Transformers Walkthrough

Transformers Armada: Prelude to Energon for PS2
Version 1.0 (May 12th, 2004)
By Christian "BlackFurredBeast" Pohl
(chris5975@web.de)
1.   Intro
1.1. Foreword
1.2. Email Policy, Credits and Copyright Notice
1.3. Version History
1.4. Spacing and Length
1.5. Things to do
2.   Characters
2.1. Optimus Prime
2.2. Red Alert
2.3. Hot Shot
3.4. Enemies! And how to beat them...
3.   Minicons
3.1. R1 Minicons (Blasters)
3.2. R2 Minicons (Secondary/Support)
3.3. L1 Minicons (Armor/Movement)
3.4. L2 Minicons (Support)
3.5. Minicon Combos
4.   The Levels
4.1. Amazon
4.2. Antarctica
4.3. Deep Amazon
4.4. Mid-Atlantic
4.5. Alaska
4.6. Starship
4.7. Pacific Islands
4.8. Cybertron
5.   Bosses
5.1. Antarctica (Starscream)
5.2. Deep Amazon (Cyclonus)
5.3. Mid-Atlantic (Tidal Wave)
5.4. Starship (Starscream - Again)
5.5. Pacific Islands (Megatron)
5.6. Unicron
6.   Cheat Codes
7.   FAQ
8.   Thanks and EOF
*********
* Intro *
*********
* 1.1. Foreword *
I happened to notice TRANSFORMERS ARMADA: Prelude to Energon by sheer accident.
When I got a gaming magazine, I popped in the accompanying video DVD and found
myself looking at a new TRANSFORMERS game made by Melbourne House, and
distributed by Atari. As an old fan, having played with the toys in my youth,
I looked at the footage which showed a graphically impressive game, and the
guy showcasing it was having a blast playing. So I preordered my copy and
hoped for the best. I wasn't disappointed. The game is really good, and I am
trying to do it justice in this FAQ. But without further ado, let's rumble!
This is my second FAQ, so if you have something on your mind (except for
senseless bashing of my work) just tell me.
If you need to find certain info quickly, use the index number in your search.
I try to avoid using complicated search tags when possible, so the numbers
should suffice.
* 1.2. E-Mail Policy, Credits and Copyright Notice *
If you want to participate in this FAQ by sending alternate minicon
combinations, boss strategies etc., feel free to mail me at chris5975@web.de.
PLEASE include "Transformers FAQ" in the subject line, or otherwise my filter
daemon will thrash your mail silly :-).
This FAQ is done by me (so far). Additional credit will be given where it is
due. The Cheat Codes come straight from the GameFAQs Transformers "Codes and
Secrets Page".
Feel free to download this FAQ and use it personally. If you want to post it in
it's entirety (with this message!) on your web page, please drop me an e-mail
at chris5975@web.de and include the line "Posting Permission" in the subject
field.
* 1.3. Version History *
- 1.0: Initial Release, including Level Walkthroughs, Character/Enemy lists,
Minicon Guide, some Boss Strategies, Cheats
* 1.4. Spacing and Length Check *
This guide is best viewed with a fixed-width font such as Courier New.
Just in case you use anything other than IE, here's a quick way to check
spacing and length.
1         2         3         4         5         6         7
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789
The tens should be directly over the 0's, and all should line up perfectly. If
not, you'd better adjust your font.
* 1.5. Things To Do *
- Find out exactly what minicon team adds which benefits
- Notes on higher difficulty levels
******************
* The Characters *
******************
* 2.1. Optimus Prime *
He's the boss of the Autobots, the mightiest warrior for the good cause.
His stats:
Attack : *****
Defense: ****-
Speed  : ***--
Power  : *****
(this translates to a maximum of 10 Minicon Power dots, see the "Minicon"
section)
Optimus can transform into a truck. In this form he is pretty sluggish, but
when he picks up speed, he can steamroller clusters of enemies.
In Robot mode he is only marginally slower than Red Alert, but can't soak up
as much damage. In the later stages Optimus will be your 'bot of choice,
because later on minicon capacity WILL be a major factor in winning the game.
