles for the last large hovercraft if you can. Boost ahead to catch it. If you have no missiles left, come up behind with gunfire and rockets while avoiding its missiles. You might also EMP it and then quickly take it out with 8 rockets before the timer ends. CAMPAIGN 2 [South American Desert] C2, Mission 1 - Vendetta Facility ---------------------------------------- Rating - 3 Moderate Objectives: S1 - Protect the Scientists P1 - Defend Vendetta Facility Overview: You\'re instructed to defend this Vendetta Facility against the UES who are trying to steal some technology secrets. I believe there are two buildings to guard, one central in the base and one to the rear. The enemy assault comes basically from one side, which makes it much easier to defend. Fly out and attack some of the incoming convoys, but mostly hang out around the front of the base since that\'s where most of the critical action is, and where you can find many of the power-ups. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- This mission starts out a little frantic, but once you eliminate most of the major threats, its just a matter of mopping up infantry that enter the base. Protect the target buildings designated with the blue circle at the base, and don\'t let the escaping scientists get attacked. They escape toward the rear of the base, away from the heavier action. You get a little bit of help from Brooks in her chopper. You also receive some minor help from a couple tanks that roam the perimeter of the base, and there are some artillery emplacements to the side that add support. Hit APCs before they can unload their infantry, who will then head for and enter the base. Rockets can make easy work of close infantry groups. C2, Mission 2 - Rescue Brooks ---------------------------------------- Rating - 3 Moderate Objectives: P1 - Rescue Brooks Overview: No slacking in this mission. You need 100% kills in every category to progress. Its either all of them or Brooks. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- This mission seems a little difficult in places because you\'re not really sure what you should be doing next. For instance, when you pick up Brooks, logically you should evacuate. Instead, hold your position and wait for a few pairs of enemy choppers. You fly the Talon transport chopper which turns and maneuvers much slower than the Vendetta. (1/3 slower turning, and 1/2 slower changing altitude) So its important for you to position yourself economically during the vehicle attacks. Try to hit the APCs before they unload their infantry, or the mission suddenly becomes much tougher. Blast the infantry with rockets and guns, and don\'t let them get too close to the downed helicopter. There are 3 groups of enemy attacks near Brooks, with #2 and 3 occurring about the same time. After that, there are a few other vehicles you take care of from a distance, with missiles mostly. When Brooks says to pick her up, take a moment to survey the area for missile and health power-ups. Make sure to reload both to full before boarding Brooks. You\'re then going to get hit with those pairs of chopper attacks. You don\'t need to evacuate the area, so knowing that, where would be the ideal place for you to hang out? C2, Mission 3 - Vendetta Recovery ---------------------------------------- Rating - 5 Difficult Objectives: S1 - Destroy 4 Radar Dishes P1 - Recover Vendetta P2 - Protect Special Ops Team P3 - Protect Brooks Overview: If any mission is frustrating, its this one. You need to ensure the safe entry and exit of the special ops vehicle, and make sure Brooks gets away in the stolen Vendetta. This mission is not really so bad when you learn how it works. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- Count the initial 7 infantry guards as you snipe them. It might help you keep track. For guards that get through the gate, watch what building they run for to sound an alarm. This is also the same building used by the courtyard guards. There initially are 2 watchtowers, 7 infantry gate guards, and then 2 groups of 5 courtyard guards you deal with before the special ops vehicle will enter the base. When shooting the gate and courtyard guards, being close to the ground makes your shots more level and accurate. Your initial orders say not to use the EMP. I basically disregard this after the ops vehicle enters the base. Walkthrough: ---------------------- [1] Follow behind the ops vehicle. Where it stops, snipe the 2 watchtowers to the left. [2] Move down the hill toward the perimeter wall where it makes a 90 degree turn. Stay low to the ground for better accuracy, but high enough to pivot and shoot over the wall - in case you need to. Position yourself so that the 3 gate guards are nearly in a row, which will enable you to eliminate them pretty much at once. Once you start sniping, they will all eventually head for the farther of two buildings just inside the gate. If