Hired Guns CHEAT MODE: At any time on the title screen or during play type in any of the following cheat codes for various effects: 'APPLEGATE' - Opens all doors. 'CHRISTINA' - Move to any area on the campaign map and allows you to - select the same team member more then once. 'AMIGA' - As above plus infinite ammo and invulnerability. HiRED GUNS - PLAYERS GUiDE -------------------------- Typed By: Homer/Rvg+Afl ----------------------- O.k,heres a few basic survival tips and tactics.Enjoy! THE FULL CAMPAIGN ----------------- While you might overhear one of other of the Minogoe sisters being described as "Not big and not clever",you most certainly wont hear the same said of Hired Guns.Finding all those fusion power rings and bunging them into the coil gernerator is such an enormous task that it would be impossible to detail the solution of every problem you might encoounter. So instead here are a few general tips to make life in the Graveyard a tad easier. DREAM TEAM ---------- Picking the right squad for the job is crucial.Each of the twelve members has their own strengths and specialities,all of which might come in handy at some point in the game.The key to selecting a good team is balance (remember to include at least one robot,though,as they can survive indefinetly under water).There is no single perfect teeam,but mt own fab four are: 1.CIM-Life - Not quite as resilient as CIM (lower physique value),but more agile (can withstand longer falls) and starts with an excellent Hyd-Flourine hand laser and 3 multi-directional Sentry Guns. 2.Bonden - Fine support for CIM-Life,with high physique and agility values. Unfornutetly he doesnt start with a descent close range weapon,but you can easly pick up the hidden mounted min-gun near the campaign`s start (see the Switch Section on SOLVING PUZZLES). 3.Cheule - Retains superb agility for surviving perilous drops while still having a reasonable resilient physique.Also has good weapons in the Naomi IV Assault Rifle and a grenade launcher,and a very useful Cure Poisen Psi-amo. Can carry a lot too. 4.Jenillee - A much needed battle medic.Low physique,but splendid agility, masses of experience and an excellent array of medical aids.Her rubbishy sonic stunner weapon needs replacing as early as possible. BASIC SURVIVAL -------------- As you soon discover,Graveyard is teeming with vast quantities of severely hostile lifeforms all gagging to sink their teeth,calws,bullets or whatever into your oh-so-weak flesh.But hopefully the following tips willl help you make your life on Graveyard a little longer.If youre moving as a party, always lead with your battle specialist.You never know whats around the next corner,but you can be sure it will be hostile,so have you best fighter ready to deal with it. Always make sure before entering an unexplored area that all your characters weapons are in their hands ready for use,and check how much ammo they have left.This latter precaution is of course particulary important for characters using rapid fiire projectile weapons like the mini-gun or assault rifles. The best approach to searching a new zone,is to leave the weaker party members at the start point (as long as it is safe to do so) and just send in your fighters who clear a path to the end level for the others to follow. This prevents the chance of a weaker member suffering a surprise attack from behind.The only drawback with this approach is that the best fighters cant fall far,even though this may be necassary to find a key or card to finish some levels.Furthermore they wont have backup or medical aid if they get seriously injured and weak team members might not last more than a few seconds if any creatures find their way to the start point.Luckily this doesnt happen too often. When you first enter a new zone,your party frequently comes under attack almost immediately.Make sure you take control of your weakest member first,since they wont be able to take much of a battering as everyone else. BATTLE FEVER ------------ In the heat of battle try not to panic.If you have to turn to face assailants make sure you do it carefully otherwise you`ll end up pressing the mouse button too often and turning too far.Also,keep reloading your weapon every few shots rather than waiting for that dreaded sound of the trigger hitting an empty chamber.Try to engage tough enemies in an open place,so you can easily run away if necassary.The only exception to this rule applies when dealing with those giant seahorse thingies.These sometimes just stand behind open doors without actually coming through,so you can stand a few paces back from the door and blast away to your hearts content - as long as you remain ready to bid a hasty retreat if the beastie comes out afterall. Another point to remember is that thanks to grenades you can actually take out enemies on levels below the one youre on.If you see some monsters heads below you,just keep lobbing grenades down there until all seems quiet again.The added bonus of this mode of attack is that there is absolutely no risk for you.The creatures are not able to attack you,while you are also out of range of the grenades back-blast. WEAPONS ------- Basically,hand-held and siingle shot weapons are the best things to use against small targets like ppuppies and lizards,while the rapid-fire automtaics are the best against big targets.If you examine different kkinds of ammo you are told about their different strengths and weaknesses againtst soft (tissue) and hard (metal) targets.So,having found out (the hard way,no doubt) what sort of enemies inhabit a level,try and choose your fighters ammunition carfully and accordingly. Recommended all-purpose weapons are the mounted mini-guns,CIM-Life`s Hyd-Fluorine laser and the Naomi IV Assault rifle - most of the others are either too low powered or need reloading too often. If youre willing to take a risk to get thhem,other well--potent weapons can be found scattered around.If for istanc eyou manage to survive the hordes of `seahorses` in the Laboratory Test Site zone,you`ll be liberally rewarded with a nifty rocket launcher and an excellent particle beam rifle (this makes wiping out the tough Ed 209`s in the Fusion Reactor Zone as easy as a