* 2.2. Red Alert *
Second-in-Command, he briefs Optimus when the boss is out and doing the
blasting.
His stats:
Attack : ****-
Defense: *****
Speed  : ****-
Power  : ****-
(translates to a maximum of 8 Minicon Power dots, see the "Minicon" section)
Red Alert doesn't pack quite the punch Optimus does, but he balances that
with a higher defense and a decent boost in speed. I used him most of the
time in my first playthrough and only in the later third of the game, when
juggling Minicons got tricky I ditched him in favor of Optimus.
His Vehicle form is pretty useful in any terrain, able to climb steep cliffs
with speed and ease, and being able to steamroller (or at least scatter) enemy
groups.
* 2.3. Hot Shot *
The young hot-head, the BEST there is - as he says :-)
His stats:
Attack : ***--
Defense: ***--
Speed  : *****
Power  : ****-
(translates to a maximum of 8 Minicon Power dots, see the "Minicon" section)
Hot Shot is extremely nimble and extremely fragile, at least in my hands.
It may be possible to employ him in a "commando" style of play, with the right
Minicon loadout, but I have only tested him in the first level and some Minicon
hunting and found him too fragile.
His vehicle form is a superfast sports car. Not good on rough terrain, but in
the open he can run away from any source of trouble.
* 2.4. Enemies! and how to beat them... *
Here's a short listing of the enemies, most with the names from the "Data
Cards" from the Extras Section. Included are some hints on how to put the hurt
on them.
"Found in" lists where they show up first time when doing no revisits.
- Small Grunts
Found in: Amazon, Antarctica
Threat  : nah, you kidding?
Attacks : weak blasters
How to beat: Point gun, pull trigger, done.
- Medium Grunts
Found in: every level except Cybertron
Threat  : in numbers they're ugly
Attacks : Blasters, grenades (later)
How to beat: Point gun, pull trigger, done. They take a few more hits
though
- Medium Grunts w/ Shields
Found in: Mid-Atlantic and afterwards.
Threat  : medium to high, depending on numbers and commanders
Attacks : Blasters, Grenades
How to beat: First, get rid of their shields. Missiles/Grenades work fine.
Then they're pretty weak. Avoid their grenades, though.
- Sarges/ Stealth Sarges
Found in: Alaska onwards
Threat  : high
Attacks : Rocket, melee
How to beat: They are nimble and attentive, and usually avoid missiles and
grenades. So get them with blasters or arc guns. Their jumping
melee attacks HURT. And later they get stealthy. You've been
warned...
- Heavy Units
Found in: Amazon onwards
Threat  : high
Attacks : Double missiles, Blasters
How to beat: Stay away and have DEFLECTOR handy. Their missiles are easy to
avoid, but their blaster fire can eat your energy quick. Close
in they stomp the ground, knocking you over. So don't get close
in.
- Commandos (the data cards call them "stealth guerilla"
Found in: Deep amazon onwards
Threat  : Ouch!
Attacks : Melee slam, EMP guns
How to beat: Area effect weapons help. Melee doesn't. They usually drain your
power with their EMP guns, so take your distance, recharge and
finish them off.
- Jet Sniper (those flying bots)
Found in: Mid-Atlantic onwards
Threat  : In packs, yes. Solo: umm... no
Attacks : Blaster
How to beat: AIRBURST makes pretty short work of them. They zip around and
vary their height, but usually one solid hit with AIRBURST and
they're toast.
- Shieldarms (pink, with white "shells" and twin laser cannon)
Found in: Alaska onward
Threat  : high (solo) to deadly (in packs)
Attacks : Twin laser cannon
How to beat: DEFLECTOR is your friend. Those suckers can unleash a hail of
shots, so you either avoid or deflect it. They eat through your
energy real quick.
- Lightning Rod (red laser beam guys)
Found in: mainly Pacific Islands, some in Antarctica
Threat  : so-so
Attacks : sensor beam that charges up and hurts
How to beat: The bigger problem with these guys is the knockback. So either
snipe them from FAR away or avoid their beams. Bring terrain
between you and them and they can beam all they want :-)
- Spider Tanks
Found in: Antarctica onwards
Threat  : not that much
Attacks : small blasters when moving, charge beam when "braced"
How to beat: Unload heavy firepower their way and watch their pattern.
