Desert Strike Walkthrough
By Mike Jenista
[email protected]
Version 1.02
June 2009
Version History
---------------
1.00 - Great guide for a great game.
1.01 - Fixed up some spelling/grammar.
1.02 - Added info on Valdez thanks to tip from gamer.
1.03 - Added more info from other alert gamers.
Table of Contents
-----------------
I. Introduction
II. Controls and Maneuvers
III. Items
IV. Copilots
V. Enemies
VI. General Tactics
VII. Walkthrough
VIII. Legal Mumbo-Jumbo
I. Introduction
---------------
Desert Strike came out soon after the 1991 Gulf War. The game is obviously
based on Saddam Hussein but has a few elements that remind one of Iran and the
late 70's. Instead of a huge ground offensive or major air campaign to keep
"The Madman" (General Mubaba) at bay, the president decides to send in a crack
helicopter team to stealthily dismantle the threat.
The cut scenes are pretty good for those days, and the dialogue is just
hilarious. The little weenie who has to bring reports of the American chopper's
success to the pseudo-Saddam is so funny.
There is only one tiny drawback to this game: you don't get to choose from
different helicopters. There are multiple vehicles in the sequels.
All in all, an excellent action game.
II. Controls and Maneuvers
--------------------------
Start: brings up cockpit screen with strategy maps and mission info (use Left
and Right to scroll through map markings, or use B,Y,A to switch info
screens)
Select: nothing
Y: Guns (weakest weapon-less than 10 damage, most ammo)
B: Hydra Rockets (medium weapon-25 damage, medium ammo)
A: Missiles (strongest weapon-100 damage, least ammo)
X: nothing
D-Pad: move helicopter; three different styles available
With Momentum - This is the "realism" setting where the chopper drifts
a little when you stop. Left and Right turn your chopper left
and right while Up moves forward and Down moves backward.
From Above - This is the "natural" control system where the direction
you press on the D-Pad is the direction your helicopter moves
in. This is the easiest setting for controls.
From Cockpit - This is the same as the first style of control but the
momentum effect is gone. So if you stop pressing the button,
your helicopter stops on a dime.
L and R - Hold either of the top buttons to enter "hover mode," which allows
you to move the helicopter about without changing the direction it is
pointed ("sliding" if you like). If you are using From Above controls,
this is very easy to use; just press the direction you want to go.
However, in "realism" mode with the other two settings, your hovering
controls are a little awkward. However, it is essential to master
hovering in order to really beat the snot out of this game, so I suggest
practice.
I use three basic attack patterns: long range, quick pass, and strafing.
Long Range: Get your enemy at the edge of the map and start firing. Then creep
up until the bullets start hitting. If you are not in a Danger Zone,
you should always outrange the enemy.
Quick Pass: If the enemy is isolated, fly straight at him while firing. He
will turn at you, but you should pass over just as he makes it around.
Run out of sight, then turn and repeat. This only works if you can
come from behind.
Strafing: Use the hover button and start firing. As the enemy shoots, you
should dodge your helicopter to the left and right (relative to your
cockpit). Only the ZSU fires fast enough to make dodging hard; all
other enemies have dodgeable weapons. With Rapiers and M48s, you
probably want to strafe even when they are not firing because they fire
SLOW but their missile travels FAST.
III. Items and Buildings
------------------------
Items are spread all over the map for you to pick up. In order to pick up items
you need to fly right over it and stay still until the winch lowers and grabs
it; once you have the item you can start flying, even if it isn't all the way
up yet.
Ammo Crate (brown box with red stuff inside): this refills all your weapons to
maximum - 1178 guns, 38 Hydra Rockets, 8 missiles
Fuel (three oil drums): refuels you to 100 fuel
Armor (toolbox with red stuff inside): restores your armor to 600
1-Up (crate with red X on top): extra life
Quickwinch (metal coil): Each level contains a hidden quickwinch; once you have
this item you will see a dramatic improvement in the time it takes to
lift items and people onto your chopper.
MIA, POW, hostages, etc (people that don't shoot at you; if they're not dressed
in green, they're probably friendly): In each level you will have to
pick people up. This works the same way as items; just fly over them
and they will jump on the ladder that lowers. You can hold a maximum
of six people on board (besides you and the copilot).
