======================================================================== ======================================================================== Gungrave OD For Playstation 2 FAQ/Walkthrough Version 1.5 By NightingaleNT Xardion@tokyo.com ======================================================================== ======================================================================== Hello! This file should be useful in answering your questions regarding Gungrave: Overdose. First of all, a few pointers for you if you have never actually played OD or its predecessor: If, at any point in time in your life, you have played games like "Yoshi's Island" or "Mario Paint", this game is not for you. If you have any objection to the death penalty, this game is not for you. If you hate senseless killing and explosions, this game is not for you. So, if this looks pretty good so far, you're all set to play! Let's get started: ======================================================================== Version History: 1.0-4/6/04 Initial release; This FAQ is probably filled with holes. THAT'S why you e-mail me! 1.1-5/29/04 First Edit. Added stuff to Extra's/Customize/cheats. Updated controls. Updated Boss section of stage 8. Updated mini-boss section of stage 9. Added an new "Information of Gungrave OD" section. 1.2-10/27/04 Second Edit. Updated info on demolition shots. Updated important info on customized/extras. Added contributions section. 1.2a-10/28/04 Fixed the STUPID wordwrap and tweaked a few strategies. 1.3-1/1/05 Updated some DS info. Added EVOLUTION FACTORS Updated boss strategy for stage 6. Updated Bunji strategy. Updated the Extra's/Customize/cheats section. Little more clear now. Updated informtion on Gungrave OD. Added alternate strategy to stage 9's first four rooms. Put up some more stuff for contributions. 1.4-1/29/05 Updated strategy on Stage 6 boss. Updated notes on Jyuji. Updated Bunji strategy. Updated Sherry/Sheri strategy. Updated Garino Strategy. Fixed a few more spelling errors >_<. Added a section for the Nightow Angel. As of now, it's incomplete. Added more info on the extras/customize. 1.5-3/18/05 Updated notes on Billy. updated info on Shot/melee levels. Added contributed Fangorum (first form) Strategy. FINISHED Nightow Angel section! *high fives self* Fixed more spelling errors...I'm sure there's a few more. ======================================================================== Contents: ---The Basics--- Controls Demolition Shots Beats Art Evolution Factors Jackpot Time Tips ---The Walkthrough--- Brandon Heat (Beyond the Grave) Notes on Jyuji Kabane Notes on Billy ---Miscellaneous--- Extra's/Customize/cheats Nightow Angel Information on Gungrave OD Contributions Odds&ends ________________________________________________________________________ Controls Left analog: This controls the characters movement throughout the game. Right analog: manipulate camera angle. D-pad: select demolition shot. X: Jump. By combining the left analog and X, you will jump in whatever direction you are pushing. L1: Lock onto target. L2: flip character 180 degrees. R1: Switch target. R2: Similar to pressing X and circle. This not only stuns enemies, but damages them as well. Be careful, though, as using this takes a fraction of a second...and you might need that whole fraction to live. Square: Primary weapon. This will shoot whatever long range weapon you have, be it twin guns or an electric guitar... Both Billy and Grave can charge their weapons when you press square, but Billy's attack will do more damage. Also, keep in mind you can jump in a certain direction AND shoot at the same time. The bullets will come out much faster as you are jumping, so do this when you're on the move. (Don't stop to shoot!) The final thing to know about shooting is that you can increase the amount of bullets released each second if you stand still and constantly press Square. You will see your character begin to dance around and shoot at anything that comes by without even requiring a lock-on. You can change direction by moving the analog stick around, but you CANNOT move when engaged in this mode, so don't do this too often, or you'll wake up dead. Update: Jacky Bryant has informed me--among other things--that if you hold "down" while firing rapid-fire style, you can shoot differently. Other than destroying the control panel in stage two, I really don't now how this is useful, but I guess it's something to keep in mind. Triangle: This will be your savior! Press triangle to unleash one of your nine demolition shots, selected by moving around the d-pad. Circle: This button has quite a few functions. First of all, pressing this once without pushing a direction on the stick will result in Grave using his melee attack. If you push forward and press circle three times, Grave will do a three-hit combo, with the third hit being a charged up shot. Something else Jacky pointed out to me: If you press backward and circle at the same time, you can use your weapon as a shield! Be careful, though, as your life and shield bar will still drain, albeit a little slower. The boss of stage six is really the only place to use this, but even then his gun is so powerful that it becomes unwise to just sit there and take the ass beating...especially on kick-ass mode. Also, Standing in once place and rapidly pressing circle will result in a constant stream of melee attacks. Doing this will Billy is...a little strange... ________________________________________________________________________ Demolition Shots A big part of the fun of this game rests in the demolition shots. Each character can have up to nine shots; three for each category. When you view the demolition shot select screen, something that has an outlook similar to this one will appear: 1_2_3 4_5_6 7_8_9 The first row, which contains one, two, and three, are all the same kind of demolition shot for each character. That is, the character is facing whatever direction you have him facing and will launch an attack that will go in a straight line until it hits the wall, damaging whatever lies in its wake. the first position, "one", is there from the moment you start the game. this is the weakest straight demolition