- Dropships
Found in: Every level except Cybertron
Threat  : for itself - none, depends on cargo
Attacks : Cargo
How to beat: Need heavy firepower to down, usually HAILSTORM missiles and
a BIG blaster cannon.
************
* Minicons *
************
I won't list where to find them here, but I will CAPITALIZE the names in the
Walkthrough, so if you need to know where a specific Minicon is, push CTRL-F,
enter the name and check the Caps check option (sorry, I only have the German
version of IE, so you need to figure out that bit yourself :-))
Power means the number of "dots" each minicon has. The more power, the more
dots. Add the dots to figure if you can cram all the minicons into your 'bot
of choice. Remember, Optimus has a maximum of 10 dots, Red Alert and Hot Shot
have 8 each, so you could add one 2-dot, two one-dot and one four-dot Minicon
into Hot Shot or two four-dot and two 1-dot (or any combination that totals
10) into Optimus Prime.
Minicons have their own power supply, so you don't need to worry about ammo.
Every minicon has an energy bar that decreases when you use it. When you stop
using it, it will recharge. Recharge time depends on the particular minicon
and synergy bonusses (if any).
Most sensor/shield minicons have a power toggle. You turn them on and they
operate until juice runs out, that is when they turn themself off and start to
recharge. Usually you can switch them on as soon as they have a bit of power
regained, but with some (mainly the Dash minicons or COMEBACK) you need to
fulfill special conditions (like going back to Autobot HQ or having ground
underneath your feet).
* 3.1. R1 Minicons (Blaster) *
Starting with the standard blaster and going right from there (push the right
directional key)
BLASTER
Power : n/a, basic built-in gun.
Fires a stream of bullets until empty. Minimal single shot damage,
minor damage if on autofire. Your basic pea shooter.
AFTERSHOCK (green)
Super Heavy Cannon
Power: ****
Charge-up cannon. Deals medium damage when single-fired, can be charged
up to tremendous levels. Don't get hit or your charge is wasted. Good range
and damage
CORONA (green)
Super Ribbon Beam
Power: ****
A cousin of the Lightning cannon, the Ribbon Beam family of guns immobilizes
a target and damages it. CORONA can get up to three targets in this fashion.
May be useful, but I stick to the Lightning cannon.
OVERWATCH (blue)
Impact Gun
Power: **--
A pretty handy weapon versus large clusters of enemies. It shoots a stream of
bullets that explode for splash damage on impact. Not that powerful, but a
nice fill-up if you go for a minicon synergy bonus and have too much high-power
stuff elsewhere. Good range, minor to moderate damage.
AURORA (blue)
Heavy Ribbon Beam
Power: **--
CORONA's smaller cousin. Captures up to two targets.
SKIRMISH (red)
Heavy Blaster
Power: *---
One of my early/midgame faves. Fires in bursts and deals moderate damage.
With an all-red team this increases to an impressive hail of bullets.
Moderate damage, but high volume of fire.
JUMPSTART (red)
Super Hvy Arc Gun
Power: ****
Too bad you get this thing near the end of the game. It dishes out damage in
buckets and can hit up to five targets. The ultimate crowd buster, especially
versus light enemies. Shields don't offer protection against this. Only
drawback: It drains power real fast.
SPARKJUMP (violet)
Heavy Arc Gun
Power: **--
JUMPSTART's smaller cousin, hitting up to three targets. Pro's and con's are
the same.
FIREFIGHT (yellow)
Super Heavy Blaster
Power: **--
This is AFTERSHOCK's smaller cousin. Same mode of operation, not quite the
damage potential.
* 3.2. R2 Minicons (Secondary/Support) *
Starting with SLAPSHOT and going right.
SLAPSHOT (red)
Grenade Launcher
Power: **--
Shoots a round grenade. Range is pretty short, but the grenades bounce and
roll down slopes. The blast radius can catch about four or five medium enemies
and the grenades are wonderful versus bunkers and turrets. Beware: The blast
can hurt you too. Pretty useful, epsecially if your power limit gets too high.
