Part 58: Special Missions - A Ticking Threat From Above, Below, and Within!
Special Missions - Session 10: A Ticking Threat From Above, Below, and Within!
We're getting toward there... Stage 10 was a return to the northern canyon in which Jimmy Harks blew the fuck up and then Solid Snake shot down a gunship with nothing but a few grenades and a damn fine pitching arm. Let's get crackin'...
Hind D (Metal Gear Solid)
Stage 10 - Mission 1!
"How long....?"
"Well, I was going to suggest 400 seconds. But your are clearly a man already keen on not wasting time. So 180 seconds ought to suffice. Well? What are you standing around for...? Tick-tock!"
Ho-hum. Another time trial. Two minutes is a pretty tight span of time. Especially considering we both need to book it through the minefield and shoot down Sophia's helicopter. But it's pretty doable if Snake just eats a bunch of damage and chows on some Rations during the helicopter portions instead of playing it safe. Plus remembering the shortest route through the mines from back in Stage 7 helps a bunch as well.
Stage 10 - Mission 2!
"Remember when I said I wouldn't plant another bomb in your body...?" "...Yeah." "I lied. Nothing personal. But I would put one foot in front of the other within the next .83 seconds." "Damn it!" "You already need to contend with explosives from below ground and above in this stage. It's only natural that those from within also be taken into account!"
Yup. Another "stay in one place for more than a second and you're insta-gibbed" challenge. Luckily, crawling through the minefield may be slow, but it does meet the movement prerequisite.
The real challenge is the boss battle against the chopper. Snake can just barely get back to his feet and move in time from being knocked to the ground from missile blasts. The real issue is the gunship's turret stunlocking Snake if he's out in the open. And the fact that he cannot stick to cover since he'll explode.
Kind of a Catch-22 of explosive proportions...
"About that F-22 cruise missile attack -- did you notice something a little too smooth about it? Gardner had the air force on standby right from the beginning of the crisis. The idea was if the mission failed, he would have Galuade blown sky-high along with Snake. He even had a nuclear warhead ready to go..." "That would have been an anti-climactic end to the event, no? More distressing, we would have had to use a completely different training kernel for you..."Stage 10 - Mission 3!
"This time, we'll have you clear the stage by trying something different from what Snake experienced." "...What does that mean?" "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. Go on. You'll know it when you see it..."
This is another mission of which we need to progress a bit to find the real objective. There is nothing new going on in the canyon's mine field...
And the spot of the first chopper attack where we met Black Arts Viper is all clear. The actual new challenge comes from those previously empty cliffs that held the ruined artillery batteries taken down by the F-22's. What has changed...? Well, I think it best you see for yourselves...
CLICK HERE FOR THE NEW CHALLENGE!
"As you well know, the development of Metal Gear began in Outer Heaven. The project fell under the auspices of the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence and its director Steven Gardner, but the idea itself, for a bipedal vehicle that would launch a nuclear strike from anywhere on the planetary surface, was apparently conceived by Big Boss, Outer Heaven's commander-in-chief."
"The technology wasn't there at that point, but the concept of an invisible missile from a rail gun seems to have been already planned by Big Boss. And the idea became a reality in American hands following Outer Heaven -- Metal Gear is the phantom of Big Boss, in a sense. It's no wonder Snake is so obsessed with the destruction of Metal Gear; to him, it truly is the 'evil past'. But to us, it's the gospel to a new world -- a blessing."