shot, and requires only one complete gauge to use. Before I go any further, I figure this would be a good time to tell you about the gauge itself. The only way to fill it up is to collect a certain amount of beats. ("Beats" explained later) After you collect so many, you will see the blue bar that was increasing disappear. After this happens, one of the four slots that are adjacent to the gauge will turn from black to yellow, meaning you can now perform a level one demolition shot. To perform a level two demolition shot, you must fill up at least two slots, and for a third level shot, three. There are a total of four slots, so if you fill up all four and use a level three demolition shot, you will have one left. Basic math, right? Anway, after the first level--or any level--you will be awarded a new demolition shot...if you had a good enough of a performance to earn one. It is possible to earn all nine in just the first time through the game, but you must do very well on each stage to earn them. I earned them in this sequence, but it's been confirmed they aren't all earned in this order.However, you must complete the first column before earning anything in the second column. Again, this is how _I_ earned it...it's rumored that your playing style affects how DS are unlocked. 1_5_8 2_6_9 3_4_7 So, back to where I was before I distracted myself...you start off with Position one. After you have done well enough, you will receive the second shot, which is in the second row of the first diagram I made (and coincidentally in the second row in the second diagram). This shot you've just earned is your first "group" shot...it will inflict damage to enemies all around you, regardless of your position...but is weaker than your straight shot. Again, you will receive a level two version of the shot, as well as a level three later on. VERY IMPORTANT: Using a demolition shot will replenish a portion of your shield. A level one shot will heal about half, level two; 3-4/5, and a level three will completely heal your shield. ________________________________________________________________________ "Beats" are what fuel the demolition gauge. In order to have a high beat count, you must kill/shoot enemies in an UNINTERRUPTED fashion. Beats are very important to getting a high score at the end of a level, so try to get that number as close to 999 as possible. Remember, if you pause your attack for a few seconds, the flame on the number of your beats will slowly start to disappear, meaning your time to add to your current beat count is going fast. To keep your beat count going when there are no ememies around, shoot the wall, pillars, groceries, tombstones, my ex-girlfriend (please), or whatever is in sight to keep the beat going until more enemies come. In every room, there's something to shoot at besides enemies. However, once the enemies are gone, and the room's decorations are gone, your beat count will go as well if you don't move on to find something else to shoot. ________________________________________________________________________ Art Art points can be irritating to get. Keep in mind, they are just as important as beats. Why? Because the final tally of points at the end of the level gets some sort of multiplier at the end of each level on a scale of 1-9, and you don't want art to bring down your chances of getting a new demolition shot at the end of the level, do you? BTW, art points and beat count are tallied in separate columns, so don't think your excellent beat count will ride on into your poor art count. Now, just exactly what is art? It's something no one understands but bleeds our government out of millions of dollars each year. However, as far as Gungrave OD is concerned, art is something a little different, and can be accumulated in two different ways: 1) The easiest way. Each time you use a demolition shot, you gain art points. It may only be five or six, but on long levels when you use a lot of DS, those can go a long way. 2) deflect a missile using your melee attack. This will only give you one or two points each time you do it, but the missile goes right back to sender, dealing damage. But no matter how cool or artistic you are, the maximum amount of points you may accrue is 200. Try and shoot for at least 100 for each level, and you will earn DS' on basically each level (Assuming you don't suck in other categories). ________________________________________________________________________ Evolution Factors Apparently, there is a portion of the instruction booklet that hints at some sort of powerful attack, but no way of executing this attack is given. Well, someone discovered it (I forget who) and here's how do to this powerful move: note:you must have at LEAST 50 art points to do this. 1) Get your shield to disappear. Wait till you get the "shield gone" status on the screen to be sure. 2) Jump. While in the air, use your melee to perform a stun attack. On coming back down, the enemies around you should be somewhat harmed and temporarily stunned. 3) Press and hold R2 immediately after landing. Then simultaneously press and hold shot+melee. 4) Release R2. There you go. At this point, you can let go of shot and melee. The result? You perform a bullet dance, but instead of regular bullets you shoot charged up shots. Time is slowed down and YOU ARE INVINCIBLE. Watch your art points, though, because they are running out. If you get 200 art points, and use them all, you will still have 200 when the final tally is made at the end of the level so don't worry about losing points for using EF. EF can be cancelled. I forget which button does it, but just mesh the controller and you'll stop. Make sure to spin around to hit all of the enemies. You don't want to waste art points. Use R1 to lock onto any enemies you want to hit. Be careful...on kick-ass mode, this can be a dangerous move to execute, because you need to have your shield depleted before this move can be executed. On that difficulty, you can be killed in the time it takes to actually activate EF. I didn't know about EF when I wrote this FAQ, so it isn't included, but I have to say on kick-ass it isn't exactly going to help you that much. Perhaps on the rooftop on stage 