Halo 2

The Campaign Gameplay Faq

Copyright 2004, Brian D. Cates

Questions? Tips? Feedback?
Email me at [email protected]

Only these following sites have my permission to post this
Faq.

If I find any other sites hosting it, I will find a big
gaggle of really annoying grunts and let them out of the
game so I can send them after you.

GameFaqs

I have played through this faq on the Heroic Level.  Heroic
and Legendary levels are exactly what they are entitled.
Your health drops fast and your enemies are far tougher to
kill.  Some levels of this game on Legendary I have found
to be even more difficult than the Ninja Gaiden expansion
pack.  (And I thought the regular game was hard!)   Since
this is the level that will be challenging for most of
the people who play the game, it is the one used here.

Because many people have claimed 'Halo 2 is JUST LIKE
HALO 1!  WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!' I'm going to help these
noobs out by pointing out with GAME IMPROVEMENT!
notices where Halo 2 is distinctly different from
Halo 1.


Level  I:  The Heretic
For failure such as this, no punishment is
too great.

(That's right - no 20 pages worth of me retyping the
instruction manual - because you already have one.
Why should I get writers cramp because you're too
lazy to look it up?  Huh?  Why?)

(Well, OK, I'll compromise a little bit. The FIRST
TIME a particular feature is used in the game, I
will describe  which button, trigger or thumbstick
to use.  There, happy now?)

The opening cutscene of the game ingeniously contrasts
the treatment both Master Chief an Elite Fleet
Commander recieve from their respective peers
upon their return from the destruction of Halo.

Level II:  Armory

Suit up, prepare for battle.

While Master Chief is having his Mjolnir Armor
upgraded at Earth Defense Platform Cairo, a huge
floating space station far above Earth, the Elite
Fleet Commander is branded a traitor and a heretic
for failing to prevent the destruction of the Halo
ring.  We see his trial,such as it is, in the
Covenant city of High Charity.  The Elite Commander
tries to make his case to the Prophets, the great
leaders of the Covenant, old wizened creatures who
sit in floating chairs, and he fails.

Meanwhile, Master Chief will briefly, for the first
time in the game, be under your control as you help
the Mjolner technician check the armor's inverted
look mechanism and then recharge the armor's shield.

Simply use the right thumbstick (Camera View)  to
look at the lights on the grid in front of you.
Then, follow the technician using the left
thumbstick (movement control) to the right, where
the Official Mjlolner Shield Charger is waiting.
(Like that name? I just invented it!)  Stand in
the center of the big tuning-fork shaped object,
in front of the stand with the red blinking
display with a hand in the center of it, and
press down on the blue 'X' button on the
controller. This will activate the Official
Mjlolner Shield Charger, and and you will
see on the lower left hand side of the screen
the 'Shield' Heads Up Display (HUD) quickly
go from empty to full.

While the technician is still explaining stuff,
who should come
strolling in wearing his dress whites but
Sergeant First Class A. J. Johnson!

(I know, I know, you thought the Flood got him
in the first Halo game.  Or if you beat the
game on Legendary, you were surprised to see
him in a humourous yet strangely touching
cutscene with a Blue Elite)

Apparently, Sgt. Johnson is very, very hard
to kill.

Anyway, he's here to guide Master Chief
to the next part of the game, so follow
him into the elevator and then into the
shuttle. Don't forget to look around as
the shuttle is moving because the views
are spectacular.  Youwill really believe
you are on a space station floating above
Earth.

After some chatter from Sgt. Johnson on the
shuttle, it arrives at it's
destination............a platform with a
bunch of cheering Marines on it!  It seems
the word of the Master Chief's heroics have
gotten out, despite his wishes to keep things
low-key.

Follow Johnson out of the shuttle, and another
cinematic will begin.

At the same time this is going on at Earth, the
Elite Fleet Commander is stripped of his rank,
tortured, then branded, all by a new race of
creatures we are seeing for the very first
time, called............the Brutes!

(GAME IMPROVEMENT!  In the very first cinematic,
we are introduced to not one but TWO Covenant
races who do not appear in Halo 1: Brutes and
Prophets)

One of these large, gorilla-like creatures is
very distinct, because he's the only one with
mohawk-like hair.  This creature seems to take
special  relish in torturing the Elite Fleet
Commander, personally wielding the huge branding
iron by which the Elite is literally marked a
heretic.

It turns out Master Chief is not the only one
getting a medal today.
Sgt. Johnson gets one.....and Miranda Keyes,
the daughter of Captain Keyes from the first
game, is given a posthumous award for her father.

Before it can go any further, the medal awarding
party is abruptly interrupted by..........the
arrival of a Covenant fleet!  Cortana is
immediatly on top of things.  She has
control of a huge MAC space gun to defend
the station against the Covenant ships, but
just as she's getting ready to use it, a
new swarm of Covenant ships comes out of
hyperspace right next to Cairo!

The Covenant hope to knock the MAC gun
offline!

While Miranda Keyes goes to her Fleet ship,
Sgt. Johnson and Master Chief are tasked with
defending the space station from Covenant
boarders!

Level III:  Cairo Station

Defend the station's MAC-gun from
Covenant boarders.

Now the cinematic will end, and you have to
quickly follow Sgt. Johnson and a bunch of
Marines down a flight of stairs in front of
you to the Armory, where you have your
choice of two weapons to carry.  Just
like the first game, Master Chief can
only carry two weapons at a time, so
choose wisely.
You have a choice of:

Battle Rifle
Magnum Pistol
Submachine Gun

I would go with the Submachine Gun as the main
weapon for right now.  It's a close-range weapon
and this is going to be close up work. If you
need to take medium to long range shots, you
can switch to the Battle Rifle with it's scope.

Because Master Chief has no weapons at this point,
he will automatically pickup the first two weapons
you stand in front of.  You can switch between
these two weapons by pressing the yellow 'Y'
button on your Controller.

To reload a weapon, you will press the blue 'X'
button.

(Note: many times in the game to pick up a
weapon on the ground and
exchange it with a weapon you are carrying,
or to open a door or operate an elevator, the
game will ask you to press the blue 'X' button.
It is important that you press and HOLD DOWN
THE BUTTON when doing this.  If you just tap
it, what will happen is that the Master Chief
will reload his present weapon with a fresh
clip.  He will do that even if he already has
a full magazine in the weapon.  That can cost
you valuable ammo, so be careful when pressing
this button)

For  secondary weapon I would grab a Battle Rifle.

For now, after you've picked up a Battle Rifle
and a Submachine Gun, go stand in front of another
Submachine Gun.  See the white graphic in the
upper left hand corner of the HUD?  It gives
you the option of  DUAL WEILDING by pressing
and holding down the 'Y' button.

Press and hold it and.....................Master
Chief will pick up a second Submachine Gun and
hold it in his other hand!

(GAME IMPROVEMENT!  You could not wield
two weapons at once in Halo 1.  During the game,
experiment with various combos of weapons.

Also, some weapons require two hands, such as
Shotguns and Battle Rifles, so you cannot dual
wield these weapons. And last but not least,
if you are dual wielding, you cannot throw
grenades, no matter how many you have. To be
able to throw grenades again, hit the yellow
'Y' button and Master Chief will switch to his
other weapon, dropping the one he was
dual-wielding in his left hand, leaving that
free now to toss grenades at anything that
needs to be blown up.

And since we're discussing it; to throw grenades:
pull the Left Trigger and aim where the grenade
will go using the Right Thumbstick.  Also,to
toggle between human Frag Grenades and Covenant
Plasma Grenades, hit the black button right
next to the white button on the controller.
Frag Grenades bounce around before exploding,
so aim low.  Plasma grenades stick to whatever
they hit before exploding, so aim just a
little high.)

Note that you have 360 rounds for each Submachine
Gun. That seems like alot, but it really isn't;
if you hold the trigger too long your magazines
will run dry in a hurry, and it takes several
seconds for Master Chief to re-load them.  You
do not want both Submachine Guns to run dry at
the same time.  Watch your bullet count, and
when there are just a few bullets left, hit the
'X' button and MasterChief will reload it.

If you fire the magazine empty, Master Chief
will automatically reload it if he has another
magazine.  To keep from running out of magazines
for your weapons, keep an eye out for Submachine
Guns and Battle Rifles lying on the floor,
dropped by dead Marines.

Got it? Good! Because here come the Covenant!

Follow Sgt. Johnson and the Marines out of the
Armory and turn right into a large room with
window panels on the left showing the area
outside. You can see a Covenant boarding ship
zooming in and making contact with a BOOM!
against the Cairo's hull!

At the far end of the room is a blast door
with a revolving red light.
As you watch, the next checkpoint loads, we
see the name of the next section of the
game...............

"Home Field Advantage"

Mission Objective: Repel the Covenant
Boarders

...........and at the same time we see the ominous
yellow dot appear in the middle of door, which
means the Covenant is starting to burn their
way through!

(Yes folks, it's a rip-off of the opening scene
from the first Star Wars movie, but hey, it's
a GOOD rip-off!!!!)

There are many square shaped computer panels
facing this door, so move behind one of them
and get your Submachine Guns ready.

