It seems awfully grunty in the dustbowl today. Really gotta do something about that…

(4:33) Level 3 ('The Truth and Reconciliation') on Normal. This shows a dustbowl megabattle against 32 Grunts, using a choke point defence at the second bridge rock. But with the opposition being so weak, I'm really just having grunty fun rather than conducting a serious defence.

Released October 13th 2012, gameplay recorded October 10th 2012.

00:02 The movie starts from the inner passage checkpoint I saved after getting cloaked, leaving me about forty seconds of invisibility to have fun with. My plan here was to brush against some Grunts to give them the heebie-jeebies, and to stand around among them enjoying their behaviour. They're quickly aware that something's amiss - "Wake up, he's here!" - and some grunty panic ensues, resulting in the first casualty. Only 31 to go now!

00:42 As my cloaking wears off I hightail it outta there, embarking on a trip to eliminate the two manned Shades with a couple of frags (one gunner had been ejected in the set-up work). The first gunner is a lousy aim and deserves everything he gets - "Waaaahhhh!" I hop over the passage and cut across the dustbowl, getting a brief view of the enemy horde as I go. As I get up the rise I'm surprised to find myself under attack by a straggler, who knocks a few bars off my health and follows close behind as I head along the cliff path.

01:29 Arriving at the second Shade, I give the gunner a nice explosive send-off then I double back along the path, avoiding as much fire as I can. There's an amusing friendly fire incident for which a "Sorry!" is issued. Gotta love those grunty troopers eh? As I settle behind the rock after evasively weaving across the bridge, another friendly casualty can be heard, so I reckon that leaves me 27 to kill (something confirmed by later counting). I switch my flashlight back on just before the first arrival. I had it switched off briefly to get it recharged for the main action.

02:06 The choke point fun gets under way as the leading Grunt arrives. There's only a narrow gap, so they can only come through one or two at a time. My plan here is to mostly use staccato fire from the assault rifle, partly in the hope of knocking some Grunts off the bridge to fall to their deaths, and partly just to let the fun last as long as possible. The only real danger here is blowing myself up with grenades. In the following I'll comment on the more memorable incidents.

02:10 A red gets past but I tag him on a foot and he goes flying. Meanwhile you can hear quite a bit of fire from the Grunts queuing up to get me. I guess some of them are getting a bit keen or jumpy and shooting at the rock.

02:37 Another red gets past, and while he's fiddling with his needler I throw a plasma at him, but he's a tricky fella and hops sideways. I try another and he dives off the bridge and survives (there's no death cry and you can subsequently see his dot on the tracker).

02:48 An orange Grunt advances and becomes the first faller. Making them fall to their deaths is good fun. On this play I get three like that, but on others I got as many as six.

02:53 A red Grunt takes up the lead and starts hopping off to the left but gets tagged on a paw, causing him to run off in panic. Sometimes they don't run off though, so you have to be ready to take evasive action.

03:10 There's a bit of a lull now as the Grunts prepare themselves for the next push. Eventually you hear a comical "Very quiet now" - as if that's going to help them at all. I mean, they do know there's still a cyborg waiting behind that rock don't they?

03:29 I get my second faller, and after that I thump a Grunt for a bit of variety when he happens to be standing close.

03:43 I get my third and last faller, and then a red Grunt sums up the situation nicely with "He's unstoppable!" before getting cut down.

03:54 There's a bit of an explosive sequence now as I get quite busy with grenades. A frag sends a Grunt flying, then I tag the next but can't resist pulling the trigger again, killing him prematurely. When I throw a plasma at a red with a needler, he dives and looks set to get clear, but this plasma has a trick fuse and the grenade goes off as soon as it hits the rock! So that gets rid of him. I tag another Grunt on the back, and while he's busy panicking I frag another (I think he may've been the one who dived off earlier).

04:19 The final Grunt comes out to play and I give him a good whack to finish off, leaving me with a neat foursome on the ground.

Closing remarks This movie used a save I created ages ago, in which one of the gunners was safely ejected but two were allowed to remain seated. I took care to get the maximum 32 Grunts. I currently don't have a similar save on Heroic (it would be significantly harder to create), but I may rustle one up later and use that for some further grunty action with tougher opposition.

In the play I could've tried to eject the remaining gunners so they'd add to the main attack, but I preferred to kill them explosively to add variety and spectacle.

In my initial plays for the movie, I was standing back from the Grunts near the passage entrance, watching them from a safe distance. But I realized things were more fun if you really get in among them and let some brush against you, which tends to get them rather jumpy. It made for better footage and more vivid grunty sounds. So that's what I started doing. I just had to be careful not to incur too much fire or I'd become too visible and then all hell would break loose!

© 2004-2020 by Rockslider