3, or in the corridors of stage 4, and most likely the most useful in the fourth room on stage 9 (In the four chamber rooms, the last one). Well, I'm not in charge of you. Just use it at your discretion. It'll be hard to activate the first few times you do it, so I reccommend you first try this out in a room ALONE. On kickass mode in the fourth room of stage 9, you most likely won't have a second chance to execute it. ________________________________________________________________________ Jackpot Yet something else you will be graded on at the end of each level. The way to get jackpot points is ONLY done by using a DS. The more people you kill, the higher the jackpot. My personal best is 540...if anyone has reached 999, let me know. Also, when you use the status affect DS, Jackpot will be counted by how many beats you had while in that status. Like anything else in this game, use a level three DS for best result ^_^ Note:A big jackpot can restore your red lifebar...how much depends on how high the jackpot is. ________________________________________________________________________ Time You will be graded on how long you took to finish your killing spree. Try and keep it under 10 minutes to get the maximum point multiplier. ________________________________________________________________________ Kills You will also be graded on how many kills you had. The maximum number varies from level to level, but just kill everyone (don't bust a move, bust a GENOCIDE) and you should get the maximum amount of points. ________________________________________________________________________ Tips If you find yourself low on shield--the long blue bar, NOT the ds blue bar--or just out of shield, find a safe place. Don't jump, don't shoot--although you can hold a charge--just sit still or walk around and your shield will automatically regenerate. HOw cool is that? This is one of the better innovations of the game...and it also takes away any excuse you have to die. Unless you are recharging your shield, always stay on the move. Those who stay still get hit, simple as that. Also, don't feel the need to use the lock-on function all the time. The game knows who to kill, just look in the right direction. NEVER EVER CONTINUE. If you die, just load from your last save point. If you continue, allof your kill count and beat counts for the level so far will be wiped and you will NOT likely receive all of the DS' on your first play through. This walkthrough will be of great help to you IF you are on kick-ass mode. If you're playing any other mode, even hard mode, I doubt you really need any help (You have no excuse fordying on easy mode! That's why they call it easy!). ========================================================================The Walkthrough ======================================================================== Let's start out with Brandon Heat, aka "Beyond the Grave." At this time I will remind you an angel dies for every second that goes by that you haven't watched the anime. It's just incredibe. Anyway... *THIS WALKTHROUGH WAS WRITTEN IN KICK-ASS MODE. The techniques used here should be applicable for ALL modes of play, though.* You start off right in front of the house where Grave was sleeping. No need to do anything special, just stand there and get a beat count going. After the wave of baddies die, there is a CGI sequence featuring the reunion of Brandon and Mika. Afterwards... You find yourself in a graveyard (appropriate, no doubt) surrounded by enemies. No worry, these guys are the weakest of the bunch. Just try and get uesd to the gameplay as you navigate around the area. After you've killed them all, you will be told to "go." An arrow will appear under Grave telling him to move. You will come to an alley with a fallen tree in it. use your melee to make quick work of it, and move on. After you turn the corner, you will find the first swordsmen in the game. They can block your bullets, so you can A) Wait until they stop blocking, or preferably B) Melee attack Your melee will go right through their block, so don't worry about them too much. In the next area, you will find the first rocket guy. Here you can rush him and melee him to death--as his shield blocks your bullets--or practice your rocket deflection and wait for him to lauch a rocket at you. When he does, use your melee to deflect, thereby racking up some art points. Go down a few more corridors until you reach your first giant. Honestly, I can't figure out Why the mofia spends so much money on tailoring these guys nice suits. It's a waste of money and time, but I guess no one wants to see a naked giant (think he's anatomically proportional?) You'll notice he takes a few more hits to take down, and he's more powerful, but you can make short work of him anyways. Wander down a few more corridors. Eventually, Spike will mention something about using DS',so no is the time to start playing with that. To rack up a high kill count, stick around and kill everything until they stop coming. Otherwise, use your newly acquired skill to bust the gate open. Congratulations! You just made it through training mode. Although, it really isn't much of a victory. Seriously, if you died during this training stage...you're going to have problems. Come on...if I can do it in Kick-ass mode, can't you do it on easy? A few CGI's later, and we find ourselves at... ======================================================================== Stage 1: Gargoyle Hotel ======================================================================== When you first enter the hotel, there are targets on either side of you, guarded by rocket guys. Take out anyone in your way (The premise of the game) and destroy both targets. Then, destroy the front desk and head up either staircase. When you ascend, kill everyone around you. After they're dead, someone will shoot a missile at the statue directly in front of you, which falls right smack in your direction. But because you're dead, getting hit in the eye with a 700 pound statue doesn't really hurt that much, so... In the parking lot. Keep going, killing everyone in the way, until some cars come by. Kill the goons inside and keep going. Watchout for a giant hiding