LOCK-ON (red)
Homing Missile
Power: **--
Your first minicon. This baby is pretty handy throughout the game. The damage
is enough to take out small or medium enemies in one or two hits and it has
the best range for quite some time (until the sniper Minicon is aquired)
HIGHSPEED (red)
Dash
Power: *---
(Appears under L2 Minicons too)
Enables you to dash once in robot or vehicle mode and needs to recharge
afterwards. Handy if you prefer the hit-and-run style.
SMACKDOWN (red)
Super Melee Booster
Power: **--
(Appears under L2 Minicons too)
I try to avoid melee combat like the plague, so I can't vouch for the
usefulness of this gizmo. It supposedly maxes your hand-to-hand damage.
AIRBURST (violet)
Flak Cannon
Power: **--
One of the most useful gadgets in the game. Not only can you frag those
annoying fliers and dropships, you can also use this as a crowd buster.
It does moderate damage in a big burst and will not hurt you, even if you
are smack in the middle of an explosion. Good range and low power make this
one of my best-liked toys.
WATCHDOG (violet)
Limpet Mines (whatever that may be)
Power: **--
WATCHDOG can be a real livesaver in some boss/bunker battles. They stick to
enemies, can be detonated by shooting them and have a delay timer. I like
them, at least more than CLAYMORE.
DISCORD (violet)
Scrambler
Power: **--
Utterly useless. This baby should make your enemies attack themselves, but
after having tried this on every enemy type without success I parked it FAR
away. Bad range, bad power-to-usefulness ration (ONE shot per charge) and
sloooow recharge time make this a real waste. Too bad, the idea sounded
promising.
FULLSPEED (yellow)
Super Dash
Power: **--
(Appears under L2 Minicons too)
Nice one. You get three boosts in robot and vehicle mode, AND get one jet boost
in glider mode (with SLIPSTREAM) before recharging. Makes reaching some faraway
places easier.
FLASHBANG (green)
Rocket Launcher
Power: **--
Fires two dumbfire missiles (no homing) straight ahead. More damage than
LOCK-ON.
KNOCKDOWN (green)
EMP Field
Power: ****
This one could be a lifesaver, were it not for the high power cost. KNOCKDOWN
emits a powerful wave of EMP energy, destroying smaller enemies and knocking
back/down larger foes. Too bad it won't work on Heavy Units...
LOOKOUT (green)
Sniper Rifle
Power: ****
Yes, it IS a sniper rifle, and yes, you can headshoot-instantkill enemies with
it. It adds a third zoom level to your first-person view. The range is
awesome, and gets better when coupled with RANGEFINDER. Good one.
PRESSUREPOINT (green)
Melee Booster
Power: *---
(Appears under L2 Minicons too)
I try to avoid melee combat like the plague, so I can't vouch for the
usefulness of this gizmo. It supposedly boosts your hand-to-hand damage.
RANGEFINDER (green)
Range Enhancer
Power: **--
(Appears under L2 Minicons too)
I didn't find it until near the game's end, so I can't tell how much range is
boosted, but other people swear by it.
TRACTOR (green)
Tractorbeam
Power: *---
Nice gimmick, nothing more. I'm too busy SHOOTING my enemies to swing them
around or drop them from cliffs.
FAILSAFE (green)
Heavy Homing Missile
Power: ****
Too bad you can't combo THAT monster easily with one of the green blasters.
It delivers accurate death over great distances.
HAILSTORM (blue)
Heavy Cluster Rockets
Power: ****
Four dumbfire (NO homing) missiles. Good for massive damage over mid- to long
ranges. Blast hurts you too.
CLAYMORE (blue)
Proximity Mines
Power: *---
Too bad this doesen't distinguish between friend or foe, otherwise it would
have been much more useful. Otherwise, use it for retreating battles.
TWISTER (blue)
Vortex Projector
Power: ****
Too cumbersome to lug around. The range is pretty pitiful, and it won't work
on large foes (bosses included). Invest into something other (perhaps
HAILSTORM)
SHOCKPUNCH (blue)
Combat Field
Power: **--
Coats you in an energy field that damages enemies on contact. Too bad it gets
deactivated when you get knocked down, otherwise it would have made the top
gear versus Sarge-class bots.
