A collective vocal freak-out from the Grunts and Jackals…

(6:40) Level 2 ('Halo') on Easy. Grunts and Jackals issuing panic cries non-stop! A mysterious and amusing anomaly I noticed back in 2006 - and now there's a new development.

Released April 10th 2019, gameplay recorded April 7th-8th 2019.

00:02 (Main play begins) This 'main play' runs throughout the movie but is augmented by a few clips from other plays. I drive up to the Marines and splatter two, leaving two to ferry out. That saves me a ferrying trip. I get an exit checkpoint outside, get the Marines dismounted, then drive back up near the entrance and attract the covies up. Soon the anomalous panic cries begin. I briefly give the Grunts and Jackals something to actually panic about when I kill the Elite.

01:46 Here I demonstrate how the cries soon stop when you go too far forward, but resume when you get back into the trigger zone.

02:11 (Hog cover) A little later I move the hog to a close position from which I can listen under cover, inside the trigger zone. On Easy it's hardly needed, but I just wanted to demonstrate it.

02:29 (Rock cover) You can also use the nearby rock for cover, as demonstrated in this clip from another play, in which I can't resist the temptation to lob a devastating frag at a concentration of covies.

02:46 (Grunts only) It can be amusing to get a group of just Grunts or just Jackals, to concentrate on their cries. I arranged this in some other plays; wasn't too hard. Here we've got four orange Grunts, and the clip ends with a bit of comedy when the front guy gets zapped dead from behind, and the shooter is rebuked. Note: around 3:00 I briefly stray outside the trigger zone (it doesn't go as high on the left as on the right), which is why one Grunt is able to say "Suffer!" I'm also out of the trigger zone at the end.

03:14 (Jackals) This time I've managed to get five Jackals, who I eventually wipe out with a few frags.

03:44 (Deepening the trigger zone) Back to the main play. I drive up to the hilltop, wait a bit, then come back down, and the trigger zone (for the panic cry anomaly) now extends quite a way into the area.

05:08 (Deep on the left and right) These two clips from other plays show that the trigger zone can go quite deep on the left and on the right.

05:53 (Dropship spawning) Back to the main play, continuing pretty much where it left off. When the covie count drops low enough, the reinforcement dropship spawns and the panic cry anomaly ends. The rest of the clip just serves to demonstrate how the dropship checkpoint is getting delayed by enemy threat - which would've given me the chance to revert if I'd wanted.

Closing remarks The previous movie reminded me of this panic related anomaly, so I thought I'd do a movie on it. I used Easy because it lets you quite easily hear the cries up close without needing cover, except when you need to recharge sometimes.

© 2004-2020 by Rockslider