Warthog joyriding
Expanded March 8th 2005
You can have great fun bombing around in the Warthog, letting your passengers pepper the enemy. The area where you first get the Warthog is one such place.
Second Wraith area
The area containing the second Wraith is considerably more fun due to the undulating terrain and the opportunity for jumping off the plateau overlooking the Wraith. You can also drive down towards the Hunters (guarding the door to the underground bridge) then turn around and floor it up the path, deliberately aiming for approaching Ghosts to make them bounce off you.
Around the tower
The snowy area after the underground bridge is also great fun and offers the best jump in the level, namely off the slope with the Shade on it. The very first time you approach that plateau, go for a jump. A grunty little fool pops out from behind the Shade, then gets the shock of his life as he sees a Warthog bearing down, and is forced to do a hasty bellyflop to get out of your way. Highly amusing. That'll teach him to be such a ridiculous shape!
But this is just the start of the fun. You can have a tremendous time circuiting around the central tower, letting your passengers gradually whittle down the enemy, and driving at Ghosts to make them launch up into the air. The first time you circuit, it tends to bring most enemies out to play; and if you left the enemies in the tunnel unmolested, they'll generally come up after you. On Legendary this can give you around 30 enemies to play with as you whizz around, and it can take several minutes to polish them off. I generally go anticlockwise so I can have the fun of jumping off that Shade slope each time, often making enemies dive off the edge.
There's plenty of scope for skillful driving as you circuit, trying to pick your way between rocks and trees and avoiding the icy patches, whilst trying to maintain top speed. You'll also want to avoid driving into plasma balls from Jackals. At some point you might like to drive into the tower (you'll need to briefly dismount at the door to get it to open), squash the cloaked Elites, and gun the hog up the ramp to the balcony for a spectacular flying exit, possibly squashing another few Elites on the way.
All in all, joyriding in this area is definitely something to put on your list of things to do.
Twin bridges area
The snowy area beneath the twin bridges is yet another good place for joyriding. It's easy to squeeze the hog through the pillars at the underpass to reach it. This too offers a jump, though it's not as obvious. When coming down from the far end on an anticlockwise circuit, look for the rise in the ground near the end. It's good enough to make your Marines whoop, at any rate. If you whizz past the door by the two Shades, and also down the dip in the centre, you draw the four 'hidden' Elites into the fray too, and it can get quite chaotic.