Outskirts (Level)

''Looking for the city Old Mombasa?

Summary
Outskirts is a Halo 2 campaign level. As the Master Chief, you must battle your way through the streets of Old Mombasa to reach the highway. From there, you head to a highway tunnel, which leads to the next level, Metropolis.This is the first level in which you will encounter Jackals, Phantoms, and Sniper Jackals. This is also the first level in which you will be able to use vehicles, the first level in which you can use the Hijacking ability, and the first level in which you will encounter Hunters. It will also be the first level in which you can use the Sniper Rifle, the Beam Rifle, and the improved Rocket Launcher.

Usable Weapons

 * Magnums
 * SMG
 * Battle Rifle
 * Sniper Rifles
 * Plasma Pistols
 * Plasma Rifles
 * Needlers
 * Beam Rifle
 * Rocket Launcher
 * Plasma Cannon
 * Energy Sword

Drivable Vehicles

 * Warthog
 * Ghost

Part 01: Outskirts
(Three Pelicans rocket away from In Amber Clad, jet engines thundering, and spear out towards New Mombasa. The Assault Carrier hovers high over the city, Gravity Lift engaged.)

Cortana (Radio): The message just repeats. 'Regret, Regret, Regret.'

(The Master Chief watches from the stern of a Pelican as the clouds roll by below.)

Commander Keyes (Radio): Catchy. Any idea what it means?

Sergeant Johnson (Radio): (as the dropships approach the outskirts of Mombasa, passing over a convoy of Warthogs) Dear Humanity... we regret being alien bastards. We regret coming to Earth.

(Inside the cockpit of the Pelican, Johnson leans against the bulkhead behind the two pilots.)

Sergeant Johnson: And we most definitely regret that the Corps just blew up our raggedy-ass fleet!

Pilots (in unison): Hoo-rah!

Cortana (Radio): Regret is a name, Sergeant. The name of one of the Covenant's religious leaders. A Prophet. He's on that carrier, and he's calling for help.

(A Marine sniper/spotter team lies prone on a rooftop, and the Pelicans pass over their position.)

Marine (Radio): Immediate; Grid kilo 23 is hot. Recommend mission abort.

Pilot (Radio): Roger, recon. (To Sergeant Johnson) It's your call, Sarge.

Sergeant Johnson: We're going in. Get tactical, Marines!

Lord Hood (radio): Master Chief, get aboard that carrier, and secure the Prophet of Regret. This is the only place on Earth the Covenant decided to land. That Prophet is going to tell us why.

Pilot: Thirty seconds out... stand by to... whoa...

(The pilot goes silent as a huge walking tank comes into view. Its leg spears a bus, and then its main gun focuses and fires, giving the lead Pelican a glancing blow. The two other Pelicans veer off, plasma turrets on the tank's bank tracking them. The lead Pelican flips inverted, hits a building, and slides through a low brick wall, before blacking out the frame.)

(Your view is blurry, and Cortana fakes tapping on your visor)

Cortana: Hey... wake up.

Sergeant Johnson: Shake it off, Marines. Clear the crash site. Go, go, go!

Part 02: They'll Regret That Too
(As you arrive at a bombed-out building and a firefight breaks out)

Marine 2: Secure this area!

Sergeant Johnson: If they didn't know we're here before, they do now.

Sergeant Johnson: Yep. Here they come! Up high!

{After the first wave of Covenant forces are killed}

Sergeant Johnson: More on the street! Left side!

{After the second wave of Covenant are killed}

(Jackals come around a corner)

Sergeant Johnson: We got Jackals in the courtyard!

(Later, A group of Drones flies into view)

Sergeant Johnson: Buggers, headin' over the rooftops!

{Another wave of Covenant attack}

Sergeant Johnson: Across the street! Down low!

(Later, The sound of Phantom engines drifts over the rooftop)

Sergeant Johnson: Eyes up! Phantom's back!