any guards get through the gate, pivot right and shoot them inside the courtyard from where you are. [3] Once the 7 gate guards are eliminated, allow the ops truck to come to the gate. Then position yourself just inside the gate and stay low to the ground. Start sniping one group of 5 courtyard guards. They will all run towards you for 2/3 of the way before turning off to the alarm building on the left. Quickly cut down the first 5, then pivot and take out the other 5. (I\'ve found that medium scope, not too close or too far away, works best for sniping these 10 guards.) [4] The ops team will drive down the road, turn right, and stop. Don\'t worry about the 2 watchtowers that shoot at it. [5] Proceed down the road to the crossroad yourself, and then pick off those 2 watchtowers to the left. (Here is where I might depart from the intended progress of the mission.) [6] Start to work with your EMP. Disable the 3 garaged vehicles that are beyond the 2 watchtowers, and then fly slowly in that direction. Snipe the 3 or 4 guards near the UES parked jets straight ahead. Also EMP the 2 helicopters that are off to the left. (You might consider using a timer and setting it to 4 minutes to warn you to go back and re-EMP any vehicles.) Fly around on this left side of the base and EMP any other vehicles you can see. [7] Snipe the 4 tents near the stolen Vendetta. They\'ll burst into flames with 2 shots each. [8] Once you\'ve EMPed everything you need to, shoot 2 rockets at each radar tower. This will complete your secondary objective and also set off the alarm - that\'s okay. [9] The ops team will make a break for the Vendetta, so guard the route it takes. Three squads of infantry will try to stop it, but a couple rockets per squad takes them out. Three vehicles will try to intercept the ops team if you didn\'t EMP them previously. If so, use the EMP or missiles on them now. [10] Provide cover for the ops vehicle with more rockets and the minigun. You really only have to worry about the infantry at this point. [11] Brooks will board the Vendetta and take off. She should be okay on her own if you\'ve disabled all enemy vehicles and the 2 UES helicopters. [12] Finally, the ops team vehicle will retrace its route back out of the base. A group of infantry will be waiting before the exit from the base, but hit them with a couple rockets before the ops team approaches. You\'re pretty much home free at this point. If you want to, and have the health and rockets remaining, go around and raise your kill ratios. To end the mission, you might need to meet up with the ops vehicle outside the base. C2, Mission 4 - Takedown ---------------------------------------- Rating - 3 Moderate Objectives: P1 - Protect Friendly Forces P2 - Destroy Valley Head Defenses Overview: A lengthy mission as you have to destroy practically everything. You provide cover for a sizeable number of vehicle forces that attack a well-defended UES base. You have to deal with missile turrets for the first time (the EMP doesn\'t work against them), have to protect against numerous artillery, and fight off a handful of helicopter attacks. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- You\'ve basically learned all the skills you need to succeed in this mission. Start out with the EMP against the first groups of vehicles, and then follow up with rockets. Try to do all this before your convoy forces start moving. Try to take out the artillery and turrets at the corners of the base as they\'ll do substantial damage to your forces. Meet any choppers and vehicles that venture out your way. You\'ll have to use the EMP, missiles and the minigun quite a bit. Once you\'ve eliminated all major threats, start working on blowing everything up inside the base. C2, Mission 5 - Stop The Express ---------------------------------------- Rating - 4 Hard Objectives: P1 - Stop the Train P2 - Protect the Special Ops Team Overview: You help the special ops team again. Their mission is to steal a new UES weapon - the rail gun, being carried on a train to a UES base. The Ops team steals a truck to place on the track and stop the train. You\'ll deal with numerous infantry coming off the train. Your ops guys then unload the gun and instruct you to pick it up. You need to protect at least the Special Ops leader to finish the mission. