Thursday, 24 October 2019

Area 51 (PS2) - Part 2


Previously, Hazmat Team Delta is sent to Area 51 where some crisis happens. Later they're attacked by a hulking monster and i assume they're all dead. Hazmat Team Bravo is tasked to investigate Team Delta whereabouts. I play as Ethan Cole, one of the member of Team Bravo. A scanner specialist who's voiced by David Duchovny but in combat he's silent protagonist. With Jack's demise, our team now consists of 3 men and i'm really pessimist about our chance of completing our mission.     


It seems there's  enemies down there but i'm ordered to scan a computer in next room ASAP because i'm scanner specialist. Save some of them for me, guys!
 
In the room where i have scanned the computer, i found a keycard that fits into one of those panel in the same room. But it seems i need one more keycard. Accidently i "step" into shotgun shell but i don't have shotgun yet. Maybe that room contain the pump-action gun and i like to search for the another keycard. Sadly, the captain is so fussy about me to continue our journey. But order is an order.  
I found this newspaper that's pinned on a wall. I really appreciate Midway for pointing out about Tsunami on Indian Ocean in 2004. It struck our countrymen in Aceh city really hard. God bless them and other Tsunami victims. -_-
Crispy: Would you look at this tube!
Captain: There's no time. Let's go!
Scan the mite jar! c:
Another battle with the flocks of mutated men. If only i have grenade...oh, wait! I have! 5 of them, in fact. The hud on bottom-right corner, isn't intuitive. I mean, how can you decipher that rectangular with 5 bold spots icon as grenade, huh?
So far, exploring away from main path isn't so worthy. Sometime you will get scannable stuffs, health syringes, or none at all. There's some place that's poorly lit so you have turn on your flashlight by pressing 'L3' analog button. Dark places may boost the scary level but when your enemy only brainless mutant all the time, they won't work well.  
Alien lobsters are attacking! Spy_sf13_magic_reac05.wav
Demoman_specialcompleted12.wav. There! I use grenade and take quite a chunk of them. Once they're in vicinity, they begin to scuttle my feet. I feel like there's better way to deal with them in close range than using this weak rifle. Using shotgun, maybe? Yes, but i don't have it yet. What a shame.
As i'm scanner specialist, i figure i have to start to use it to extract some useful info about our enemies. The thing is: scanning them alive while put a solid trust on allies to do all the shooting, is really risky and painful (in literal sense). Even if i manage to scan their corpse, i find no useful data from it. You see that drink vending machine? I'm hoping i can operate it to give me some health-refilling drink but no luck. It only spews drinks if you shoot it and you can't pick them up. Is this vending machine that quite anywhere supposed to be for shooting decoration with no other real function? Then i'm quite unimpressed, Midway.
Crispy tries to unlock some door while Captain protecting him and i'm on my way to get (other) keycard that's required to unlock said door. Finally! I'm on my own trip. Although Crispy keep pestering me about finding the keycard periodically via radio transmission. According to quest marker, the keycard is in this armory. But there's 2 hand identification panels that prevents me from get inside of it.    
Not far from here, i find someone's arm in this rubble. This will come in handy! [High pun intention] :D
 
I didn't know how to open the armory lock with only 1 arm, not after 20 minutes of searching other arm.  Turns out, all i need is to put my own hand (that presumably has been registered officially here) to other bloody panel. Inside of the armory, i find some zombies, the security card, lots of handgun and rifles. Still no shotgun although there's lots of shotgun shells. What kind of armory is this? 
Now that Crispy get the goddamn card, he can begin to unlock the door and we have to protect him from well-timed respawning zombies while doing so. Not that he can't defend himself. It's just if he's away from the panel, the timer stops ticking down. "Almost there!" he said but 30 seconds feel very slogging during this sequence. *sigh*     
Next level...
During intermission Cole/ David Duchovny said that "Even with one man down, we grow stronger". Soon or later the situation will turns very awful, you watch! Anyway, we and some survivors have secured this place so i can operate crane over there for some reason. Sorry. I didn't listen to their conversation carefully. After moving the crane, i have to go that control room over there.
I was struggling to get in here though it's quite simple to do: i have to climb ladder there and i walk through some series of beam then i manage to get into hatch door of this room. Guess what i found in here besides the panel that open that gate? Shotgun! 2 of them, even. Opening the gate, will respawn zombies. My team and the survivors are fighting down there but i can't get down there. What a shame! I like to apply these shotguns more to the zombie.


Turns out, i have to wait for some explosion to blast some of wall on the control room then i can get out of there. I was supposed to get past of that once-opened gate, but i'm too late. I'm trapped here with zombies and the gate is closed forever. Go without me, comrades! 
Nevermind! They're attacked by unknown attacker. Crispy can still communicate to me, though. Suddenly fire exit on my left is opened by a zombie therefore i can go to the other side via ventilation shaft.
And here it is, the fate of my comrades. Captain got slammed to the gate and dead. While Crispy dies as zombie in front of Captain. See? I told you that the situation becomes really bad. I'm not planning to position Crispy's corpse like that. He attacked me so aggressively and more durable than any zombie. Therefore it's just coincidence, really. Colonel tries to contact us and now Cole speaking! But there's static on our conversation. Still i have no choice but to move on although i'm not sure about our mission success chance.
Next level...