Finally  the door explodes, there is a haze
of smoke........and the Covenant boarders appear!

Grunts and Blue Elites come streaming in
through the broken remains of
the blast door, and you must open fire and
hit them and take them down before they
reach you.

Alternate your squeezing of the left and right
triggers when you fire
your Submachine guns and use short bursts.
If you press and hold
the trigger, the gun will 'climb' on you
and you will not be able to aim it.  Just
like a real gun!

After the first group of Grunts and Elites
have hit the floor, two more Blue Elites will
suddenly come running from above the blast
door andjump down into the room. If you are
a fast shot, you can shoot them before they
jump down and take them out.

Remember to move around behind the blast doors
while you are shooting.  If you get hit and
your shield gets low, do not hesitate to pull
back and take cover until your shield recharges.

Gamer Tip:  Very rarely in this game, unless
you are taking a long distance sniper shot,
or behind cover, should you stand in one spot
while shooting.  Standing still when enemies
are nearby is a bad idea because stationary
targets are most easily hit by bullets, plasma
charges, and grenades.  The higher the difficulty
of the game, the more accurate and rapidly
Master Chief's enemies will shoot.  Which
means the greater the difficulty, the greater
the price you are going to pay for standing
still.

Three things you should be watching during the
intense combat of this game:   Your ammo, your
movement and your shield level.  Lose track of
any of those three and the consequences will
be disastrous.

On the higher levels of the game, do not reload
while standing in the open.  When your weapon
is about to run dry, head for cover and
reload while your shield recharges.

Once all the Elites and the Grunts have stopped
charging into the room you are in, move into
the room beyond the blast door and look to
the right - there are more Grunts and Elites
behind some cover.  These guys were smarter
than their buddies - the didn't just charge
in and get shot.

They will use cover when their shields are low,
so you will have to move and flank them from the
side.

Once this bunch is all down, move to where they
were hiding and look to the right - you will see
a Marine manning a turrent gun at the base of some
stairs.  Go up the stairs.  At the top, in front
of two doors, one blocked and one that can open,
lies a Marine who has made the ultimate sacrifice
in defense of Earth. Next to him is a Submachine Gun,
so move over it and Master Chief will replenish
his Submachine Gun ammo.

Doors that are able to open will have lighted GREEN
bars on them.
Doors that are not able to open will have lighted
RED bars on them.  The door to the right has red
bars, the door to the left has green bars - guess
which way we go?

After passing through the double green doors, you
will see a narrowhallway in front of you and to
your left, a much larger room where a firefight
has broken out between the human defenders and
the invading Covenant.

You have two ways to do this:  man the turret gun
to your immediate left and drive the Covenant back,
or you can follow the hallway and the stairs at
the end and surprise the Covenant with a flanking
attack.  On higher levels such as Heroic and
Legendary, when you man the turrent too long a
crafty Red Elite will come down the hallway
and attack you from behind.

Kill any Covenant that are visible with the turrent
gun but don't
stay on the gun for more than 10-15 seconds to
make sure you don't get flanked.  Watch your motion
tracker and make sure no red dots appear behind
you.  Then head down the hallway and go down the
stairs.  Usually there is a Blue Elite and a
Grunt at the landing you have to take out.
There will also be a Red Elite hiding behind a
barrier.

Once the area is clear, go to the bottom of the
stairs and there will be another dead Marine with a
Submachine Gun so you can up your ammo.  To the
left will be a doorway, through which you will
see a Marine in dress whites and a Marine in
cammo standing and waiting.  As you move into
the room to join them, they will run over to
you and a big explosion will reverberate
through the space station.

Another boarding party!

This is a big room and now there are Covenant
massing at the far end.  Mostly Grunts for
now, so move to the left along the wall and
shoot into the room to take them out.  The
two Marines will join you and provide good
cover fire.

Cross the room and go up the stairs on the
opposite side.  There's another blast door
opening on the far right hand side of this big
room, and a Covenant boarding party is starting
to charge through - about 4 Grunts and a Blue
Elite.  While you are taking them out, there is
another blast door open on the left hand side
of the room, and there are Covenant waiting in
ambush here; once again a Blue Elite and his
Grunts.  But their ambush is going to fail
because I just told you about it.

Once you have taken out this bunch of Covenant,
go down into the doorway on the right where this
last group waited in ambush and you will see
another stairway going up.  Take it.  Going
through the door on the right at the top of the
stairs, you will enter a hanger, and through
the plateglass wall on the far side, you will
see the Covenant boarding ship and the funnel
through which Covenant soldiers are entering
the Cairo.  This is the path the last group of
Covenant boarders followed.

You can also see another Earth Defense Platform
in the distance, and from the chatter Master
Chief is picking up on his communicator,
we learn it's called the Malta and it is
also under attack by boarders at the moment.

A pitched battle is being waged on the hanger
floor, and you need to join it fast before more
Covenant come through those funnels and
overwhelm the Marines.

Intially there will be a Blue Elite and few grunts
on the far left hand side of the room in the far
corner, close to where the purple-glowing end of
the boarding funnel from the Covenant ship can be
seen sticking through the glass.  They'll be right
in front of you when you come running in.

There are plenty of grenades on this landing, both
Frag and Plasma, so make sure you get a full
complement of each before jumping down to engage
the enemy.

As soon as you take them out, head down the glass
wall towards the other funnel at the far end, because
more Covenant boarders are on the way.

While you are moving down the plate glass window,
look outside as the Marine looking out the glass
swears as the Malta Earth Defense Platform suddenly
blows up.


This happens just after some hopeful dialogue by
Marines on that platform that the Covenant suddenly
broke off their attack and left.  The Marines thought
they had won the day, but now disaster has struck.

From the far end, now turn and face the blast door on
the opposite side of the room, with the Pelican between
you and it and get ready: another Covenant boarding
party soon comes charging into the room.

Take them out; with a well placed grenade or two you
can take the whole party down and avoid a protracted
fire-fight.

The blast door that just opened to let this now dead
Covenant boarding party into the hangar is now your
exit.

Turn left and move through the hazy smoke.  When
you round the corner, you will see turret gun between
two blast shields.  Also, you will see fire from a
plasma weapon coming through the open door ahead.

A Marine will be standing on the far side of this door,
taking cover.

Carefully peek around the corner of the doorway and
assess the situation.

Once again, through the plate glass that runs along the
wall on the left, you can see a Covenant Boarding Ship.
You can also see, over the large storage crates that
dot this room, several Grunts manning plasma cannons
from a walkway in the middle of the room.  Since they
are elevated they have a clear line-of-sight to the
entire room and will engage in fire supression to pin
advancing forces so that they can be flanked by the
Covenant roaming the floor.

Or, in plain English, these grunts have got the room
covered so they have to die first.

This is where the Battle Rifle with it's handy scope
comes into play.
Using three shot burts, take the Grunts out. The Marine
will fire to try to keep any Covenant from moving in
and getting a good shot at you while you are aiming
around the corner.

Once the Grunts on the walkway are dead, the Marine will
immediately charge into the room to engage the enemy.
Semper Fi, buddy!!!!!

If you are low on ammo for the Submachine Guns,
remember to backtrack and go get the ammo from
the gun lying by the body of the Marine behind the
blast shields outside.

Several Grunts and a Blue Elite will be on the hanger
floor somewhere, and once they have been dispatched
immediately a new boarding party will come jumping
out of the purple glowing funnel in the plate glass
wall.  A Red and Blue Elite and 3-4 Grunts!

If you are ready, you can chuck a grenade or two
right where they are landing and blow most of them
up.

Think that was easy?  After that boarding party is
dead, a THIRD one comes charging out of the funnel,
and the Red and Blue Elite with this bunch are much
smarter than their predecessors; they will use
cover and are very accurate with their weapons.

As soon as this last party is dispatched, turn and
look out the plate glass window; another space platform
called the Athens blows up.  Things are not looking
good.  The same thing happened to this last platform
that happened to the Malta several minutes back.  The
Covenant suddenly fled to their ships and left as just
as the Earth defenders were congratulating themselves
for winning the battle their platform and it's precious
MAC-gun blew up.

Cortana reveals that her readings of the explosions of
these space platforms reveals that the Malta and the
Athens blew up from the INSIDE

The Covenant must be planting bombs on the platforms!
This explains why they suddenly pulled back.  And if
they did that to the Malta and the Athens, then surely
they are planting a similar bomb on the Cairo right
now!!!!

At this point, another part of the level will load.


"Priority Shift"

Mission Objective: Find and disarm the
Bomb the Covenant have placed in the
Cairo's shipping area.

Those crafty Covenant bastards have planted a very
powerful bomb on the Cairo and it's all the way on
the other side of the platform.  You've got to fight
your way to it and disarm it.  All that's standing
between it and you is a horde of Covenant!  So let's
get to work!

Once your HUD becomes active again after the
introduction of the level part, note that there
are two sets of stairs leading down into the floor
in the middle of this hangar.

The doors down there, which where red-barred and
shut, now open, and the left hand one is swarming
with Covenant.  Use any available grenades and
snipe any stragglers.  Then descend the stairs.

Halfway down the narrow hallway on either side of
the shaft you are now in, lies a dead Marine with
pick-ups of ammo or weapons.