You need to drop them off at a landing zone (check map for landing zone
markers) before you can pick up more people. As a bonus, every person
you drop off at a landing zone restores 150 armor! That means 3 or 4
people is enough to boost you back to full!
Sometimes you need to pick up people who don't want to go for a ride in
your awesome chopper... i.e., bad guys. They will not stand still and
wait for you to pick them up, they will run. Just get over them and
your copilot will go down on the ladder and nab 'em. You also get
armor refills for bringing captured bad guys to landing zones.
Now, when you check your map, you'll notice that Armor items are not marked on
your map, AND sometimes it looks like there are only a couple Fuel and Ammo
items available. Not so! In fact, all four maps are littered with items, but
there are unmarked items sitting in buildings and hidden in enemy vehicles.
In order to look in a building, just shoot it open. It may contain items, or
an enemy rocket soldier, or even civilians (which means you just killed them,
you jerk!). Civilian buildings are not marked, but only on Campaign 2 will this
be a problem. Items in Campaign are all marked and are not hidden in civvie
buildings. Campaign 3 only has one kind of civvie building (large hotels) that
contain no items and Campaign 4 has no civvie buildings at all. On Campaign 2,
there are several civvie buildings near buildings with items. If you want a
perfect score, just blast open everything and learn the location of items so
you can replay the level without blowing any civvies (thanks to David Radd for
some pointers on this).
IV. Copilots
------------
There are only two copilots worth using: Lt Keith Michaels (always available)
and Lt Carlos Valdez (special character). Choose Michaels for mission 1, and
then make sure to rescue Valdez to be able to choose him later. Valdez is a
fantastic marksman, and he's pretty good with the winch (and coupled with the
quickwinch he is faster than greased lightning). Michaels is a decent
substitute since his gunning is only a little worse, and gunning is the most
important attribute here.
Update by Jamie Sleeman: Valdez can be rescued in Mission 1 or 2 (see below for
locations), but not in 3 or 4. However, using a code to go straight to 3 or 4
you will find that Valdez is available to choose as your copilot.
V. Enemies and Target Buildings
-------------------------------
Rifleman: These poor fools shoot bullets at you and are totally harmless. Just
shoot them three or four times to put 'em down.
Rocket Soldier: Looks like a rifleman with a huge yellow arm; he shoots a rocket
at you that is a little weaker than your own Hydra, but he may be back
up for a stronger enemy. These guys also hide out in buildings and
ambush you when you look to see what's inside. The good news is this
soldier can only take two or three hits.
If either type of soldier is on the roof of a building, you have to
blow up the building to kill him.
Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA): Looks like a cannon on a trailer hitch; AAA's
shoot cannon shells, but are not too dangerous unless backed up by
other enemies. One missile or two Hydras will do the job.
Rapier SAM Launcher: These are stationary towers that fire powerful missiles
at you (equal to your own!). Three Hydras or one missile will take
them out. You can afford to get closer to these because they are
stationary and fire less rapidly, which makes dodging easy.
M3VDA: A pretty lame tank with a wussy turret. Four hydras or one missile will
kill it. VDA's are mobile and fire quickly, so there is some danger,
but not much in my opinion.
ZSU: This is a straight-up tank. The turret moves fast, it fires powerful
cannon shots and fires them fast. It take two missiles or six Hydras
to kill this tank, BUT at the right range you can easily dodge the
cannon shots and take your time with gunfire (see tactics).
M48 Mobile SAM Launcher: Big, green, ugly, with two rocket turrets. They fire
FAST missiles that do 100 damage just like your own. You need two
missiles or eight Hydras to take out this beast. There is good news;
the reload time for this vehicle is pretty long (compared to other
enemy vehicles), so you should only have to dodge once or twice.
Helicopter: Enemy helicopters fire rockets at you like your own Hydras, but
they do not really maneuver much. Just try to come at it from its
tail and you'll be fine. It takes about as much firepower to kill as
the M48.
Speedboat: In missions 3 and 4 you will encounter these wacky enemies on the
open sea. The rocket soldier on board will fire at you and the driver
may try to maneuver. The best idea is the fire from a distance. Make
sure not to hit any nearby pilots in liferafts!!!