(Later, another Pelican arrives, hovering over the courtyard)

Pilot 2 (Radio): My girl's a little big for that courtyard, Sergeant. I see a good LZ on the other side of these buildings. Meet you there, over.

Sergeant Johnson: Copy that. Someone get a satchel on the gate!

(A pair of Hunters breaks through the gate)

Cortana: Hunters.

Sergeant Johnson: Stand back, Marines. Let the Chief show you how it's done.

(Once the Hunters are down)

Cortana (Radio): Second squad, this is Cortana. What's your status, over?

Marine 3 (Radio): We're operational Ma'am, barely. Our pilots didn't make it.

Cortana (Radio): Find a hole, stay put. We'll come to you.

(When you reach the far courtyard, a third Pelican drops in and unloads Marines.)

Commander Keyes (Radio): Sergeant, I need you on that bird.

Sergeant Johnson (Radio): Ma'am?

Commander Keyes (Radio): My Pelicans are going to start airlifting armor and reinforcements into the city. They'll need an escort that isn't afraid of a little hostile ground fire.

Sergeant Johnson (Radio): Understood. I'll keep an eye on 'em. Chief... good luck.

(Johnson climbs aboard the Pelican and dusts off)

(Once you reach the second squad's position)

Marine 3: Chief! Glad you could make it. Crash site's on the other side of this hotel, Chief. Covenant are crawling all over it. Follow me.

(As you move into the darkened hotel)

Marine 3: Stay outta sight.

(A Marine pulls up in a Warthog, honking the horn)

Marine 3: Special Delivery from Commander Keyes, Cheif.

Cortana (Radio): That bridge is the most direct route to the city center.

Part 03: A Day at the Beach
Marine 3: Oh man, I love the beach...

Marine 2: I hope you packed a suit, mate!

Cortana (Radio): Cut the chatter... we got trouble.

(As you negotiate the beach)

Commander Keyes (Radio): Chief... the carrier just launched a wave of pods. They're inbound on your position.

(Covenant Orbital Insertion Pods slam down on the beach all around you, and armed Elites spring from them)

Cortana: This tunnel leads up to the bridge. It's full of rats if you know what I mean, but it beats swimming.

(As you move into the highway tunnel)

Cortana: I've been analyzing the Covenant tactical chatter. They're surprised, confused... I don't think they expected us to be here. Not... you and me, all of us... humanity, on Earth. Odd, I know, but it does help explain why they came here with such a small fleet.

Part 04: Speed Zone Ahead
(When you come across a group of Shadows in the tunnels)

Cortana: The Covenant must be trying to regroup. Don't let them.

(Once you approach the exit of the tunnel, the level transitions)

01: They'll Regret That, Too
Welcome to Old Mombasa, I guess.

Head through the door and beat down the Grunt with your Battle Rifle. Shooting him is also possible, but not advised; it will alert a whole host of his little buddies. Right away, drop your worthless SMG in favor of his plasma pistol. Now right away, you have to make a choice here.

Are you a noble SPARTAN who has truly learned Dr. Halsey's lessons of trying to save every single person rather than going only for the greater good of humanity? In other words, will you stay and defend this ruinous old bulding with your Marines?

Or do you only care about saving Earth? Will you abandon Sergeant Johnson's Marines to the Covenant, while you act like a cowardly swine and skip the whole first half of the level?

If you feel like living today, take the second path. Above the door you came into this little hall by is a light. Jump up onto it and turn right. From here, crouch-jump up onto the sloped wooden surface. To the left of this is a hall, at the end of which is the Blind Skull. We'll be skipping that today. Turn 180° and jump across the pit to the little gap between the two buildings. Turn right, face the wall, and grenade-jump up onto the roof of the half-destroyed building. Turn left and jump across the street to land on the next rooftop. Jump up onto the ledge, then down into the destroyed road. Jump up onto the edge and take a running crouch-jump onto the next roof. Follow this on until you find two silver AC units on a rusted roof. Jump up on one to get to the next ledge. Here we have a house with a hole in the roof; drop down in here to get the REX egg, as well as an energy sword which you should exchange for your plasma pistol. Climb back up the slope to get back onto the roof and keep following the street to get to the roof of Hotel Zanzibar. Use the Battle Rifle to kill the two Grunts and the Ultra Elite outside of it, then head inside. If you did all this, skip this next bit.

