Chapter 16: Suicide Run


Chapter 16: Suicide Run

Considering how things went during the last chapter, it’d be nice to have some sort of break, or at least a reward for your efforts thus far. This comes in the form of an abandoned cartel technical that Alpha and Bravo discover. They decide to drive the technical into the cartel hideout, packed with the C4 they recovered from the junkyard.

You now have to decide who drives the truck, and who mans the guns. If you’re playing alone, Bravo does a good job at either role, so you should pick depending on what strikes your fancy: do you want to shoot things and cause explosions, or do you want to drive a truck through hapless cartel foot soldiers?

A few things to keep in mind: First off, the truck is not particularly maneuverable or very fast, meaning that you’ll have to react immediately to potential obstacles if you’re the driver. Second, the truck is not invincible. If you want to live up to the chapter’s name, you’ll run into things constantly and you’ll allow RPGs to strike the vehicle. Don’t do those things, and you’ll be just fine. Lastly, if you’re the gunner, know that the gun can overheat if it is fired for too long. While it is fun to just destroy everything, try to pace yourself somewhat so that you can have the gun ready when immediate threats need to be addressed.

Shortly after your rolling start, you’ll pass through a plaza filled with decorations and fireworks. If you’re driving, try to avoid hitting things with the truck in this area, as there are a lot of explosive hazards.

Just beyond the plaza, the cartel sends some sport trucks to try and block the road. These are easily avoided—especially if the gunner blasts them to pieces.

Shortly after the laughable attempt at a roadblock, the cartel sets up technicals with MMGs along the road. Clearly, they have gotten serious about stopping you.

After you tear through the technicals, thugs armed with RPGs are spotted along the sides of the street, on rooftops, or atop parked vehicles. The game marks these threats for both the driver and the gunner. The driver should concentrate on defensive driving, even if that means that the gunner can’t get easy shots on the hostiles. It’s better to avoid taking a direct hit, especially when you’re so close to the finish.

The final stretch is all downhill, right into the front gate of the hideout. The gate is guarded by a pair of MMGs that the gunner needs to take out before the truck sustains too much damage. At this point, the driver only needs to make sure the gate is directly in front of the truck as they travel toward the hideout.

Surviving the crash through the gate, Alpha and Bravo dust themselves off, ready to congratulate themselves for being the badasses they know they are.

That is, until a familiar and very unpleasant-looking cartel lieutenant stomps onto the scene with his personal gang of thugs. He is armed with what really ought to count as a proper sword, his charming good looks, and little else. El Carcinero is less than pleased to see you, but he’s definitely thrilled at the possibilities should he manage to get his hands on you. You can tell by the low growl he uses to communicate to his underlings.

Help arrives in the form of your contact Fiona, who manages to extract Alpha and Bravo from the compound. They trigger the C4 during the escape.

El Carcinero doesn’t seem to notice the parting gift, though.