BCM109 - Freakiness and fun, assorted clips

(5:31) Various levels and difficulties. My sixth 'freakiness and fun' compilation shows 23 freaky or amusing incidents, most of which occurred while recording footage for my usual movies - so you may recognize some of the situations.

Released July 23rd 2014, gameplay recorded 2009-2014.

Commentary

00:02 (Green chaser) In this rockslide megabattle entry we end up getting chased by a plasma ball. Stacker gives the impression of spotting it, saying "Huh? What's that?", but I'm sure that line was actually in response to a Grunt's grenade throw. I swerve the hog to dodge the plasma ball, and then I'm so pleased with myself that I completely lose my concentration and make a disastrous dismount (another of which appeared in my previous 'freakiness and fun' movie BCM97). October 2013 footage from just after releasing BCM86. I was playing a bit more with the same save. Level 2, Heroic.

00:26 (Banshee on the head) After taking a Shade ride to get down from the bridge, I reboard it and bring down the Banshee - on my head. April 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM33. Level 5, Heroic.

00:38 (Grunt versus Hunter) After smacking down the Elite, the Hunter still hasn't seen me so I give the Grunt a whack too - and then another. Then I hear the Hunter shaping up for a whack so I back off. But the Grunt isn't so quick and goes flying, hee hee! June 2014 footage from when I was recording for BCM106. Level 4, Legendary.

00:50 (Coastal view) Battling Banshees up on the cliffside hilltop, I throw a frag to try and destroy the last one as it swoops in, but Marine fire blows it up first. The pilot's grenades spill out and my frag sets off a regrettable chain reaction. Oops! January 2013 footage from when I was recording for BCM65. Level 2, Legendary.

00:59 (Hunter versus Grunt) Tackling the initial covies once more in an augmented ascent fight, the first Hunter ends up getting tagged by a Grunt - who then comically apologises. "Sorry!" June 2014 footage from when I was recording for BCM106. Level 4, Legendary.

01:15 (Target practice) In this far area defence in a rockslide megabattle, I'm doing some mopping up. When I see a Jackal rolling, I tag him low and he shoots up, giving me a bit of target practice. Looks like it could be a headshot! August 2012 footage from when I was recording for BCM52. Level 2, Heroic.

01:28 (Hot landing) Have to say, the Hunters really did a good job on me in this twin bridges megabattle. As I land in the trough, two shots reduce me to only one bar of health, then another two sail in together and BLAM! - that's it. And by the way, if this clip seems a bit familiar to you, you're probably thinking of another fatal landing which appeared near the end of BCM60. June 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM36. Level 5, Normal.

01:52 (Frozen spores) In this Flood onslaught challenge on Easy (I was just checking something, not playing seriously), some spores freeze near the end of the battle. First a couple freeze, then some more. In both cases the spores come from a carrier pop I believe. They unfreeze when I cross a certain line, except for one from the first pop which you can see unfreezing earlier. I've seen this type of spore freezing before, but not very often. I'm not sure of the cause, but perhaps it was something to do with the game getting to the limit of what it could handle? Note: within this passage of play which covered about 40 seconds, I've edited out two short segments of several seconds, to speed things along. June 2014 footage. Level 9, Easy.

02:17 (Tagged and taunted) In tackling Grunts up the right hand side, I make a mistake and run out from cover, intercepting a plasma grenade. I see that I'm tagged, but at least I make sure the blast takes out the Grunt I was going after. I then get taunted by the thrower. June 2014 footage from when I was recording for BCM106. Level 4, Legendary.

02:31 (Jammed engine) Have you ever had a Banshee whose engine doesn't turn off when you dismount? I've had that a few times, and here's one. This happened when I was working on my 'Trapped dropship' movie BCM100. At about 2:25 in that movie, I hit the ground and then you hear the Banshee hit too, and the engine can be heard still going. These clips follow on from that. As you can see, reboarding and briefly flying it around doesn't make the engine stop. However, I got another such Banshee later, and after doing some flying and shooting, I noticed that the engine sound had stopped. So, maybe shooting stops it? Maybe I'll look into this business later. One thing you may've noticed from this footage is that while flying, the Banshee doesn't quite sound normal. April 2014 footage from when I was recording for BCM100. Level 5, Heroic.