Crotale: The ultimate in enemy firepower! Crotales look kind of like M48's but
with a camouflage paintjob. Their missiles do 150 damage BUT are
extremely slow and easy to dodge. However, they also have insane armor
so you will need three missiles or TEN Hydras to kill one. I actually
find that two missiles and two Hydras works best.
In addition to the enemies themselves, you need to destroy various buildings.
Radar: Big rotating dish; once you destroy these, the enemy's weapons will have
a much shorter range.
Power Station: This concrete block has power lines running into it; once it is
destroyed it will leave behind an Armor AND all the enemy weapons will
aim more slowly.
Guard Tower: A rocket soldier sits inside, so lay waste with one missile or a
a few Hydras.
There are many other types of building that you must destroy to either rescue
or capture people. The big thing to note is that you NEED to watch for little
GRAY puffs of smoke. This means you are hitting the building. If you only see
reddish/orange puffs, you are NOT hitting the building even though it looks like
you are (this only works with guns; with missiles and Hydras, you can't tell,
so fire guns until you see the gray puffs and THEN fire better stuff if you
want).
Some buildings can be flown over; others not. I suggest not flying over or too
close to any buildings, just to be safe.
VI. General Tactics
-------------------
1. Always choose "From Above" controls and choose Lt Michaels for your copilot
if Valdez is not available. This will make fighting enemies about ten
billion times easier.
2. Only grab Fuel when you are below 20, and only grab Ammo crates if you are
going into a fight with less than 2 missiles and 15 Hydras. Feel free
to grab Armor any time you see it.
3. The first time you play a mission, go shoot up all the buildings to see what
is inside. Then you can plan your mission better the second time,
knowing where hidden Fuel, Ammo, and Armor is.
4. ALL ENEMIES HAVE SHORTER RANGE THAN YOU ONCE RADAR IS DOWN, and enemies far
from the radar will have short range always. As such, you can take out
ANY enemy with guns if you keep them at the edge of the screen.
5. Using "Above" controls and hover mode is the key to victory; fly up to the
enemy and start firing, but hold L or R to activate hover mode. If the
enemy turns to fire, start strafing lateral to your direction of fire
(e.g. strafe up and down if you are firing left or right) and you can
EASILY dodge most enemy fire while maintaining your own aim, PROVIDED
you have Lt Michaels or Lt Valdez as your copilot. The other copilots
might break their aim. You should experiment with other dodge tricks
while using hover mode.
6. When you are flying over the ocean, you expend no fuel. Therefore, if you
need to get to a target on the shore and you are already near the shore,
you should fly out over the sea and take your time.
Further, if your target is directly on the shore you should stay over
the ocean and fire your guns to save fuel AND precious ammo.
7. Always pick up the maximum number of people from a building before heading
to a landing zone. Yeah, yeah; if you take more than four you will
"waste" their armor refill. Well, the time and fuel that you save will
FAR outweigh that armor refill AND you should use hovering techniques
to avoid getting shot anyway.
8. Think of at least ONE of your lives as a bonus refueling. When you crash,
you will get 100 fuel back but the same ammo as before. Also, the
enemies nearby will ignore you for a few seconds after you come back to
life. If you do this instead of go far away for a Fuel, you will not
be a "worse" player, just a practical one.
9. If you see the warning "Danger Zone!" on your screen, it means you are coming
to an objective out of order. You can accomplish objectives out of
order, but you will find that the enemies gaurding the objective are
MUCH stronger than they are normally. As such, you should generally
try to fly around Danger Zones, just to avoid using up a LOT more ammo
than normal (I make exceptions for some things; see walkthrough).
10. Sometimes in your zeal for combat, you shoot a hostage or other vital person
and thus end your prospects for victory. To avoid such mishaps, check
your mission data to see if you need to rescue/capture anyone, AND clear
out all enemies BEFORE hitting the building.
11. You usually don't need to do everything exactly right. If you see the
message "Mission Accomplished" that means you did enough of it to go
on to the next one. If you save ALL hostages or destroy ALL scud
missiles, you only get more points (which are worth nothing except
pride).
12. Finally, the cardinal rule: when in doubt, CHECK THE MAP! The map has all
kinds of info about your objectives and the location of items. If you
plan ahead and think about where you can get more items as you progress,
you will fare much better than just randomly flying around looking for
trouble.