Note: When you approach the green-barred doors at
the far end, a checkpoint loads and the doors on both
sides open up; two Blue Elitescome down into the room.
Whichever one you kill first, the other one will
immediately turn his camoflauge on and come after you.

The fastest, easiest way to kill these two Blue Elites
is with grenades or dual-wielding the Submachine Guns.
Remember to move while you throw your grenades or
alternate your triggers  until they are down.

Once you are past them, the doors they came through lead
to a weapons bay beneath the Cairo main armory.  Ahead of
you, on either side of the room, are two platform lifts
for loading missles.  You will hear a Gunnery Sergeant
trying to fight off a Blue and Red Elite, but there's
nothing you can do; he dies every time, but he does drop
a shotgun for you.

Move up to one of the lifts and it will automatically
begin to open, and you can peek up the stairs into the
room.  Quickly spot where the two Elites are and throw
grenades at them until you run out.  It's duck and throw
for right now, because their fire is so accurate and so
fast; charging them will only get you killed.

If you can take one or both out with grenades, great.
If not, you have to switch to the SMG or the Battle
Rifle and jump up into the room, fire a burst at them,
and then run back down into the weapons bay below.
To confuse the Elites, alternate between the left and
right hand platforms.  Once they are both dead, there
is plenty of ammo lying around.  No grenades though,
so we will have to do alot of shooting for this next
part.

Get the shotgun lying on the floor if you want it.
Move around the tables in the room and you will
automatically pick up ammo for all the weapons
you're carrying.

Equip the Battle Rifle and slowly peek around the
blast shield set up in front of the Armory exit.

There is a Grunt manning a Plasma cannon on a
landing halfway down this next room, and he has
a big nasty Red Elite guarding him.  Try to snipe
them both.  Be on the lookout to your left because
soon three Grunts will come charging out of the open
doorway there.  Drop them and if you have a high shield
level, run out and pick up the grenades they drop
when they die.  You should get at least 2.

The Plasma cannon is your main concern; you must first
take out whoever is manning it and then worry about
the Red Elite.  Use the grenades you picked up. If
he's still standing, try to snipe him.  You can also
try to run down the corridor on the same side of the
room he is on and flank him  and take him out with
the shotgun, which is what I did.

Once he's down, Grunts will suddenly show up at the
very far end of the room high up and set up another
Plasma turret gun.  Use the Battle Rifle to snipe
them.

When the area is clear, move up and head to the doorway
on the lefthand side of the room that has the revolving
red light over it.

When you enter the doorway, there is a stairway to your
right, but be careful; a Grunt is covering it at the base
of the stairs with a Plasma turrent gun.  Take him out.
Oh, and the other Grunt and the Red Elite too.

You have to go up the stairs now, and stay in the doorframe
out of the middle because as the second pair of doors open
a Covenant boarding party will simultaneously enter this
next room from the other end and charge you aggressively.
If you have a grenade,  throw it into the group and take
cover back the way you came.  It won't kill the Red Elite
in this party, but should take out most of the Grunts.

Now using the door jamb for cover, use the Battle Rifle to
snipe any remainingGrunts and keep the Red Elite pinned as
you move up.  He will stay under coverwhile his shield
recharges if you hit him, so every time you hit him and
he retreats to recharge his shield, quickly move up and
take cover further into the room, keeping your Battle
Rifle trained on the far doorway.

When you are close enough, switch to your close range
weapon, the SMG or the Shotgun, and step around the doorway,
spot him, shoot him, and duck back behind the doorway.
If he charges you , retreat and fire at him.  You may have
to do this several times until he goes down.  Once he's
down, don't bother going down the stairs on the other side
of the doorway; it's a dead end.

Instead, head through the green-lit doors ahead.  You will
enter a room where you are facing a plate glass wall and
some computer panels.  You will hear some firing going on
to your left, so head that way.  It's the rest of the
medal-awards party; Miranda Keyes and Sgt. Johnson and a
few Marines, some in dress whites.  They are pinned and
it's a good thing Master Chief showed up.  You just took
out a covenant party to their rear and the one to their
front is advancing.

Stay behind cover and use the Battle Rifle to snipe the
Covenant coming up the far end of the hallway.  Be careful
with your fire discipline; several times during this game
Marines will be moving around you as they take cover and
return fire at the enemy, and if you are not paying
attention you could put a round into one of your own soldiers.

Once most of these Covenant are dead, the Marines will stand
up and advance down the hall, so check your fire.  Move
up the hall and get in front of them as you scan for
hostiles.  Suddenly another party of Covenant will come
running into view from your right.  Take them down hard.
Enter the room this charging band of Covenant just left
and the doors will suddenly close behind you and the next
part of this level will load and announce it's nifty title.

If you are fast enough, spot the dead Marine and the dead
grunt lying just inside this open doorway and run over to
both of them before the title loads.  Especially you want
to get the Grunt's plasma grenades; grenades have been hard
to come by on this level thus far, and they will really come
in handy in a second if you want to avoid a protracted
firefight.

"Authorized Personnel Only"

As soon as the title finishes loading, and the HUD becomes
active again, the door at the far end of this room will open
and two Blue Elites in space suits will enter!

GAME IMPROVEMENT!  The Elites now have jet propulsion
packs and space suits, something we never saw in Halo 1.
Even in outer space now Master Chief will have to be on the
alert!

These Astro-Elites are very mobile, and very good shots.
If you want the combat, stay behind cover, snipe at them
with the Battle Rifle to get them to retreat, and then
charge through the door and out into the outer surface
of Cairo to take them on in a gun battle.

Or you could simply chuck  several plasma grenades rapidly
at the spot they moving towards as the doors first open
and they charge into the room. That's the quick way to
take these two nasty aliens out.

If you fail to take them out in this room, they will
back up and fly out into space.  You will have to follow
them and take them out on Cairo's outer surface. They are
trying to stop you from reaching the Covenant bomb,
so you have no time to waste.

The key to defeating these Astro-Elites is constant
movement, ducking behind cover, and firing short bursts
at them to get their shields downbefore you engage in
a final attack.

At the open doorway, jump down onto the Cairo's surface
and turn and run into what looks like a metal railroad
car that is colored orange and open on both ends.  Head
to the opposite end, and then stop and carefully check your
opening and your motion tracker. Many times one of the Astro
Elites will be right outside hovering and waiting for you
to show yourself.  If you have a plasma grenade, try to stick
him with it. Othewise, hit him with a short burst and take
off running along the wall to the right and follow it.

The doorway you need to get through is on the far end of this
wall, so keep following it while looking out for the other
Astro Elites.  If you take fire, take cover.  There are
plenty of box like structures around, so there's no reason
to return fire in the open and have your shield taken down.

Unfortunately, these Astro-Elites know where you're going,
and atleast one, possible two is going to be guarding the
door; you'll know when you're near it because you'll see
a red revolving light on the wall you are following.

Try sneaking up on them first from behind and hitting them
in the back with a Plasma Grenade and running for it.  If
that doesn't work, take them down with your mid-range weapon.
Their return fire is too accurate to exchange at close range.

When all the Astro Elites are dead, head through the door.
After passing through the second set of doors, you will see
a dead Spec Ops Marine on the floor in his black fatigues
and his cool looking visor-helmet.

He will also have dropped a Battle Rifle, so you get to
replenish your ammo for it, which is good because you're
about to use it....a lot.

Head through the next double doors and you will see a Marine
taking cover behind a blast shield on the left while the
open expanse of the Cairo's elevator deck is seen to the
right.  The Covenant are using the elevator to bring a
war party to your level, so get ready.

First come the Drones, a swarm of locust-like creatures
that mostly fire plasma pistols .

GAME IMPROVEMENT!  A new Covenant speicies is now
introduced;

Drones seem to function as scouts and snipers and
their flying attacks can be very disoreinting.
Fortunately, they don't have shields and will die
with only a few hits.

The only problem is, there are about 15 Drones,
and if you aren't careful,you can use up all your
Battle Rifle ammo taking them out.  That would be
bad.

You see, as soon as most of the Drones are dead,
the elevator is going to come into view. This is
an elevator which is used to lift Pelicans and very
large objects into the hangers, so it is quite large.
And there is a party of Covenant on it; about 6 Grunts
and a Red and Blue Elite.

Use the Battle Rifle and it's remaining ammo to snipe
the Grunts before they can get off the Elevator. The
Elites will take cover mostly, jumping out or on top
of the crates on the elevator to take shots at you.
If you run out of ammo, go back to the dead Spec Ops
Marine that you passed; he may have some. You can also
exchange weapons with the Marine fighting beside you.

To do that, move over to him and position yourself
next to him so that the white 'Exhange Weapon' graphic
comes up.  To exchange weapons, press and HOLD the
blue 'X' button.

These Elites are tough. Your best bet in taking them
out is to use grenades.  Some can be found off to the
right of the room you are in, where another dead Marine
is lying next to a crate.  Run and get his Frag
grenades and lob them at the Elites.  Then charge
in and finish them with the Shotgun.

