Far Cry: Training Level
by Wuphon's Reach
(Note that all of this assumes you're playing on 'suicidal' difficulty. Other difficulty levels may have fewer enemies or place them into different locations? Also, I'd recommend changing your settings so that corpses last for 999 seconds as it makes it easier to scavenge weapons after you clear an area.)
After the initial cut-scene, you're going to wake up in a partially flooded, underground tunnel. This area is perfectly safe until you reach the second cut-scene and is designed to introduce you to the controls. Feel free to run around, jump, crouch, and learn to use the prone command. Once you climb the ladder, you're going to hit your first test where you have to get past a guard without using any weapons.
You have 3 basic options:
a) Run like hell and use the [Shift] key to sprint. Depending on luck, the guard may or may not tag you before you reach cover. This works, but unless you get past with at least 3/4 health, you're may have trouble in the next section.
b) Sneak past. Hug the left wall, move extremely slowly and stop any time that your stealth meter rises past green. Not my preferred method and may not even work.
c) Hybrid approach. Sneak until you pickup a rock, toss the rock out the opening, then sprint for the tunnel. With luck, the guard will be distracted by the rock (I've even seen him 'skeet shoot' it) and you can get across the room without being shot at.
Time for cut-scene #3 where you meet Doyle. You'll also get rewarded with a handgun, 17 rounds of ammo, a single grenade and some body armor. It's not much, so you'll need to be very conservative until you can scavenge some more. Head out the door in the southwest corner of the room and creep forward. It's a big world out there and while it looks like paradise, it's closer to hell on earth if you get spotted.
Ready to meet your first contestants on 'Jack vs the world' now that you've finished admiring the eye-candy? Below you is a pair of huts, a pig pen, a beached patrol boat and a dock where one of the mercenaries is doing a bit of fishing. Take a few seconds to scope out the situation and you'll see mercenary #2 is carrying boxes from the docks up to the far hut.
Ever hear the phrase, "where there's smoke, there's fire"? Well, if you see one mercenary, odds are that he has buddies (usually plural) nearby and often hidden. In this case, there's a mercenary hidden in the far hut and another near the pig pen (between the two huts). So, you've got 1 grenade and 17 rounds of ammo to take out 4 mercenaries who are probably packing serious heat.
Easy-peasy.
First, let's pick our position because as soon as we open fire, we're going to have 3-4 armed and nasty mercenaries hunting us. My preference is to strafe to the right out of the tunnel opening and take up a position high on the hill towards the coastline. This gives me a decent view of the entrances to both huts, some cover to hide behind and a clear shot at the mercenary on the dock.
Second, we should try to kill two birds with one stone. See that yellow canister on the docks? That's an accident waiting to happen! Wait until the mercenary moving the boxes comes back for another load, then pepper the yellow canister with a few shots until it explodes. With luck, you've killed both mercenaries or, at the worst, killed one and severely wounded the other.
All this commotion will usually bring the other 2 mercenaries running to the docks, or at least far enough out of the huts that you can get an eyeball on them. Take out the one that comes to investigate with a well-placed headshot. You should still have a full clip of ammo left to spare (maybe more).
Mercenary #4 will either come out to investigate, or stay at his patrol post in the far hut. If he comes down to the beach, pick him off like you did the other one. Otherwise, you'll need to start working your way down the slope towards the dock. Stay behind cover as much as possible, go slow and be prepared to get spotted. My usual approach is to slip down to the beach, then move from piling to piling until I get spotted and we start trading lead.
Once you kill mercenary #4, check the dock and the huts for weapons, health and armor. You should end up with 50-80 rounds of handgun ammo and 50-60 rounds of M4 Carbine ammo. The M4 Carbine is a decent assault rifle good for targets out to around 100-200m. Extremely deadly if you aim for the head at 50-80m. I'd recommend using single-shot mode to conserve ammo.
Head up the hill to the southwest towards your next waypoint. You'll pass a checkpoint and the game will auto-safe as you approach the hut on top of the hill. Pickup the binoculars inside, then go prone and start surveying the camp that you can see to the southwest. Notice that as you tag mercenaries with the binoculars, they get added to your compass along with a color coding that indicates their level of alertness.
From here, you should be able to spot (from left to right, total mercenary count is 8-9 mercenaries).
A) Three mercenaries near or around the firing range. One is practicing, one will be using the exercise equipment at the base of the guard tower, and the third will be patrolling the open area between the canvas-sided quonset huts (flimsy buildings that look like a barrel half-buried in the ground). These targets are all 250-300m away from your location.
B) A guard on the patrol tower inside the camp. Notice that he's already 'alert' and looking for trouble as opposed to the other mercenaries on the ground who are just going about their duties.
C) Two more mercenaries hidden behind the quonset hut on the right. If you listen carefully, you may even hear a 3rd mercenary walking around in the right quonset hut. This pair is more like 300-350m way.