COVERT (blue)
Stealth Field
Power: ****
(Appears under L2 Minicons too)
Makes you invisible. May be useful when used by Hot Shot on a commando op :-).
* 3.3. L1 Minicons (Armor/Movement) *
Starting with SAFEGUARD and going right.
SAFEGUARD (red)
Armor
Power: *---
When you get it, it's the minicon of choice. It absorbs a small amount of
damage from each hit and is always active. Useful until SLIPSTREAM appears.
COMEBACK (violet)
Reactivator
Power: ****
Instant extra-life. Too bad you get it when you must choose between this and
SLIPSTREAM. Can be handy in boss battles with no difficult terrain from the
last savepoint. COMEBACK works only once, afterwards you need to go back to
Autobot HQ to recharge it.
BULLETPROOF (green)
Heavy Armor
Power: **--
Better protection than SAFEGUARD. Useful early on, if you happen to find it.
BUILDUP (green)
Auto-Repair
Power: **--
One of the most useful Minicons, especially in the last boss fight. BUILDUP
is always active and regenerates your health at a slow, but steady pace.
Don't bet on it to keep you alive, you need to do some dodging, but used
in conjunction with a hit-and-run style BUILDUP will do fine.
STRONGHOLD (blue)
Super Armor
Power: ****
This makes you into a tank. You can withstand enormous punishment, but you'll
get it much too late for it to be of any use.
HIGHJUMP (blue)
Boost Jump
Power: *---
This is neccesary for some jump'n'run passages in the later part of the game,
and it can be useful in minicon hunting.
* 3.4. L2 Minicons (Support) *
Starting with HIGHJUMP and going right.
HIGHJUMP (red)
see above, under R2 minicons
SMACKDOWN (red)
see above, under R2 minicons
SHEPHERD (violet)
Mini-Con Sensor
Power: **--
Your best friend in minicon hunting. It darkens the surrounding landscape and
marks every minicon and datacon with a bright blip you can see through
intervening terrain and structures. Size of the blip shows distance. Neat and
VERY helpful to get the hidden ones.
DEFLECTOR (yellow)
Energon Shield
Power: **--
One of my favorites. This surrounds you with a 360-degree beam coat. Most
enemies use beam and blaster weapons as their main guns, so this is a must have
for most missions, especially for Alaska and beyond. Duration is ok too.
FULLSPEED (yellow)
see above, under R2 minicons
PRESSUREPOINT (green)
see above, under R2 minicons
RANGEFINDER (green)
see above, under R2 minicons
KICKBACK (green)
Reflection Shield
Power: ****
Were it not for the heavy power cost, this would be the shield of choice.
It reflects incoming bullets in a random direction, making it an ideal assault
accessory when you're in the midst of your foes. Too bad the time you get out
of your charge is so short :-).
SHOCKPUNCH (blue)
see above, under R2 minicons
SHIELDWALL (blue)
Ballistic Shield
Power: **--
This is DEFLECTOR's cousin, only this one protects versus missiles and
grenades.
HAWKEYE (blue)
Energon Vision
Power: *---
The Transformers equivalent to thermal optic goggles, this one shows the
Energon signature of an enemy, even through walls or bad lighting. Sweet, but
exchange for SHEPHERD for serious minicon hunting.
COVERT (blue)
see above, under R2 minicons
3.5. Minicon Team Combos
- 2 yellow minicons - yields the most Energon bonus
- 4 minicons (any color) provides higher energy recharge.
*** maybe more to come ***
**********
* Levels *
**********
This walkthrough is for RECRUIT difficulty. If I notice any drastic differences
on higher difficulty levels, I'll add them when I get there.
I'll refer to the glowing things that contain minicons and datacons as "glows"
or beacons, so just don't get confused.
You'll get mission briefings from either Optimus Prime (if you play Red Alert
or Hot Shot) or Red Alert (if you play Prime). For simplicity's sake, when
referring to the caller, I'll use the term CO (communications officer). Less
typing that way :-).