Once the Elites are dead, the Elevator will have descended
to the lowest point, and on the far side of the elevator,
a door appears.  Go towards it.  Right in front of the
door are two dead Marines and a dead Grunt, all of whom
have dropped some ordinance you can use.  Take what you
want and soon the door in front of you will open up.
Make sure you are taking cover to the left or right of
the doorway when it opens up, because there are three
more Astro-Elites on the far side of this huge energy
spindle that is dropping up and down, generating energy for
the Earth Defense Platforms huge MAC Gun.

One of these Astro-Elites is manning a Plasma Turret Gun,
so he has to die first.  As you fire on him, watch your
shield level because you will be taking fire. Duck back
behind the doorway when your shield level gets too low.
I would not try to advance until this Plasma Turret Gun is
out of action; the fire from it is very rapid and very
accurate.  The other two Astro Elites will take off and
start to move in on you; if you can drop the one manning
the Turrent Gun, they will hesitate and break off their
attack.  Bring down a second one and the third will
retreat to guard the door on the far side of the
platform, trying to prevent you from going through it.
The shotgun will be very effective at close range.

Once you get to the door, the next, and final part, of this
first level will load:

"Return To Sender"

You take a ride downard in an elevator, and when the doors
open (make sure you're facing the right way) you discover
a very large party of Covenant guarding the ticking bomb
you've come to disarm.

They don't seem interested in just leaving it; apparently
theyknow you are coming and intend to stand there and make
surenothing interferes with the bomb going off, even though
that means sacrificing themselves.

Your job is simple: kill them all without them killing you
first.  Here's where you use all the skills you've learned
in battle thus far.

First throw a grenade or two if you have them into the
biggest mass of Covenant, and take cover.  You have a
few seconds until a Blue Elite charges you, so use them
to take cover behind the large crate in front of the
door you just entered by, and snipe the Grunts first.
They throw grenades and with them out of the way you
can contrate on the 4 Elites in this room.

From behind the crate, look to the left - there is
a open vented area to the other side of the room.
Go through it and you will find two dead Marines
who died so there could be more weapons and ammo
lying here for you to pick up. Don't let their
deaths be in vain!  Take their ordinance and kill
Covenant with it!

Note that there are also stairs you can climb up
to get an elevated look at the room.

If you have a Battle Rifle, you can try sniping
the Elites.  Be warned however - the rate of fire
from these enemies is very fast and accurate and
if they pin you in a corner the fire will be continuous
so they can keep you stuck there while they move up
and flank you.

Throw grenades, keep moving, and retreat if necessary.

Once the Elites are dead, a very great cutscene will
load. Those of you who saw the Halo 2 E3 trailer will
recognize some of the footage of this cutscene, and
see how it's been altered to fit the plot of the
story.  It's very different now from what was seen
two years ago.

Master Chief decides to give the Covenant back their
bomb, so he drags it to a launch bay and literally
launches himself and the bomb out the open bay doors,
guiding the heavy bomb to a big Covenant ship and
arming it just before pushing off and falling towards
the Earth.

The bomb goes off with spectacular results, demcimating
most of the Covenant Fleet.

Meanwhile, Master Chief expertly free-falls so as to
make a pefect landing on the hull of Miranda Keye's
own ship.

Sgt Johnson says, "For a brick, he flew pretty good!"

Miranda then says it's time to take this fight to the
surface, and thats where we see the cutscene end, with
the ship descending.


And that's the First Level!  What were the major high
points?

1. Introduction of Dual Wielding
2.  First meeting with Astro-Elites
3.  First meeting with Drones
4.  First  opportunity to use the Submachine Gun and
the Battle Rifle
and the new Magnum Pistol
5.  Master Chief engages in combat in outer space for
the first time.
6.  Re-introduction of Sgt. A. J. Johnson
7.  Introduction of Miranda Keyes

Please note: This was a very direct walkthrough of
the level.  There are several alternative routes
that can be used; also, there are places Master
Chief can get to and explore that have no bearing
on the story campaign.  I once spent over an
hour exploring the outer surface of the Cairo after
I dispatched the three Astro-Elites and before I
finally took the elevator down to take out the bomb.
Some of the views on this level are spectacular,
so I encourage you to spend some time exploring
and looking around.


Level IV:  Outskirts

Rally scattered Marines, clear hostile
contacts from the old city.

In the opening cutscene the level, we see three
Pelican Drop Ships coming to the surface of
the Earth, where  they fly into thecity known as
New Mombasa.  The city is under direct attackby
the Covenant; as a matter of fact, the Admiral back
up in space wants to know why the Covenant chose
THIS particular city to land while ignoring the rest of
the planet.

And it just so happens that Earth Defense Forces
intelligencehas learned there is someone on the main
Covenant flagshiporbiting the planet that can tell
them - the Prophet Regret!

Seems this important Covenant leader is on the flagship
and is so paniced after over half his fleet is wiped out
by the bombMaster Chief 'returned' to them that he's
frantically giving himself away by radioing for help.

Master Chief is tasked with finding the Prophet Regret
and learning from him the reason for the Covenant's
interestin New Mombasa.

While this dialogue is going one, we see the Pelicans
swoopingpast a pair of Marine sniper/scouts who warn
that the intended landing zone ahead is full of hostiles
and who reccommend aborting the landing.

It's Sgt. Johnson's call, and he says they're going in.

Just at this moment, a huge spider-like machine rounds
the cornerup ahead - it's a SCARAB!

GAME IMPROVEMENT! - The Covenant now have an
answer to the Scorpion Battle Tank.  Sanding almost 300
feet high and looking very insect-like, the Scarab has a
huge plasma cannon mounted on this 'head'.

As we watch, the Scarab fires it's main plasma cannon
and knockstwo of the Pelicans from the sky.  Master
Chief is stunned, his vison blurred from the
concussion of the Pelican's hitting the earth.

Then he recovers, and sees the other Marine survivors
of the crashcharging out of the Pelican and taking
cover position in front of a doorway.

The title then loads, and it's a humorous one:

"They'll Regret That Too"

Mission Objective: Defend the Marines until
help arrives.

Move up and go through the door the Marines are in
front of.

You start this level with the Battle Rifle equipped,
so be ready touse it as you turn the corner behind
the door.  A Grunt is slowly making it's way up a
flight of stairs.  Send him back down thestairs dead.

At the foot of the stairs is another doorway.  Now
on theNormal or the Easy setting you could just
charge out there and run and gun and shoot everything
you saw.

Not on Heroic or Legendary.  You get shot 3 times in a
row you are one dead Spartan on this level, so instead
of charging throughthe doorway, stop, take up a position
on the left hand side of of it and peek through with the
Battle Rifle's scope.  A Grunt or two will be in sight.
Drop them, and the rest of the Covenantin the courtyard
outside will come running into your sights.

The doorway will give you some cover as you pick them
off.

I sniped 5 Grunts from the doorway, and then my Marines
went charging through the door and took up positions in
the courtyard.

Just like in real combat, you have an advantage if
you hold the high ground on the battlefield.  So
notice on the far side of the courtyard is a bombed
out building with a second story.  You need to get
over there and go up some stairs so you can cover
the courtyard and the street and buildings adjacent
to it with your guns.

As you move toward the building, several Jackals will
fire onyou from the right.  Take them down, and as
you enter the doorway of the bombed out 2 story
building, you will encounter a Red Elite and his
Grunts coming down the stairsyou intend to go up.
Deal with them harshly.

As you are going up the stairs a checkpoint will
load, and a big mean nasty Red Elite will appear on
the top of one of the buildings acrossthe street
and he will JUMP all the way across and land on
the landing of the building you are in.  Take
him out but be careful not to accidently kill
any of your Marines, since every time I play
this level one of my Marines engages this Red
Elite at very close range.

Besides the Red Elite, Jackals will also take up
sniping positions on the rooftops across the
street and use beam rifles to cover the area.
Use your Battle Rifle to end the threat.

Once  the rooftops are clear, you Marines will
take up positions on the landing and set up a
turret gun on the corner covering the
courtyard.

Right after this some Covenantwill come up the
stairs behind you - drop them.

At the same time, a party of Covenant will run
out between some buildings across the street.
Take them down........and the next two that
follow them.

Then a bunch of Covenant will run through a
doorway and take up positions behind cover in
the Courtyard and begin sniping at your Marines.
And as soon as you take them out.........Drones
show up.  Lots of them.  And in the middle of
all this a Covenant drop ship will show up and
drop off some Elites and Jackals and Grunts to
add to the confusion.

You will have firefights going on all over the
place.  I was remindedof the American boys
stranded overnight in Mogadishu in the Black Hawk
Down incident.  Everywhere you turn somebody is
charging the building and attacking it.

Remember to move, watch your ammo and take cover
if your shield goes low.

And if you survive all that, that just means you
get to help take out the two Hunters that show
up then.  They will come bursting through
a metal door and take up positions in the
courtyard below.

This combat with the Hunters never seems to go the
same way twice.  One time my Marines took them out
easy with sniper shots. Another time we were all
running for our lives for over 20 minutes as
nobody had any grenades left and the Hunters never
gave our sniper a clear shot.

They did, however, come into the building and shoot
theirfuel rod cannons at us through a hole in the
floor.  Another time,they came up the stairs after
us.

