Written by: Rik
Date posted: November 22, 2020
My main advice for this game would be to grab a download of the manual. But, in case you can’t/won’t and have pursued a strategy of ‘bash all keys on the keyboard and see what they do’, here are a few key hints and tips:
1. Missions don’t end when you complete the objectives. You have to press F10 to get the drop ship to pick you up. If you press it by accident, you can press it again to cancel.
2. Press F5 to bring up a list of countermeasures and turn them on. The manual says this might attract more attention from enemies, and maybe it does, but as discussed in the main review, sneaking around doesn’t seem like a viable option here.
3. If you need to pick things up on a mission, approach them slowly and press F7 to see when you’re in a position to stop and pick them up.
4. If you’re not sure whether the static object you just destroyed was part of the mission or not, press F8 for an overview of completed and remaining objectives.
5. Mission-critical objects on the ground can be destroyed by trampling all over them, however you can also use the + and – keys to adjust the crosshairs and use a weapon instead. This is particularly handy when your machine is too knackered to build up enough speed to trample something. Press * to return the crosshairs to the centre.
Oh, and one final thing: I had a few problems with the game crashing and corrupting the save file – be sure to make a copy of the STATUS.DAT file and the SAVED_A folder (assuming you choose the top save slot) to avoid any loss of progress.
Posts
Hints and Tips
• Use your seeking missiles sparingly. It may well be the easiest way to
destroy enemy machines, but you’ll find them far more useful during later
portions of a mission.
• Don’t rely too heavily on your radar. More often than not, you’ll see the
enemy machines before they appear on radar, giving you the opportunity
to lock on with a seeking missile.
• Don’t neglect the lower cockpit. Your view of the world may be a bit
smaller, but you do have more information on hand, thanks to the extra
monitors.
• If you’ve run out of ammo completely, don’t despair. Many, but not all,
machines can be destroyed by running them over.
• Once you’ve completed a mission, evacuate the enemy base immediately.
Get into the open and call for your air retrieval crew.
• Master the art of head rotation. One of the funkiest maneuvers your
machines can perform is the gully-run. To do this, line yourself up down a
straight patch of ground and turn your machine’s head by a full 90 degrees
so that it’s looking up a street or canyon. Then, set your machines moving
and as you pass by the streets, lock-on and unleash your seeking missiles
on any enemy units. Perfect this and you can finish off the enemy in double
quick time.
• Don’t assume that your ECM and Anti-missile hardware will protect you
completely. These can block a certain percentage of enemy attacks, but you’ll still find that about 40% get through. They also make you highly
visible on enemy radar, so save them for the heat of battle.
• you’re commanding a squadron, make use of the map to send your team
to specific locations. If you leave them to their own devices, they’ll bumble
around, getting in your way
October 31, 2026 @ 1:00 pm