If you really want to stick around, here's how to go about it:

As you head towards the building, two more Grunts and two of the new Jackals will show up. Use your battle rifle to headshot them all. Head into the building, then back off briefly; two Elites and two more Grunts have arrived on the scene. They will all fall to the noob combo.

Head up to the second level and get under cover. Those goddamn Jackal snipers have arrived, and on Legendary, they kill you in one hit. Ridiculously, the same one hit won't kill anything else in the game but a Drone. The Jackal snipers gave me the first of many "LOL WUT" moments in the game; they're pathetically easy to kill, yet they have the AMAZAZAZING ONE-SHOT KILLZ0RS OF DAETH ZOOMG!!!1101093!qwwertfty!!! Luckily, Sarge can pretty much handle them as they come, and under the overhang, you can't easily be targeted by them. Problem is, this limits our ability to fight every time one shows up, until Sarge sees them and opens fire.

Aside from the asinine Jackals, you will face not one, not two, not five, but eleven waves of enemies. However, as Cortana might put it, "Not to worry, it's pretty sloppy stuff." Indeed. Once the first three snipers that show up are dead, the first wave is triggered. Sarge has a different bit of dialogue for most of the waves, which follow a fixed pattern. Be advised that snipers will pop up every so often. However, you have Sarge to deal with them, and you get a checkpoint between every waves. Here, a Lance refers to a group of one Elite leading three or four Grunts:


 * 1) "Here they come, up high!" - Heads up; a sniper will pop up its ugly head on the roofs across the street. Once Sarge deals with him, there is a Lance to fight to the left of the building.
 * 2) Once this bunch are dead, another Lance will arrive from the left.
 * 3) "More on the street, left side!" - Another Lance, also on the left.
 * 4) After they all die, another Lance will show up on the left. You might be thinking this is sinking into a rut...
 * 5) "We've got Jackals in the courtyard!" - But not quite. Four Jackals, followed by an Elite, will arrive through the door you entered the area by. You may be inclined to wonder just where the hell these guys are coming from, but I guess Bungie doesn't want to tell us. That's another of my gripes with Halo 2; enemies appear from ridiculous locations, with no explanation.
 * 6) "Buggers! Headin' over the rooftops!" - A Drone swarm will arrive from a point roughly in between where the Lances have been coming from and where the Jackals just showed up. Let your Marines handle this.
 * 7) Back in the old routine, I guess. Another Lance on the left side.
 * 8) "Across the street! Down low!" - Another Lance from the left.
 * 9) This is the one group that doesn't seem to be more or less constant. Sometimes it's yet another of the Lances from the left end of the street, sometimes it's another of the coming-from-nowhere Jackal and Elite groups on the right.
 * 10) "Eyes up, Phantom's back!" - A Phantom, obviously, which you should take cover from. It will drop a Lance, plus a Major with a Needler and a Zealot with a sword. The toughest wave, in my opinion; it's easy to lose track of the Zealot while you deal with the others. The result of this is often finding him slaughtering all your Marines before finishing up with an assassination of you. Presumably, this guy is the Field Master in charge, but things seem to continue easily without him. Hmm. About forty-five seconds after the Phantom leaves, another of the inexplicable groups of Jackals will show up, led by an Elite, from the right.
 * 11) "Someone get a satchel on the gate!" - Two Hunters will burst through the gate in the area's center. Jump on the turret and start firing; they may kill you, but you just got a checkpoint. Keep using the turret until they both go down.