VII. Walkthrough
----------------
*******************************
* Campaign 1: Air Superiority *
*******************************
First we see a cut scene of General Mubaba telling Muammar that it is time to
make an all-out attack and show the world who is boss. Then an infobabe
from EANN comes on and tells us that the president has dispatched a crack
chopper team to the Persian Gulf to deal with the threat.
Okay, this mission has a ton of enemies, although they are mostly weak. There
are also tons of items stashed around and they are marked on your map. The
only things not marked are special items, but just see the Secrets section
after the mission walkthrough.
Mission 1: Destroy Radars
-------------------------
This is easy. The radars are marked on your map, so fly toward them. There
are two AAA cannons near each, so make sure to keep them at the edge of the map
while you destroy them and then the radars.
Mission 2: Destroy Power Station
--------------------------------
Again, this is easy. The power station is marked on your map once you blow up
the radars, so make your way over to it. The enemies nearby are no sweat, but
a VDA will show up from the east once you destroy the station. The good news
is that there is an Armor waiting for you under the power station.
Mission 3: Airfields
--------------------
The two airfields are heavily defended, but without radar or power the defenses
are easily overcome. What you need to watch out for are rocket soldiers hanging
around the airfield. Make sure to blow up all the planes and buildings (there
are items in the hangars). The most annoying part of this mission is that the
control tower is sometimes hard to aim at. Come from directly south of it and
aim north. Look for the gray puffs from your gunfire to indicate a lock on the
tower, then use Hydras to knock it down or continue with bullets.
Mission 4: Command Bunkers
--------------------------
The command bunkers are surrounded by AAA cannons, Rapiers, and guard towers.
Make sure to grab an Ammo crate if you are low on weapons. You only need to
destroy one bunker, but be careful not to kill the commander who tries to run.
Capture him and he will tell you where the secret agent is. If you kill him,
try to get the other guy. If you kill both, you fail the campaign.
Mission 5: Secret Agent
-----------------------
The captured commander tells you where the Secret Agent is and your map will
have a green dot to mark this building. Go there, blow the roof off (watch out
for nearby enemies) and you can land to let your copilot out. While he is in
the bunker, you have to fend off a bunch of VDA's that crash the rescue party.
They come one at a time, so you should be able to take them out with no problem.
Once you have him, return to the frigate to complete the campaign!
***********
* Secrets *
***********
Armor Locations
---------------
1. Destroy the Power Station.
2. Toward the southeast corner of the map is a big bend in the road. There are
three buildings on this road and a Rapier nearby. Destroy the middle
building for Armor.
1-Up
----
Near the east edge of the map is a small road loop protected by a AAA cannon.
Inside the eastmost building is a 1-Up.
Quickwinch
----------
Near the center of the map are two small road loops guarded by a Rapier and a
AAA cannon. In the southern loop are two bunkers. Destroy the north bunker
for the quickwinch.
Lt. Valdez
----------
In the northwest corner of the map you will see a plane crash and a gunfight.
Kill the green guy and pick up the brown guy; it's Valdez! Make sure to blow
up the downed plane to protect the sensitive avionics software onboard.
***************************
* Campaign 2: Scud Buster *
***************************
Boy, General Mubaba is MAD that his guys couldn't deal with your chopper. He
orders Muammar to get the Scuds ready. Looks like things are getting HOT in
the desert!
This is the first time you will have to rescue a lot of people, so here is a
tip: if you find yourself with a full load of people but a lot of ammo, go to
the next rescue area and shoot all the enemies you can find until your ammo is
low. THEN go to a landing zone and pick up fuel, ammo, and armor refill. This
is especially useful when the next rescue area is on the way to a landing zone.
Also, as you fly around you will see isolated bunkers with curved roofs, waving
little flags nearby. DO NOT SHOOT AT THESE YET!! Wait until the proper time.
Mission 1: Destroy Radars
-------------------------
Same as before, except that now you will find Rapiers guarding some radars.
You may also see some ZSU tanks on the way; go ahead and waste them with your
missiles. In fact, I usually check my map for ZSUs and go a little out of my
way to shoot them up.
