Part 10: Tharsis Refinery

• Chapter 7, with Blind Sally, nine-gear crow, and CJacobs
  
• Chapter 7, no commentary

The "good" guys have been doing pretty good so far. I mean, from what we've seen in Killzone 2. The initial invasion fleet, as seen in Killzone: Mercenary, were absolutely overwhelmed and nearly decimated. But the second wave, here in Killzone 2? We've been rocking it. We made solid progress through Pyrrhus City in the first five missions of the game. The giant electrical shield at the gates of Visari Palace proved to be a problem, but hey, Templar already has Alpha Squad investigating potential ways to troubleshoot that problem.

Yeah, sure, half of Alpha Squad AND their scientific expert have been captured, but all in all, I'd say the ISA have been doing pretty damn good.




That's all about to change.



Last time we jumped onto a train--so now we get a train level!



Train levels are cool. It's something about the kinetic momentum of the stage. It's like a parallel for the gameplay in corridor shooters: you're ever going forward, never back, and train levels reflect that. Oh, and early on we see that the train is full of weapons. Rico acts a bit surprised, but I mean, come on. We're on Helghan. What did you expect to be on their trains?

Also, we begin this level with only our revolver. Presumably, we dropped our rifle between loading screens. Okay. Super minor inconvenience since Shock Troopers pop up almost immediately.

Speaking of "miners", Rico managed to avoid adding another war crime to his list when he spares the civilian driving the train. So yeah, it's confirmed:



The miners are civilians. Again, it makes me question whether or not they were actually fighting for the Helghast in the last stage or if they were just trying to defend their property from ISA invaders. Heck, you decide, I guess. How terrible do you believe the ISA to be?

Moving on, welcome to Tharsis Refinery, where Helghan's rich deposits of petrusite are refined for use as an energy source for the cities and military of the planet.



This place always sort of reminded me of a darker Citadel from Half-Life 2:



We even get to go for a ride in an automated transport system.

More importantly, while exploring the refinery, we discover that the Helghast have managed to condense Arc Tech into a handheld personal weapon. The most glorious aspect of this weapon is that it draws energy from the surrounding atmosphere, effectively giving it infinite ammo.



What a wondrous gun! It's going to stick with us for the rest of the level.

We come across a corridor that Rico has already been down:



Note that the Cadaver Beetles are already out in force. We haven't been away from Rico that long, so it's quite remarkable how quickly these creatures react. Fortunately we don't wind up being their next meal when we surprise Rico.



Though we do get to see a map of the petrusite grid. The wider net on the left represents various petrusite mining operations. The material is gathered and piped to Tharsis Refinery, where it is processed and piped out to Pyrrhus City, on the right. There are other refineries around the planet, but Tharsis is responsible for Pyrrhus, and only Pyrrhus. Fortunate for us, because it means we can stop the flow to the grid and power down the city if we can sabotage that intermediary pipeline.

But first, we need to rescue our team. We get an interesting rant from Rico along the way. Transcribed here, because I feel it's a pretty important look into Rico's character:


Another instance of Rico's skills at work. While Sev was busy shooting people and acquiring sweet Arc Rifles, Rico not only found a way to disrupt the petrusite grid, accomplishing our primary objective, but he located the rest of the team. Not bad.


This is interesting. Templar gave the orders. Templar is now Command. And yet, Rico isn't directly blaming Templar. He is blaming the nebulous concept of "Command". Rico doesn't much care for the ISA's leadership, right now. After all, consider his experience. Between General Adams and General Stratson, he certainly hasn't been given much reason to trust Command. Oh, and the fact that while Templar gets promoted to officer material, Rico remains on the frontlines despite being just as much a war hero as Templar. Clearly there's some resentment there, likely on both the parts of Rico and ISA High Command. I'm betting this stems from Rico's capture in Killzone: Liberation.

Templar, too, is Command, but Rico doesn't see him that way. Rico still sees him as "Captain" Templar. As a soldier. As a friend. As "one-of-the-guys". Thus, it's "Command's" fault, not "Templar's".