As you continue down the path, four Jackals, one a sniper, will show up at the other side of the street. Jump on the stack of crates, take a right, and follow the passage to the end; some poor sniper is lying at the end, all shot up. Grab his rifle, reload it, and give the sniper Jackal a taste of his own medicine. LOL! Watch that little bastard fall! I think a little vindictiveness is appropriate given how many times these guys kill us in the course of the game.

Move on through to Sniper Alley, the least pleasant of many unpleasant areas in this level. There are a grand total of five Jackal snipers here, and the only real way to defeat them is to memorize where each and every one of them spawns. One of them is walking unwittingly across the street in front of you; the Battle Rifle will make short work of him. The three-level building at the far end of the street is next; a Jackal spawns on the top floor (not the roof). Use the sniper on him, and quickly. Seconds later, on the raised platform section in the middle of the street, another sniper will run up and come to a halt; a 14.5 mm (that's about .57-caliber. Holy crap!) round will settle his troubles. Unfortunately, a Drone swarm will show up at this point, forcing you to head into cover. As you do, a fourth sniper will appear on the second level of the far building; take him out too. Then, down the street, on a high-up ledge to the left, a fifth sniper will join the party. This guy's a real jerk; he can see you, even in cover, and he can be find to find while all those Drones are flitting about. Headshot him, and you've beaten the first bunch of snipers. Finish off the remaining Drones, then slowly move down the street, scoped in, keeping your eyes up and to the right. A sixth sniper will slowly come into view. Headshot him, and you'll get a checkpoint. You'll need it, because a pair of Stealth Elites will arrive from the left. One has a sword; he should be your first priority. The other is usually carrying two plasma rifles, and he rarely seems to notice you unless the Marines are dead; assassinate him while he focuses on them. Move down the street, take the first available left, and head cautiously into Sniper Alley's little brother, Sniper Alley 2.

A Jackal Minor is on the ground; battle-rifle time! However, as soon as he's dead, you should scope in with the sniper, aim for the alley's far end, and move forward. A sniper will arrive after a few seconds, but, as he pauses, he's vulnerable to sniping. A second sniper will replace him in a matter of seconds, but he too should fall. Back up and jump onto the raised platform in Sniper Alley 1, in the place where the third sniper there spawned. In Sniper Alley 2, on one of the strange little 'bridges' over the alley, a third Jackal sniper will come to see what all the fuss is. Target him next. Move back into Sniper Alley 2, but stop when you get to the row of alcoves off to the left. Stand behind one of the pillars here. Then, turn left and inch around the pillar until a gap between two buildings becomes visible. On a ledge within this gap, a fourth sniper waits. Sweep a battle rifle burst across the gap at his head level; remember, only one of the three bullets has to connect to kill him.

Once the Ten Sniper Jackals of Mombasa (there should be a song about that) are dead, three Lances will arrive at the end of Alley 2. This is actually a pretty fun battle; personally, I like to use Battle Rifle and Energy Sword to slash and gun through these nine or ten Grunts and three Elites. You could always use the sniper rifle, though; there's a nice cache of sniper ammo on the bottom floor of the building at the far end of Sniper Alley 1. The "I Would Have Been Your Daddy" Skull can be found in this building, too, but it's not always there, and it's damn hard to get, even if it is there. The lolz you can get from it, though, make it almost worth the trouble.

From here on out, I'm going to recommend that you keep the sniper rifle and energy sword on you.

Once all three Lances are dead, move through the streets until you reach Hotel Zanzibar, which happens to be under attack by an Ultra and his Lance of three Grunts. If you wait for a while, the Ultra will often start using the turret, making him easy to sneak up on and assassinate. Of course, it may be wiser to provoke him to draw his sword and exchange it for your own, which could be running low. Once the Lance is dead, move into the Hotel Zanzibar's foyer.