in an alcove on the right immediately following this incident and hit him with a DS (or not, it's up to you). Keep going. You run into a few more cars. Take care of them, the pink things that got out, and move on. You run into your first red giant. These guys can be pretty devastating with their machine gun, so take them out first. Move on. By the time you get to the part where the cars come out of the wall--which should kill everyone inside anyway, but nevermind--you might have a beat count going around 400-500, depending on the difficulty level and your skill. That alone should get you the point multipliers for the level you need. Advance past them to get to a save point, and enter the main part of the hotel. When you first get off, another rocket attackk occurs, limiting your movement around the hotel. Get out into the main area and turn left. Keep going until you get to another corner, and go down the hole in that corner to find yet another elevator shaft. Kill the bad guys and get on. When you get off, go out into the main area and turn left. run/jump over to the rocket guy and melee him to death and proceed inside the hotel room. Once inside, watch out for another rocket guy and his friends. Then, shoot through the wall. Careful! There's a rocket guy on the other side, waiting for you to bust through. The best thing to do is to rush him before he can let a shot off and continue on your way. Turn left down the hall, then take a right. You'll have a fair share of guys to kill on the way, so have fun. Watch out for guys hanging off the ceiling...Go into the elevator room and do that thing you do best. Get on the elevator and continue. Save. Get off the elevator and kill the guys in the room. The next room can be kind of tricky. You can do it however you want, but I did it like this: I rushed the guys that were on the stairs and killed everyone in my path. I went all the way back to the other side and hung a left, coming back around to where I started, killing everyone in my path again. I continued around this time, making a complete circle. By the time I was done, everyone was dead, and I was unharmed. And then... MINI BOSS MINI BOSS MINI BOSS Helicopter: This guy is pretty easy. Just unload whatever DS' you've saved into him--make sure to lock on first--and let him have it. If that doesn't kill him, them start hitting him with charged up shots or normal bullets. When he starts going back and forth with the gatling gun, just start diving to either side and you'll miss all the damage. Just watch out for the missile he sometimes launches...it can be nasty. I believe he only fires one missile at a time, after that you're safe until he hides and comes back. MINI BOSS MINI BOSS MINI BOSS Continue. Walk down the hall and into the elevator. When you get off, there isn't anything special...just kill until you get into the room with two stairscases. To be safe, just run up one staircase and down the other, over and over again, until there's only the red giant left. The odds are, he'll be inbetween the two staircases so you can recharge your shields if you want. When you're ready, take him out, and go through the door to find the most innovating wheelchair you've ever seen... BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT You're going to want to take out those nasty gatling guns first, so move in circles--a technique you will use throughout the whole game--and hit his guns as he's turning to face you. Then, he'll start using his missile lauchers on the head of his chair. If you're an agile fella, you can just avoid this whole mess and aim for the guy head on. Don't shoot any part of the chair, especially the back. It won't do any damage. Shoot the GUY. Eventually, his chair will overload, and you will land in a familiar area. Right off the bat, avoid his sliding advance on you, lock on, and start shooting/using remaining DS. He will start shooting at you and walking around, so just jump around him and keep firing. Eventually, you'll get him. Watch as he goes out the window...and EXPLODES?! I guess carrying C-4 in your suit wasn't such a good idea after all, boss. Anyway, sit back, listen to the cool music and watch one of the coolest scenes in the game. Save. BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT ======================================================================== STAGE 2: SEED HUNT ======================================================================== Hopefully, you did well enough to unlock Bullet Dance, as you'll be needing that... You start off in...a shopping mall?! Whatever. Start killing everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. The walls, the pillars, and even the guys on carts sliding around with machine guns. Creative, aren't they? All it doesn't for them is make their death "faster", but oh well... If you get a beat count less than 350, you've done something wrong. Eventually, after the rolling guys are through, a rocket guy and giant will come out. Kill them, and go to where they came from. Take a right. Kill the guys that tried to set you up and head down the stairs. Advance a bit, and... MINI BOSS FIGHT MINIBOSS FIGHT MINIBOSS FIGHT Disco comes back alive with this weird-ass boss. use your new group DS to clear out the wreckage, meat, and the stray guys so you can concentrate on the roller baddie. You can try and shoot him with your single DS as he's rolling past you, or you can jump up to him as he's take his turns and melee him. Either way, he isn't too hard. Save. MINI BOSS FIGHT MINIBOSS FIGHT MINIBOSS FIGHT New area. SLOWLY advance and kill the guys as they jump out of the boxes. Take the first right you can. Watch out! Unless you want to get hit by some construction equipment, charge up your shots and let it have it until it's dead. Go past the wreckage and turn left, killing everybody in your path (From now on, let's just assume that so I don't have to keep saying it). Jump up on the stacks of boxes, and then turn right and look over to see a whole row of boxes. Get too close, and a few giants and their friends pop up. When they're dead, Jump over and proceed. Lots of giant killing to do here. Be fast about it, though, because there are three strategically