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- One difficult aspect of this mission is trying to keep oriented to where you are or are supposed to be, while dealing with six or so enemy convoy attacks throughout the mission. The best way to do this is to identify the ops team on the radar as the blue box, and constantly be aware of and close to where it is. Identify the missile trucks and target them first if you can since they will do the most damage to you. Then target the APCs before they can unload infantry. This will make your job much easier. Don\'t blow up the train or you\'ll scrap the mission as well. Protect the truck the ops team steals. If low on missiles, you might be able to use the EMP on some of the convoys. Meet them head on or position yourself to the side and spike them down the line, with or without the scope. When you take out a convoy, fly towards it to try to get missile and health power-ups. They\'re highly valuable in this mission. You may find it helpful to use the turbo boost in this mission, particularly to get back to guarding the ops team after eliminating a convoy or acquiring a missile power-up. Walkthrough: ---------------------- [1] Identify the small blue box on the radar and keep track of where it is throughout the mission. This is the ops team. [2] Use the radar to see enemy threats and always go after those closest to the ops team. [3] There are going to be about 3 convoys of trucks coming into the immediate vicinity almost simultaneously. They will be coming from different directions and varying distances. Take out a complete convoy before going after the next or you\'ll lose track of individual trucks. Blow the APCs before unloading their infantry. If infantry get out in the open, take care of them quickly with the minigun and rockets. [4] The ops team will steal a truck located among some buildings. At about this same time, you\'ll have another vehicle convoy start bearing down on you. Take them out. [5] The ops team will park the truck on the tracks to stop the train. When the train stops, enemy soldiers will go after the truck. Position yourself down close to the truck and pick them off. [6] You may also find still another enemy convoy coming your way while this is all happening so try to keep your missiles stocked to eliminate them from a distance. [7] A hoard of enemy infantry will then get off the train and head for the ops team. Take them out with the minigun and rockets. You need to keep at least one ops guy alive to finish the mission so protect them well. At least one infantry personnel will fire hand-held missiles at you. [8] You\'ll be ordered to pick up the rail gun. Fly over it and drop down to get it. [9] Two helicopters will head your way and attack, so be ready for them. [10] One final convoy of trucks will come down a nearby group of hills and once you deal with them the mission is basically over. [11] The ops team will plant explosives on the train and send it on to the UES base. CAMPAIGN 3 [Latin America] C3, Mission 1 - Crater Carnage ---------------------------------------- Rating - 3 Moderate Objectives: P1 - Protect Gamma Team P2 - Protect Beta Team P3 - Protect Alpha Team P4 - Destroy Crater Rim Defenses Overview: Your forces will assault a UES position at the top of a hill, or crater. Your initial actions determine whether your guys will take the assault to them, or they will come after your guys. Tactics & Approach: Start out by searching for infantry, vehicles, and watchtowers in the surrounding trees. You can choose to use stealth, thermal imaging, miniguns, rockets, or whatever. There can be different results depending on which method you take. To succeed, your forces will advance to the top and over the crater edge, and engage the enemy at various stages. There will be some UES helicopters you need to protect your forces from. To save you from flying around for a while trying to figure out how to end the mission: land mines - find them, deal with them. (You are warned about the mines, but in the heat of battle you may miss this bit of instruction.) C3, Mission 2 - Flush \'Em Out ---------------------------------------- Rating - 2 Easy Objectives: S1 - Destroy Comms Vehicles P1 - Destroy Northwest Vent P2 - Destroy Southwest Vent P3 - Destroy Southeast Vent P4 - Destroy Northeast Vent Overview: Mission 2 is sort of a continuation of mission 1. You use the newly acquired rail gun in limited fashion. You locate 4 vents used by the UES for their underground tunnels and fire the rail gun into them - that\'s it. But to fire, you need to be stationary to be most accurate. Tactics & Approach: There are enemy units around each of the vents that will harass you, but none are a major problem. Watch your distance to the vent when you fire the gun as you\'ll take damage if you\'re too close. C3, Mission 3 - Downtown Destruction ---------------------------------------- Rating - 2 Easy Objectives: P1 - Clear the East Side of the River P2 - Clear the East Side of the River S1 - Stop the Hovers from Escaping Overview: You fly among tall buildings in two city areas positioned on both sides of the river. Its up to you whether to use stealth or not, but you\'ll probably want to use thermal imaging. You need to knock out several AA positions (aircraft guns and missile turrets) in each area. There are a few roving squads of infantry down on the streets. Tactics & Approach: When you approach or cross the river, you\'ll need to stop a small fleet of hovercraft from