Miraculously, i manage to contact Delta Team from this big computer. I thought they're all dead! Our mission can be completed, afterall! Now i need to go where they are...
 
...Oh! Thank you for opening door that i can't open. Your kindness will be repaid with these shotgun shells. Engineer_thank01.wav
Not far beyond that door, i found the Delta Team. Another miracle! Though they're now less 2 men from before. Guess what? A horde of zombie attack us, next. After we deal dozens of them, i'm tasked with fetching turret's ammo pack at nearby armory. I'll go!
After picking the ammo and load it to those 2 turrets, 2 of Bravo team's men immediately hop into them. Later they blast those zombies with the railgun turret that capable on exploding the zombies. Meanwhile, i'm just standing still slack-jawed watching them having fun with those bloody turrets. Even so, zombies sometime attack not from the front side. It's up to me to take care of the left side and the right side by using shotgun, mostly. Speaking of shotgun, it's awesome! It's pretty powerful up close and it's more powerful if you dual-wield it. Plus it's quite accurate for a shotgun. There's no aim down when using shotgun, instead pressing 'R2' button will initiate alternative shoot: double shoot! Although i have to pump the shotgun if i use double shoot while there's no pumping if i shoot in single mode. Blood precedes this game in shotgun that have double shoot feature and can be dual-wielded. But at least this shotgun has 10 shells capacity instead of only 2.
After the situation cools down, i have to repair communication device inside of ventilation shaft but i need to get repair tool in armory. Should tell me about that sooner, Delta Team! There's happen to be scannable thing on corpse near the communication device. Scan it!
 
After that i with Chewbacca (the leader of Delta Team) must retrieve some plastic explosion in storage room. By this point, you should know that only allies and zombies that can open the door and not me. So basically, Chew here is the key person, literally. Also he serves as moving quest marker for a while. 
Chew leaves me alone to get the explosion by navigating this box-stack/air-duct  maze and it's not okay. I said that maybe because i can't figure how to scan this CD. If only Cole can crawl underneath that air duct in front of him or at least extend his arm.  
Once i get the explosive, i give it to chew and he sets it on this wall. Maybe, he's demolition expert. Anyway, all we need to do to detonate it is to press the button on detonator. What? We don't have it. So how we trigger the explosion then, huh?
Ok, i like this idea! I use this deadly turret to detonate the explosive and blast those zombie that (conveniently) respawn after i blow the explosive. Some zombie try to shoot me but that's rather futile resistance. After all zombies are disintegrated. We can proceed to hole that i just blown.
OH FREAK! Here comes the hulking bastard (who's also kill my captain), again! Someone man the turret! Quick! Alas! Everyone prefer shoot the alien with the puny rifle. That don't work. Don't you remember, guys? Of course, everyone are beaten again by it. For the 2nd time! Not Cole, though. He doesn't appear in cutscene as always. I suspect because David Duchovny's voice isn't cheap.
And now he appears in CGI movie, approaching wounded Chew. He also take a glance of another special force yonder. Really suspicious.
Because i found Delta Team (though only Chew who survives), we're allowed to return to base. When we're about to ascend to the surface by using this elevator, a bomb (that's presumably set by the mysterious soldiers) explode right beneath us, causing us to fall down to some hole.
We end up in this room. Zombie killed Chew and he's coming after Cole. Is this the end? By the way, he looks like 70% Doomguy there.
Cole still alive! I didn't expect that. [medium flying saucer size sarcasm]. But his face looks bit awful. He's mutated but not become zombie. Suddenly, something alien-y possess Chew's corpse and says "You will die in better way". Cole replies "I don't know what's die in better way means".
Now that i'm mutated. I can only claw enemies and by doing so replenish my mutagen which is indicated by small bar above health bar. It's slowly depleted when i don't get new batch of mutagen. Also my vision becomes blurry and in red filter a bit. This kind of explaining why i don't wear any gauntlet, so i can claw anyone who dare to be hostile to me.  
After some walking and clawing zombies, i find another possessed corpse. "Find him! He's the only one who will help you to keep your sanity". Plot thicken.
It goes without saying that human soldier also wants me dead. Therefore i have no choice but to rip his torso senselessly. In my defense, he shot a scientist there on my right a bit. He can't be good person.
Pass beyond that point, there's room where 2 soldiers fight against a zombie. Of course, i killed them all. They're all hostile to me now. Once i enter this capsule chamber, i return to normal human but i can change into mutant and vice versa by pressing 'up' directional button. So if i want to use my weapons (and scanner) i must become human and if i want stronger melee attack i must become mutant. Plus, i can shoot parasite as mutant with extra mutagen cost by pressing 'R1' button.
When i approach the exit door of this room, that evil scientist contact me. His name is Dr. Cray not Edgar like what i suspected. He wants to see me in his room. Maybe he's the one who will help me to keep my sanity thus preventing me become totally zombie.
Tell you what? I become more invested with the shotgun and the transforming feature in this game. Therefore, i'm willing to do this game a favor by making part #3 of this article. Hopefully, i can get our revenge to that giant alien next time.

No comments:

Post a Comment