Sergeant Johnson and an enthusiastic Aussie chain-gunner join me for a carnage filled joyride in the snow…

(6:33) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Legendary. Relating to my Warthog joyriding article, this shows a Warthog joyride in the tower area, with sniper Johnson and an Aussie chain-gunner. I do a bit of squashing but leave most of the killing up to them to make things last longer. There are 40 covies involved.

Released November 19th 2012, gameplay recorded November 17th 2012.

00:02 The movie starts just after I've just crossed the loading point and got a checkpoint. I saved it so I could start repeated joyrides from there. Initially I reverse a bit for a run-up while the 'Rolling Thunder' caption passes and the full-screen image returns - and then we're off. The dozing Grunt gets a nasty wake-up call and I squash one of the Elites, then a couple of Jackals up the rise. I won't be doing all that much squashing as I want the ride to last a good while, but I thought I'd get things off to a nice squishy start.

00:30 At the top of the tunnel I jink around a few rocks. There's only a small gap at the tree so that needs care to skim through fast, but it's an enjoyable challenge. Then I curve back around past where covies are disembarking from the dropship and squash a Grunt, whose dive takes him nowhere. After a curve into the tunnel to help bring covies up out of it (sometimes they stall), I re-emerge as the dropship departs, which makes for some nice dramatic footage as I head for the Shade slope. I can't resist squashing another Jackal on the way; he was just asking for it.

00:58 As I approach the slope for the first of many jumps, the gunner spawns and runs out from behind the Shade. I'm deliberately driving to try and make him dive clear, and he does. Johnson does the rest with two sniper shots. Poor little grunty; he never even made it onto the seat. After a fairly heavy landing I continue on to try and make the Wraith pilot jump too, just for fun, but today I'm too late. Two Hunters emerge from the pass, and around this time the Banshee pilot will be boarding his machine. He's triggered when you trigger those pass guards.

01:20 Heading past the tower's back door, the last of the covies are triggered. I continue on and thread my way past the tree I skimmed earlier. Get it just right and you can go through that gap at full speed like I do here. I briefly go down into the tunnel to make sure no covies have stalled there, but they're all out. There's quite a crowd when I head back out and go for my next jump - getting a much better landing this time. I curve around the perimeter of the ice patch, using the snow to get enough grip. I deliberately miss the first Hunter - I just wanted to make him jump. With the second, I would've been trying to miss him, but Johnson kills him first (and also, I take a bit of a knock from big rock - a slight hiccup with my driving).

02:05 I double back the way I came and go clockwise for a while. A plasma ball catches me as I drive at a Ghost to ram it, but never mind. Around the back of the tower the Banshee finally catches up with us, but the gunner finishes it off quick before I even see it. I've always wished Banshees were tougher so they'd last longer. After a U-turn I head off anticlockwise again.

02:36 Another jump coming up, just as a Wraith shot lands near the base of the slope. Glad I wasn't any closer to that! It's another heavy landing, but the hog can take it. An overturned Ghost gets barged out of the way, and then I go clockwise around the ice patch, making the remaining Hunter jump clear.

03:05 Heading back past the front of the tower again, I try to pick a route through some rocks near the tree, but get a little fouled up as I hadn't practiced going through that area. Then I double back and plough through a glut of covies, killing a yellow-shielded Jackal. Heading up the slope, I do a bit of a jink to try and get some rotation for a trick jump. If you get it right you can perhaps even manage a full 360 in the air, but actually I mess this one up completely. The landing is heavy and the gunner is not impressed.

03:28 Another drive around the ice patch, and then I head across it, narrowly missing the Hunter. Heading for the back of the tower I collect a plasma ball, but Johnson takes care of the shooter. I take that tricky route past the tree again - taking a slight knock on the rear right - and curve around at the tunnel exit.

04:07 Johnson spots another Jackal and takes him down as I gun the hog for jump number five. This time I angle it to the left, hopiing that I might land on some covies, but I go overhead. Curving around the ice patch again, I see that the Wraith is close to destruction, and I give the gunner chance to finish it off. A blue Elite jumps into my path as I head back the way I came, much to Johnson's satisfaction. "Roadkill!"

04:47 Another jump, then we do a spot of work around the back of the tower. I'm pretty sure the blue Elite retreating towards the door was from the balcony, but he never makes it back. As I round the corner back towards the front of the tower again, a red Elite tries to dive clear but there's a wall in his way and he gets nicely squashed. "There's no running!" Another red bites the dust not far from there after I do yet another jump.

05:35 There's still some mopping up to do, and my passengers make pretty good work of it, even killing the final balcony Elite just before I leave the area. As I head for another squeeze past the tree again, the hog takes a slight knock against a rock, which messes up my approach line. So, that was a bit of a mess but never mind. I curve around for one last jump, and Johnson asks "You got 8-track?" before we slide to a halt on the ice.

Closing remarks That was a relatively easy movie to do, but I still made quite a few attempts at getting a good run. This one had a few nice points - I was especially pleased with how the Shade Grunt dived and then got shot - and it had a good ending with Johnson's "You got 8-track?", so I went with that run. It's a pity the Banshee didn't feature much, but it does tend to get brought down pretty quick. I also got hit by a few plasma balls but I wasn't too fussed about avoiding them all, as long as it was in a good cause.

When I started making runs, I wasn't sure how best to end the movie. But one time I slid to a stop on the ice after a final jump, and I thought that made a nice ending, so that's what I did from then on. Sometimes the game removed the Wraith by the time I was finished though, and I discarded at least one run for that reason. It just looked too anomalous for a whopping great Wraith to've vanished, and it would've distracted from the ending.

I definitely expect to show more joyriding in later movies. It's fun to do and makes for good footage I think. And I highly recommend you go have some of this fun yourself!

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