proceeding down the river. Compared to mission 5 of campaign 1, this is a minor task. In the cities, you may find some snipers higher up on the buildings. C3, Mission 4 - Jailbreak! ---------------------------------------- Rating - 2 Easy Objectives: S1 - Destroy River Delta Enemy Encampment P1 - Rescue Hostages P2 - Protect APCs Overview: The action is fairly varied and takes place over an expanded environment. The special ops team will drive two APCs to a UES base and rescue about 10 or so prisoners. Your objective is to protect the team every step of the way to the base and the exit route. Tactics & Approach: You\'re on your own for how to properly get through this mission at this time. I wasn\'t sure what to do next so I headed out on my own to deal with the enemy threats in red on my radar. That led me to some combat with river patrol craft, then to an enemy camp, on to UES positions on both ends of a bridge, and finally, to the UES prison camp itself. All while the 2 APCs were still waiting for me to reach them so they could start moving. You can play out this mission in a variety of ways. Because you have a good deal of control how to play this mission, its probably one of the better ones for experimenting with replays. C3, Mission 5 - Dam & Blast ---------------------------------------- Rating - 4 Hard Objectives: P1 - Protect the Special Ops Team P2 - Neutralize Enemy Base P3 - Extract Special Ops Team Overview: Watch your health in this mission. You don\'t have a lot of time to get health and missile power-ups, so you\'ll have to do the best you can with what you can get. The ops team heads down a river, patrolled by the enemy, in a hovercraft. You need to keep up with it while taking care of the threats. They eventually reach and enter a dam where they\'ll plant charges and blow it. You have to extract them to safety before the dam breaks. Tactics & Approach: There probably are a few different ways you can play this mission, but the walkthrough below is the easy and quick way through. You won\'t get much in the way of medals, but you can come back to the mission later and improve on it. You\'ll want to carefully consider what enemy targets to attack and what not to waste your time on. At one of the enemy locations, some of the infantry use the rail gun, which makes blue rings out to the target when fired. They don\'t seem to be very accurate, but probably one or two shots into the ops hovercraft will destroy it. You\'ll have to attack the enemy with everything you\'ve got available, but typically you can find at least one missile power-up in the river and at the first enemy encampment. Walkthrough: ---------------------- Note: because maintaining health is critical in this mission, I provide extra detail on how I deal with the threats. [1] Start out ahead of the ops hovercraft. When the first enemy craft approaches, fire a missile, then switch to stealth and drop a few feet to avoid any fire. Then come out of stealth and proceed until the next two craft come into sight, and repeat the procedure. [2] Once these two are gone, proceed down to the turn, drop down, and use the EMP on the next hovercraft. Once your ops team is passed these threats, move on and keep up with it. [3] You should try to come out of the river enclosure ahead of the team and immediately strike the enemy camp with everything you can - missiles, rockets, and minigun. You can usually get at least one missile rack and two health power-ups at this location. Make sure to blast the infantry groups and tents with rockets to take care of them quickly. [4] Again, once the ops team passes on through, keep up with it. Don\'t mess with a convoy of vehicles that will come behind you and up the hill. The ops team will go up the hill and make the turn. You need to get on ahead and deal with two groups of vehicles coming your way (3 vehicles in each). [5] Try to have at least 4 missiles left when you eliminate those two short convoys. The team will head to the top of the dam up to the right, where there are significant UES vehicles waiting. Your greatest danger is the missile turret, so try to lock a missile onto it if you can. [6] Use everything you can against these forces at the top of the dam, and once everything is neutralized, the team will disembark and head for the dam entrance. At this point, you have some options how you want to play out the mission. There is a convoy of vehicles coming up behind you. There are river patrol craft out ahead, and there are additional enemy vehicle patrols and stationary defenses on the far side of the river. [7] If you want the quick way out, disregard all the UES enemy you see from where you are. Switch to stealth and lower yourself over the top of the dam from the right side. Proceed down to ground level and EMP any vehicle threats you see. Then turn and do the same to any roving or stationary vehicles on the other side of the