Walkthrough 1: Arrival

Liberty Coalition forces have established a base at an ancient Chinese Temple. As enforcements and supplies arrive at the base, we are introduced to Nathan Frost, a new recruit in the Liberty Coalition. As Frost’s platoon is assembled and debriefed, enemy Republic helicopters appear unexpectedly and begin to attack. You play Frost, and you're immediately thrown into the action.

Primary Level Goals:

• Defend the courtyard from enemy attacks.
• Move out to the next courtyard.
• Stop the courtyard from being overrun.
• Mobilize to the last courtyard.
• Stop the final assault on the temple.

As the mission starts, you'll be with your platoon in a courtyard being used for storage. Fellow soldiers mill around, chatting with each other while they wait for orders. The area is quiet except for the sounds of birds and the breeze rustling tree leaves and wind chimes. Suddenly, the high-pitch whine of incoming mortars breaks the silence and is quickly followed with violent explosions which ravage the courtyard. Some of the Liberty Coalition soldiers are killed in the sudden onslaught and their bodies are thrown violently through the air. The remaining soldiers take cover and wait for the shelling to stop.

The mortar attack is focused on the center of the courtyard, leaving the peripheral areas somewhat safe. Use this time to move around and get a feel for the courtyard, while picking up grenades and ammunition.

As the shelling stops, a Republic troop transport helicopter touches down at the back of the courtyard and drops off a regiment of Republic guards. Your coalition takes up defensive positions around the courtyard and waits for the attack to begin.

Follow your buddies’ lead and take up a defensive cover position. Republic forces begin to come over the walls of the courtyard from all directions. Enemy mortar strikes bombard the peripheral of the courtyard.

This is a perfect opportunity not only to use the Carbine, but to also use the Carbine’s ALT-FIRE, which shoots a bouncy grenade. This grenade can be shot like a pool ball to ricochet off different walls and take out enemies who are behind cover.

After an intense firefight, the Republic onslaught starts to wane, and you'll be prompted to move on to the next area, where even more intense fighting has started. Your platoon goes into hunt mode in the courtyard, cleaning up any remaining Republic troops left behind. You can stay behind and help with clean-up or move on to the next courtyard. Most enemies will drop items when they die. By this point, the courtyard is a veritable treasure trove of grenades, carbine ammo, grenades, and health packs. Gather up plenty of supplies while helping out with the cleanup effort.

A Liberty Coalition soldier stands by an open door which leads to the next engagement area. He provides covering fire while urging you to move on to the next objective point. When you go through the door, you'll find yourself in a tight corridor with three Liberty Coalition soldiers. The soldiers move ahead of you to take up defensive positions. One soldier takes up position near a doorway that leads into a small temple adjunct.

This building contains the game’s first save point. Using the save point will enable you to save your progress (at any time) to a memory card, in case you die during combat or simply need to stop playing the game for some crazy reason. Save game data can then be loaded from the memory card at a later time, and then you can continue your game where you left off. This first mission gets very intense from this point forward, so frequent saves are suggested.

The next courtyard makes the first courtyard look like a walk in the park. Twice the number of Republic forces are coming over the walls in increasingly frantic waves. Mortar rounds are hitting closer to Liberty Coalition positions, making it impossible to hunker down in one place for too long. Enemy helicopters strafe in from the left and right, laying down dangerous suppressing fire. You can hear these helicopters as they being their strafing run, but other Coalition troops aren’t so lucky.

Your skills with both the grenade and the Carbine alt-fire will come in handy during this engagement. Enemy cover objects are larger and provide perfect cover from standard ammunition. Only carefully thrown ranged weapons will root out enemy troops.

As the battle intensifies, a Republic helicopter comes in low over the courtyard and takes out a Liberty Coalition communications array tower, cutting off any communication to Liberty Coalition reinforcements outside of the temple. The battle has now become a much more dire situation.

It’s advisable at this point to avoid the falling tower as it falls onto the temple roof. Falling debris can be detrimental to your health.

A wall suddenly blows out in the back of the courtyard and a volley of high-powered laser rounds emerge from the smoke and take out several Coalition troops. As the smoke clears, two Republic combat robots emerge and start to ruthlessly attack the Coalition positions.

Combat 'Bots are lightly armored, but still much more robust than human enemies. Grenades are your best bet for taking them out.

The Coalition suffers huge losses in this second engagement, but eventually they get the upper hand as the Republic forces start to thin out. Coalition troops descend into the courtyard to clean out remaining enemy forces, and you're prompted to come around to the main entrance of the temple, where the worst fighting yet is going on.

The lull between battles is a good time to backtrack to the save room and save your progress.

The last courtyard battle takes place right outside of the temple’s main door. When you show up to battle, Coalition forces, led by Pitney, are already engaging the enemy. This courtyard is roughly the same size as the first courtyard, but with twice the cover objects for enemies. Enemies are able to get off numerous shots at your position from relative safety, which will force you down into the courtyard to engage the enemy directly. Mortar shelling is even more intense as the enemy has accurately pinpointed Coalition forces on the steps of the temple.

Take a look around the environment at all times to see strategic points for fighting as well as weapons that may be at your disposal. You can man the gun emplacement on the courtyard steps to help take out enemy forces faster.

More Combat 'Bots enter the scene from the right side of the courtyard. This time, there are two of them, and the attacks seem even more relentless. Use this opportunity to man the gun emplacement, giving them a clear and effective means of taking out the Combat 'Bots.

After the wave of 'Bots have been destroyed, there’s a slight lull in the battle. Then, a Republic attack helicopter shows up and starts bombarding the courtyard with machinegun fire and missile strikes. Wherever you move in the courtyard, the helicopter ruthlessly tracks you by taking up opposing positions and moving around, wildly while firing. You can take on the helicopter with your carbine and ranged attacks or get back on the emplacement to try and take it out. Friendly Liberty Coalition forces will try to help you by laying down suppressing fire on further Republic troops that enter the courtyard.