Fun in the brig
Posted June 6th 2005
Here's something perverse you might like to try when it come to the business of releasing Keyes and co from their holding cells. Using the active camouflage from the first brig, run to the second and hit the release, then either hide in a cell or run back out and hide in the corridor. The freed Marines will get spotted and wiped out, but here's some unusual stuff to see or hear.
Rare Grunt cries
The best thing is that you might hear some rare Grunt cries after the Marines have bitten the dust. On Legendary I heard a jubilant "We're gonna go down in history!" which I'd never heard before, and also a brief spot of Grunt singing: "We are the champions". During the battle itself, I've heard the always entertaining "Take it!", and an even rarer line that I think was "Kill you dead!". There were possibly a few other rare lines that I haven't made out yet above the screams of the Marines. I'll have to ask them to scream more quietly next time.
If you kill all the enemies except for one Grunt, he can take a while to wipe out the Marines and you should hear quite a few good lines in the process. The Marines themselves are also pretty amusing, the way they call out lines such as "Show me what you got!" and then go up in a pretty pink explosion. You'd think they could do something more useful like go over and bop him on the nose, but no, that's way too radical for these guys; they're much too busy running around and hollering.
Weird Marine behaviour
The Marines have no weapons yet and exhibit some pretty weird behaviour. The oddest thing is that a Marine will sometimes stand rigid with arms outstretched, as if experiencing a sudden urge to spell the letter T. Even under fire! Has he gone loopy? Is this some sort of Sesame Street flashback? "Today's show was brought to you by the letter T and the phrase HORRIBLE DEATH". I can't imagine where that animation came from, unless it's meant to be the Marine trying to attract your attention. They'll cry for your help of course, but you're having too much fun watching or hearing them get pasted, heh heh! There's another weird animation you'll probably see, in which a Marine seems to be pointing to his head or something like that; perhaps this too is meant to be attracting your attention.
(Stop press: Actually, I did have a suspicion about that strange T animation, and have since had it confirmed by correspondent One One Seven, who says it's the default pose for when a particular animation is missing. However, in that case I wonder what animation was missing.)
Even after the Marines get wiped out, they're miraculously back with you when you trigger the cutscene after killing the enemy. Oops! Bit of an inconsistency there!
Keyes, man of steel
Keyes seems to be indestructible. He remains lying in his cell at the back and the gold Elite gets frustrated trying in vain to slice him up. If you've hidden in a cell at the back, you can watch him. Otherwise you'll at least hear him as he takes swing after swing. I can just imagine him thinking: "Arrr! What's up with this darned thing? I put new batteries in just this morning!".