Chapter 36: Adrenaline High


Chapter 36: Adrenaline High

Salem apparently subscribes to the Evil Villains Handbook, which clearly states that he should stay within close proximity to the heroes and taunt them, preferably using their own means of communication. After a short jaunt down a stairwell, you encounter Salem among the cartel’s “product production lines” and he quickly retreats, sending a swarm of mercenaries in your direction. Don’t waste your ammo on Salem. You can’t take him down just yet.

The facility is in rotten shape, with dozens of holes in the walls big enough to provide you or your enemies with additional avenues of travel and sightlines to shoot through. During the first three firefights of this chapter, there are a dozen ways to get caught or to catch your enemies in flanking maneuvers.

The next growing room has the same tactical problems as the first: holes in the walls and a lot of cover to navigate around. Check for hostiles to your right as you enter the area—the whole wall there has a massive gouge that Salem and his people can shoot at you from.

The third firefight begins when you enter a room with a trashed wall directly in front of you, where mercenaries shoot at you through gaps in the masonry. To your right is the direction you need to go, but you’ll have to go through another group of mercs to do so. To the left of them is another wall that has a large section torn out, and yet another mercenary squad takes position there .

Always, always have your gun trained and ready as you round a corner during this third firefight. Keep in mind that you still haven’t hit a proper checkpoint yet. Should you die, it’s all the way back to the start of the chapter with you. As you might imagine, this chapter can be frustrating on the Hard and Insane difficulties.

Thankfully, you hit the first checkpoint in your pursuit of Salem, going down a set of stairs and through another growing room with a surprising lack of resistance. You eventually reach an AC unit that needs to be pushed aside in order for you to proceed .

To the right of the AC unit is another growing room. At the other end of the room, an RPG mercenary fires a shot that goes wild and hits something very flamable on your side of the room. The growing firestorm begins to consume the whole room, and the cartel mercs in front of you are apparently well-paid enough to try and stand in your way while the fire spreads toward them. You gotta admire their work ethic.

Escaping the oncoming wall of flame takes you into a storage room full of burning marijuana. You’ll be attacked by Stabbers as you run through the area, and getting too close to the flames will cause you to take damage.

After escaping the burning storehouse, you’ll come across a hallway with a door you can breach. To the right of the door is a large hole in the wall that you can pass through. If you’re playing with a partner, you can start this next firefight from two different entry points, dividing the enemy’s attention and setting up flanking kills. Be exceedingly careful during your advance through this last firefight, as the room is filled with numerous explosive barrels and canisters that can ruin your day. Once you break through this defensive position, you’ll find that Salem has fled to a lower level through a large hole in the floor. The chase isn’t over yet.