placed rocket guys on top of boxes. You can ignore them if you so desire, and move on. Once you do, hang a fast left and charge up your gun. Press L2 and release your load on the oncoming forklift, and do the same to the lift that is perpindicular to the lift you just killed. Go down the alley that is across from where you first came in to find a dead end. No point in going down here...just more kills for you. Go down the only path you haven't been to yet and kill everyone down there to proceed through another gate. Try not to get hit by the oncoming cars and proceed to kill the occupants. Clear the area. Once it's all clear, run over by the doors to the warehouse closest to where you first came from. It will open. Kill the guys that run out, go in, and save. Get ready for one hell of an ambush! There are two ways to do this without getting hurt. The first is that you just stay right where you are and keep tapping square until you start dancing, and just start picking them off (don't lock on, just guide the analog stick) or JUMP rush into the center of the area and do your group DS. Either way, this was pretty easy. Things will clear out until you get to the stairs, where you will be enemy rushed heavily. Run up the stairs and destroy the target, which opens the passage to the other side. Run back down and go across, but watch out! You've got some Taliban on your tail! Suicide bombers will start rushing you, and you don't want them getting near you, right? Shoot them dead before they can get close and go up the stairs. Kill everything in your way and advance to the next part of the stage. Start off by going down the stairs and killing the miscellaneous forklifts. Watchout for suicide bombers, there's going to be two of them hiding out here. Advance when told to--after you've killed everything on that side--and advance to the miniboss. MINI BOSS FIGHT MINI BOSS FIGHT MINI BOSS FIGHT I don't know who that old steroid-ridden guy is, but that asshat stole the RX78-gpo2a's Nuke launcher. Bastard. (Gundam 0083) Not too hard, if you watch yourself. Kill the goons that surround the platform you need to get on. If at any point in time you need to hide andrecover your shield, go the the edge of the platform on the LEFT of where you came from and you'll be safe from the old guy's attacks. Just kill any little guy that comes along to bug you there. Other than that, it's a little safe spot for you. Cool, right? It won't happen again...for a while, anyway. If you have any spare DS', use them on him to drain his life pretty fast. Or, if you're just in a pinch and need the shield FAST, fire a DS at anything, even the wall. You don't need a high jackpot to regenerate the shield. (A high jackput CAN restore life, however) Oh, and if you feel so bold, try reflecting his missiles with your melee. It'll not only distract him, but it'll do some damage. MINI BOSS FIGHT MINI BOSS FIGHT MINI BOSS FIGHT Okay, remember when I said you'd want that first level group DS? Well, now's the time to use it! Enter the big room with all the machine guns and jump into the middle of the whole thing. You might take some damage, but your shield will regenerate when you use your DS any way, so it doesn't matter. If you don't have the second DS, or don't have the gauge filled up enough to do it, then just take out the targets on your immediate left or right. Advance--SLOWLY--down one side or the other of the room and take out the machines one at a time. If you take too much damage, just go back to where you came from and hide until your shield regenerates, and continue on. Kill them all and continue. In the next hall, rush the two rocket guys before they can fire a rocket. Get inbetween them and do a melee attack, killing both. Continue. You find yourself in another big room. In here, use another DS--you more than likely earned another one from the last room--and take out the machines. If you don't have the second DS, just quickly kill the targets surrounding you and slowly advance on the machines again. Be sure to kill the target that is inside the semicircle of machines, or else you won't be permitted to advance. When you finally do, you will be in a narrow corridor with slot machine guns on each side. Just stay next to one wall and fire at the other side's machines until they die, and repeat the process for the other side. Advance. BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT This guy is pretty easy. Start off using your group DS--you are REALLY hurting if you don't have this spiffy thing--and clear the area. Otherwise, just pick off the individual goons and chase the boss around the table, hitting him with normal shots. Don't stop moving, and occasionally use your melee to successfully beat this guy. BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT ======================================================================== STAGE 3: DARK CITY ======================================================================== This stage starts off very linear. Just follow the path, and be careful not to eat rockets along the way. Eventually, you will be outdoors and on some narrow stairs. Quickly ascend the stairs to kill the guys sitting there. Avoid or shoot the barrels coming at you. Then, unleashing your level one DS group shot to kill the guys shooting at you from another building. If you do it right, the building will collapse. (NOTE: BY THIS TIME YOU SHOULD HAVE YOUR SECOND DS. IF YOU DO NOT, I'M SORRY, BUT YOU SUCK AT LIFE AND VIDEOGAMES) So, I'm just going to assume you have the group DS by now. Bullet dance is going to be VERY useful soon... More linear combat. Be careful of guys hiding in cracks and small alcoves adjacent to your path, but other than that just keep on truckin'. You will come to another door that leads outside. Get your shield primed up before you go out there, because you might have a tough time keeping it in this next battle...especially if your on kick-ass mode. First of all, go up the stairs and clear off everyone on your side, including the ever annoying rolling barrels of doom. Then, aim yourself over to the other side, where guys are shooting at you. Press L1 to strafe, and jump and fire and press right on the analog