Part 5: 4. "A t-t-time bomb!"
4. "A t-t-time bomb!"
When we last saw Gilian Seed, he'd sprung a robot trap - he's on the second floor of a building with 30 seconds before a bomb goes off!
Yeah, you'd better take that call, Gilian. Nothing impoortant going on. All the time in the world.
We know,
Kinda got my own stuff going on. Alright, let's get the hell out of here.
Gilian: We're getting out of here!
Metal: The stairs, Gilian! Wait... do you hear something?
Gilian: Not really.
Metal: Try turning the volume up.
Gilian: I'm not falling for that one!
Metal: Ahhhh! We're going to die! We're going to die!
Gilian: (Can't get out that way! Think, think!)
Metal: We're on the second story! Don't jump out that wind-
Metal: -aaaaaahhhhhh-
Metal: -ahhh!!!
Gilian: Ow!
BOOM!!!
Gilian: Jeez, my ears are really ringing.
Metal: You did turn up the volume after all, didn't you?
Well, after that harrowing escape, we're not done with Pier 17. We still have to find out... er... what should have happened to Jan.
You can take a quick pit-stop back at Junker HQ to fill up on ammo and junkers if you need them. For now, I decided to just press on.
Building 2 is much larger than Building 1.
Gilian: No sign of Gibson yet.
Metal: I hope he is alright.
Building 2 also has a bunch of Digit Rocks. Another annoyance I have with SD Snatcher is that most dungeons only have 2-3 different enemies, tops. (Not counting bosses.)
Gilian: These things don't go down easy.
Metal: We're down to three now. You should have come better prepared, Gilian.
Gilian: Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find some more equipment around here somewhere.
For the record, robots will graphically show locational damage. Here is a completely blinded Digit Rock. I prefer blinding enemies since they just miss constantly if they can't see you.
I'd also like to note that I'm not really through the first stage yet, and I've used up nearly 100 bullets.
The screen will flash white if a robot self-destructs. Usually, you'll want to avoid this. SD Snatcher is a little unbalanced at times and there's occasions where the low XP you get from an enemy isn't worth it, so it's faster to destroy its gun and let it self-destruct.
A big problem I have with the game is that it takes really high levels to completely outclass even easy enemies. The constant dodging means you can almost never reliably one-shot any robot no matter what high level you're at. It sucks to be at Level 30 and running from easy enemies on the rare occasion you revisit an old level, but sometimes it's just much faster.
Also, the more levels you attain, the less XP enemies give out, so it's not really worth your time to fight easier robots.
Gilian: It sure is dark in here.
Metal: That's why navigators are equipped with onboard lighting systems.
BAM!
Gilian: Augh! A landmine?!
Metal: It appears the SNATCHERS have put traps around. Try to follow Jan's footsteps, exactly, Gilian.
For some reason, there's booby traps in Building 2, so it's best to stick to the path Gibson used. Why you can see his footsteps is beyond me.
Ah! A new enemy: Raging Accum! Yeah. That's its name.
Digit Rocks are a pain because they take a bunch of damage. Raging Accums are a pain because they GIVE a lot of damage. It's easier for them dodge any shots at their one-grid-space eyes, so I actually prefer to shoot their guns to lower the STR and the damage they can dole out. Keep in mind that completely destroying the gun will cause them to self destruct though, and at this point in the game, Gilian needs all the XP he can get.
Annoyingly, Raging Accums have another target area - those antenna on their backs. If you don't shoot those out...
They call for backup! It's random whether the second enemy will be an Insector, Digit Rock, or another Raging Accum.
The maximum number of enemies you face at one time is two, by the way, so it won't get more crowded.
I did something really stupid here. I took out the Digit Rock first. This is dumb, because now I've cleared some space for the Raging Accum to call another one of its friends.
Fortune smiled upon me, however.
But not this time. Two Raging Accums can wreck your day. And if you don't take out their antennas, the minute you destroy one, it can just call a third robot to take its partner's place.
I wasn't fast enough to take out its antenna and it called...
Gilian: It called an insector?!
Metal: This must be the only robot in the vicinity.
Gilain: Well, that makes things pretty easy.
This is the final leg of Building 2.
Robot self destruction is not actually guaranteed, mind you. You might have a few turns to kill it off before it does that. Or...
You might have a couple turns to mutilate the poor thing. Actually, Raging Accums don't have much of a body to speak of, so they'll lose HP as well as ACC if you hit them in the eye.
I may have leveled up, but...
I'm down to one Junker's Rush and it's time for the boss. What could those robots be circling around?!
The first boss is 6 Digit Rocks. Six! They can only attack two at a time, so the best strategy, I find, is "roadblocking". What you want to do is...
Blind one (the left one, in this case.) This guy has an ACC of 2 after I shoot him in the eyes, which means he'll pretty much miss every single shot. This lets me concentrate on the one on the right.
When I kill one, another rushes in to take its place. By keeping one blind, I'm pretty much ensuring I'm only fighting one (working) robot at a time, as opposed to two. The blind guy's just taking up space - effectively turning a big killer robot into a giant roadblock. Thanks for the metaphor, Saving Private Ryan!
And that's the end of the first boss. Or mini-boss. Whichever you prefer.
What were they guarding?
Little John! Jean-Jack- dammit- I mean, Jan Jack's personal navigator! He's a completely different color in this one.
That's last call for Little John. I hope Gibson is okay!
...
Version Differences
- Little John is a gold color, not blue in Snatcher.
- Metal Gear discovers Little John in Snatcher; Gilian doesn't know what Little John is at first. Gilian does the discovering in SD Snatcher.
- Little John is completely destroyed in Snatcher. It never speaks; the only information you get is from its memory chip.
- Little John's not a big character in Snatcher. I mean, I had to fight a boss to find it in SD Snatcher?
Relevant Snatcher Media
Gillian and Metal Gear discover Little John
Little John, up close.