water. [8] In time, the ops team will set the charges and emerge at the bottom of the dam and position flares on the far bank. Touch down, let them board, and then lift off - all while maintaining stealth. [9] Fly to the far left side of the current open area, and you\'ll see an exit ramp leading out. The ops commander will alert you to approaching attack choppers, but you can disregard them. You might have to switch out of stealth and make a break for that exit area. Once you turn and go up the exit a short bit, the end-of-campaign movie will start playing. CAMPAIGN 4 [Artic Circle] C4, Mission 1 - Beachhead ---------------------------------------- Rating - 4 Hard Objectives: S1 - Destroy Communications Array S2 - Destroy Communications Array P1 - Destroy Fort 1 Defenses P2 - Protect Hover Group 2 P3 - Destroy Fort 2 Defenses Overview: Your job is primarily to soften up the beachheads at two fort locations prior to two friendly assault groups moving in. The two forts are located a fair distance apart so using boost is useful, but not necessary. Fort 1 is a straight-on assault, while Fort 2 is set up so that you have two strong enemy positions to each side leading to the fort. This mission is fun to play even if you get blown up or the mission ends without success. The action is pretty good. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- If the mission ends, and you don\'t know why, its likely because you left some enemy vehicle or position standing and your guys at fort 1 were finished off. So make sure you also destroy anything you EMP. With fort 1 you are given 60 seconds to do initial damage, and 90 seconds for fort 2. There is no overall timer for this mission, so just be thorough in eliminating all enemy threats at fort 1 before moving on to fort 2. Use missiles first, then switch to stealth and disable those AA positions that can do the most damage to you. The beachhead watchtower guards have rail guns, and one or two shots into a hovercraft will blow it up along with its troops. Some of the beachhead bunkers contain infantry. Walkthrough: ---------------------- Fort 1 -- [1] Move forward until your missile targets start to light up. Use 7 missiles on beachhead targets, but don\'t include any Comms or radar towers. [2] Move forward and go stealth. Disable two AA guns up and to the left, and then the two center AA guns up by the fort. Then fire rockets at these 4 enemy targets. Try to do all this within the 60 seconds. [3] Start firing rockets, or rockets and miniguns if not in stealth, at the beachhead watchtowers. They are dangerous to the hovers with their rail guns. [4] Proceed to bomb the bunkers and minigun infantry that come out to attack the troops. [5] Once the beachhead is under control, EMP and rocket the other stationary guns up by the fort. [6] Finally, go around and clean up any extra enemy soldiers, destroy any remaining watchtowers and bunkers, and take down all Comms and radar towers. [7] Fully reload on all power-ups. [8] Move off to fort 2 as identified by the yellow arrow on the radar. Veer off to the left, using boost if you want to. You\'ll intercept 3 hovercraft moving toward fort 2. Broadside them with your minigun and rockets, saving missiles if you can. Get any power-ups there. Fort 2 -- [9] Try to see where the second hovercraft assault group is located, and stay away at a distance. Once you get too close to them their 90 second timer will start. But you can do a lot of attack damage before that happens if you\'re careful. Locate the enemy position up on the left hillside. Your approach is to attack and neutralize it from the rear. [10] Being out of stealth, use the scope and use the minigun to eliminate watchtowers, vehicles, etc. Save a good number of rockets for the even more distant hillside position. [11] Take your time and eliminate the resistance as much as possible at the first hillside and then the second. Eventually you\'ll move in to where the assault commander will start the timer. [12] At that point, come in hard with rockets and miniguns to clean up at hillside 1. If you see a missile power-up, fire your current load at hillside 2 targets and reload. [13] Come up over the top of the hill and fire missiles at the beachhead defenses. [14] Pivot and take out other significant threats on hillside 2 with rockets, EMP or missiles. [15] Then join the assault troops on the beachhead and make sure to go after those watchtowers with the rail guns. [16] Do like at fort 1 and destroy AA and other stationary guns, bunkers, watchtowers, and Comms towers. Fire rockets at groups of infantry. [17] Then just fly around and get stray infantry and vehicles and you\'re done. C4, Mission 2 - Hunt & Kill ---------------------------------------- Rating - 3 Moderate Objectives: S1 - Destroy the Seaport\'s Comms Network P1 - Destroy the Transport Hovers and Snowcats P2 - Destroy All of the Primary Buildings at the Seaport Overview: Your job is to take out two large hovercraft speeding toward a base. You have swarmer missiles (40) to use if you want, or you can use the EMP with rockets and save the missiles. You\'ll need to use turbo to keep up. Near the base are small snowmobiles. There is no time limit so destroy the base at your own pace. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- This mission is similar to C1/M4 and C2/M4 where you need to destroy a large number of vehicles and structures. You might want to try to save the swarmer missiles for the base you attack later on. Its more fun to use this very limited weapon on multiple base bogeys than the two large hovercraft. Keep up with the 2 large hovercraft using turbo boost, then EMP them - 2 shots each. Then destroy them with rockets/miniguns. You\'ll encounter snowmobiles closer to the base. Use stealth to sneak up on the base if you want, or else go in with guns and rockets blazing. In this mission you need to destroy all the buildings designated with the yellow circle at the base - which is most of the buildings. C4, Mission 3 - Rhames In Trouble ---------------------------------------- Rating - 3 Moderate Objectives: S1 - Destroy UES Outpost P1 - Clear the Village of Patrols P2 - Find the Special Ops Team P3 - Protect and Pickup the S. Ops P4 - Get the Hell Out of There Overview: You can take your time and sneak around in this mission, dodging various patrols you encounter. You can eliminate the patrols or you can slip on by and just rescue the ops team in the distant village without much incident. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- Pick off the few guard patrollers in the outpost you first see. Then use stealth, EMP, and rockets to take out the patrolling hovercraft one by one. Take your time and continue to disable and destroy everything you can without raising too much alarm. Follow the yellow radar arrow which will lead you to the village where the special ops team is hiding out. When you get there, they will make a run for their extraction point, which is some distance away. So you\'ll have to protect them, while they run, from enemy infantry that come out of the houses. The ops guys will then set flares where you land and pick them up. After that, its just a matter of dodging and destroying, if you wish, remaining patrols you come across as you make your exit from this hostile location. Take your time and this mission is fairly easy to do. C4, Mission 4 - Round \'Em Up ---------------------------------------- Rating - 2 Easy Objectives: P1 - Stop the Eight Stolen Hovercraft P2 - Ensure the Hovercraft are not Destroyed P3 - Destroy All Armed Resistance P4 - Leave Unarmed POWs Alive for Recapture Overview: A fairly simple mission and not difficult at all. You buzz the eight hovers. Don\'t lose track of where they stop so you can go back and eliminate all enemy soldiers. You use the minigun mostly, unless you\'re sure a group of soldiers does not contain POWs. You can give them rockets in that case. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- You need to stop eight hovercraft without destroying them. All you have to do is buzz them - which means fly low over each one and they will come to a stop. The hovercraft won\'t fire at you, but any enemy infantry coming off the craft will. Some of the soldiers will have rail guns, but they are not very good shots. The part of the mission that might trip you up is not correctly identifying the friendly POWs that you need to protect. So make sure you don\'t shoot them - or at least not too many of them. You can tell who they are because they don\'t have a yellow circle at their base. Toward the end of the POW march, there will be a small house with a moderate-sized enemy squad nearby that you will have to wipe out prior to the POWs arriving. Be careful, because the minigun also locks onto POWs. You might find using the scope (non-stealth) with the minigun helpful in identifying the bad guys and dropping them one by one as they run. C4, Mission 5 - The Fortress ---------------------------------------- Rating - 5 Very Difficult Objectives: S1 - Destroy Enemy Island Encampments P1 - Destroy Fortress Outer Defenses P2 - Destroy Fortress Inner Defenses P3 - Destroy Fortress Superstructure (laser) Overview: There are many ways to fail in this final mission. There are two parts. In the first you deal with island encampments and comms towers - if you wish. In the second, you face a variety of lethal threats that come at you from all sides. You race against the clock as well. Tactics & Approach: ---------------------- Your initial orders suggest that you destroy the Comms array. I could determine no benefit for doing this and it consumes valuable seconds you need. The helicopters you encounter later still arrive whether or not the Comms towers (12 total) are standing or not. Nothing else in part 2 seems to change either. So