Mission 2: Jailbreaks
---------------------
This is the most difficult mission you will face so far. You need to identify
the prison (low building with what appears to be barbed wire along the roof),
then kill any ZSUs, Rapiers, and rocket soldiers protecting it. Then blow the
roof off to start rescuing guys. Once you have them, check your map for ZSUs
because one is coming for you!
Go drop the liberated prisoners at a landing zone and continue to the next
prison. The buildings around the prisons have all sorts of items, but some are
also civilian buildings. I would just blow them up until you find what you
need, but you may fail the mission if you kill too many civvies.
Mission 3: Destroy Power Station
--------------------------------
This is the same as Campaign 1, except that you will find the rocket soldiers
guarding the station to have incredible range and firing rates if you come to
this area out of order. Grab the Armor under the station when you are done and
head southeast. Make sure to grab an Ammo crate on the way to Mission 4.
Mission 4: Destroy Chemical Weapons Plant
-----------------------------------------
The chemical weapons plant is well-guarded by AAA cannons and VDAs AND they have
big boulders providing cover. You need to take your time and creep along to
catch the enemies at the edge of your screen. After you clear the enemies,
you should use your strongest weapons left to blow up the plant so that you can
save your fuel. You can fly west to the block of four road loops to find Fuel,
Ammo, and Armor items in the buildings there.
Mission 5: Scud Commanders and Missiles
---------------------------------------
Now your screen will show six yellow dots; these are the bunkers where the Scud
missile commanders are hiding. Fly to one, shoot the defenses that have
appeared (they won't be there before you complete Mission 4), and then blow the
roof off to find a commander. Nab him and he will mark his Scud launcher on
your map as a red dot.
Now, you will notice that the Scud is always near one of the other bunkers; it
was very nice of the game designers to make this a "loop" mission rather than
a map-crosser. Anyway, fly to the Scud launcher and prepare to pump as much
gunfire as you can at it. Two missiles or a ton of Hydras will blow it up, but
if you don't act fast the driver will launch the missile. You won't fail the
mission for letting Scuds launch, but you might if MOST of them launch (I have
only had three get away from me, which is still enough to win).
Mission 6: Rescue POWs
----------------------
The POW camp is a fenced area guarded by towers, ZSUs and rocket soldiers. Take
out all enemies you can see FIRST, and then check your ammo. If you don't have
enough to take out a ZSU, go stock up BEFORE you rescue prisoners.
When you're ready, blow the roof off one of the cabins. A cutscene will go by,
then you can pick up POWs. A ZSU will arrive and crash through the fence to get
at you. Kill it and drop off the POWs at the landing zone to your southeast.
Repeat this for the other cabins, making sure to have enough ammo for a ZSU
each time (they appear after each cabin you open, so open them one at a time
to avoid getting POWs killed). The buildings nearby in the road loops contain
Armor, Fuel, and Ammo.
Return to the frigate to complete the campaign.
***********
* Secrets *
***********
Armor Locations
---------------
1. Destroy the power station.
2. Destroy the building to the south of the crossroads south of the POW camp.
3. Destroy the palace-like building in the four-block area west of the chemical
weapons plant, or south of the east-most jail.
4. South of the westmost jail are two smaller road loops. The southern loop
contains two buildings, one with Armor, the other the quickwinch.
Quickwinch
----------
See #4 above.
Lt Valdez and a 1-Up
--------------------
Valdez and his plane are in the northeast corner of the map. When you destroy
his plane, it leaves a 1-Up behind!
****************************
* Campaign 3: Embassy City *
****************************
The first thing you will notice is that this city is way more upscale than the
previous mud-huts and tent-villages you have seen in the last two campaigns.
Also, the only civilian buildings are the huge buildings, so crack open the
little ones for items.
The Madman is really upset now, but he has escelated the situation. He has
kidnapped the UN inspectors, starting producing bio-weapons, AND he has
surrounded the American embassy with his own forces. What's more, he has
kidnapped many hostages and is using them as human shields to prevent you from
attacking his personal yacht.
Things are getting rough, but you should do fine.
One note is that you should not take Fuel items from the large central city
until the last part of this campaign. You will need to move very slowly at the
end and do lots of backtracking, so it will be best to save the nearby Fuels
for that time.
