It's raining Grunts and grenades on the Silent Cartographer island. Come and meet five clumsy grunty troopers on a hill…

(3:53) Level 4 ('The Silent Cartographer') on Legendary. This shows a play of the situation I described in Danger! Falling Grunts, including Jackal elimination because I like giving them a hard time. I do my best to get a Grunt going grenade crazy, and manage to get a 15-grenade barrage at the maximum rate (about 20 per minute).

Released April 20th 2010, gameplay recorded April 10th 2010.

00:02 In this play I'm starting from just outside the substation, partly because that's the most natural starting point, the Grunts and Jackals having materialized once you've done your stuff within. However, I've actually done quite a bit of other work before getting this checkpoint, including leaving some spare weapons about the place. You'll find details in the 'Setting up' section of my article. I'm using Legendary because you get the most Grunts and Jackals and the highest rate of grenade throwing. There are plenty of ways to get down from here without losing any of your overshield. My descent here is against a sloping part of the cliff wall, briefly giving you a nice view of the hill and crashed Pelican.

00:10 Turning right, I move in on the first group of four unsuspecting Jackals. I line up my plasma pistol reticle above the head of one Jackal and let fly with a plasma grenade, tagging him on the shoulder. Sometimes I try for the feet to get an amusing launch; other times I go for the head, which is almost as funny. I smack another Jackal from behind then stun a third while moving in to smack him too. The fourth loses his shield from a plasma ball, then gets some needle treatment. Yes I could've finished him off more efficiently with just some plasma or a good firm whack, but with needling you get those hilarious animations of pain (and I didn't really care about getting too close to a pink bang, because I've got an overshield).

00:32 The Grunts up above are getting twitchy - you can hear them. Over at the other end of the hill are another four Jackals, and as I draw level with the hog I unleash a long-range plasma ball then a stream of needles. That takes out the leftmost guy nicely. The next two go flying from a frag blast as I emerge from the cover of the hill, while the last gets a plasma ball then needles. Ah, that felt good!

00:49 Moving back to Pelican I catch a glimpse of the grunty threat above. It's tempting to fire up a stream of needles right now, but I manage to stop my twitchy trigger finger. I swap for the launcher, get the extra rockets and whizz off in the hog, taking a bit of plasma fire as I go. I make a tight curve around the end and dismount near some spare weapons I left handy.

01:10 Approaching the hill, I fire a few plasma shots to get the enemy's attention. Doesn't take long before something grunty turns up: "There ya are!". Pretty soon I've got all five of them and there's quite a lot of plasma coming my way. I fire shots near various Grunts to try and provoke one into throwing, hoping to get a good long grenade barrage. The first two just back off but the third obliges. I get two more grenades out of him but he falls off with that third throw. I move in to do a tag 'n launch, but the tag is poor. It's best to tag them low down so the blast takes them up, but fallers are often bent over as they land, sometimes making a low tag awkward. Here I only get his arm, and my rocket isn't terribly well placed either. I think he gets blown up the hill face but the fountain of sand obscures the view. Ah well, better luck next time. Meanwhile a couple of the Grunts above have taken advantage of my proximity, firing viciously. My shield is bleeping and I decide to relieve the pressure quick with my other rocket. I pick off the leftmost Grunt (don't want to kill more yet), and another flees, screaming "We're gonna die!". So true my little grunty friend.

01:50 One Grunt holds firm, continuing his rapid plasma fire, but I've backed off enough to be able to dodge his bursts and recharge my shield. I start firing plasma back to get him to throw, and he obliges - "Down in front!" - but doesn't immediately throw another; there's a gap of five seconds or so. But then he starts up with high-rate throwing, in what turns out to be a 15-grenade barrage. I try to keep it going, staying at the same sort of range and firing plasma shots near him, while also keeping clear of the blasts. The barrage ends at about 2:45 when he finally falls off the edge. That may have been my fault to some extent. I partly dodge by sound, and the fizzing from a landed grenade suddenly sounded a little too loud in my ears, so I made a hasty move forward to get clear. That may have caused him to go over, I'm not sure. Anyway, he's down now so I try to make the most of it. I move in for a tag 'n launch, and this one goes quite nicely, shooting him out to sea on a relatively low trajectory. I back off from the plasma fire so I can enjoy watching his flight with a zoomed view.

03:00 I reload the launcher. The final two Grunts have backed off over the hill because of how far away I got, but a bit of plasma fire brings them forth again. I go right up close and peer up at one, then throw a plasma grenade, thinking to tag him. I miss but at least it makes him dive. I back off and send in a pip of plasma, making him recoil then flee. Meanwhile his buddy has turned up again, but in his enthusiasm he comes straight over the edge, making a rather bolder advance than he probably would've wanted. All of a sudden he's face to face with a seven foot cyborg. Things aren't looking too good for you now eh grunty? After letting him do his cute "Ahhhh!" cry plus cute hop, I put his lights out with a crisp right hook.

03:28 When you get down to the final Grunt, he tends to be relatively timid, backing off a lot, so you may like to just send in a rocket if you've got the launcher handy. This time I decide to make use of my nearby spares, and grab a needler to give the play a spot of variety. I get the Grunt's attention and send up a stream. Most of the needles find their way home even though he tries to back off, and he dies with a few nice pink bangs, but it's a pity no plasmas get set off. A somewhat muted ending - I wish I could've finished off with something more spectacular - but hey, you got a 15-grenade barrage didn't you?

Closing remarks For this movie I wanted to show the situation as a whole, including Jackal killing, and I wanted to focus on how the Grunts can go grenade-crazy. I got a good long barrage (15 was the most I managed over quite a few hours of playing) and the movie included a couple of falling Grunts, which was pretty much essential. But there was so much more I wanted to show that I decided I needed a second movie; one in which I spend rather less time standing around waiting for grenades to be thrown at me, and rather more time dishing out some hurt. So allow me to direct you to BCM15, a faster-paced comedy montage featuring lots of needles and rockets, and a whole lot of Grunts having a very bad day on the beach.

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