'''Note: Those of us who chose to skip the first half of the level can rejoin us now. Look how much frustration you've avoided! Look how many Marines died because of your cowardice! Good job. I hope none of those guys' kids grow up with a blood feud against you...'''

It will not surprise you much, I suppose, to learn that a Lance, with an Ultra Elite attached, will show up at the end of the hall once you get close enough. Just in case you were thinking to weaken them with a grenade, wait a second; they spawn just after a load-point, so your grenade will disappear in mid-air. While this provides some entertainment, it's mostly entertainment of the "It would have been funnier if I had survived" variety. Instead, wait for the load-point to occur, stick the Ultra, draw your sword, slash the Major to take down his shields, and run. The explosion will probably kill the Major, leaving the Ultra as a fine target for lunging.

Move outside. Two more Grunts (the Ultra's Lance, I guess) are running around, panicking, to your left. Wipe them out quickly; a Phantom has arrived. It will drop a Lance led by an Ultra; you can snipe them with relative ease, but you may run a little low on ammo. Oh well; you hardly need it anymore. When they're dead, drop down into the roadway, exchange your sniper rifle for your passenger's battle rifle, hop in, and start driving.

02: A Day at the Beach
This part really isn't that difficult; although you face a lot of opposition along the coastline, most of it can just be driven past. Keep an eye out for Ghosts, which will occasionally harass you; snipers, who can still kill you in one hit if they can manage to hit you; and turrets, which will make evasive maneuvers necessary. Aside from that, just keep going more or less straight, breeze past all the Covenant, and enter the far tunnel up to the bridge.

03: Speed Zone Ahead
This section has more or less the same mindset as the previous one: there's so many enemies in here that I can't imagine you're supposed to do anything other than blow past them all. If you find yourself dying a lot, you could always get in a Ghost (there's one near the entrance of the tunnel) and gradually saturate every area with plasma, being sure to clear a path before moving on. While it's boring and pretty damn time-consuming, the tactic is a valid one, and it can see you through every enemy, with the possible exception of the final area with the two parked Shadows, the two turrets, and the three Elites buzzing around in Ghosts. There, there's so much stuff to kill that you may want to consider just tearing through at boost speed, threading the needle of the Shadow parked over the exit tunnel (which would make a very good barricade if some absolute genius among Elites hadn't driven the Ghost blocking the middle away) and heading to the end of the level double quick.

Well, you've made it through Old Mombasa, anyway. Don't worry, New Mombasa is only twice as unfair...

Speed Run Walkthrough
Note: This walkthrough require correct Grenade Jumping, precision in everything and... speed. This walkthrough is based on the current fastest Speed Run at High Speed Halo, Fully_Synthetic and Chad's 4:43 Legendary Co-Op run, with a bit of minor editing as I personally deem fit to allow for Single-Player use. It may be altered as and when faster runs emerge. Certain portions detailed here may only take place on Legendary and alternate methods, not detailed here, will be necessary in such events.

Start moving towards the doorway. Jump onto the lamp in front, then onto the awning to the left. Turn back towards the hole you jumped up from and jump towards the pathway there. Throw a Frag Grenade as you fall and immediately jump again as you land so that you make use of the grenade's force in a Grenade Jump. Jump across the chasm to the building opposite. Throw a Frag Grenade at the wall of the building as you reach the top of the small slope and turn towards the building to the left, jumping as you reach the edge. Follow the path and jump down to the next area, then jump onto the pointed roof, then over the parapet. Follow the path in a straight line over to the next building, jumping as necessary. Throw a Frag Grenade shortly before you reach the small parapet and jump as you hit the parapet, letting the grenade blow you onto the next building. Continue walking in a straight line until you see the sign for Hotel Zanzibar. Jump over the gap between the building you are currently on and the next one, then head for the hotel and drop down. Go in and throw your currently last Frag Grenade at the Covenant in the hall, then hide to the left. Rush out and charge past the survivors, heading down to the beach. If you've been going fast enough, you should hear Miranda say "Sergeant, I need you on that bird" as you near a parked van. Find the crashed Pelican and the Ghost near it, then board it. "A Day At The Beach" will appear as you do so, as will a checkpoint.