Also, you will see that some of the Fuel markers on your map lead you to big
trucks. Blow them up to find fuel drums.
Mission 1: Rescue UN Inspectors
-------------------------------
They are marked on your map. Fly to them and kill the soldiers and ZSU nearby.
Pick up the UN people and drop them off to the southwest. They will tell you
where the bio-weapon factories are.
Mission 2: Destroy Bio-Weapon Factories and Capture Scientists
--------------------------------------------------------------
There are eight of these, but you only need to blow up six. Watch out for the
VDAs (I count four on the roads and a fifth to the west near the fuel truck).
Each time you blow up a bio-weapon factory, a scientist tries to make a break
for it. Capture him before he gets around the corner of the building. Use
hovering to avoid slamming into the building. Once you complete this mission,
the scientists will tell you where the ICBMs are hidden.
Mission 3: Destroy the ICBMs
----------------------------
You can destroy the silos whenever you find them, but they won't get marked on
your map until you complete Mission 2.
The ICBM silos are protected by ZSU tanks on the shore and by a whole squad of
bad guys in the desert. Blow up the enemies, then look for the ICBM silo.
On the shore, the silo is hidden under a sand dune, and is usually hard to see.
Make sure you are near the marker on your map, then start strafing the dunes
with your gunfire. Look for gray puffs to indicate that you are hitting a
building. This is the silo. When the dune blows up, you have a few seconds to
blow up the silo before the ICBM launches. This is just like the Scud mission
before, but the ICBM silo has more armor, so use your strongest weapons first.
Also like the Scuds, you won't lose of a few ICBMs make it out.
In the desert, you will easily spot the dunes, but there are more than one.
Enemies lurk under some, but one has the silo AND a rocket soldier. Once you
find them, just ram it with firepower to kill the soldier and the ICBM silo.
Then shoot up the other dunes for items!
Mission 4: Rescue Pilots at Sea
-------------------------------
Three green dots will appear on your map marking pilots that got shot down over
the sea. Each is surrounded by some enemy speedboats. Shoot the speed boats
from a distance, but be VERY careful to avoid shooting the pilot! Remember,
you don't expend fuel over the sea so you can take your time.
Mission 5: Destroy Power Station
--------------------------------
The power station is on the east edge of the map, and unlike previous campaigns
you can hit it as soon as you see it because the Rapiers around it are not
super-powerful. For this reason, I usually destroy the power station while I
am taking out ICBM silos. This has the added bonus of putting both sea missions
back-to-back.
Mission 6: Rescue Hostages from the Madman's Yacht
--------------------------------------------------
Mubaba's yacht is coasting in the corner of the ocean. It is surrounded by
speedboats and a helicopter, and more will show up after you start rescuing
hostages.
When you first get there, shoot soldiers on the deck and take out all vehicles
hanging about. Then shoot a hole in the yacht. You will see hostages float
out the south side, and when you go to pick them up, Mubaba escapes in a
speedboat from the north side. I don't know if you can stop him; I never have.
Anyhow, you will have to make a couple trips to pick up enough hostages to
complete the mission. Make sure to use the landing zone right on the shore to
save fuel.
Mission 7: Capture the Enemy Ambassador
---------------------------------------
The enemy ambassador is holed up in the small village in the northeast. Tough
enemies patrol the area, and some of the embassy buildings contain M48's
instead of ambassadors!
The first thing you want to do is search the desert to the south for the radar.
It is protecting the compound, so destroy it and your attack will be MUCH
easier.
Now find the M48 and destroy it, as well as the ZSU in the northern block. The
AAA cannon is no sweat. The southwestern embassy building holds the enemy
ambassador, so shoot it open and nab him.
Mission 8: Liberate the American Embassy
----------------------------------------
This is probably the coolest mission in the whole game. The American embassy
is in the eastmost block of the central city. Waste the helicopters there and
the Rapiers to the south. Then quickly scan the rest of the city for enemies
and kill them. Stock up on ammo (there is an Ammo crate in the building to
the southeast of the embassy, next to the Rapier you destroyed), and then land
next to the embassy.
Instead of the embassy personnel climbing into your chopper, they all run into
the school bus nearby and your copilot takes the wheel. Some enemy choppers
show up, so shoot them down. Then carefully shoot the fence in front of the
bus to get it started.