* 4.1. Amazon *
Minicons to find: 9
- LOCK-ON
- PRESSUREPOINT
- SAFEGUARD
- DEFLECTOR
- FLASHBANG
-----------> after getting SLIPSTREAM
- HAILSTORM
- TRACTOR
- FIREFIGHT
- CLAYMORE
Datacons to find: 13
Mission Summary: Follow the tutorial instructions and reach the top of the
mountain.
After watching the gorgeous CG sequence, move your 'bot forward until your
Intercom beeps. Accept the call, listen what your CO has to tell you and do
as he says. Use the first few moments to familiarize yourself with movement
and shooting. Better now than in the heat of battle :-).
Halfway up the cliff you'll get another Intercom call. Answer it and get ready
for your first fight. You can easily snipe the lone Decepticlone from where you
got the call by switching into recon mode (Circle button) and aligning the
target sights until they turn red. Push R1 and see the debris fly.
Notice the glowing ball the decepticlone dropped? Energon. Energon is your
friend. Collect all you can get. Head further up the cliff until you get
another call. You'll fight more 'Clones and find your first minicon, LOCK-ON.
Equip it and go on.
The next objective (and an impressive landmark) is the ruined temple dead
ahead. Get rid of (or evade) the 'Clones along the way and activate the save
point/warp gate. You'll respawn here if you get yourself killed. Cross the
bridge. After crossing the bridge, it's time for a small detour. Follow the
bank of the river and head LEFT instead of straight ahead. You should notice
a glow between the trees. Go there and grab your next Minicon: PRESSUREPOINT.
Since you don't have anything there (yet), put him on and go to the temple.
Try to head for the save point (the pillar of light should be easy to spot
through the trees and you can snipe away at two 'Clones guarding the entrance.
Save, enter and clean the house. Try to stay near the entrance and let the
enemies come to you. After blasting to bits any and all who oppose you, enter
the Temple proper.
There is one minicon (SAFEGUARD) in the middle of the courtyard, and two
datacons are to be found. The easy to find one rests on top of the temple,
simply climb the broken walls and make your way across the top until you reach
it. The second one is a little harder to get. From where you picked up the last
datacon, turn around and go back the way you came, until you stand next to this
pillar-thing where one guard was patrolling. Look below and you should see
a faint glow coming from a small alcove on the inner courtyard wall. If you see
it you'll know how to get there. Simply drop down one ledge and move until you
are above the alcove. Drop down another ledge and you should have your next
datacon. Leave the temple for your next mission objective. You'll need to
repeat the whole climbing and jumping part until you reach the point where
you found the first datacon, then jump down and follow the path next to the
waterfall, up to another glow. You'll get another datacon. Not too far off,
on the same side of the river, nestled between some trees, you should see some
'Clones guarding a glowing something. Get closer and you'll discover two
datacons in close proximity. After picking them up, head towards the waterfall
again. Make your way slowly across the bridge, getting rid of 'Clones along the
way. Notice a beacon to the left.
Save your game and note the path winding up that hill. Transform and roll out,
like the boss said :-). Stop on top of that hill and line up your sights with
the very obvious ramp. Transform and floor it. After crossing the first ravine,
stop and make your way to the left, through the enemy-infested woods, for
another datacon. Get back to the path and cruise along. You'll come upon a
fallen tree where the 'Clones stage a small ambush.
Get rid of them, transform and take the next jump. Fight off the 'Clones and
follow the path up another steep hilltop. Again, aim for a good run and drive
down the hill at full speed for a tricky double jump. Don't go off the gas.
Afterwards, use the save and get the minicon (DEFLECTOR) nearby. I suggest
using it, because you'll need every bit of protection you can get.
Up the mountain we go!
Find your way up the mountainside. Hint: Check for enemies. Where they can go,
you can go too. About halfway up you'll encounter another small vehicle jump.
Floor the gas, but be prepared for a full stop after you cleared the gap. DON'T
TRANSFORM in midair, you'll end up flying straight into the closest ravine.
You'll get another call from your boss. Proceed with caution from here on.