my advice is ignore the islands and the towers unless you want that secondary objective pretty bad. Use boost (4 times) and stealth to make your way quickly among the islands toward your destination - yellow arrow on radar. Staying low to the water while boosting is safest. At the fortress, use stealth initially to eliminate 4 circling hovercraft. Use the rail gun against the well-armored AA guns atop the buildings. How? Get out of their range. Note that you have to be out of stealth to use the rail gun. If you don\'t use rail slugs, 2 shots per AA, you\'ll need about 10-15 rockets per AA. You might also concentrate your firepower on the buildings underneath and allow the AA guns to fall. Those AA guns only swivel about 180 degrees, so once you clear out two, you can come up behind the others and more easily eliminate them. You need to destroy about 6-7 external buildings, marked with the yellow base circle, and then after that, about 4 internal structures. Then a giant laser rises up out of one of the fortress buildings - a building which you can\'t destroy no matter how many rockets or other ordnance you put into it. The 4 external corner buildings take about 20 or more rockets, coupled with the minigun, to blow. A rail gun slug or two probably helps some. The internal structures you destroy require a bit fewer rockets. You have to deal with 5 armored helicopters. The first strikes alone, followed by two pairs. The first pair comes about a minute or less after the first helo, and the second pair attacks while you are dealing with the giant laser, which makes it very tricky. When defending against a pair of helos, its best to focus on one and kill it before engaging the other. Mini-gun lock as soon as you can, and try rockets up close. You can also attempt the EMP against the attack choppers while in stealth, but they can still detect you and unless you are quick with the EMP you become an easy target. Some of the boulders release health power-ups when destroyed. Provoke the powerful enemy AA guns on the buildings to fire at you behind the boulders. Your timer is about 14:40 minutes total. Try to get to the second half of the mission with 13:30 remaining. Between the two halves is a mini-briefing that consumes about 25 seconds of your time. Walkthrough: ---------------------- Somewhat lengthy, but detailed instructions are probably necessary... [1] Ignore the island encampments and towers, and turbo along low to the water. At the end of a boost, go stealth and raise up to avoid fire. Then lower and turbo again. Do this 4 times to get to the distant bank as quick as possible. [2] After the mini-briefing, raise up to the top of the cliffs and go to stealth. Immediately try to freeze and then rocket the 4 hovercraft that go by. Avoid their deadly missiles. There are also 4 minor gun turrets positioned around the edges of this plateau area. The first is at this initial location and so fire two rockets at it. Fire a volley of 3 rockets at each hovercraft and then move below the cliff, behind a rock, or to the left or right to avoid the AA guns on the buildings. From where you\'re looking, the right side of the fortress we\'ll call the north side. This side can also be identified by a close group of 4-5 various power-ups just inside the wall. [3] Come out of stealth and turbo up into the mountain face on this north side. On the way you can take out another minor gun turret and fly over a health power-up. [4] When far enough away and high enough up, turn and take out the AA on top of the two corner buildings on this north side using the rail gun - 2 bolts into each. Then use two more on the AA on top of the tall building down the left (east side if facing north) side. [5] Come down close to the fortress near ground level and minigun 2-3 patrolling vehicles but don\'t venture too far to either side (east or west) to avoid AA gunfire. You\'ll need to conserve all resources including rockets, so fire your remaining rockets, coupled with the minigun, at the two corner buildings before going over the wall for that group of power-ups. [6] With a new rack of rail gun slugs, raise up and hit the two far right AA guns (SW corner). They shouldn\'t be able to swivel far enough to reach you. Then fly forward and rail gun that last AA gun on the SE corner. [7] Fly to the south side of the fortress and take out the remaining patrolling vehicles, and also minigun the 2 remaining gun turrets at the edges of this plateau area. [8] Start to hit the external buildings, only with the yellow circles, with rockets and the minigun. If you see a number of rail gun racks around, you can speed up the process by using them. Save a full rack for the laser at the end though. [9] Once the final external building (4 squat, round corner buildings and about 3 taller towers) is blown, you\'ll be shown the 4 internal structures to destroy. [10] While you are working on the