at the same time. Not only should you avoid taking damage, but you'll take out a few guys on the way down the stairs (Don't worry about falling off the building). After you've recovered, either stay down there and heal your shield, or go back up to get some more guys. After they are all gone, another wave will come. The two guys that come across you can melee to death pretty easily--although you may lose some shield from the guys across the street--and repeat the jumping technique I mentioned earlier. Another wave of guys will come. Repeat the process and continue. When you get into the next room, kill all the bad guys and start going down the hall. Uh-oh! when you try to go down to the next area, a fence drops, and guys start popping out. Immediately jump back and either stay in the same place and dance around shooting, or run into a corner and fire at anyone that "comes out of the closet." When you can finally go up the stairs, watch out! A rocket guy tries to stuff you one at the top of the steps. You just stuff him one in return and move on. The next area is your first bloodbath, so bring some soap and some ammo. When you first get out, get into the center of the rooftop and start dancing in circles, shooting anything you swing across. Eventually, it will get really crowded, so use a group DS every once in a while. Also, it will become unsafe to stay in one place and shoot rapidly so use the strafe-jump-run-shoot technique. Just outline the top of the roof, basically, and keep firing. Be careful about stopping in a corner, though, because the rocket guys seem to get you one up the butt if you do that. I CANNOT stress to you how much fun this level is with Jyuji. Just slice, slice, and slice some more until your beat count gets to 500 (or more). EDIT: YOU ARE GOING TO DIE if you are on kick-ass mode with the above instructions (not the jyuju part). What I mean is, using the first level group DS WILL GET YOU KILLED due to the fact that this part of the game is so radically difficult on kick-ass. If you want to live, you will HAVE to use your status affects...I reccommed you use the first level status DS so you can save your gauge that way. Also, if you ARE playing on kick-ass, that means you've all ready beaten the game once, so you SHOULD have it. Also, when the guards come--the big ones--make sure you use a charged up attack on them, especially while using your time DS. After that button-mashing fest, save your game and take a break. Go jogging; I've heard good things about it (but I don't do it enough, so my six pack is slowly fading...sad...). Advance through the narrow corridor and into the big room. Uh-oh! Your trailer is about to get assaulted! Go in for the kill. Attack the little guys first, and save the big guy for last. If you've lost any of your shield in the process, just kill every guy but the big guy and lock onto him BUT DON'T SHOOT. Just circle him and wait for your shield to regenerate, and THEN proceed. A few green giants <_< will jump down with swords, so take them out. Then, a group of goons followed by a red sword guy, a big guy with a bazooka, and a big guy with a bazooka and shield. Take out the bazooka guy first, then the one with the shield, and the guy that has only his melee last. I ignored the little guys...but you can kill them if you want to. Time to defend the trailer! This part should be pretty easy, on any difficulty level. Just take your time and know when to back off. The next part, however... BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT The odds are, if you are just starting out this game, you are going to die in at least two places...and this is one of them. Don't feel bad. It'll happen to everyone. Most likely, you've just been depending on Grave's brute strength so far, and as you'll find out here, brute strength alone won't do you a whole bunch of good. The key here is to never stop moving in a circle. The bulldozers have three weak points: the dozer itselft, and the two supports of the thing in front of it. So, you COULD lock on to the supports, or just lock onto the main body. I say you try to keep your lock onto the body. Grave isn't as fast as the other characters--especially his lateral jumping--but you can still jump to the sides and release a charged-up shot or a DS of your choice. You COULD try to do your group shot, but you need to focus on the strong armor of the dozer, so I say you use the focused power of your single shot DS. As you're jumping around with the lock on the dozers, you will most likely kill the irritating goons that are trying to get in your way. Just jump and shoot, or charge, jump, and shoot your way to victory. Believe me, there are harder fights ahead. If you didn't die, kudos to you. But you will, so stop smiling ^_^ ======================================================================== STAGE 4: MERCENARY UNIT ======================================================================== This part isn't so bad. Just go up and down what little space you have, shooting through the glass. If you need to recharge your shield, just go hide in either of the corners and after a while they stop coming. When you've killed a few of them, a bunch of big mercenaries will break through. Face them, and strafe and shuffle around a little bit to avoid lateral fire while simultaneously firing at the big guys. Once they're dead, you will be told to advance. Clean up the guys that are left and continue on up either stairs. This place can be difficult, but just try to stay AWAY from getting into the middle of some cross-fire. Keep your distance, lateral-jump-shoot, and use the bookshelves as shields if you need them (that's why they're there!). Keep in mind the big mercenaries can do nasty damage, so that's the reason you need to keep your distance. DO NOT charge your shots to fire at them. It will do good damage, but you must stand still to fire the shots, and I guarantee you will get you ass fried if you stay still too long in a situation like this. Anyway, kill the tank that comes through the wall to advance. Personally, I don't think bookshelves really fall like that and go throught CONCRETE, but that's just me. Maybe it's an old building...whatever. Just