If the Hunters prove crafty and it's taking awhile
to drop them, here's a strategy:  Wait until they
are firing at your Marines and are pre-occupied.
Jump off the landing and RUN to the doorway you
came through to enter the courtyard at the
beginning of the level.Most times, neither Hunter
will notice you, and if they do, they don't
chase you through the doorway.

Wait for a minute, then sneak through the doorway
again and usingcover, find the Hunters.  Most times
they will be standing with theirbacks to you
looking up at the Marines on the landing.
If you can pick up a grenade from a fallen
Covenant, great.  Throw it so it lands on one of
the Hunter's back on the orange section.  If not,
use the Submachine Gunto riddle the Hunter's
orange spot with bullets.  He won't drop the first
time you do this, so when he turns around run like
hell for the doorway again.

If you wait a minute, most times they will forget
about you and turn and face the building.  One may
move closer to the door, but will keep his back to
you most of the time.

If you succeed in taking one out, it really makes
the other one angry.

The second one will now keep a watch on the doorway
you are running in and out of.  To take him out,
you simply have to run all over the courtyard and
pick up a few plasma grenades and then run back
through the doorway.

He came close to tagging me several times, but never
hit me.  (Master Chief always seems to move a LITTLE
FASTER whenever there's a Hunter around).

From the doorway,wait until he turns his back again,
and run up and stick a plasma grenade to his back.

Another alternative strategy is, if you are a good shot
with the sniper rifle, take it from the Marine who has
it and use yourself as human bait to draw the Hunters
into sight by sticking you head over the landing
so they can see you.

They will fire at the spot you were standing at when you
showed yourself, so make that spot on one side of the
building. Then staying under cover and away from the
landing's edge, move to the opposite side of the building
and spot the Hunters - you should be seeing them from
the side and slightly from behind.

Aim for their vulnerable orange spots and drop them.

Mission Objective: Rendezvous with the Pelican.

A Pelican dropship bringing fresh troops into the battle
can't land because it's Landing Zone (LZ) is too hot.
You and Sgt. Johnson need to clear the LZ so this Pelican
can land with it's desperately needed troops.

Once the Hunters are dead, follow Sgt. Johnson through
the door the Hunter's burst through when they made their
entrance.  Follow past the fires and thesmoke and turn
right where the alleyway ends.  Sgt. Johnson will be
standingin front of a corner, so carefully peek around it.

About 50 yards away will be several Jackals in the open,
but be careful. Those guys are only bait to lure you into the
open so the jackals hidden in the shadows of the bombed
out building further back can snipe you with their beam
rifles.  One hit and your shield is gone; a second hit before
that shield recharges will kill you.

If you have the sniper rifle, snipe the sniping snipers.  They
have to go first because their fire is much more accurate
than the jackals armed with plasma pistols in the foreground.

From there switch to the Battle Rifle and take out the 6 or so
Jackals moving around in the open.

Once they are all dead, the Pelican will come swooping in and
drop some Marines, who join your party.

Mission Objective:  Find the Marines from the second downed
Pelican.

Master Chief is tasked with learning what became of the
second Pelican thatcrashed when the Scarab fired, so move
forward with these Marines until the checkpoint loads.  You
will see a very small square-shaped opening with  an
alleyway revealed around the corner to the right.

There are two dead Marines lying here, so check them for
pickups BEFORE you stick your head around the corner.
There are lots of enemies up ahead and you need to be careful
about exposing yourself.

Jackals with beam rifles, Drones with plasma guns, and Elites
with Energy Swords are just some of what awaits you around
that corner.

So don't just go charging around the corner.  Sneak a glance
and take out the Jackal that is closest, who is patrolling about
20 feet down the alleyway.  Once he's down, believe me, you
are going to have plenty of targets.

Once again, Jackals will expose themselves on the ground in
the lighted area so Jackals with beam rifles hiding in the
shadows way at the back can snipe you.

Use the sniper rifle to take out the Jackal snipers and their
beam rifles.  If you want, there is a beam rifle lying near
the two dead Marines so you can give these Jackals a
taste of their own medicine!

(I always like to say 'How do YOU like it? Huh? How does it
feel NOW?! whenever I kill a Covenant with one of their
own weapons)

Three or four Marines will then join  you in shooting at the
enemy, which is good because there are plenty of enemy to
shoot at.  About 15 Drones will suddenly join the battle, and
so you and the Marines will be shooting at the Drones and
Jackals.

Once they are all dead, the Marines always automatically
advance. There's no way I can find to stop them.  Why
would I want to stop them? Because as they advance two
Energy Sword carrying Elites come jumping down from a
rooftop and kill all of them, that's why!

Shoot at these Elites from a distance to get their shields
down and then toss grenades to finish them off.  If they
charge.....................RUN!
One hit from their swords and you are gone.  At close range
with these guys the Submachine Gun works alot better than
the Battle Rifle, which has a slower rate of fire.

One charged me and I threw a plasma grenade that stuck right
to his face.  I was backing up fast at the time, so it worked.
And I also got a pretty good view of him blowing up.

Once the Elites are down................take cover!  A Jackal
will appear on one of the rooftops on the right hand side of
the alleyway and the fire from his beam rifle is very accurate
and deadly.  Use the Sniper Rifle or the Battle Rifle to snipe
him back.  He deserves it.  After all, he's on YOURplanet
and he could have stayed home, right?

Once he's dead, a checkpoint will load.

On the lefthand side halfway down, is a smaller, branching
alleyway where there are a bunch of Jackals and Grunts.
Clear the alleyway; you can use the stairs on the opposite
side of the alleyway's opening to get an elevated look of the
area.  There will also be a dead Marine in a little alcove
with a Submachine Gun waiting to be picked up if you want
it.  He's close to the foot of the stairs.

There's another, more hidden pickup spot at the end of the
first alleyway.  Instead of turning left to follow the new
alleyway, just keep going straight.  You will come to a spot
with fires where a big bomb hit.  Jump to the right where
there is a balcony like structure and you will find a dead
Marine with various pickups.  Sniper ammo, Battle Rifle
Ammo, and a Magnum handgun.

Head down the lefthand branching alleyway and you
have several options.  You can go straight, to where the
white truck can be seen at the end, or take the doorway
halfway down on the right.  I'd take the doorway since
this allows you to flank the Red Elite hiding further
down the alleyway.

You pass a fire burning in the corner, and come to another
doorway, through which you can see a lefthand portion of
the alleyway you couldn't earlier.  You can see a Red Elite
waiting there in ambush. If he heard you moving around,
he will head straight for the doorway you are now looking
through.

Hit him with some grenades and then retreat, because lots
of Grunts and Jackals are going to show up.  One Jackal
will be running around on a balcony above your head; the
other will have a beam rifle he'll try to snipe you with.

Shoot zem!  Shoot zem both! (Sorry, just saw Raiders of
the Lost Ark again the other day.................)

A Blue Elite and some Grunts are in the left hand area as
well; a well placed Grenade will kill the Grunts and take
the Elite's shield down so you can finish him with bullets.

Think that was easy? Great, here comes the Red Elite
with his gaggle of Grunts, and boy, is he pissed.  He
almost got me, too.  His shots are very accurate and
very damaging and he attacks without warning.

I retreated all the way back down the alley, went to
the stairs on the far side, equipped the sniper rifle,
and slowly moved up the stairs until I had a view of
Mr. Pissed Red Elite.  Two rounds in the head,
and he wasn't pissed any more.

The Grunts you can take out with the Battle Rifle,
but be careful of any plasma grenades they throw
at you.

Moving up, you have two avenues open to you:
the end of the alleywaywhere the front of the white
truck sticks out into view, or the lefthand side you
just cleaned out of Covenant, which leads up past
the white truck.

It matters which one you take and I'll prove it to you.
Run around the white truck for a second and don't
stop until you are back in the cover of the alleyway.
A Jackal will shoot at you with a beam rifle and blow
the truck up.

Move up the left hand side opening where you can
see some of the rooftops.  This guy's on a rooftop
somewhere to the upper left and you need to find
him and drop him.

There are some dead Marines on the ground as you
move up to some red vans lying on their sides.
Guess what? The Jackal sniper is now right over
your head.

Carefully move out from the building and find him
and put a round in his oddly shaped head.

Now, you can use both avenues to move to the Hotel
Zanzibar, where some Marines are waiting to guide
you to the beach.  (Note: on Normal and Easy, the
battle between the Covenant and the Marines is always
still ongoing when I arrive; on Heroic and Legendary,
it's always over; is this the same for everybody else?)

It's past the white truck, turning left at the end of
the alley.  You will see a flickering neon sign over
the spacious open door area that says 'Hotel Zanzibar'.

Run up and the Marine will tell you the Pelican you
are looking for is on the beach and he's going to guide
you to it.

First however, you and he need to make it through
the darkened hotel as various Covenant enemies try to
stop you.

It's very dark in here, so turn on the flashlight.
(Press  the white button on the Xbox controller)
You will see blue plasma bolts hitting the wall
ahead just before the Covenant charge, so you can
either throw grenades at the far end of the hallway
so the Covenant will run into them, or you can hold
back and try to shoot them down.  Either way works,
but if you get in a firefight with them they always
seem to kill one of the Marines.

