Let's have some fun destroying the Banshee while getting off the bridge fast…

(5:11) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Heroic. Using a Shade ride method of descending from the first bridge fast, this shows three methods of destroying the Banshee on the way - largely for the fun and challenge of it really. I always tag the Banshee, but the methods vary in how the destruction is completed.

Released August 3rd, gameplay recorded September 17th-18th 2011 and July 31st 2013.

00:02 (Tag & turret) With this first method, the idea is to tag the Banshee then finish it off with Shade fire as you descend, doing a Shade ride from the V. In order to make attempts I've set things up with a delayed checkpoint at the door, as seen at the start of BCM41. In this opening attempt however, I fail to score a hit with the Shade, and have to settle for destroying the Banshee after I'm down.

00:36 This attempt is a bit comical. Just as I move forward to finish my boarding manoeuvre, the Banshee passes unexpectedly close and the plasma blast sends the Shade back onto the ledge, leaving me to stumble over the edge, attempting to board a Shade which is no longer there. Nasty blow-back incident. Whoops!

00:56 Things are looking rosy as I get the Banshee with Shade fire; but then I hit the ledge on my head, which isn't quite what I had in mind. Back to the drawing board then.

01:17 Success! Actually this wasn't my first success. I had one a little earlier but the footage for this one was nicer. Also, the sequencing of these four clips is slightly fictional, for the sake of putting them in what I thought made the most entertaining order. The second clip was actually recorded later than the third.

01:49 (Tag & pistol) This time I add a few pistol shots after throwing the grenade, so the blast is enough to finish it off. It's easier than trying to score a hit with mid-air Shade fire, as long as you get your throw and shots off quick enough to be able to take care of the Shade boarding before it topples over the edge.

02:21 (Double tag) Now to get really ambitious. In this final method I try to double tag the Banshee, making my first throw as I fall to the V. Not easy! As with the first method, I'm presenting the clips in what I thought made an entertaining order for the movie, rather than respecting the true chronology. In this first clip I nail the double tag, but unfortunately miss my ride. I didn't blast the Shade off accurately enough, and it fails to stall long enough for me to board.

02:40 Another missed ride. I went off the edge anyway, just in case I could board it at the last moment, but it was too far gone. On the positive side though, at least I get to see the Banshee go boom rather nicely. That's something isn't it?

02:57 The Banshee blows up pretty close and you can hear the Elite go "Oooh!", but my boarding goes badly. When I hit X to try and level the Shade for boarding, it doesn't get very level and I end up getting ejected before I'm properly in.

03:16 Here I'm a bit late getting to the Shade as it hits the edge, and I end up stranded. Also, one of my grenades missed anyway. Oh well, at least there's nothing to stop me finishing the Banshee with my pistol. A nasty red Elite opens up with intense plasma fire, but I clear up that little problem by applying a plasma grenade to his head, hee hee!

03:42 Things look to be going well when I double tag the Banshee and successfully board the Shade. But then I get jolted out at the ledge (I'm surprised I didn't die on impact), and end up lifeless on the plateau.

04:05 In this attempt I give the Shade a few whacks to make sure it topples over the edge without too much delay (bearing in mind the nasty red Elite), and I board ok. The bounce off the ledge gives the Shade an unfortunate degree of rotation however, which entails landing on my head - with predictably terminal consequences.

04:31 I take a ferocious onslaught of plasma fire from the bridge Elite before getting clear, but I'm finally successful, wahoo! The Banshee pilot can be seen settling on the ledge. This was my first success with the double tag idea, though I did manage another one a little later.

Closing remarks This whole business originated at the time I was recording footage for BCM41 in 2011. In that movie, which showed how to get seven extra Marines using a Banshee, you'll see that my bridge descent is a failed attempt at my 'tag & turret' method. All the footage for the first two methods in this new movie came from that time, i.e. when recording potential footage for BCM41. I kept that footage for a possible later movie showing fancy descents, and at long last this is it. 'Tag & turret' was the main method I was focused on, so I've opened the movie with that.

As for the double tag method, that's new. After building up a few minutes worth of movie using the aforementioned footage, I decided to try out the idea of double tagging, thinking that it might make a good finale for the movie. The method seemed feasible, albeit rather challenging, so all I had to do was stick at it. I worked at it for a few hours and got three successes - plus plenty of entertaining failures, the best of which are included here. Incidentally, I was using a new set-up as I no longer had the game save I'd used for the old footage. But I mimicked the old checkpoint, making sure to get a yellow Grunt on the left as before.

In my double tag attempts I tried to cushion my landing on the V by crouching on impact as usual, but I had to just take my best guess on the timing (just after the grenade throw) because I wasn't looking down. I could've done with practicing that for a while, but actually I didn't bother.

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