Covie stroll
Posted November 30th 2008
Want to see a load of covies strolling along casually in a big migration inside the first tower? Quite a novel sight! Here's how to do it.
Setting up
Kill any Marines before approaching the tower entrance. For maximum convenience in making repeated attempts at what follows, try to get a checkpoint at the door after getting the active camouflage. That's pretty easy to do if you leave a solitary Grunt for your final kill.
Head inside and cloak up to avoid detection. Leave it as late as possible though. Head around the left side-passage and jump up onto the two stacked containers, then across into the alcove on the upper level. You can just make the jump but you should be crouched as you come over the opening, for extra clearance. Jump across to the lift, then either bounce straight off to the right and down into the central area of the room (enemies will already be on their way to the door), or jump straight back to the alcove. Your cloak will be wearing off by now but hopefully you'll remain undetected.
Touching the lift floor triggered a retreat to the upper level and also caused the materialization of 9 new enemies, making 28 by now. Let the first room empty; you can watch enemies go through the door. Approach the door to cause 3 extra Grunts to materialize on the other side. They'll join the retreat, and actually it's fine to go through the door and watch them sauntering off with their buddies. Cute! Give them a while and you'll end up with 31 covies clustered on the upper level. You don't have to wait for everyone to get there though.
Now activate the lift from below without getting spotted (sometimes you'll get seen and have to revert to start over). The lift activation triggers a mass migration to the entrance lobby, but because the enemy still haven't been alerted, most of them tend to just stroll along casually - Brutes with their Brute shots on their backs - which you can enjoy watching. Some will probably be running as normal though; there's maybe some randomness involved.
Watching
One good place to watch unseen is at the bottom of the ramped area used by two carbine Jackals, to the left of the door the covies will be coming through. You'll be practically behind them as they saunter out. Another place is behind the weapon container to the right of the door. The two side passages can be used, and you could even watch from up in the alcove if you care to get back up. Actually, in the alcove it's possible to go up the sloping wall to end up almost over the enemy as they file through the room. It's a fun view but the wall is partly transparent, so you have to position yourself quite carefully to avoid detection. I also found a sneaky place in the inner area of the room. Just as they come through into that sunken area, you can be off to one side of the inner entrance, hugging a recess. See how many covies go past before you're spotted. Oh, and then blast everyone to bits!
Tip: If you want a handy checkpoint to let yourself watch again and again, wait anywhere in the central area of the room and you'll probably get one as the first covie nears the door. You'll hopefully still have time to dodge out of sight, to a watching position.
Old fun
This amusing casual behaviour is something I saw when exploring the gameplay described in Battles at the first tower, back in November 2007. I didn't mention it then however, preferring to just focus on carnage. Of course, you can now have a little carnage if you like! Once you've watched everyone go past, you could attack the big mob packed into the lobby. If you fancy that - namely a lobby battle - you may like to get a handy checkpoint first so you can attack over and over. You can usually get one by running up to the upper level and nearing the lift. If you've never tried those various battles in the first tower before, consider this your introduction!