28 February 2009

Blazing Angels part 2

The day is mine! When we last met, I was stuck on the mission flying through the ice canyons to destroy the heavy water plant. Before we begin, may I re-emphasize HOW^$%%#&$%#$ REDICULOUS THIS STUPID LEVEL IS AND HOW IF I EVER MEET THE *&^%$%^**$ WHO DESIGNED IT I'M GOING TO SKIN HIM ALIVE!!!! Ahem. Anyway, I hate to say it, but there aren't really any tricks, you just have to keep flying the mission until you figure it out. The only real hints I can give are to try different planes. they all fly differently and you may have better luck with a certain one. I wound up using the Spitfire. Also, each time you re-try the level try something different. Find out which corners you can fly around full speed and which ones you have to slow down for. See if you can fly around obstructions a different way. You may be surprised. And remember, there is a rediculous time limit, so you have to go full speed 99% of the mission. Once you get through the first canyon (yes you read that right, FIRST CANYON!!!! THERE ARE MORE!!!) you have to bomb some German ships in an alcove. This is rather tight flying, but is not terribly tricky. Then you follow Joe through ANOTHER canyon, but this time, there are enemy fighters in there with you. Take my advice: IGNORE THE FIGHTERS! Shooting them down does you know good, and if you don't shoot them, it doesn't matter. Just concentrate on flying through the canyon. Once again, stupid time limit. After this canyon, you have to shoot down the fighters and sink some more ships. Fortunetly, this cove has more room than the last one, so you don't really have to worry about crashing. However, these enemy fighters are a pain. They have equal planes, and these guys are GOOD. Use the target follow mode here. Trust me. Once you destroy the enemy, Joe will unceromoniously disappear and you have to follow him again. Look for the blue arrow on your radar, that's him. He is busy going through the last (finally!) canyon. Follow him, this is just like the last one, fighters and all. By the way, each canyon is worse than the last, and the time is harder to beat, but without realizing it, by practicing the mission you are getting better at canyon flying. After the final canyon, you finally reach the heavy water plant. Just bomb it and get it over with. No problems here. Oh and one last thing, there's a sub to sink at the end too.









After that HELLACIOUS mission throught the ice, it's time to get back to the real world. Now you have to assist the DDay landings at Normandy. This seems fairly standard shooting bombers and ground targets. Biggest trick is there are soooo many targets. Each time you come around, use the joystick to select the target closest to you. This makes it easier to see. Here you have to beat both a timer and the little meter saying how many friendly troops are left. It's not terribly hard, but you have to be quick. And the land targets are low and tucked into small ravines. Try not to crash! Oh and also, one of your wingmen is killed on this mission. Just like landing your damaged plane on a previous mission, this is part of the story and nothing you do can change it.





After saving the Normandy invasion, you have to rid Paris of German troops. By now it should be becoming clear that the missions are getting harder. Imagine the last mission, but all the enemy tanks are in between tall buildings. The biggest challenge with this mission is to not run into the buildings. To avoid this, your best bet is to fly along roads, rivers, etc as much as possible. There are a lot of them, but you have plenty of time to take them all out, so relax and watch out for the buildings. Also, unlike previous levels, if you are called to help another area here, you have to go immediately. You can not wait until you finish cleaning up the area you are at, or you will lose. After cleaning up all the Germans, you have to take out the fleeing German general. This is very bizzare, because he will pop up and dissapear on your radar repeatedly in a pattern that is physically impossible. Your best bet: Hang out by Notre Dame, just circle over the river. With about 35 seconds left on the timer, he will appear in this area on three boats on the river. Take these out, then a few fighters, and the mission is done.

Your next assignment is the Ardenne Woods, more commonly called the Battle of the Bulge. This one seems to be quite a doozy. First up is a wave of German fighters to take out, then some armored columns, then a bomber wave. Oh, and you have one restrictive time limit to take out all of it. Well, this is where I am now. I was going to wait longer to post this next installment, but since I am leaving now and who knows when I will get back to the game. So when I do, I will continue my little narrative. Have fun!

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