save and continue. This next area is another area that is REALLY fun with Jyuji, but first you've got to beat this with Grave to get there, so let's continue... You can do this area a number of ways without sustaining major damage. One way is to jump into the center of the room and use your group DS to clear a good portion of them out, and then just lateral-jump-shoot to death the rest that come later. Next area. Advance into the room...STOP! See those suspiscious-looking things on the floor? Well, those are mines...when you get near them, they begin to flash. Once they start flashing, jump backwards to avoid taking any damage. Put a charge on your guns and continue. As soon as the door opens up, you will see some guys coming out. While you are still far away, let your charged shots rip them apart (They won't fire back because they are so far away). Go to the sides of where the guys that you just killed to see a few stragglers hiding. Turn around, and repeat the process to the door that you just came from. From there, they will just continually appear from both sides, so: A) Use your group DS occasionally to clear the room. B) Use your stats DS to help you (You might have your level TWO stats DS. This depends on how well you've performed over the last three stages) C)--my preference--don't use any DS' at all and use raw skill to clear the whole level up to the boss. Hopefully, you've gotten good enough by now to just use option C. If you are trying this out on normal mode and this is your first playthrough, I'd say you can do it. *Has faith in j00* BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT For some reason, a LOT of people have trouble with this boss. First of all, that giant pillar is in the center for a reason. They can't launch missiles or hit you with anything while the pillar obstructs their view of you. Due to the overpowering nature of these machines, you WILL need to hide behind that pillar from time to time. When the first machine comes out, run out from beind the pillar fire a few NORMAL shots. Odds are, you will take some damage, but you can heal it immediately as long as you have the pillar between you two. At some point, the robot will try to get on the wall and run around a bit. Especially in Kick-ass mode, DO NOT try to approach it while it is on the wall or you will wake up dead. You CAN try to hit it when it stops on the wall, though. When it fires missiles, just avoid them and keep shooting with your lock-on. There are some guys out there that have the balls to just try and charge that thing. I'll tell you right now...sometimes it works...most of the time you eat machine gun. Even on easy mode, if you eat a focused machine/missile attack, you will die very fast. Play it safe, and just try and take potshots from around the pillar. After you kill that weird-ass machine, two more of them stop by! Don't worry; for the most part they stay on the same side, so you can still recharge. This would be a good time to use those four level one single shot DS' you've been saving. If you just start from the last save point, you SHOULD have enough beats to fill the DS gauge at least four times (I told you not to use your DS' on the other guys!) Once you get the feel for these guys down, it shouldn't take too long to kill all three. Definately not the hardest boss...and certainly not the easiest. BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT ======================================================================== STAGE 5: THE RESIDENCE ======================================================================== Start off by dasing up the stairs, killing as many guys as you can on the way. When you get to the top, you will see a whole group of rocket guys. HOLD FORWARD on the analog stick, and press circle. You won't do your usual coffin swing, but you will take out them out by swinging AND stepping forward. Not usually a useful move for Grave, but one you will NEED for Jyuji. Hang a left or a right and hide in the corner to heal any missing shield, and take out anyone that climbs up the stairs to attack you. When everyone is dead, some goons will come out from the doors upstairs and downstairs. Take out the guys on the top first, because there isn't a giant mercenary in their ranks. Again, hide upstairs until you've regained some shield and head on down to assault the guys below. When you get down there, a whole bunch of guys will appear from the top. Hopefully, you've gotten good enough at lateral-jump-shooting to stay down there and kill the guys that charge you, all while avoiding rockets from the top. Once you've dispatched the big guys below, take care of the rest in any way you like, as it isn't that hard. Next, you have a choice. Facing the door you initially came from, go left. Why? Because I hate republicans. Seriously, you don't need a gun more than you need a brain tumor. Stupidgroup of asshats... Continue to that left door. From the moment you enter, either charge your gun and take out the advancing goons or JUMP VERY FAST over to them and melee them to death. For the next part, you MUST charge your guns. When the giant mercenaries break through the wall, you can kil half of them before they even have a chance to shoot back! Lateral-jump-shoot the rest--or however you see fit--and continue. In the next room, you should use your group DS (You MIGHT have level 2 group DS if you've done very well, if so, use it) Kill anything that is left. If you still have to kill the two chess pieces (weird...) then Stay back from them and fire from a distance. Do NOT get between the two and try to kill them that way, as you will wake up dead shortly after. If you are feeling rather lazy, use your single shot DS on them to finish them off. When every one and the targets are dead, a giant will pop out from behind you at the door. Kill him. (obviously). When you step over his corpse and go down the hall, a small team of guys will come out from a previously unavailable room. Kill them--stay at a distance while doing so--and continue. This next room could be tricky, depending on how you approach it. The best way to approach it is...safely! Get in front of the room--don't enter it--and kill the guys you