Slowly make your way along the ruin, to the left. You can surprise the spider
tank that is waiting for you a little higher up. Take it out with the help of
your new minicon toy (and avoid it's beam weapon at all costs) and use the
save.
Use the small step to get to the next level. As soon as you get there, you'll
get a surprise visit by Cyclonus and a Heavy Unit. Use the DEFLECTOR to absorb
most of Heavy Unit's blasts and try to avoid it's homing missiles. After
beating it, you'll be treated to another CG sequence and be returned to base.
Return to Amazon/Mountain Ruin and search for a minicon (FLASHBANG) directly
below the save point. You might have found it on your way up already, but if
not, don't forget it. After that, go back to HQ.
Result after first visit:
Minicons: 5/9, Datacons: 6/13
SECOND VISIT:
I suggest you use the Mountain Ruin savepoint as the base for your scouting.
Not only can you see most of the beacons from here, but you have a superb
liftoff point.
Look for a blip on a very obvious mesa. Lift off and glide over there. Don't
bother fighting, just drop onto that mesa, snatch the minicon (HAILSTORM)
and be off. From there, turn a little right and glide off that mesa. You
should see another beacon through the treetops. Drop there and grab the
minicon hidden there. It's TRACTOR.
Find yourself a warp gate, warp back to HQ and return to Mountain Ruin.
Now launch yourself and try to reach the far side of the level. Use the "hang
time" to look around and note easy-to spot beacons. Fly around and collect
stuff. Find FIREFIGHT on the right side of the level.
Go to the Deep Ravine savepoint. Cross the ravine and head right (when facing
the save across the ravine). Line your sights up with the waterfall ahead,
jump off and glide along the ravine. Try to hang left so you don't smash into
the walls. Try to navigate onto that ledge and get a datacon from inside the
cave. Afterwards, return to Mountain Ruin and continue your search.
The next datacon is directly across the savepoint, on the far side of the
level nestled between some trees. You should see it as a faint glow when near
the Mountain Ruin save point.
The last minicon for this level is near the Deep Ravine save point. Cross the
ravine and move on to the next one, but don't jump. Instead, look right and
down. You should see a grassy patch near the bottom ov the ravine. Go there and
look around. You should notice a cave. Inside is CLAYMORE. After getting him,
get back to Autobot HQ. The only thing left here are some datacons which can
be easily found with SHEPHERD later on.
Result after second visit:
Minicons: 9/9, Datacons 9/13
THIRD VISIT - picking up the pieces
Warp to Mountain Ruin with SHEPHERD equipped. Push L2 and have a look around.
The missing datacons should be easy to spot. Go there and collect them.
To get the two datacons near the Mountain Ruin savepoint, you need to jump off
the ruin and glide a little to the right, before turning back and going down.
Your flight path should resemble a "U". (Damn, I hate my lacking english
skills).
Result after last visit:
Minicons: 9/9, Datacons 13/13
* 4.2. Antarctica *
Minicons to find: 10
- HAWKEYE
- LOOKOUT
- WATCHDOG
- SLAPSHOT
- HIGHGEAR
- BUILDUP
- SPARKJUMP
-----------> after getting SLIPSTREAM
- SMACKDOWN
- COMEBACK
------------> after getting HIGHJUMP
- SHOCKPUNCH
Datacons to find: 6
From here on, you'll be accompanied by a permanent minicon partner that enables
you to execute slow motion moves by pressing the Square button. Watch out,
since powerlinking can drain your health real quick.
After watching the CG sequence, turn around and walk past the savepoint for the
first datacon in Antarctica. It's hidden behind a small rock spire, directly
behind the save point. Then proceed along the canyon. A few steps in, you'll
receive a call by your CO. Answer and proceed. When the canyon widens, slow
down and switch to recon mode. Here you'll get to know a new enemy type, the
sentry drone. If their beam hits you, they'll raise an alarm an you'll get
swarmed by 'Clones. Better to shoot them from afar. They are pretty fragile,
so one solid blaster salvo should take them out. Shortly thereafter you'll come
across a river filled with ice floes. Cross the river by jumping fron one to
the next. Be sure to use running jumps, because the gaps are fairly large for
the small jump