02:59 (Walkway boost) Tackling the second Hunter in my save for an augmented ascent fight, he gets unexpectedly launched up onto the walkway by my needle-assisted tag. Quite amusing I thought. He carries straight on running along the walkway to get back down to me. June 2014 footage from when I was recording for BCM106. Level 4, Legendary.

03:10 (Yin-yang frags) This is from when I was exploring the business of weapons and grenades moving around by themselves. These two frags moved together and formed something reminiscent of the yin-yang symbol. Gave me a chuckle. January 2014 footage from when I was recording for BCM93. Level 5, Heroic.

03:17 (Dodgy fuse) In this lifeboat area defence in a rockslide megabattle, my plasma grenade appears to tag a blue Elite's rifle while he's reeling from a sniper round. Normally a plasma grenade would bounce off a weapon, so I'm not sure why this one appears to stick. However, it just fizzles out - so I get him with another sniper round, heh heh. October 2013 footage from when I was recording for BCM86. Level 2, Heroic.

03:29 (Double point, triple kill) Occasionally you can get two Jackals pointing at once, such as here. Idiots like this really deserve rocketing, wouldn't you say? June 2014 footage from when I was recording for BCM106. Level 4, Legendary.

03:36 (Outta here) In trying to get a detached dropship turret, I end up pushed through the cliff by my Banshee - something which happened a few times during my work on that topic. March 2014 footage from when I was recording for BCM99. Level 5, Heroic.

03:48 (Stumbling Grunt) In the twin bridges area, these angled rims can often give a Grunt some trouble. This guy looks like he could be spending the rest of the day stumbling, if it wasn't for the fact that I get spotted and hostilities break out. He turns to flee, and escapes my aim behind a rock - unlike two of his buddies. December 2013 footage (using the same save as for BCM36). Level 5, Normal.

04:05 (Twitchy Jackal) When a plasma grenade lands near the feet of this Jackal, he gets rather twitchy! He eventually snaps out of it and starts to dive clear, but he's way too late. You can see some similarly twitchy Grunts in BCM76. NB: To see the twitching properly you'll need to be watching a version giving you the full non-skipping 25 fps; either my download version or the YouTube version. May 2014 footage from when I was recording for BCM105. Level 4, Legendary.

04:17 (Even twitchier) This time he seems to be twitching back and forth even faster (the sound oscillation is also more pronounced), and he never snaps out of it. I played around with this twitchiness quite a bit. The Jackal had a definite proclivity towards odd behaviour when the grenade landed near his feet. May 2014 footage from when I was recording for BCM105. Level 4, Legendary.

04:25 (Hog drop) In this rockslide megabattle I grenade the hog to send it towards the covies for fun. I don't think it gets anyone, but a Grunt can be heard diving. I let this clip follow on from the last via continuity of shield bleeping. June 2009 footage from when I was recording for BCM1. Level 2, Heroic.

04:36 (Who's the man?) The pistol shots from the previous clip merge into the opening shots of this clip, which is just a brief bit of Stacker comedy. He dies amusingly, part way through a wisecrack. June 2009 footage from when I was recording for BCM2. Level 2, Heroic.

04:41 (Short battle) This flood onslaught challenge does not go according to plan. Before long, a carrier pop from around the corner sends a frag my way, which then explodes - and I'm dead within about nine seconds of the first enemy sighting. I think that carrier must've got blown back from my plasma blast, but I never even saw it. June 2014 footage from when I was recording for BCM107. Level 9, Legendary.

04:54 (Bouncy Shade) While doing something relating to my Three Wraiths article, this amusing deflection from a manned Shade occurred. I played around with this effect quite a bit. You can launch the hog pretty easily! August 2013 footage. Level 5, Normal.

05:14 (Short megabattle) Another rather short battle; this time a ramp defence in a dustbowl megabattle. I needle the first Elite, and even though I stand well back from the loose plasma, a chain reaction works its way towards me and I get blasted off into the void. I count at least eight grenade bangs there. I'm dead within six seconds of the first enemy sighting. Pretty good going eh? August 2013 footage from when I was recording for BCM79. Level 3, Normal.

Closing remarks Thanks to my recent activity in The Silent Cartographer (in connection with BCM105 and BCM106), I had plenty of SC clips for potential use here, unlike in my previous 'freakiness and fun' movies. I've ended up using seven, and I still have more for later. As well as having the most SC events so far, I think this one also has the highest cyborg death count. I get killed six times; or seven if you include the incident where I get pushed though the cliff wall.