Time to get up close and personal with the laughing lightbulb again!

(6:25) Level 7 ('The Library') on Normal. Back in BCM74 I showed how to get the Monitor to descend low at the third floor's first door so you can have a close look. You can do a similar thing at the second door, as shown here along with some fun. The advantage is that it's a brighter area.

Released February 15th 2017, gameplay recorded February 10th-13th 2017.

00:02 (Set-up and failed play) My initial goal here was to end up with two combat Flood on the ground. I was planning to use two of the ones which spawn on the ground, but they all get killed. I was trying to shoot a guy's weapon arm off around 0:20 but failed and had to take firmer action. I end up with two guys perched up high, but that's ok; I easily tempt them down. After triggering a checkpoint about five metres from the door and killing a few hiding spores, I get clear of the pursuing Flood to get the checkpoint, ready to attract their attention. That's the set-up work complete. On my first play I blast both Flood with my shotty but the Monitor fails to come down. It's random but he does come down quite often.

01:33 (Play 2 - Inspection) This was my very next play, and this time he does descend - and even gives me a greeting: "Oh, hello". Crouching, I circle right for a close inspection before firing a few pistol rounds at him. After no reaction I give him a shotty blast which finally elicits a response: "Please stop firing your weapon".

02:11 (Play 3 - Inspection) In this play the Monitor descends but pauses (quite low) when one of the Flood reanimates. Then after I kill the Flood, the Monitor hovers over for a look.

02:38 (Play 4 - Inspection with pass-through) In the earlier clips you may've noticed an AR near a wall. It came from a Flood. In this clip I've picked it up to make for a change from the pistol and shotty. After the Monitor descends I do some close inspection again, and this time pass through him. He's non-solid.

03:25 (Play 5 - High pause) After I down both Flood, the Monitor starts descending to the first, but pauses quite high when the second guy reanimates. I shoot his swiping arm off to make him no threat, and go over to the Monitor for a look. Another pistol shot finishes the Flood but the Monitor elects to hold station.

03:56 (Play 6 - Plasma pistol and needler) Having got the Monitor down, this clip picks up the action after I return with a plasma pistol and needler. Unfortunately I had to backtrack a long way for these, especially the needler. Would've been nice if I'd brought them to the scene before triggering the door checkpoint, but I was keeping the set-up work basic. Anyway, I got the weapons just to show you how they work on the Monitor. With a plasma ball you get some nice green sparks, but the more interesting thing is that needles actually stick into him - which I get a little over-enthusiastic with!

04:24 (Play 7 - Flare amusement) The Monitor doesn't react to my first plasma grenade, but follows the next one - "Ah!" - and also the third as it rises into the air as a flare. Then he seems to laugh at the result. His lines were pure chance really, but they fit the situation so well.

05:02 (Play 8 - Please stop being human) Just a short clip for the sake of a bit more shotty use plus the protest "Please stop being human".

05:17 (Play 9 - Installation speech) After I tag an incoming Flood the blast sends him through the door - killing the other too - and the Monitor descends for a look. When I go through the door I'm expecting him to fly off while talking about the installation, because that's what he'd normally do. However, his low position against the wall appears to thwart his navigational AI, because he stays put. So for once, I get to hear his installation speech at close quarters.

05:41 (Play 10 - Oh how unfortunate) I wanted something explosive and amusing for the ending, so I did some plays like this, attacking the Monitor and finishing with one or more plasma grenades. I was aiming to get myself killed, and have an amusing reaction from the Monitor. This was the best play I got. On many plays his final reaction line got cut off, which was no good. Here he gets it out ok, though the game reverted right afterwards so I've had to fade out the clip as he's finishing.

Closing remarks My last movie on this theme was BCM74 back in 2013, taking place at the third floor's first door. At the time, I was expecting to do a sequel for the second door quite soon. But there were so many other topics vying for attention, and it got away from me. So this is a very long-delayed movie.

During the set-up work I kept my flashlight on for the sake of brightening things for the movie. That left me with a significantly depleted flashlight for the subsequent playing, which of course isn't ideal. If I hadn't been making a movie, I would've kept my flashlight off until just before getting the checkpoint.

Am I done with the 'low Monitor' theme now? Maybe not. One thing I haven't shown is the Monitor watching spores as they bobble about. That's quite amusing. Also I wouldn't mind firing a few rockets his way.

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