As you arrive at the end of the hall, you can see
outside again, and a checkpoin will load.  In the
distance, a Covenant drop ship appears and will
drop Covenant soldiers to contest  your retaking
of the downed Pelican.

Help the Marines here stay alive and take down the
Covenant.  I simply waited inside the Hotel, waited for
the dropship to leave, then shot all the Grunts as they
waddled comically down the steps in front of me.
When the single Elite ran by, so intent on the Marines
out in the open that he never saw me, I emptied a clip
from the Battle Rifle into his back and took him out.

(Yeah, I shot him in the back. So what? Hey, it's WAR,
all right? I am not a police officer who has to shout
a warning first.  Like that Marine in Fallujah that
shot a terrorist only pretending to be dead, it's my
call and if you don't like it, tough. Anenemy that
is faking death is not surrendering and is still a
combatant, and a Red Elite that didn't see me as he
went by is a dead Elite.  Got it?)

On the beach level, you will see a Warthog taking
on several Ghosts driven by Elites.  Try to snipe
the Elites so you can get a Ghost for yourself.
Be warned, however:  If the Ghost is too damaged
it will begin throwing itself around and then it's
engine will explode!

An alternative strategy: Board the Ghost and throw
the Elite off of it!

Wait until the Ghost has shot by you and is slowing
down and turning around.  If you jump up on the
Ghost and hit the blue 'X' button, Master Chief will
throw the Elite off the Ghost and drop into the
driver's seat.

(GAME IMPROVEMENT: Boarding and stealing
vehicles could not be done in Halo 1. Also, all
vehicles now show damage, and some explode when
damaged too much.  Parts of vehicles will fly off
under fire, and AI drivers will actually change
their driving tactics based on how damaged their
vehicle is)

(GAME IMPROVEMENT: The Ghost now has a boost
drive; press the left trigger while flying it and
it will go very fast.  The only drawback is that
the cannons will not fire while this boost is
engaged.  This is very handy for doing fast turns,
avoiding enemy fire, and just basically running
for it when the ol' shield gets low)

(GAME IMPROVEMENT: If you opt to take the Warthog
down the beach, there are two new features to this
vehicle: the emergency brake and the horn.  If you
want to pull a fast 'bootlegger's turn' and turn
quickly to face the way you just came, move the
left thumbstick around while squeezing the left
trigger.  And if you want Marines to hop aboard,
squeeze the right trigger and the horn will sound.)

Kill any Covenant that are around the down Pelican
on the beach.  There is also an abandoned Ghost
there to, so if you haven't gotten one yet, here's
your chance.

Mission Objecitve:  Destroy the Covenant on
the shoreline.

Follow the Warthog down the beach.  On the left
past the pier is a huge Covenant Artillery cannon
being guarded by two Red Elites with Ghosts and a
Jackal with a beam gun in a floating watchtower.

(Note: if the Marines in the Warthog get taken out,
simply drive the Warthog back to the hotel and
sound the horn; Marines will come out and man
the LAG and the passenger seat.  To sound the
horn pull the right trigger while in the driver's
seat.)

Once all the Covenant guarding the Artillery gun
are dead, a new batch will come running out from
behind some railroad cars towards the back where
there is an opening.

Two Elites and a bunch of Grunts will contest your
desire to go any further in this game.  Show them
how you feel about that.

Go past this group of now dead Covenant, and you
will enter another section of the beach where more
Covenant guard a second Artillery Gun.  There's
only one Ghost to worry about, and two Red Elites.
Piece of cake, right?

Well just when things were going so well for
you.............a Covenant Drop ship shows up. Only
this ship doesn't drop Grunts and Jackals and Elites
on foot - it drops pairs of Ghosts piloted by Elites.

But that dropship isn't the only Covenant ship in
the vicinity.  Right in the middle of this fight a
Covenant ship in orbit sends a bunch of Elite Drop
Canisters right into the middle of the beach.  Out
comes about 6 or 7 very ready to fight Elites.

I like to retreat with the Warthog this time and then
get out so the Marines can drive it themselves while
I go back and find a Ghost.  It's much easier on this
next part if you have two vehicles in the fight rather
than one.  The Marines do a good job of shooting
and moving in their Warthog, so they take out their
share of the enemy.

You need to remember to watch for the Warthog
while you are taking out the enemy vehicles and
ground troops.  No friendly fire incidents here,
Spartan!

Around the next pier is the third and final area of
Covenant, and there is a building near the entrance
with Marines taking cover on the roof. Leave your
vehicle and go up the ladder inside the building to
the roof.

There are a bunch of panicked Marines and a rocket
launcher!  With the Rocket Launcher you can shoot
at the Covenant drop ship trying to take out your
buddies Warthog and knock it's cannons off.  If it
leaves, you can send rockets at the fresh group of
Ghosts that are attacking.  Or the fresh group of
Elites that come out of the fresh group of Elite
Drop Canisters.  It's all up to you.

There's also a Jackal in a new watchtower with a
very accurate beam rifle, so you need to do
something about him.  I gave him a rocket.

Once all the Elites in the beach are dead, the
Warthog will drive up a rugged stone embankment
and enter a underground highway tunnel.  Follow in
the Ghost and be ready for two Elites who will
suddenly show up in Ghosts.  Take them out,
and then use the Ghost to proceed down the highway.

Mission Objective: Take the Highway Tunnel to the
bridge.

There's a fresh Ghost sitting abandoned at the
end of this first section of the highway, so you
can exchange vehicles if you're present Ghost is
too damaged.

Next, take the opening to the left and go down
the highway; the new part of the level loads and
shows the title:

"Speed Zone Ahead"

Up the highway you will soon see the Warthog
beginning to engage some Covenant.  These
Marines know their stuff; they take out several
Jackals, an Elite and an Elite driving a Ghost, and
if you don't get in there soon you won't even get
a piece of the action.

Once the Covenant roadblock is a smoldering ruin, the
Warthog will advance, so you follow it.  A second
roadblock appears, and you want to concentrate on
the plasma turrent gun that is elevated on the walkway
to the left. Take it out before it can concentrate any
fire on the Warthog.  About this time, a SECOND
Warthog usually shows up and joins the fun.

As you advance down the highway again, you will
come upon a broken section sticking up;  as you
prepare to drive over it, the Drones attack!  It's
the Attack of the Drones!  (Great title for a movie,
huh?)

The two LAG guns take most of these guys out.
Ahead is another roadblock; the Marines will
mostly handle this, and watch how they use the
Warthog to move most of the obstacles out of the
way.

(Note: I actually hopped into the driver's seat of one
of the Warthogs when they stopped advancing and
drove up to this next roadblock thinking I had cleared
it.  Well there was a Jackal still alive hiding behind
one of the Covenant crates. He started taking shots
at the second Warthog.  I simply drove my Warthog
into the crate, moving it into the Jackal, until he was
crushed by it against the over turned bus behind him
and killed.  Way to go, Bungie!)

As you top the rise beyond this last roadblock,
watch closely up ahead. You will suddenly see a
Warthog jump through a hole in the Highway
tunnel roof and land on the highway.  It is immediately
destroyed by a huge plasma blast.  Poor bastards!
Move up and look up quickly through the hole.
It's that #$#$%$#  Scarab again, the one that shot you
down!  Now quickly get ready, because two Ghosts
are coming for the stranded Marines on the walkway
to the right.

With the Warthogs two LAGs though, these Ghosts
aren't much of a problem.

Further ahead there are Covenant gathered around a
great big Purple Ghost tank; these are slow vehicles
that carry cannons and have a Ghost held in a
compartment in their middle.

Take it out, but watch out for the plasma cannons
mounted on top of these Ghost Tanks.  After you
take this one out, further on down the Highway you
will encounter 3 more, and the fire from cannon's
mounted on these is intense.  If you're driving one
of the Warthogs, try to stay just close enough that
the Marine on the LAG can engage the rearmost
Ghost Tank, but don't get so close that the plasma
cannon's pound you unmercifully.

One by one the Ghost Tanks will blow up; they may
stop and an Elite will try to run to the Ghost and
come after you, but so far none have successfully
pulled that off.

At the end of this latest Highway tunnel section
is another roadblock of Covenant with plasma turrets
and Ghosts.  If your two Warthogs weren't able to
knock out that last Ghost Tank, it will drive up to the
far wall and park itself, joiniong it's plasma cannon to
the firepower of the Ghosts, turret guns and the Elites
on foot.

Keep moving, take the cannons and turret guns out
first, then concentrate on the ground troops.  If you
get hit, simply drive away and wait for your shield
to come back up.

Once all of these Covenant are dead, head past them
up the rise of the road and you will suddenly see the
end of the tunnel appear ahead.

You've done it! You've reached the Bridge!  Now
the REAL fun is going to start!


Level V: Metropolis

Take the Bridge and drive into the city's center.

Ladies Like Grinding Treads

Mission Objective:  Crush Covenant resistance on the
bridge.

A cutscene ensues in which the ever irrepressible
Sgt. Johnson shows up in a Pelican and has very
thoughtfully brought a Scorpion Tank with him.