Uh, yeah, that sounds like a "Rico Plan".





Another reference to the Helghast capturing Rico in Killzone: Liberation.



Hey, let's see how Rico deals with being in a highly sensitive, high stress situation!



Some more character development for Radec, oh yay! This is an excellent cutscene. If you're reading the update before watching the video, you should go back and check this bit out. It's really well done. Radec is a pragmatic sort. Highly efficient. Unlike many villains, he doesn't waste a lot of time with monologues. Nosiree, he gets straight to the point.



But Rico is unwilling to wait for Sevchenko to reposition himself so that they can out-flank Radec and his troops.This kind of sucks. We know that Alpha Squad is a group of professionals. Sev recognizes immediately that they're in a poor position, and he makes the necessary maneuvers. I like to think that they would have had time to surround Radec, perhaps getting themselves into some sweet and tense stand-off situation. Instead, Rico rushes in--



--much to Sev's horror. This is a pretty bone-headed move. I mean, I get it. For Rico, this kind of crap has managed to work for him time and time again. (Or maybe it hasn't--we don't know how his original squad in Killzone 1 died, only that Helghast killed them--maybe a bad move on Rico's part got them killed?). Rico's plan, after all, was to punch in and punch out. Rico is just doing what Rico does.




And Garza gets shot because of it.

Natko sums it up perfectly with this rebuke:



And Rico's answer?


"Whatever".

Rico just blows it off.



Garza, mortally wounded, he just waves it away.



Garza



Hmm, I think crow and I are going to have to convene at some point to solidify this list. For now, here are the crimes in Killzone 2 that I think Rico is potentially guilty of, as of this post:

• Authorizing the use of cruel and unusual weaponry

Rico himself never uses any particularly cruel weapons, but damn, he certainly doesn't seem bothered that his subordinate, Sevchenko, is happy to use them. Ignoring the whole ISA shotgun, which uses poison bullets and the fielding of which is a war crime in and of itself, some of the weapons Sevchenko uses against the Helghast are pretty horrific. And I mean, I know you have the choice to not use them, but the way the game is designed, it's as if you're encouraged to use them--as if you're meant to use them. Therefore, the fact that Rico isn't stopping Sevchenko from using the Bolt Gun or the Arc Rifle, is pretty terrifying.

I mean, let's go over the weapons that Rico doesn't give Sev a reprimand for using:

The Flamethrower - light enemies on fire and let them burn to death--horrific, any way you cut it. However, under the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, our use of the flamethrower does not constitute a war crime:


That said, their terrifying effects and psychological effects on soldiers have led to some people calling for an even stricter ban on them, so I felt it relevant to bring up here.

The Boltgun - This is an industrial tool converted to act as a weapon. It fires a bolt of metal at an enemy with enough velocity to pin them to a wall. If that isn't cruel and unusual enough for you, after a delay, the bolt explodes, so even if you survived the impact, you're guaranteed to have died by virtue of having your insides liquefied. Considering the effects of this weapon, once usage of it gets out to Earth, I'm pretty certain they're going to move to have it banned. I mean, it's design is guaranteed to leave you disfigured or maimed. A body shot is pretty much a death sentence. If you are hit in a limb, then it's going to wind up being shattered or destroyed after the explosive delay is up. Without the detonation, okay, maybe it'll fly--but it's the explosive that pushes this weapon into "this is not okay" territory for me.

Thoughts on this?

The Arc Rifle - Okay, I'm having an even harder time justifying the usage of this gun. Judging by the screams, the victim of this gun is in immeasurable amounts of pain while being targetted. If they aren't given sufficient amounts of juice, then they survive, meaning you need to fry them even longer. Ponder upon that word: "fry". Sev is walking around with what amounts to a portable electric chair. I mean, I get it, the Helghast developed these weapons, they were going to use them on you, so why not turn them around? Does that make it right?

This is another weapon where, once Earth found out about its existence, I'm sure they would lobby to ban.