The bus will drive a path west through the city, then south toward the smaller
city, and from there into the desert to the southeast corner where a C-130 waits
to evacuate them to safety.
Your job is to shoot enemies (any you missed plus new ones that show up) and
clear barriers out of the way. The bad news is that the bus moves slow, but the
good news is that if you leave the bus off screen, it won't move. With this in
mind, you should scout ahead and take care of any threats, then go back to watch
the bus. When you see where it is headed next, scout there and repeat.
There are tons of Fuel, Ammo, and even Armor items scattered throughout this
large city, so you should have no trouble staying supplied for this mission.
Once you are in the desert, you will find two M48s out there waiting to destroy
you. Take them out and watch the bus load off to the C-130. Then return to the
frigate for a complete campaign!
***********
* Secrets *
***********
Armor Locations
---------------
1. In the southern city, the northwest-most building contains Armor.
2. In the larger central city, there are two Armors; both are in buildings on
the south side of the city blocks. There are five "points" on the
southern edge of town, and the two Armors are near the second and fourth
points.
3. In the northern city, an Armor is hiding southeast of the minaret in the
center of town (minarets are those pointy towers all over).
4. In the enemy embassy compound, an Armor is hiding in the building south of
the AAA cannon.
5. An Armor is hidden under the dunes in the northern ICBM group.
6. Destroy the power station for an Armor.
7. The M48 guarding the southern ICBM group yields an Armor.
8. You can pick up two reporters (civvies next to an EANN truck) near the middle
of the map and drop them off at the TV station (a satellite-topped
building next to another EANN truck in the southernmost town) for some
extra armor and bonus points at the end of the level (thanks to Danny
Frias for pointing these guys out).
Quickwinch
----------
In the northern city, a Rapier guards the eastern tip of town. The building
just west of this contains the quickwinch.
1-up
----
The ICBM group near the power station guards several dunes. In addition to the
ICBM silo, you will find Ammo, Fuel, and a 1-Up hiding in the dunes.
*****************************
* Campaign 4: Nuclear Storm *
*****************************
Having narrowly escaped capture, the Madman realizes that he can not win the
war with America's finest. So he orders his tanks to destroy the oil fields
and dump the reserves in the ocean. He makes arrangements for nuclear bombs to
be assembled and delivered to his bomber so that he can destroy western cities
before he dies.
It's up to you, pilot. Only you stand between the Madman and nuclear
annihilation.
In the final campaign, your objectives are unknown to you until the command
center radios the info to your computer. Really, this campaign is not hard.
You will notice that many Fuel and Ammo items are marked on your map, and you
would be right to guess that more are hidden in buildings.
So take your time, use lots of firepower on everything, and you should
definitely take the missions in order for this map. The new Crotale enemies
are tough, and when you enter a Danger Zone (an objective out of order) you will
find it takes a TON of ammo to destroy them.
The only exception is the oil spills. You can do this right away if you want.
Also, this is a night mission. Cooooool!
Mission 1: Protect the Oil Fields
---------------------------------
You will see many flashing red dots. These are ZSUs that have been ordered to
destroy oil tanks. When you get to this area, you will see the large round
tanks everywhere. You need to be careful about maneuvering in here, but you
also need to get the tanks' attention so they don't shoot at the oil.
Keep checking your map until only one dot is left. That dot marks a landing
area, but you can't land there yet. Fly west along the coast. On the inland
side of the coastal dunes you will eventually find a bunker. This is the SEAL
team that will protect the oil fields for the rest of the campaign. Pick them
up and bring them to the landing area marked with the red dot.
Mission 2: Stop the Oil Spills
------------------------------
While you are doing mission 1, you will see docks spewing oil along the coast.
There are enemies there, but they are wussy. Take them out. Then fly over the
water to save fuel and shoot at the spigot head. Look for gray puffs to make
sure you are hitting it. Eventually it will explode and the pipe gets twisted
so bad that it stops spewing oil. Do this for all three docks (the northern
dock is protected by speedboats too).
Mission 3: Rescue Hostages from Bomb Shelters
---------------------------------------------
You will now see four dots marking bomb shelters where Mubaba is holding civvies
hostage. They are guarded by buried ZSUs, except for the middle bunker which is
guarded by two M48s. Shoot the dune around the ZSU until it explodes, then take
out the tank as usual. Shoot the staircase of the bunker to open a hole for the
civilians to escape and take them to a landing zone.
