Chapter 3

Chapter 3-1

Before you head into the merchant's shop here, smash all the crates and check behind his hut to find a treasure chest. You should have a good amount of cash from the Chief and any other stuff you have to sell, which is good, because the merchant here has a host of crap for sale, including the large attache case, a treasure map for the castle, a new pistol, new shotgun, new rifle, new "mine thrower," etc. Make your purchases before saving and heading through the door to the next area - it's time for the spooky castle funride.

Cannoneering

After you reach the next zone, walk around until a cutscene starts; you'll be standing near a crate, so stay there and get the attention of the two cultists nearby with your pistol. Tell Ashley to stay where she is, then walk around to the right and take out the enemies as they attempt to come down. You'll have to dodge the catapult fire as you cross the next zone, so make sure that Ashley's still hanging back and not following you; she can die pretty easily here. After you walk out into the courtyard a bit, the initial volley will come down, wrecking the little fountain across the way. Although nothing appears out of the ordinary, you can check the center of the fountain for a Spinel.

Hide here for a moment before rushing on to avoid the catapult fire.

In order to safely cross this little courtyard, try dashing around to the wooden crates near where the fountain was until one volley is completed, then quickly running around to where the cultists were pacing before you shot them. There should be a large cannon inside a room here; this is where you want to call Ashley back to you. The catapults won't fire at her if she's alone, so just wait by the cannon until she reaches you, then tell her to wait again.

After she's safely stowed away, head back up to the courtyard and turn west underneath the little archway there; you should be able to spot the red-robed cultist above you. Off to his left a bit is an explosive barrel which you should barely be able to spot the tip of; if you shoot this, the entire catapult structure will explode. You'll need to repeat this process for a few other catapults before you can safely move on, but first, head up the stairs here, then double back. Walking up the stairs will trigger the appearance of a pair of cultists from where you entered the zone; they'll make a beeline for Ashley and start dragging her back to the entrance, but you should be able to cut them off well before they get to her. If you're particularly devious, you might even want to try crossing the courtyard at the same time they do; they might get caught in one of the catapult blasts if you time it right.

When Ashley's safe, you'll have to head up the steps, scope out the remaining catapult positions, and blow their explosive barrels before they can smash you to bits. The two near the exit will be the most difficult; only one has a barrel nearby, so far the one in the northeast corner, you'll have to cross over to the eastern crenallations and hide in the small tower, and attempt to pick off the catapulteer from there. He's a one-shot kill, so it shouldn't be too difficult, especially if you have a rifle.

When all of the enemies here are dead, including the guy in the house up here, check the south side of the house for a Gold Bangle, then use the machine on top of the building with the cannon in it to raise it all the way to the roof. You'll then be able to fire it at the gate, opening the way to the next zone.

Swords And Sorcery…But Mostly Just Swords

After you enter the cramped quarters of the next room, grab the Platinum Sword from the plate on the wall, the tell Ashley to wait nearby while you lure the cultists above onto the stairs and finish them off. After they're dead (there should be three of them, including one that'll turn into an extra-tentacly baddie when you blow his head off), you'll need to take Ashley upstairs and defend yourself against the rest of the guys that are coming from behind you. There won't be any easy way to defend yourself here - they'll be at the top of the steps before you can fight them, preventing you from bottlenecking them there - so try and use your shotgun to keep them on the ground while you manuever Ashley into a safe corner before finishing them off. The red-robed leader at the bottom of the steps appears to be bugged, and will refuse to move or fight you, so get your headshots in and kill him before taking the Gold Sword from upstairs and placing each sword in its correct receptacle (gold downstairs, platinum up). This will unlock the door here, allowing you to move on.

'Can we borrow a cup of sugar? Oh, and we'll be needing your brainnnnsssss.'

After you reach the next area and meet up with Luis again, bring Ashley back to the door you came through and tell her to wait there while you investigate the far door. Four or five cultists will be coming through it shortly, including a couple of tentacle guys, so use it as a bottleneck to kill them off. If you have to retreat, don't hesitate to do so; the archway back near the door makes for a good fallback point. Head through the door and kill off any baddies remaining in the first room as well as the crossbowman above the archway before calling Ashley back to you.

You'll have to deal with two shield-bearers before you can reach the southwestern room here; these guys are fairly similar to the riot guards in a Metal Gear Solid game, but you can thankfully bust right through their shields with a shotgun blast at close range. After busting through their shields, they're just normal cultists, so bust a cap and head into the room here.

After you grab the Castle Gate Key from the chest, you'll immediately be plunged into combat with numerous cultists that run into the room. If you're really good, you'll be able to hit the explosive barrel in the corner as a pair of the cultists run by it; if not, blast one set of them down with your shotgun, then run past them back to the archway where the crossbowman was and use that as a chokepoint to deal with the rest.