• Criminal negligence resulting in serious injury

The whole Garza thing. Phew. Yeah, I know this is wartime. Yeah, I know that Radec is committing war crimes by executing his unarmed hostages. That said, Rico is supposed to be the leader of an elite fighting force. Elite. It's been shown again and again throughout the game so far that Rico is one of the ISA's best fighters. He knows better. He knows. Sev knows that Rico knows. Despite this, Rico bungles his way through a rescue mission and gets one of his own members seriously injured. If this were just some civvies trying to do the right thing to save some soldiers, then I'm not so sure. However, Rico is a trained professional and I believe that the courts would find that, based on his skills, he displayed a wanton disregard for human life--in this case, that of Garza, Batton, and Natko, with Garza coming out the worst because of it.





Advanced Shock Trooper

I'm calling it: sorry, crow, they aren't trying to imitate Sevchenko's hairstyle, they merely have funny hats. Hats that, incidentally, don't pop off when shot.

These guys are also known as the "Autarch's Guards". Distinguishable from regular Shock Troops by their long coats and odd hats, they are trained to work in pairs in order to work more effectively when in riot situations. Presumably, they spent a lot of time before the Extrasolar War breaking up protests for the Helghast High Command. They shoot more often and with greater accuracy than standard Shock Troopers, but can otherwise be dealt with in the same manner. Don't let them get close. They're armed with knives and SMGs, so they will try to close the distance to you as soon as possible to cause the greatest damage. Prevent that, and you're fine.

The will sometimes throw Teslite Grenades which are a type of grenade that uses, you guessed it, Arc Tech. We don't see them get used in this Chapter, so I'll wait until that happens before I go in depth regarding that weapon.


Heavy Trooper (Arc Variety)

A Heavy Trooper with an Arc Gun. Oh, joy! Their armour is quite a bit different than the standard Heavy Trooper, hence the comparison image above. Incredibly easy to defeat. Shoot the canisters that fly by overhead, stunning the trooper, and shoot he glowing tanks on his back. Though the Arc Gun is terrifying, it doesn't do as much damage as you might think, so don't worry if it takes a few tries to bring this guy down. He isn't much of a threat even on Elite.

This is the only Heavy Arc Trooper in the game you'll encounter. Well, the entire series, even. Heavy Troopers have their uses, but not with Arc Tech. These guns are light enough that you don't need to saddle a heavy with one. Heck, Sev can haul it around just fine. Standard Helghast Troopers in Killzone 3 wield them just fine. I like to think that Sev's impressive showing here convinced other Heavy Troopers to stick to light machine guns.




VC5 Arc Rifle

Use it when you get it. It's perfect. A mid-range gun, but it can hit a large area, stunning multiple enemies. Oh yeah, it's electricity, so it stuns. Use on Elite mode to stun enemies on one side of a room while you roast to death enemies on the other. It's great. So much fun. Sentry Bots are even more of a joke thanks to it. Oh, and the ammo--it just charges up with the atmosphere. Haha, this gun rocks!

But you only get it on this level.

Totally a gimmick.

So use it when you get it.

(It doesn't even get a multiplayer level--this is the only time you get to use this weapon--enjoy it while you can!).

You pretty much have to use it when you ride the conveyor belt on Elite mode. Standard weapons will get you killed. You move inexorably through the area, causing ever more enemies to trigger, and without proper cover, you will die fast. This gun is really the only way to get through it. As I mention in the video, even then, you need to learn where enemies are going to spawn and how long you need to shock them to make sure they're dead. The conveyor section on Elite is a tedious trial-and-error section. It sucks. A lot. Fortunately, it's the only time in the game where you're going to have this problem.



Concept art of Rico's failed rescue attempt:



Man. Radec is terrifying. Look how he stands there, towering over his soldiers, unafraid of the bullets whizzing by him. Hardcore!

Also, Evelyn Batton is wearing FAR more practical gear in this artwork. She has body armour, for one, and isn't wearing a skirt for a field op.