BCM250 - Ghost riding on a ledge, exploration

(6:55) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Easy. Here's the follow-up to BCM249, on the topic of Ghost riding on a ledge. I've launched a Ghost to the upper ledge, and now it's time to see what the driving's like - and what else I can get up to! As with the preceding movie, the clips are in chronological order to give you a sense of how things unfolded.

Released July 6th 2017, gameplay recorded June 30th - July 2nd 2017.

Commentary

00:02 (First drive) The action picks up where the last movie left off. For my first drive I cautiously head anticlockwise, out of the shadow. The ledge is relatively flat and wide along one stretch, which would've made an ideal place to launch to, if I'd been creating a launch save from scratch. During the drive I pause at two bits which look steep, but actually there's no trouble at all, and in later play I was confidently zipping along this entire route.

00:40 (Trouble spot) However, I eventually come unstuck at an awkward part where the ledge transitions suddenly into steepness. I tried that multiple times, which I've condensed down to just one additional failure clip, but after ten minutes it was getting rather repetitive so I decided to give up for now.

01:00 (The other way) Heading the other way, I'm again quite cautious, though in later play I was soon speeding along this stretch. At one point I scuff the cliff, which is definitely something you want to avoid when travelling fast, as it might send you off the edge.

01:24 (Precarious corner) When I near the corner it looks precarious. Certainly too narrow for the Ghost's wings. I angle it inwards and start to edge around, but just as it looks like I'm almost there, the Ghost gets a bit too sideways and loses grip. Oops! However, I soon got the knack of it, as seen in the subsequent clip, where I manage it for the first time. In later play I negotiated this corner lots of times, although I sometimes slipped off through undue haste.

02:25 (Nasty spot) Soon after the corner though, there's a nasty spot to get past, where the ledge curves sharply to the right. On my first try I don't even make it to the corner. As soon as I accelerate, I'm onto a steep surface and the Ghost slides right off. No traction at all. In the subsequent short clip from about 20 minutes later, you see another failure; but at least I was getting close. My first success only came the next day - as seen around 2:51. In later play I once managed to cruise through this trouble spot quite smoothly, but that was the exception. This area remained a thorn in my side, in repeated attempts to progress beyond.

03:02 (Easy for a while) So, I've just got past the nasty spot for the first time. I continue fairly cautiously, but it turns out to be easy driving for quite a way. Could've gone faster.

03:20 (Steep corner - no good) As I get near the corner it looks hopelessly steep, and after pausing to consider, I decide to try jumping across to the other side. Really I wasn't expecting that to work at all - and sure enough, I plummet to my death. In subsequent play I do try to get around the corner, and actually it looks like maybe you could do it. But after a few failures, each of which involved serious work to even reach the corner, I'd had enough.

04:18 (Much too steep ahead) In any case, even if you can get around, the ledge soon becomes way too steep to pass, as seen in this clip where I scout ahead with a Banshee.

04:35 (First trouble spot revisited) After that, I revisited this first trouble spot and tried a few more ways, including a novel backed-up sideways attempt as seen in the second clip here, but nothing worked. I think you might be able to get past, but at this point I'd had enough of dying, and wanted to move on to something more enjoyable.

05:10 (Fun on the easy part) I started doing plays with which to end the movie, and eventually did this play. It starts with speeding along the easy part of the ledge, zapping the cliff to create rubble. Creating rubble is quite good fun, though it does make the driving more challenging because you're trying to do two things at once, i.e. shooting the cliff a short way ahead, and staying on the ledge!

05:44 (Descent to the bridge) Then - which may've surprised you - I sail down to the bridge! As I approach the deck, a Jackal gets me with a plasma ball but the Ghost comically splatters him - which is the biggest reason I selected this play to show. It also has another good kill though, when the gold Elite gets splattered. After that, I start to head to the lower deck and a Grunt throws a plasma. Hastening my action, I topple out of the Ghost but quickly flip it and reboard.

06:28 (Descent to the ground) I could've stuck around longer to slay all the covies, but I didn't want to get too side-tracked in that. Not in this movie anyway (maybe I'll do a covie slaying movie later, using a higher difficulty level). So I soon head to the end of the deck and perform a descent to the ground as a finale. I'd already done that a couple of times earlier, so I knew it was possible. This descent wasn't refined at all. Basically I just aimed to hit the ledge, and hoped I didn't tumble out.

Closing remarks It was actually a mishap which alerted me to the fact that I could descend to the bridge. One time when exploring the ledge, I boarded the Ghost clumsily and immediately took it over the edge - and found myself still alive, on the bridge.