Dodging around rocks and trees in the shadow now. All sounds very furtive!

(6:39) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Normal. My first two instalments of rear mob action featured three battles at places along the cliffside, in shadow. I now return to those locales for further hectic combat, to do them a bit more justice.

Released May 2nd 2024, gameplay recorded April 25th - May 1st 2024.

00:02 (Shade plateau corner) This corner area makes for a rather tough battle when the mob is descending on you pretty much all at once, as it does here (you could optionally first draw the covies away somewhat, so they arrive in more stretched-out fashion). In this play I manage to at least keep three bars of health, and there's a nice Ghost explosion at the end.

01:02 (Tree and three rocks) This place tends to be a bit easier but is still quite a challenge. In this play I eventually fall back to some auxiliary cover with shield bleeping. The cover is quite minimal though, and although there are no Elites left to face, the covies take me within a whisker of death before I prevail.

02:38 (Shade plateau corner) It's back to the corner area now, but this time I've grabbed the rocket launcher, allowing me to decimate the covies with considerably more ease. A fairly unusual feature of this play is that when I rocket the Ghost, I utilize the launcher's zoomed view. I tend not to use that much, in this sort of chaotic close combat.

03:54 (Lone rock) This time I defend at a lone rock near the covie Ghost. After landing I try to give the covies the Ghost to use by grenading it over, but actually it doesn't work and the Ghost only gets righted later. Eventually a blue Elite hops aboard and becomes a problem. I miss the Ghost with a tag attempt and find myself out of plasmas at that point, so I try frags, and get it with my second throw. Nice to get a Ghost that way.

05:05 (Tree and three rocks) Another go at this area now, but this time with the aid of a rocket launcher, and with a covie Ghost on the loose. I manage to tag it early, and that sets up a bit of fun where I rocket the Ghost (zoomed view again!) just as another Elite is about to drive it off.

However, in backing off to use the Banshee as cover while rocketing the Ghost, I've triggered a covie advance, which leads to some hectic action. Some rockets do excellent damage, especially the two around 6:07, but things get pretty desperate until I tag a Grunt and he obligingly takes it back to the only remaining Elite. That turns the tide in my favour, leaving only two Jackals to finish. I should've dealt with the yellow-shielded guy first though, as the other one was panicking, hence no immediate threat. Actually, a well placed rocket could've taken out both at once.

I'll mention one technical thing. In regard to my righting the covie Ghost, notice that I only did it on my second pass, when heading for the battle zone. Why not on my first pass? Well, when I did it that way, quite often the Ghost would fail to turn up for battle. It would be mysteriously stationary, back near its starting point, as if the pilot had lost touch. That was no good for the movie. Righting the Ghost on my second pass eliminated the problem, saving me any more wasted time.

Closing remarks A good dose of heavy combat there I think. But stay tuned for more in the next movie, as I put the spotlight on the plateau channel!

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