Unity Heights is the third zone of the city, the NE portion of the map. It’s also the most crowded section so far, with winding roads and many objectives crammed into small areas. The enemies are also packing serious heat. In Green Bay we saw glimpses of stronger Cell Soldiers and the makings of more wicked freaks, which are common-place in this section. So in other words, if you came here without working on your skills and have a limited arsenal, then it could be tough sledding to make that progress now.
*NOTE: I had all my skills at level 4, with level 5 agility and strength. Even skipping over some of the stuff we’ve covered like the races, you should still be in the ballpark no matter what.*
Let us approach it from the south, from Hope Springs. This will let us have the same starting point and put us right next to a Cell Zone.
Cell Zones: Unity Heights
I’ll tell you right now that you should consider bringing a sniper rifle like the Harpoon and a rocket launcher-type of gun. Yes, you’ll run out of ammo quickly, but the enemies are packing their own heat, so if you just down a few you will be set.
We will start with the one to the very south, just off the bridge leading to the quarry. The roofs here are covered with snipers, so get used to it. You will notice that there is an AU up here, so may as well get that, killing two turret gunners. This AU goes to the Comm Center to the east.
Next you must clear the entire area around the zone, and it’s quite a task as there are plenty of turret gunners, guys will missiles, and everyone else has these very powerful machine guns. Be sure to confiscate one and don’t miss the cluster grenades if you haven’t stored those away yet. You don’t need to clear the area leading to the west, but you could if you want.
Activating the zone inside the complex spawns Cell in the immediate area, from the corners of this parking lot. So the trick is to stay moving in the air and bring plenty of bombs.
But you’re not done, you have to go west and claim the zone in the street, and this is even tougher because the Cell cars have rocket launchers on them, so have to watch out. There are snipers on either side of the building, enemies all up and down the street, and this is all before you turn on the zone. When you do they only spawn from the ground on both sides of the building, but as mentioned, the cars with rockets may be a problem. I say may because often the rockets from the cars or from the guys will hit the other.
Then cross the west bridge and tackle the zone in the busy intersection, and it’s pretty straight-forward. Just keep in mind this landing zone isn’t always safe when you return.
*NOTE: Be on the lookout for homing rockets, if you don’t already have.*
Next one is to the north, at the tall building known as Hope Tower. Clearing the ground first isn’t hard, and even clearing the ground troops after assaulting the zone isn’t too bad. It’s the climbing that is tricky.
Climbing Hope Tower requires that you stay in range of the narrow vertical zone space while finding sure footing. There is almost guaranteed to be an easier way, perhaps something happens later in the game, but for now all I found that works is to climb up the building to the south, to it’s roof, then look north and you can jump to the level with all the baddies. It’s pretty rough if you lack the fire-power and aren’t ready, but you can take refuge in the walkways (click LS to crouch).
But that is not it, there are more higher up. As far as I can tell, the only way up is to hop the ledges and balconies from here to the next level. It’s easy to fall off, just be sure to do small jumps to balconies when you are stuck. Remember, the jumping twirl in the air is best at hopping tiny ledges, rather than grabbing the ledges (most people who read that will be all like “what?”).
*NOTE: Grab the three hidden orbs and audio log up while going up; 1 orb on the first level of Cell, two on the second plus the log, and I believe that is as far as you can go with level 5 agility.*
From Hope Tower, go north a bit for the next Cell Zone at a barricade in the street, and it’s pretty easy as there are two turrets to spend up and only a handful of Cell. A far cry from the last one.
Cross to the final isle and hit the zone in the middle of a circle of modest- sized buildings. Difficult to clear, but harder to defend if you don’t move to higher ground. Try a side roof as the long rooftop is a spawn point and these guys pack homing rockets, something you may want to grab and turn into the drop point.
The final Cell Zone is comprised of three. Let’s head to the easternmost one, and the approach is key. It’s in the middle of an intersection and there are plenty of snipers and homing rockets all over, so you really should try to approach from the high ground. Once it’s clear, just blast the guys on the ground as they exit the doors, then climb up to the rooftops to clear the last guys up here.
Then head north for the other two, both of which are the same story of working from the air down. The second one from the north has a missile turret, and the final zone also has an AU for the Research Ruins, so may as well. This third one is kinda hard because of the citizens, but if you ignore them or it is night, then it’s all good. It’s only difficult because they are so spread out, but if you got explosives it should be cake.