Which is great because that &*%%@!#$!@# Scarab just
passed by and blew through a platoon of Marines, of
whom there are only two survivors.

When one of the Marines wants to retreat, Sgt.
Johnson stops him and lets this new generation
of Marines know just how blessed they are - when
he joined the Corps all they had was two sticks
and a rock!  And they all had to share the rock!

After this little bit of 'encouragement' he lets
everyone know that while the Scarabs are tough,
they ain't invincible.  They've run simulations,
you see.

Er....ah....simulations?

Anyway, it's time to go to work, Spartan!  You have
a choice of the Scorpion Tank or the Warthog sitting
over there on the right.

Only take the Warthog if you REALLY want a challenge
on this level.  Things are far easier in the Tank.

If you take the Warthog, the key will be constant
movement.  I found this works better when you drive
it yourself instead of one of the Marines, because
while the AI is really quite improved in this game
over the last one, there are still places where the
Marine driver will drive into something and pause
for a few seconds before backing up - and this level
is going to be so intense, you do not want your
vehicle stopped at any time.

Taking the Warthog also means the enemy will get
closer to you than if you took the Tank; the Tank's
cannon has a longer reach than the Warthog's LAG.

And obviously, the armor of the tank gives you much
better protection than the Warthog does, though the
Marines are more exposed as they sit on the sides
of the Tank.

If you make it halfway down the bridge and then the
enemy manages to disable your vehicle, you will have
to either continue with any surviving Marines on foot
or turn back and retreat to get the other vehicle at
the point where you started.

You can also steal a Ghost from one of the enemy, if you
get close enough.

So you have several options here.  Most people will opt
to take the Tank, but keep in mind the Warthog and Ghost
stealing is also an option.

Whichever vehicle you choose, head down the bridge and get
ready because right away you will see multiple pairs of Ghosts
making their way down the bridge towards you.

If you are in the Tank, engage them from a distance with the
cannon and turn the machine gun on any that manage to survive long
enough to get close.  Your Marines will also help; one has a
rocket launcher and he's a pretty good shot with it.

If you are in the Warthog, you will have to let the enemy get
closer before engaging them, and here's where all the wrecked
vehicles on the bridge really come in handy.  You can dart behind them
and lay in ambush for the Ghosts, moving in and out from behind cover.

When taking the Warthog, before you move down the bridge, make sure
the Marine with the rocket launcher gets in the side seat.  If he's the
one that jumps on the turret, go over and make him get off by holding
down the blue 'X' button and manning the LAG yourself.  You may have
to make the female Marine get out of the side seat a few times, but it
is important that the rocket launcher be in play if you are going to have
a real chance to make it to the other side of the bridge.

When you are 1/4 of the way down the bridge a Wraith tank will begin
firing at you from it's position 3/4ths of the way down the bridge.

The key to avoiding the Wraith Tank's fire is to KEEP MOVING.  If you
pause your tank for even a few seconds, or get stuck trying to push
a overturned vehicle out of your path, he will zero in on you and drop
a huge blast of super-hot plasma right on top of you.  One direct hit in
the Warthog, and you all die.  In the Tank, just the Marines will die from
the first blast; a second hit will kill  you.

Keep moving at all times and take out the many Ghosts that come
swarming down the bridge.  Soon you will see the Wraith Tank moving from
side to side in the distance as it fires at you.  Start taking shots at
it with the Tanks's cannon as soon as you see it, because the sooner you
knock this enemy weapon out of the fight the better.  If you're in the
Warthog, keep moving and circling and even retreating quickly so the
Wraith gunner will never get a good fix on you.

Although the Warthog moves faster than the tank, it has to get closer to
do real damage to the Wraith, and it will take longer for the LAG gun to
disable it.

The key to taking out the Wraith tank with the Warthog is to NOT STAY IN
FRONT OF IT BUT DRIVE PAST IT AND THEN CIRCLE IT.

If you try to play hide-and-seek with it using crashed vehicles the way
you did with the Ghosts, it will take you out easily with it's main
cannon.

When you are close enough, the Wraith's plasma guns will begin firing at
you.  Just keep moving and drive right on past this Wraith and it will
begin to turn around to find  you again.  Of course, by the time it
finishes turning around, you'll have made a turn and.......driven
right by it again the other way.  And again of course, this entire time
your Marine manning the LAG will have shot this Wraith with a couple
hundred rounds.  Four or five seconds of sustained fire from the LAG and
the Wraith will blow up.

4 Ghosts will also quickly show up when you get close to the Wraith,
so don't relax when the Wraith goes up; keep moving until all the
Ghosts are out of action.  Then watch for the Covenant Drop ships that
will begin flying by and who will take shots at you with their cannons.

This will be followed by some Banshees and a few more Ghosts.  If things
get too hot, you can always back up and get some cover from a broken down
bus or barricade.

When you approach the far side of the bridge, another Marine will show up
with a rocket launcher, which is great because 4 Banshees are going to
appear and begin trying to strafe you from the air.  If you are driving
the Tank, this new Marine will hop aboard as a passenger. If you're in the
Warthog, he'll stay on foot and give you assistance, so be careful you
don't run him over.

If in the Tank, simply back up behind a barricade and practice your long-
range cannon skills and knock the Banshees out the air from a distance.
Aim slightly in front of these flying Banshees and get a feel for how much
you have to lead them before firing.  It takes two hits to knock most of
them out the air, and you will see the Banshee go spinning off in one
direction while it's hapless former pilot, a Blue Elite, will be seen
desperately and futilely waving his arms and legs as he falls to the
hard concrete below with a SPLAT!

If in the Warthog, simply keep driving around and the Marine on the LAG
and the Marines with their rocket launchers will try to knock the Banshees
out of the air.  Use the emergency brake alot to quickly change direction,
as this befuddles the Elites flying the Ghosts and Banshees so they can't
give you any accurate return fire.

When you pass the last barricade on the bridge, and see the toll booth ahead
of you, several more Ghosts will show up, along with several Banshees - and
TWO more Wraith tanks!  The key to surival here is to work your way from
the top down.

If you try to move in and take out the Ghosts and Wraith Tanks without
dealing with the Banshees first, you'll be pounded hard from the air and
will have little chance of success.

Pull back and target the Banshees first.  Any Ghosts that get too close your
Marine on the LAG can deal with them.

If in the Tank, target the Banshees with the cannon.  Then move in and take
out any remaining Ghosts.

The trick to taking the Wraiths out is to keep moving and keep firing at them;
it takes 2, sometimes 3 good hits to blow them up with the Scorpion's cannon.

If in the Warthog, park it behind some cover and hop out and get the Marine
with the Rocket Launcher to give it to you.  You should have at least 2-3
rockets in it.  Also, if the soldier who joined you later is still alive, he
has some rocket rounds he can give you.

If the rockets don't work, try driving into the area in front of the toll
booth and retreating back up the bridge, luring the Banshees after you.
This is a strategy of attrition however, because you will take damage doing
this.  Usually your LAG gunner will knock them out. Sometimes they kill your
LAG gunner.

Once the Banshees are down, move in and take out any remaining Ghosts and
ignore any fire from the Wraith tanks (except to dodge it, of course).  Once
only the Wraith tanks are left, move and and do what you did for the first
one; drive up close and pass them repeatedly so that they have to keep
turning around to find you while your LAG gunner shoots them full of holes.

Once they both blow up, head down the tunnel these two Wraiths came out of.

Mission Objective: Make your way to the surface.

You will see some disabled vehicles littering this Highway tunnel, and the
scene looks safe, but don't be fooled, there are Covenant down there.

Don't believe me? Then shoot the white truck in the distance near the
curve of the tunnel with your Scorpion Tank's cannon, or a rocket.

See? Told ya!  An Elite and a few panicked Grunts will come into view and
retreat down the tunnel.

As you pass the white truck you just blew up, and come around the curve,
a checkpoint will load and you will see Warthog with some of Uncle Sam's
Misguided Children in it coming down a ramp to get into the fight.

Fight? What fight, you ask? Why, the fight you're about to have with the
Covenant roadblock up ahead, of course!  There are Jackals moving around
on top of the roadblock, so take them out first.

Once the enemies are all dead (ever note that we don't take prisoners in
this war?) any living Marines with you will go join the Marines from the
other Warthog and charge up a ramp towards the next part of the tunnel.

There's nowhere for the Scorpion to go if you're still driving it, so you
will have to leave it here and go on  on foot.

(Note: You CAN drive a Warthog up this next ramp and into the area beyond
this roadblock, but be advised: the area beyond is VERY cluttered with
crates and wrecked vehicles so you will not have much manuevering room
at all.  Plus the chance of your running over one of your own Marines is
very high.)

Beyond the roadblock, your Marines will take cover behind a barricade as
they regroup. Then a very sizable group of Covenant will suddenly appear
at the far end of this section, and an intense firefight will ensue.  Try
to make sure as many Marines survive as possible. If you have the Battle
Rifle, try sniping the Jackal snipers firing from an elevated position
at the far end.  There are several Elites in this bunch, including two Red
Elites, so this fight could last some time.

The best strategy is to chuck grenades at the biggest group of enemy and then
use your small arms to take down the survivors.