can see. Get inbetween the room and the hallway and kill what you can see again. You SHOULD be able to clear out the entire room without ever setting foot inside. Charge your shield and go inside... Once you get down the stairs, immediately turn around. The door you just walked through will be swarming with baddies, so kill MOST of them and get into the open area of the room. You must do this because rocket guys will be coming through the other door, and four of them aiming at you can be a problem while standing in front of the door with your back turned! Once out into that area, move around and kill the guys that just entered from where you entered. Then, focus your attention on the rocket guys. I say just use your melee to deflect the missiles rather than trying to shoot them while they are vulnerable, but that's just me. After they are dead, a few giants will appear out in the hallway. Kill them as only you know how and continue. This next area seems to happen differently every time I enter, but I can offer you this piece of advice: Use your stats DS every time your shield gets low. When there aren't many guys left to kill, DO NOT finish them off, or the next wave will appear. Instead, be like me: a completel coward that runs off to regenerate his shield each time it gets low. You can do this up on the corners of the balcony, or UNDER the balcony, across from the door you started this stage out from. Three waves of attacks later, you can go on into the next area. In the next area, a group of guys attacks. Shoot the ones that you can, and when it's all over the rocket guys will still be standing. Wait for them to fire their rockets and use it against them. You can now go straight or left. I think going straight is easier, but do what you want. I can't stop you from going left...yet... Once you get the room--assuming you did the smart thing and went straight--turn left and kill the guys standing around. Just go left and right repeatedly to take care of the chesspiece; don't worry about having to get too close to hit it. When the door opens, just get to the side of it and wait for guys to flood in. When they are finished, get in front of the door--but don't cross--and take out as many guys as you can from there. Watch out for rocket guys. If at any point in time you need to recharge your shield, just go back into the chess piece room and wait. Another door will open up with guys coming in. Again, watch out for rockets, kill everyone,and continue. Okay, back to the big room AGAIN! This is the last time, but the hardest by far (At least for me). This room is actually easy if you're on your second play through, because you could just use the TOTALLY KICK ASS DS called "Executioner's Blood" to quickly kill everything in here. If you don't have that attack--and if this is your first play through, you won't--then just use your first level stat DS, circle around the chess piece, kill as many goons as possible, and fire AT the chess piece when not being fired up. Not using ANY kind of DS in this room is hard. If you can do it, kudos to you. BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT Easiest boss in the game! Literally, just circle him around with the jump, shoot, and keeping the lock-on. He won't hit you even once. Easy 500 beat count. BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT BOSS FIGHT ======================================================================== STAGE SIX: LABORATORY ======================================================================== This is a pretty fun stage. Start out by doing the usual killing stuff, but be sure to watch out for the giant with a bazooka and shield. Also, there are two rocket guys behind the counter. After you've cleared the room, one of those red guys with swords will come out. Ignore him, and wait for another bazooka giant. Kill him first, and then deal with the other shooting giants, and then the red guy. Rinse, lather, and repeat a few more times to continue. Go through the double doors. This area is VERY different on different levels, especially kick-ass mode. A whole bunch of blue machine gun giants will come out of the door. Use your level TWO group shot for a nice jackpot around 80. After this, another blue giant and two accompanying red sword freaks will come out. Dispatch the blue one quickly, and kill the red guys before they can get to you. Come into the next room with a full shield and charged gun. As soon as you open the door, a new kind of giant that fires rockets will jump at you. Before he can let a shot off, pump him full of your charged (presumably) lead so he'll die before he can do a damn thing. There are two other's here as well. When they are dead, charge up your gun again. When the next wave comes, you should be able to take out two of them and easily surround and kill the third. Continue. This next room can get a little hectic, so back out and recharge your shield when necessary. When you've killed the first group, FOUR red sword guys drop in. If you can, kill them as they come with charged shots, or just back out of the room and take them on individually. Regardless, continue. This next area is dangerous, but good for your beat count. The embryo's on the wall can be shot at for points, so make sure you get a few of them. The guys that appear on the ledge directly in front of you appear what I believe to be endless, so either kill the first wave and ignore the rest or ignore them altogether. When you turn the corner, watch out! jyuji could quickly kill them all, but you haven't unlocked him yet, so back off and charge your shots. Let'em rip on that barricade of freaks and lateral-jump-shoot the rest. Don't worry about locking on; there's enough guys there for your AI to decide for you. If you need to recharge your shield, just hide under the ledge to the right of the group of guys you just encounteted (that way, you don't have to go back to where you came from and risk getting hit by the goons on the platform). Repeat this process throughout the next turn you take and continue. This room can irk you a bit, but like everything else, knowing what to do makes it simple. While still on the opposite side of the table, charge your shots and