external buildings, you\'ll be attacked by the first 3 helicopters. Don\'t stop your work, just look out for them on the radar and then turn and deal with them when they come within range. Before and between helo attacks, replenish your health. [11] Once you\'ve knocked off the 4 internal structures, you\'ll be alerted the gigantic laser is appearing. Run for cover and get below the cliffs - preferably on the south side. Hopefully you\'ve restored your health to 100 percent already. How The Laser Functions -- You need to fire 3 rail gun slugs down the throat of the laser to defeat it. No other method works. The laser fires a head-on beam, followed by a series of overhead spikes. So hiding behind rocks or below cliffs is not foolproof. Notice the laser operation. It swings down to a level position, angles toward you, then fires the beam in a small cross pattern. Then it swings back upright and fires a vertical beam which immediately sends about 5 random spikes down on your current position. Both the head-on beam and the overhead spikes are considerably lethal. The best time to hit the laser is when it swings down and toward you. As soon as you see the opening, fire the rail gun and the laser will \"choke\" on it so to speak and jerk back upright. However, it will still fire its overhead spikes so you can\'t just camp out in front of it and fire 3 times. One method you could attempt is soon as you ably fire a slug down the opening and it swings back upright, turbo a short ways while the spikes land and then position and re-fire. That may be the only safe way to avoid the spikes when up close. But there is an alternative... [12] When the laser appears, so will the last two helicopters. So you not only need to avoid the laser beams and overhead strikes but also the two persistent helos. You can elect to fight the choppers below the south side cliffs. You\'ll have plenty of room to maneuver there and avoid the laser. Watch out for enemy hovercraft down in the lower river area that can possibly reach you. [13] To deal with the laser, stay away and fire the rail gun at it from a distance and hopefully you\'ll be beyond most or all of the overhead spikes. Try shooting from the south side beyond the cliffs and close to the SW mountain. Go high enough to be nearly level with the laser. Using the scope from this distance the laser appears almost as a transparent outline. From this vantage point its beam can\'t reach you, but your rail slugs can cover that distance. [14] Fire 3 times using the method above. If you\'re still alive after all this and with time remaining, then you WIN! Relax and enjoy the movie of a missile shot from a satellite to reduce the Fortress to ruble. Job well done! =========================================================================== ==================================== IV. Enemy Numbers, by Mission ==================================== =========================================================================== Below are the number of infantry, vehicles, and structures that you need to eliminate to attain 100% stat ratios. The numbers may vary a little depending on how you play through the mission. Infantry Vehicles Structures -------- -------- -------- C1/M1 23 38 2 C1/M2 12 50 4 C1/M3 60 33 15 C1/M4 56 59 24 C1/M5 9 54 0 C2/M1 64 38 0 C2/M2 2 45 0 C2/M3 111 13 85 C2/M4 28 55 76 C2/M5 60 47 75 C3/M1 44 50 16 C3/M2 87 45 6 C3/M3 52 26 13 C3/M4 58 57 51 C3/M5 86 80 65 C4/M1 74 18 50 C4/M2 10 40 52 C4/M3 59 86 39 C4/M4 194 0 0 C4/M5 120 83 103 As you can see, you have an incredible amount of work to do in the last mission given the time constraint. If you can manage a bronze or better medal for The Fortress mission, then you truly are a superior Fireblade pilot. =========================================================================== ==================================== V. Closing Comments ==================================== =========================================================================== Fireblade is a good, challenging game in my opinion. It might take a lot of patience and perseverance in some places, but most people should be able to work through the missions if employing the proper tactics. This FAQ/Walkthrough is now complete for the most part. If you feel that additional info on some missions or points of the game would be helpful, let me know. I\'ve enjoyed writing this guide - hope its been helpful to your success with Fireblade. For a comparable game, on the PC - not Xbox, you might consider the helo sim Comanche 4 by Novalogic. It has a higher level of graphics, sound, and realism, plus it has multiplayer on Novaworld as well as a mission editor for those who like to create their own scenarios. If you have any comments on this FAQ, have anything you\'d like to add or correct to what I\'ve presented, please email me at: [email protected]. (rtbull)
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