Once all the Covenant are dead, follow the Marines up a ramp on the far end
where red light can be seen shining out.  At the end of this tunnel is a
opening that reveals a very wide plaza with a flat, open structure in it's
center that is crawling with Elite.

Mission Objective: Regroup with Marine forces in the city-center.

Let the Marines go first and watch the neat way they sneak up on that Jackal
sentry and take him out.

The best spot on this level for cover is to the left of the tunnel entrance
behind the big columns.  Go where the walkway can be seen and aim around the
corner and snipe all the Jackals manning that walkway with your Battle Rifle.

Another Warthog with Marines in it will show up and run around on the floor
shooting, but don't jump down and join them; these guys always get taken
out.  You have to snipe and take down all the enemies on the high ground
before venturing onto the floor.

After all the Jackals are dead, the Red Elites show up!  For them, you need a
more powerful weapon.  Run back to the way you came in, and just to the right
of the tunnel mouth will be a dead Marine with a sniper rifle. Yes!  Use it
take the Red Elites out.  Try to spend no more than two bullets per Elite;
there will be about 4 of them, so it should take around 8 bullets.

Now two Ghosts will show up. If you have enough bullets left, you can try to
snipe the Elites driving these Ghosts; it won't damage the Ghost and it will
be available for you to drive yourself later.

If any of the Marines survived, when you approach the big opening through
which the Ghosts came on the far side of the plaza, they will jump into
any available vehicles and go charging into the next Plaza.

The only problem with that is there are a bunch of Ghosts and a very far off
Wraith Tank on the other side.

If you have the sniper rife try to take out the Elite and the Jackal sniper
standing just behind the Wraith tank.  Then DUCK BACK BEHIND THE DOORWAY.

Every time the Wraith Tank senses you it will send a cannon blast right
to where you're standing.  You cannot afford to be caught standing still
in this other Plaza.  You have to lean around the doorway, sight, fire, and
retreat, all in about 5 or 6 seconds before that plasma round reaches you.

If you have the Rocket Launcher, go for the Wraith Tank with it.  Watch out
for Ghosts.

If you can't get a good shot at the Wraith, and all your rocket rounds are
gone and the Elites driving the Ghosts are giving you fits when you try to
move forward, here's an alternative strategy, but it requires good flying
ability with a Ghost.

You should have one drivable Ghost on your side of the door from the two
Elites you sniped.  Get in one........fly into the next plaza and find
the Ghosts and take them out.  They often hover on the right hand side
of this new plaza, so you must quickly fly into the plaza then turn
right and find them.  Shoot one at a time, then turn and RUN FOR IT
before the Jackal snipers and the Wraith Tank take you out.

It took me 10 trips into the plaza and my Ghost was shot to hell,
but it still flew and I got the first two Ghosts PLUS the FOUR that
flew in after that.

Yeah, it's tough and you will probably die several times, but once all
the Ghosts are destroyed, and the Wraith Tank is out of the way, you can
advance into the tunnel opening the Wraith tank was guarding and
procede into the center of the city, where you will see some Marines
in a Warthog taking on a Ghost, which soon explodes.

What? Is that it?  You fought all the way to the city center for this?
One measly Ghost? Well don't worry, Spartan!  THERE'S TWO WRAITH TANKS,
JACKAL SNIPERS ON WALKWAYS AND A COVENANT DROP SHIP INCOMING RIGHT AROUND
THE CORNER AHEAD ON THE LEFT. HAVE FUN!!!!!

If you want to, you can jump into the Turret Gun or drive the Warthog, but
you need to run over there very fast and get in before the checkpoint does,
because when it loads the Warthog is going to head up around the corner on
the left to take on the Wraith tanks.........and it always gets blown up.

Your best bet for doing with fast with minimal damage is a Ghost.  Fly in,
never stop moving, shoot at the first Wraith and then pass by it and focus
on the second, shooting at both of them in one pass.  Then turn and RUN
your Ghost back the way you came - squeeze the left trigger for the Boost
and hold on!  Get around the corner and then regroup to come back for
another pass.

If the Jackal Snipers are tagging you, take the Ghost up the steps onto the
Walkway and run them over.

While you are trying to deal with these Wraith tanks and Jackal snipers, as
if that wasn't enough for you to deal with, a Covenant Drop Ship will show
up.  Your one consolation is that if  you're moving they can't hit you very
well.

The Covenant Drop Ship will leave after a minute or so, and you can
concentrate again on the Wraith Tanks.  If you can find a Rocket Launcher,
a good strategy is to drive up on to the walkway (this is after all the
Jackals are dead), jump out of your vehicle, aim over the side, fire a
rocket into a Wraith, jump back in the vehicle, and GET OUT OF THERE before
the Wraiths send a plasma round where you were standing when you fired.

When both Wraith tanks are destroyed, or maybe even while they are still
going,a Pelican drop ship will show up and disgorge some Marines on the
walkway.

At the doorway of the building the Wraiths were guarding, a Marine will appear
and babble about the Scarab that's coming.

Yep, that's right. The Scarab that gave you a rude introduction to this whole
level is on the way.  Follow the soldier up the stairs and onto a balcony.

Look off in the distance:  there's the Scarab, coming around the corner to
the right!

Oh great, there's a Scorpion in it's path. We've seen the Scorpion destroy
everything in it's path so far in these games, right?  Let's see how this
goes..........

The Scorpion fires 4 or 5 rounds into the Scarab........and nothing happens.
Uh-oh.  Now the Scarab generates energy to that huge plasma cannon in it's
'head' and fires, instantly destroying the most powerful vehicle in the human
aresnal.

Double uh-oh.

Now the Marines with you on the balcony will fire away at the Scarab as it
nonchalantly climbs right over the building your standing in.

Follow the Marine again up the stairs and into a new building, then onto
a huge walkway.  You will see the Scarab walking parallel to this long
walkway.

Quickly run ahead of the Scarab and get the Rocket Launcher on the crate
to the right.  Then running to keep ahead of the Scarab, pick a spot
between the pillars where you have a good view over the edge, let the
Scarab walk into your sights, and take out the large number of Grunts
and Red Elites that are covering it's back platform.

Keep doing this until you run out of rockets.  The Scarab will walk all
the way down underneath this walkway until it meets a wall; it will then
slowly and laborousily turn to the left and continue on until
it comes to the end of a dam and can go no further.  It will then come
to a stop.

All along this walkway there are various weapons for you to pick up;
A Rocket Launcher, Battle Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Shotguns, frag grenades
and ammo. For what you are about to do, the shotgun and the Submachine Gun
work best.  You see, you're about to board the Scarab and destroy it.

Mission Objectives: Board the Scarab and destroy it.

There are still two Red Elites running around on the Scarab's back,
so  you will have to take them out.  Once they're dead, take a running
jump and go between the turret gun on the side of the walkway and the
crates and land on the Scarab's back.

Toward the back of the Scarab you will see a doorway with a ramp
leading down into the control room.  There are 3 or 4 Grunts, a
Blue Elite, a Gray Elite, and a Red Elite down there waiting for you.

Here's a good strategy:  First sneak down the ramp, then quickly throw
a grenade down the left hand side of the control room, then move sideways
and quickly throw a Grenade down the right-hand side of the control room.

Then.........RUN..........back up the ramp and when you get to the top,
wait until you see red dots on your motion tracker, or maybe even a really
pissed off Blue Elite at the bottom of the ramp, and throw a third grenade
right at the base of the ramp.

That should take care of most of the Grunts and maybe one of the Elites.

Try it again, only this time just throw a grenade down the left hand
side before retreating.  If you had a full complement of Grenades (and you
should considering all the grenades you ran by on that walkway)you should
have one or two left.  At the base of the ramp on the next trip down,
look quickly to see if any of the Grunts dropped a plasma grenade.  Frag
grenades don't seem to affect these Red Elites like plasma ones does.


One of these Elites down here will have a Energy sword; if you can drop him
and then pick it up (I kept the shotgun and traded the Battle Rifle for the
Energy Sword)this Sword will kill the Red Elite faster than anything else.

The Red Elite will usually try to stay near the Control Panel at the front,
so you have room to toss a grenade at him.  Then shoot him repeatedly with
the shotgun as he charges you to get his shield down, and when he's just
a few steps away, VOILA'!  Switch to the Energy Sword and pull the right
trigger to cut him down. Usually it takes two cuts with the Energy Sword to
kill this last Red Elite.  If his shield is all the way up, it could take
three hits.

Once he's dead.............cutscene time!

You see Master Chief walking down the exit ramp like the cool dude he is as
the Scarab blows apart behind him.  While this is going on, a Pelican lands
next to Master Chief with Sgt. Johnson inside.

It seems the Covenant Flagship is preparing to enter hyperspace! Miranda
Keyes gets permission to follow, and this level ends with a devastating
cinematic as we see the fallout from the Covenant Flagships in atmosphere
space-jump cause a nuclear reaction that wipes New Mombasa off the map!

Those Covenant bastards!

The adventure continues in Level VI, coming on Saturday:

The Arbiter!

You are viewing proxied material from gopher.endangeredsoft.org. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.