piece of cake). THE MAP ------- The four core rings are found in the zones with amber rings round them, so all of these levels must be explored.Choosing the best path to them is very important.Generally,the game tries to guide you to a certain extent by making zones which you dont have to visit extremely difficult.This usually means,at least on early zones,that theyre stocked up to the rafters with seahorses.Thus the easiest way to the first core ring in the Fusion Reactor zone is to go to the Abandoned Depot and then on to the Artificial Island (dont forget on this level to press the ift button at the bottom of the first deep shaft so it returns to the top for later use). Sometimes though,a tough diversion might be worthwhile.For instance,while there doesnt seem much point in going into the Cave System at the very top of the map,there is certainly a lot to be said for taking on the Laboratory Test Site,just so youu can get those extra special weapons i mentioned earlier.Remember that you can always go back through a zone that you have completed without having to actually do it all over again. SOLVING PUZZLES --------------- Sometimes simply splitting up your party so someone can operate a llift for another chap stuck below is enough to solve a problem. But more often than not puzzles are generally solved by one of the three types of solution: switches,psi-amps and movable objects. SWITCHES -------- Switch puzzles tend to be the most difficult,as the switches can sommetimes be both well hidden and along way from the section of the zone they affect. A good example of this can be found right at the beginning of the very first zone.Run around to the back of the first building you can enter,rather than going inside,and find the cluster of movable objects in a corner.Pull one out,kill the allien which emerges,and press the switch hidden round the corner behind the blocks.Now when you get to the section inside the complex whre a series of three lifts take you to a security card on a small edge,you`ll find that the wall to the left has vanished.this lets you reach a mounted mini-gun hidden on another ledge above some stairs you came up earlier (make sure someone agile goes for the gun because you have to fall down a deep drop to get it).Another very uuseful switch crops up at the start of the good old laboratory test site.Select one of your team to run North from the start between two columns and you`ll come to a recessed switch.Press this and a square will open in the ground right next to the rest of your party in the middle of the patch of checked floor. Your team can now drop down this hole into the main caverns below without first having to go through the severely hazardous sea-horse-filled trenches on the surface. PSI-AMPS -------- While most psi-amps produce very obvious effects,iit is sometimes difficult to see exactly why a particular effect might be useful.The best thing to do with a new psi-amp is to try it oout and think how the result might help you access a place hadnt been able to before. Heres an example from the first short action game,the Animal Enclosure.To the foward right oof yoour start position there is a semmingly inaccessible door accross a trough of water and half way up a wall.But you can get to it.Enter the main complex,go to the large cavern containing a horde of winged devils and take the first door on the right.In there you`ll find a Psi-amp Wall Machine.Using this makes a 3D block appear infron tof you. Take this back to the suurface,drop it into the water in front of thhe high door,and use a combination of the lidt on the right and the wall Psi-amp to make and get an artificial platform from which you can enter the door.Your efforts are well-rewarded:behind the door is Graveyards most powerful weapon - The Disruptor Cannon. Most of the psi-amps really are exceptionally useful.They come in four different types - weapons,healers,shields and specials.The special ones,indicated by a sign a bit like a radioactivity symbol on their left hand side,are by far the most interesting and often the most useful.They include the psi-amps for bridges,parting water,gills(so humans can breathe under water),and farsight(which greatly enhances the range of your map scanner). MOVABLE OBJECTS --------------- These are quite simply to use in principle,but infact it can sometimes be a real test of your spatial awareness trying to figure out exactly how best to position them in a situation.They come in most handy as either a way of filling in an otherwise impassible gap or for pushing off ledges to lessen the drop for the poor soul who has to try it.Usually it it worth taking a few moments to plan exactly how you are going to manouevre each block into the correct position - if you make a mistake you could end up getting a much needed block stuck in an irretrievable position.If youre quick,you can also use blocks to trap enemies,which can be surprisingly useful if the enemy in question is a particulary vicious brute or,heaven forbid,youve might even have run out of ammunition. MULTI-PLAYER SHORT ACTION GAMES ------------------------------- If youre playing with a friend an want to actualy complete a section,theres not much to add to waht Ive already said.If,however, you really want to have some fun and just play a game where you want to kill each other,then hres a couple of things which might help. First,its worth agreeing before choosing your protagonists that certain weapons are dissallowed - CIM`s mounted mini-gun,for instance - since these kill opponents too fast to make a descent game.Picking the same characters and sticking to the same weapons makes the competition most fun. In a two player game,avoid making your characters into a two man team because this doubles the size of the target for your opponent and means you could loose both men in a single attack.Avoid using mines and sentry guns unless you good at remembering where you put them... Finally,if yooure in a big room (the Lemmings War level is a good one for shoot-outs) try standing back against the wall looking out across the room. This lets you see an enemy approaching early,often without hhim being able to see you.And of course no one can sneak up behind you.