Lots and lots of launches up the shaft. Some less successful than others!

(6:40) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Heroic. Following on from BCM231 which covered set-up work, this shows a whole lot of force-launching. The clips aren't in exact chronological order but there's an overall progression. My earlier efforts are all in the first three minutes, and thereafter my technique evolves and I focus on height. Update: I now have an article on force-launching.

Released April 25th 2017, gameplay recorded April 18th-23rd 2017.

00:02 (Opening) There's nothing special about this launch, but it gets the movie going and I have fun rocketing the Banshee before falling to my death. With one exception, the launches up until about 2:50 are from April 18th-19th, when I was still getting to grips with technique.

00:21 (Don't apply thrust) I haven't included much advice on technique in this movie, as I preferred to focus on spectacle and entertainment, but I did want to mention one key thing, early on. Don't apply thrust or you'll soon slow, killing the launch. In all my launching I make a point of getting my thumb off the left joystick as soon as I'm boarding. After that, I just use rotation.

00:37 (Killed on bottom ring) Nasty impact on the bottom ring here, after a fairly low launch in which I keep the Banshee roughly horizontal. Notice how my weapons and grenades settle. My plasma pistol isn't even properly on the ring!

00:51 (Alcove, plus rocket strike) After reaching an alcove I manage to rocket the Banshee. Did quite a lot of that, but it's not an easy target.

01:07 (Bottom ring) A low launch in which I land on the bottom ring. I remember feeling pleased that I landed on it. That was the first time I made it to a ring.

01:22 (Rocket suicide) By angling the Banshee down and bailing in the right direction, I found that I could drift to the column. There wasn't much to do when I got there, but rockety suicide was quite entertaining.

01:35 (Ledge) A fairly neat ledge landing.

01:48 (Middle ring) Here's the first time I made it onto the middle ring. Previously I hadn't even been sure I could reach it, so this came as a nice surprise. The reason I was able to get the height was that I boarded the Banshee later than I'd been doing before. Basically I let the Banshee slide over the edge before boarding. A late flip was needed, which required good reaction time because it only appeared fleetingly. I assume the extra height comes from the force acting on the Banshee slightly longer than otherwise.

02:06 (Comedy jolt) When launching, the bottom ring is something of a hazard, and it's all too easy to crash into it or to clip it and be jolted out. This clip shows an amusing case of getting jolted out. I go down, while the Banshee continues on up.

02:16 (Alcove, plus rocket mishap) Another comedy clip. After landing in the alcove my thoughts turn to rocketing the Banshee, but I'm late to acquire the target, and way too late firing. I succeed only in killing myself and looking like a right cyborg fool.

02:33 (Middle ring through gap) After bailing I focus on the Banshee, then suddenly I find myself on the middle ring. Apparently I came up through a gap, peaking at perfect height for the ring to then start sliding under me. Freaky, and amusing.

02:50 (Comedy jolt 2) Another case of hitting the bottom ring and getting separated from my Banshee, which continues on up. This time though, I fly off sideways and die when I hit an alcove.

03:03 (Ledge, plus rocket strike) I was specifically going for this ledge; and after landing neatly I score a good rocket strike on the Banshee.

03:18 (Sequence on middle ring and platform) Eventually I got good at reaching the middle ring and adjacent platform, using late boarding to get the required height. I'd already been doing some late boarding, such as seen in the 1:48 clip, but this time (a few days later) I was mostly using a different style, which tended to give more height. Previously I'd been whacking the Banshee twice, which made the tail start to come up as it slid towards the edge. My new way was to only whack it once. That made the Banshee go over the edge at a more level angle, and for some reason it tended to give better height. However, it was also more difficult to nail the boarding, because the flip prompt was extremely fleeting, and basically I had to do my two button presses super-fast. Quite often I failed. This new late boarding style is seen in the first five of these eight clips, while the sixth launch uses my two-whack style. At the end I've included two amusing failures for fun.

05:17 (Sequence on jolting for extra height) To get higher still, ideally to a place where I could land, it seemed like I needed to get jolted out and then hit by a Banshee wing, but that was very hard to achieve, usually taking many many tries. Even when I did get a good shunt from a wing, there was another problem. Often I'd hit a shallow overhang around the shaft walls, ending my ascent. To get past that obstacle was pretty much a case of luck, in regard to how I shot off from the Banshee. These four clips show some super-high launches though.

06:11 In the final launch I go whooshing up and realize that I might make it to the top ring, my target. But as I near it, I'm slowing and I have to make a quick decision. I opt to play safe and drift to the platform, because I wasn't sure I had quite enough speed to get onto the ring. In retrospect I probably did, but it looks like there would've been a gap arriving just as I was landing, and I may well have fallen through it. So it was probably good that I went for the platform. This remains my highest launch. I made lots of tries afterwards to reach the ring, but eventually had to call it a day.

Closing remarks I'm still not done with the entry chamber yet, but this pair of movies definitely gets me a lot closer. Be sure to stick around for the next instalment though. I haven't put it together yet, but I've got a load of footage already and it's not going to be something you should miss!

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