Mission 4: Destroy Power Station
--------------------------------
The power station is located along the north edge of the map, toward the west.
It is guarded by four M48s. However, you only need to destroy the eastmost
M48 and you can shoot the power station directly. You will save fuel and ammo
by doing this, but probably won't be able to snag the Armor without dying, so
skip it.
Mission 5: Bomb Parts
---------------------
The bomb parts are being delivered to the nuclear weapons depot by garbage
truck, so you need to blow them up. However, some really ARE garbage trucks
driven by civilians, so you need to watch the trucks to find out which is which.
These garbage trucks are all in the southeast city. You can only tell friend
from foe when the truck is driving northwest or northeast (so you can see its
rear).
Civilian trucks have a mess of brown and yellow junk sticking out the back.
Enemy trucks have white cylinders with red stripes in back. Shoot at them!
There are a number of enemy units patrolling, so watch for them as well.
Mission 6: Destroy the Nuclear Weapons Depot
--------------------------------------------
The depot is surrounded by Crotales AND the Crotales are boosted by two nearby
radars. The first radar is south of the plant on the other side of the road
and the other is to the northwest of the plant. If you try to attack the
Crotales without taking out the radar, you will waste a LOT of ammo.
You need to destroy both of the giant towers and the central building, but the
smaller building to the southeast is the office of the head bomb engineer.
Carefully shoot the building and capture him. He will reveal to you that he
has already sent a working bomb to the Madman's presidential palace.
Mission 7: Capture the Madman
-----------------------------
Head to the palace. There are a lot of Crotales guarding it in addition to some
Rapiers and a AAA cannon. Take them ALL out (there is plenty of extra ammo
laying around this area), and then shoot open the palace. Grab Fuel and Ammo
before you land. Your copilot goes in to capture Mubaba, but it turns out the
Madman was waiting for you!
He captures your copilot and escapes in his armored personnel carrier WITH THE
NUCLEAR BOMB!!!!!!! You better head for the airstrip quick!
Mission 8: Save the Day
-----------------------
This is not really that hard, but you might mess it up by being too nervous.
Go to the airstrip and you will see the bomber. There are no enemies around,
just the Madman and his plane. Fire Hydras at the bomber until a hole opens in
the top. You need to be VERY CAREFUL not to shoot too much because your copiot
pops out of that hole and if you shoot him you fail.
Fly over the bomber and rescue your copilot. Now fly to the west of the bomber.
The best position is south of the airstrip and west of the bomber. Use the
hover button to fire everything you have while matching the bomber's speed as
it begins to take off.
You will run out of ammo, but there are Ammo crates nearby (and in fact right
under you if you position yourself well). Unload everything again until you
see a cutscene of Mubaba dying. You may need a third Ammo crate if you miss a
lot, but you really shouldn't. You can get very close to the bomber to make
sure you hit.
Anyway, if it takes off you lose because the Madman nukes the world. Bummer.
But if you blow him away, you WIN!
You then get to see you and your copilot shake hands with the president. Even
with the grainy graphics, it is OBVIOUSLY Bush 41, and even if you can't tell
it's him, you can see Barbara and their curly-haired dog. Then there is a very
touching salute to the real armed forces of the United States for their service
in the Gulf War. My own father was a Navy pilot in the Gulf in 1991 (planes,
not choppers), so I found this to be very nice.
***********
* Secrets *
***********
Armor Locations
---------------
1. Destroy the power station for Armor.
2. Armor is hidden in the buildings south and east of the presidential palace.
3. An Armor sits near the middle dock along the coast.
4. In the southeast city, Armor hides in one of the west blocks of the central
road system.
Quickwinch
----------
The quickwinch is sitting out in the open among the oil tanks. Look around the
northwest edge of the oil field for it.
1-Up
----
In the central block of the southernmost area of the southeast city, there are
many items, one of which is a 1-Up.
VIII. Legal Mumbo-Jumbo
-----------------------
Copyright 2006, 2007, 2009 Mike Jenista
This may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for
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otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission.
Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public
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All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by
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