BCM13 - Two fast bridge descents to greet the Pelican

(3:10) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Heroic. This shows the PAL descent methods of BCM12 done fast for fun, to greet the Pelican - and take a ride on it!

Released March 22nd 2010, gameplay recorded March 19th-20th 2010.

Commentary

00:02 First I'm going to use the method of stopping on the ledge. Emerging onto the bridge, I hop over the wall (it helps to crouch at the top to get extra clearance) and send a Grunt into a more permanent sleep with a whack to the head. On the lower deck I tag the Elite who's looking the wrong way. After that I briefly make sure I'm hidden from the Banshee so it'll lose track of me. If you don't do this, you're likely to end up being attacked when you're down to one health bar and with a bleeping shield. Not good!

00:18 I drop to the V and make the jump. Success! I'm quickly down to the Marines and the Banshee comes swooping down. With the aid of Marine backup it's smoking by the time it gets away. I could easily finish it off with a pistol but I fancy using the AR so I wait for it to come back. Actually it goes for the Pelican instead, but it's still within range and I turn it into a flaming wreck. A Marine runs over to the pilot and gives vent to his feelings: "Lemme get that for you!".

01:16 The Pelican is about to make the drop-off, so I run over. Sometimes you get Stacker, sometimes Johnson. This time it's Stacker. "Pile out people, let's move!". A Marine sees me and says "Look, there he is!", but Stacker runs past without even saying hello, which seems a bit rude. Are we not on good terms then? The other Marines run to the defence area and I linger on a shot of the departing Pelican. Hmmm… I wonder where that thing's going.

01:33 Here we go again, but this time using the other descent method. Also I'm taking a different route to the run-off spot, just to give you some variation. I take a left turn, tag the dozing Grunt and leap over him to land on the relatively flat ledge at the top of the V. I crouch as I land, to avoid taking any shield damage. I make the jump as quickly as possible because the Banshee will be coming in on an attack run. Sure enough, there's plasma whistling past my ears. Down below, the rock happens to be the same one featured in BCM12 - just a coincidence. I bounce off its left side without even a flicker of my shield - yippee!

01:57 Just as well too, because the Banshee has followed me all the way as usual (I did quite a few runs of this), and here it comes. I get a bead on it with the pistol, and pretty soon it's smoking. As it swings back around I switch to the AR and help bring it down. I'm not actually sure if the killing round was mine or that of a Marine, but I don't think it makes much difference to the pilot.

02:14 As I turn to focus on the Pelican, a frag goes off in front of me. What idiot threw that? Come on, own up. You have to wonder about those Marines. I mean, the Banshee is an aircraft, whereas the frag grenade is a weapon which - and this is the key point - only goes off on the ground! The Marines just haven't thought this through I feel. Anyway, here's the Pelican coming down and I enjoy watching it.

02:47 "Go go go!". This time we've got Johnson. A Marine says "About time you showed up", which is a blinkin' nerve considering how I got here! If they're going to be like that, they can jolly well fend for themselves. The Pelican provides a handy ride. I'm outta here! Nice view of the battlefield as I depart.

Closing remarks These fast descents make a nice challenge, though you'd want to have a decent success rate on your jumping or the failures might dampen your spirits pretty quickly. For these runs I was deliberately trying to make things entertaining as usual. In regard to the first run, that's why I went for the wall-hop Grunt smack and the Elite tag. When recording attempts for the second run I was originally just jumping over the dozing Grunt on the left, but then I thought, hold on, that won't do. How about tagging him as I go? Grunts love plasma grenades and I've got plenty, so why not share them around? Be generous and give, that's what I say. So I switched to that instead. On this run the bang actually sends the Shade off the bridge. Later you can hear it hitting the ground, and there area also a few glimpses of it. Down on the ground, I thought it would be nice to fly off in the Pelican for variation. If you've never made that trip, I'm not telling you where the Pelican goes. I thought I'd leave that as a mystery for you, to find the answer yourself.