D) A guard on the hilltop tower to the West-Southwest. He's also on 'alert' and already checking for any signs of intruders. Range is around 200-250m.
E) You may also manage to hear 3 mercenaries on the far side of the camp, patrolling the road to the south of the camp. If you keep the noise down and do your killing on the north side, these 3 will probably not hear the ruckas.
Let's talk about the 3 main approaches to the camp.
A) Up the middle. This is the first way I tried, hiding on the little sandbar island between my island and the camp's island. Advantages are a bit of cover (although I usually just go prone on the lee side of the sandbar) and a very clear shot at anyone who comes running out of the camp down to the beach. Disadvantage is lack of cover if you have to fall back.
B) Flank right and attack from the top of the hill with the guard tower. Good visibility, but also provides your enemies with a good bit of cover to work their way towards you as they come up the hill. You'll need to swim (underwater is best) to the right side of the camp's island until you find a beach where you can climb out and work your way up the hill.
C) Flank left and attack from the other hill overlooking the camp. Moderate visibility here but not so much ground cover. You also risk drawing in the guards on the south road. This spot will also uncover a flaw in the AI where mercenaries will get stuck in the water or at the base of the cliff. Just like the 'flank right' option, this one require that you swim to a beach on the left side of the camp's island, then work your way up the hill.
D) All of the above. My preferred method. In simple terms, I peel the camp apart like an onion. Drawing mercenaries off into the underbrush, away from reinforcements before sending them to meet their maker.
But, first things first. Those guards on the guard tower have got to go. Otherwise, as we make our approach, they'll alert the others to our location and things will get way too hot to handle.
(The next bit is easy or hard, depending on your aim and how good your graphics are.)
I always start with the guard on the hilltop tower. He's isolated and has the best view of any of them. I prefer to take him out from maximum distance (over 200m), even if it means wasting a few rounds to do so. At that extreme distance, he's going to have a very difficult time pinpointing where the shots are coming from. He's also silohetted against the blue sky, which makes a nice 'sight picture' for lining up a headshot. There are a few possible spots to pick this guard off.
A) The hut where you nabbed the binoculars. Go prone, slide left, and you'll be at the maximum possible range for picking this guard off. You'll probably need to use the binoculars to get a fix on his position, whether he's standing still or moving around.
B) The beach down to the southwest. Puts you a few dozen meters closer to your target, but increases the risk that the camp mercenaries will see you or hear your shot.
C) A small island west of the hut with a piece of driftwood on it (I have not tried this location).
Once you take this guard out, it's time to take out the other tower guard (down in the camp) and the 3 mercenaries who are near him. I start at the beach, southwest of the 'binocular hut' and pick off the tower guard. This alerts the other 3 and they go into 'searching' mode. Now you'll want to be patient. First, so that they feel overconfident and don't simply run for backup (which will bring a whole helo full of trouble that you don't want) and second, so that you can draw them away from the camp before killing them. Which makes it much easier to scavenge weapons and spare ammo.
Move forward to the small sandbar with the large boulder and the palm tree. Go prone and check up on your targets. Usually, they're just milling about looking concerned as to why the tower guard is dead. Find the closest one and shoot him in the leg. After he finishes finding cover, he'll usually find his courage again, call for his buddies and they'll start hunting towards your position.
As they move in for the kill, wait for them to hit the beach, then take them out with a few well-placed headshots. If you're good, you'll have 3 dead mercenaries on the beach or in the water and nobody else in the camp will realize that things are starting to go very wrong. Odds are, you're running low on ammo at this point, so it's time to scavenge ammo and break contact.
Collect your trophies from the 3 that you killed on the beach, then fade back away to the west. Go ahead and swim back into the ocean, head deep underwater and swim around to the west side of the isle. Climb out and head up the hill to the hilltop guard tower. Go slow when you near the top of the hill, then climb up to the top of the tower. Stay crouched to avoid being spotted while you're up there. Relieve the tower guard of his weapons and ammo, then break out the binoculars.
Look around. You'll see 2 guards with a vehicle at the near end of the beach to the southwest, 2 more guards halfway down the beach, another guard in the hut at the far end (with a buggy outside), and a final pair of guards with another vehicle up in the jungle to the southwest of the hut. You should also be able to get a fix on the 3 guards on the south road out of the camp. And you should take the time to sweep the camp below looking for other lifesigns (there should be 3 mercenaries left, all near the covered vehicle repair area).
Head back down out of the tower and pick your next approach. Fastest is to skirt the base of the tower, and creep down the hill to the southwest. Stay as far up the hill as possible while also looking for a good clear area to draw those 3 mercenaries into as they come up the hill hunting you.
For fun, you can shoot the board that keeps that large fuel tank from rolling downhill into the vehicle area. It's a tough shot from this angle, but you'll see the end of the board between the post and the fuel tank. The fuel tank will roll downhill, crash up against the supports of the vehicle repair area before exploding. Sometimes this kills one of the three right away, but it's also good for wounding them. Or, you can start by killing one of them with a headshot, then shooting the board.
