Suicidal cliff descent fun with Stacker and Johnson!

(6:33) Level 2 ('Halo') on Heroic. When I ventured down cliff faces in a Warthog recently, I was surprised at how grippy it was and how far down I could go. It makes a fun activity to see what you can do and to enjoy the views. In this movie I've got Stacker and Johnson along for the ride. They might not be volunteering so quickly next time!

Released October 6th 2018, gameplay recorded October 3rd-5th 2018.

00:02 (Cliffside survivor area) I figured I'd get things going with a bit of action, driving into the cliffside survivor area and briefly cruising around, with a bit of splattering on the way. Soon we're going off the edge for the first time, but it's a bit bumpy and the hog gets into a spin, and we're ejected.

00:39 Things are more controlled on this attempt, but when the hog meets a steeper section it flips. Back to the drawing board guys! By the way, I had the left joystick pulled back, trying to reverse. One other thing. In this clip you can see that the green area below is actually a separate surface, high above a lower one. There are more views of it in later clips.

00:52 This time I back the hog over so it's facing upwards, and I put the pedal to the metal for maximum traction. We get a surprisingly long way before losing grip. That's what surprised me when I was originally exploring this stuff in July (see my article).

01:15 On this descent the camera moves around to give a nice front view of the hog as it goes down backwards. When I was originally exploring, I remember being surprised that you could get such a view. I've got the left joystick pulled back, thinking I was trying to drive the hog upwards towards the camera, but actually I don't think that's what was happening. I think the hog was actually trying to back around (you'd see what I mean if you try it on level ground), though that was hopeless because of the slope. Notice how the front wheels keep turning left or right - a sign of trying to do such backing around. Stacker's ejection is amusing, the way he shoots up and screams.

01:37 This clip gives a front view all the way down (i.e. until grip is lost), and you also get a nice look at lots of rubble flying away. I like that stuff.

01:59 When an Elite starts firing from the nearby structure, Stacker gets a chance to spray around with his chain-gun again, and wants an angle. I'm not sure 60+ degrees is what he had in mind! I manage to get a nice side view as we slide to our doom.

02:21 Good dramatic close-up views here, courtesy of a low camera (i.e. close to the slope). It's fun getting views like that.

02:41 (Valley top) Three clips illustrating another descent spot now. There's a nice slope here, not as steep as the previous area. This first clip includes a particularly good view of the raised green plane below.

03:08 This time I back over the edge and we go down backwards (pedal to the metal). For part of the descent I angle the camera up skywards, for variety. When we get to the end of the slope, Stacker pops out of the hog amusingly.

03:34 Nice long side view here, with a brief close-up of the front wheel kicking up rubble near the end.

03:55 (Stunting onto the nice slope) At some point I had the idea of trying to stunt onto the 'nice slope' - and thus we have this five-clip comedy segment, using run-offs from both the cliffside area and the valley. In three of the clips the hog briefly gets some traction, but in the other two it hits the slope sideways and rolls, immediately ejecting us. In the final clip Stacker happens to drift my way as he falls and wails, and I shoot him with my pistol. Suck it up Stacker! You're a Marine damn it!

05:08 (Valley bottom) Finally, four clips involving the bottom of the valley (with Johnson now on the chain-gun), where you can go down a steep and partly grassy area. In this first clip I'm trying to check the slide by reversing, but it's no good.

05:33 This time I go across the slope at quite an angle, facing diagonally up. The hog gets decent traction, especially near the end, but then a back wheel goes off the edge and we're lost.

05:56 However, it's possible to hold station. This clip briefly illustrates that, after I get the hog into position with a somewhat cavalier stunt-like arrival (good for entertainment value, but you might like to take thngs a little easier!). Eventually the front right wheel goes up onto a steeper surface which it can't grip so well. That fatally weakens the hog's overall grip, and quickly leads to a fall.

06:16 Originally that last clip was going to be the end of the movie, but then I started fooling around with plasma grenades and got some amusing footage. So here's a grenading clip to finish. In order to be able to tag the hog, I was careful to dismount up-slope so I didn't shoot off the edge ahead of the hog.

Closing remarks As I mention in my associated article, it's possible to be on the chain gun or in the passenger seat when the hog is sliding down. I spent a while getting footage of that, but decided not to use it here as it would've been a bit odd-out and I didn't really want to make the movie any longer. But I may use some of that footage in a 'freakiness and fun' movie sometime.

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