Boost the Ghost past all resistance and head into the highway tunnel. You will get a checkpoint as you near the first turn. Once "Speed Zone Ahead" appears, get out of the Ghost and commandeer the Warthog that appears. Charge past the resistance. You will get a checkpoint as you pass the first group of Covenant, then a second near the little ramp.

Weapons Caches

 * The first one is on the second story of the main structure in the first plaza. Get on the second story and check under the stairs.It contains BR and Sniper ammo, a Magnum, and (interestingly) two SMGs that have a total of 430 rounds (80 rounds more than usual).
 * Another on is found after you encounter the Hunters. Go through the doors and go to you reach the two crates stacked on top of each other. Jump on top and turn right. You should see some bodies. Go towards them and you should see the ammo.There will be two dead Grunts and two dead Marines. There will be three Frag grenades, two fully loaded PPs, and a Sniper Rifle and two clips, plus one Magnum.
 * Another is very close to the above cache. When up by the bodies you should see a broken street light. Jump between it and the wall to get the ammo.
 * If you go to the building with the two Jackals on the bottom floor there are several Sniper Rifle clips as well as the gun.
 * A Sniper rifle cache is found in a balcony. It contains four or five boxes of ammo and a sniper rifle. This balcony also has the IWHBYD Skull when you trigger the events on Legendary.
 * The last one is in the third beach area, in the open area building. If you park on the right side there is a ramp that leads up to the top floor. Here is the only Rocket Launcher in this level, plus a sniper rifle, BR ammo, and Sniper ammo. On the bottom floor is two Rocket ammo boxes.

Base Defense
In the first part of the level, when you must defend the Marines until help arrives,Base Defenseis the best way to go. In this case, your "Base" will be that of the large building in the center of this courtyard. This building was probably a small open area park of some sort. Here is the basic layout: There are three levels to this place, with a tree taking up most of the space on the ground floor. A flight of stairs leads up to the second level, which is basically a large balcony (very vulnerable to Snipers) that has a (oo-rah!) MG turret in the center, with a seperate stairwell leading up to the third level. Sgt. Johnson will take up a position on this level, sniping and scouting for you. The Marines will usually stay with you on the second level, but one will usually stray down to the courtyard and sidestreet.

For your convenience, there are three ammo caches for you to feast upon. The first one is on the ground level, right in that little room in the doorway. There will be SMG and BR ammo. The 2nd and 3rd cache are on the 2nd level, one under the stairwell leading to the 3rd floor. This cahe contains BR, SMG, and Sniper Rifle ammo, plus a Magnum (for those of us who want to go in the Lethal Weapon way). The third is situated in the center of the balcony, surrounding the Machine Gun turret. There are also Frag Grenades in the courtyard.

The MG turret will be very useful in upcoming fights, but it only has a firing path that is centered on the main courtyard. Better keep that in mind.

On the right side of the balcony (assuming you are facing outward)there is a large hole. Keep that in mind.

The 3rd level consists mostly of a glass sunroof that will break if you try and walk across it. Keep that in mind as well.

The ground floors main entrance has no door to close, making it vulnerable to infiltration. Keep your enemies at bay with the MG to solve this problem.

There are many ways to get on and off and into your little fort. Two effective ways are the white and brown trucks that are around the side streets. Jump onto these trucks, and from there you can get to the balcony.

There are many crates in the courtyard for your enemies to hide behind. Try to take out them out before they can find cover.

Lastly and most importantly; DEFEND YOUR BASE! I dont care if youre playing on easy, you noobs; if you lose your base, you are screwed, with a capital S. Aim for heads, take out the officers, make sure your turret lives on, and prepare for some hardcore, badass combat. Go get 'em.

Reference Links

 * Outskirts