The remaining guards should start working their way towards where they think you are. If you're too gung-ho at the start, they'll get scared and run for the alarm switch (yellow box on the telephone poles) which will bring a helicopter full of angry, heavily armored, and heavily armed mercenaries to the helopad. Pick them off as they come up the hill towards your position.
You should now have killed every mercenary in the camp. Take a minute and sweep with the binoculars again, listening for footsteps or other signs of life. Head down the hill and retrieve all weapons and ammo from targets that you've downed, then search all of the huts for more equipment, weapons and ammo. You should leave the camp with a full pack of handgun and M4 Carbine ammo along with a full bandolier of grenades.
Walk over, get into a vehicle, then exit immediately. This will clear the "steal a vehicle" checkpoint, but the camp vehicle is not a good one to swipe. It's too noisy and the road up ahead is difficult to navigate without lots of practice.
Do one more sweep for ammo, then make like a shadow and fade away to the south-southeast into the jungle. Head to the top of the southeast ridge that overlooks the camp so you can start checking out the south road leading out of the camp. Start creeping down towards the waterfall, try to get a position where you have a clear view of the patrol while they can't see you.
Headshot the first one, then you'll need to play hide-n-seek with the other two. If they hole up somewhere, try to either headshot them where they hole up, or wound them so they move, or fire a single shot into the air to draw them in. Once again, scavenge any weapons or ammo off the corpses, then head back to the waterfall.
From the waterfall, head south-southwest along the 'upper' trail. You should periodically stop, get out the binoculars and sweep from left to right listening for sounds of activity. Remember that there are 5 guards down on the beach, and 2 of them are sitting in a heavily armed vehicle. You will eventually come upon a ruined hut up against the hillside. This is a good spot to check your weapons and do a final eyeball of the territory. It's also a good spot to fall back to if you need.
You need to get a sniping position so you can take out the two mercenaries near the vehicle. You can usually get an eyeball on the driver by moving a bit farther southwest and going prone between some trees. Break out the binoculars, figure out where his head will be while sitting in the vehicle, then start plugging away with the M4 Carbine on single-shot mode. Check your progress every few shots with the binoculars. Don't forget to check on the two yahoos farther up the beach to see if they noticed anything. Ideally, you'll kill the driver and the gunner will dismount and come after you on foot through the trees. Move back to the ruined hut and either wait for him, or creep around to the north and try to flank him. Kill him, then scavenge his weapons ammo.
At this point, you can continue to play the cat-and-mouse game, working your way up the road/beach. Taking out target after target until you get to the beach with a pair of vehicles, a nasty patrol boat, and a fortified mortar position. This beach is commonly called the 'beach of death'.
Or... you can do it the fast way. Which works about half the time and relies on being faster then your opposition has time to react to.
Start by sneaking down to the vehicle at the north end of the beach. If you're good, you can manage to climb in and start the vehicle before the two mercenaries up the beach notice you. Kill them both with the chaingun before they have time to seek cover in the treeline. Then drop a few mortars (switch fire modes with 'X') into the hut to kill the other mercenary.
Now, put the pedal to the medal!
Drive past the left side of the hut that you just blew up and up the hill towards the next set of guards. Use the chaingun liberally so that they don't get into the vehicle, but don't slow down to see if they're dead. Just keep driving.
The road veers left. There will be two mercenaries on the road ahead. Run them over! (Or use the chain gun, whichever rocks your world.) Head straight (south?) and you're going to see the 'death' beach up ahead.
There are two vehicles on this beach, a fortified mortar position on the far end on the overlook, and a patrol boat in the water to the right with a rocket launcher. That patrol boat is very bad news at the harder levels and so is the mortar position. Charge ahead at full speed, but feel free to paste some shots at any and all targets that you see. Your goal is to cross this stretch of beach without getting blown to smithereens and speed is your best defense.
As you leave the beach you will see a downed WWII japanese fighter, steer to the right of it and go around the right side of the hill. You'll run into (and over) a few more mercenaries along the way before coming into view of the carrier.
Go for air! (Or try to speed down the beach towards the carrier.) Your objective (if you live long enough) is to find the submerged entrance on the left end of the beached carrier. This is no time to stop and admire the view, you need to get undwater as fast as possible. I usually end up sending the vehicle off a cliff resulting in a splash landing where I dismount and start swimming underwater.
As you swim underwater, your pursuit will lose track of you as you weave beween the underwater rocks and your stealth meter will drop back down. But don't think you're home free yet because you can hear a patrol boat coming, and I guarantee that they'll be checking in the water.
If all goes well, you'll have just enough breath (and time before the patrol boat arrives) to swim into the opening in the side of the carrier to end the level.
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