Bristol: Southern Command

Devil At The Door

It’s hell on earth outside of southern command building, as the entire area is under Chimeran assault. Wait for Cartwright to lure the Stalkers away from the building before charging through the Hybrid lines. Be very careful when you come across the health and shotgun ammo; Hedgehog mines are hidden in the grassy area nearby. Avoid them, then take down the Howlers before moving on. There’s a group of soldiers holed up in a bunker nearby; kill off the Hybrids that are attacking them to save them, then move inside for an ammo resupply.

As an annoying pre-checkpoint exercise, you’ll have to take down a Titan. You’ll have soldiers that will act as distractions during the fight, but it’ll mostly fire at you. We took it down the old fashioned-way: tagged its head and Bullseyed it while strafe-dodging the explosives.

Mortars

After you hit the checkpoint beyond the gate, turn left. The path with all of the mines will have some health and Hailstorm ammo at the end; the path to the right is the one that leads on, though. You’ll come across some mortars; you can destroy them by shooting them (or just by hitting them with your melee attack a half-dozen times or so). You get a little fanfare sound for doing so, but there isn’t any particular point, it seems; no skills or rewards are incoming.

Grab the Fareye ammo and start taking down the Hybrids nearby. Run up the road to meet up with Cartwright to end the level.

Evacuation

Kill the Slipskulls in the stairwell near the entrance here, then defend yourself against the Hybrids that start charging your way. If you stay out in the room at the top of the stairs, you should be able to pound them with your shotgun as they approach. At the bottom of the stairs, take a right to find a few Leapers chewing a body; the Intel: Bristol: Crates document is nearby. Kill off the Hybrids in the bunk area, then move out to the cafeteria, where you’ll come across your first Hardfang. These guys are essentially super-Hybrids (how many times have we used that description?) that use the Arc Charger weapon, which seems to act in a manner similar to a lightning gun. Keep them away from you and kill them before they can fire.

Hangar

Another Titan? At least now you have air-fuel grenades to use on it.

Grab the ammo from the cafeteria and the next room before flipping the switch that opens the elevator leading down to the hangar. Be sure to grab the box of air-fuel grenades next to one of the pool tables; there’s a Titan waiting for you in the hangar, but if you drop a pair of AFG’s on it, it’ll go down right quick, at least on Medium difficulty. The Intel: Bristol: Preparations document is at the bottom of one of the large circular elevator shafts here; it should be the first one you encounter as you walk forward from the lift you rode in on.

With the Titan down, your goal is to reach the far end of the hangar and kill the Hybrids that are manning the three Sentry guns that are preventing the transport from taking off. Killing them will, well, allow the transport to take off, and also trigger a large white platform that lowers in the corner nearby. Get on it, flip the switch, then ride up and find the corridor leading onward. You’ll come to a large tactical room here; start killing the Hybrids, but be ready for the Steelhead that appears and attacks from long range.

Use your Sapper to eliminate the Leapers that attack you in the corridor beyond, then head up the elevator and start making your way through the interior of the base. You’ll find the Intel: Bristol: Broadcast Guide in one of the rooms here, which is bathed in red light and has the body of a soldier inside of it. There’s a map room nearby; kill the Slipskulls and Steelheads inhabiting it, then check the upper rear corner to find an ammo cache before moving on to the end of the level.

Parting Ways

Surprise! Cartwright has somehow managed to commandeer a Stalker, and you’re going to use it to defend the southern portion of the base. This is a very small level, with only a few kills being necessary to clear the area. You’ve got Titans and a few mortars to kill. If you move forward, things get pretty choppy, since almost everything will be firing at you, so be smart and stay put! There are two large walls on either side of where you start; if you hang behind one of these and try to aim at the Titans over them, you’ll be able to use your alt-fire missiles to pound them from a distance without any fear of counter-attacks. The mortars won’t even bother firing at you if you stay behind the walls, so strafe around until you hit them all with missiles. Killing three titans and three mortars will let you end the level.