Game:

Counter-Strike: Source (2004)

Duration: 11:37

1,652 views

5

We have arrived again! Can you believe it? Can it possibly get more brutal than the previous set of events in the crazy wind? Heck yeah, it can, because that wind is still in effect!

So, how can they throw anything more at us in this ultimate test of whether or not we deserve our Expert Pilot's Wings?

In fact, I'm going to call it now...this is the point in the game where the most difficulty exists, because you actually have to demonstrate proficiency in a wide variety of aeronautic arts...the endgame is just a matter of trying again at a single, time-consuming task until you succeed/not-fail, right?

This time you have to keep trying until you succed four times in a row at completely different things! Plus, a bonus chance will pad your score and help you out if you manage to make a slight error in execution, it won't do a thing to help you if you fail at any one of them along the way. Well, unless you're crazy and succeed at entering two or more of them with a considerable number of points.

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Lesson 8

Well, for starters, they could put a tightwad like Big Al on the case, that's not a bad beginning point, eh?

But seriously, the gimmick here is that it's nighttime! ...actually, I'm not sure about you, but the "darkness" just means that the land is mostly blue, and we're still more interested in neon-highlighted target zones and now yellow-striped runways. It actually looks pretty neat, if you ask me.

So, Mister Big, are we ready to spend a LOT of quality time together?

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Skydiving

I...have no words on this one. I see it, and I still don't believe it. You watch and tell me you believe it, and I'll call you a terrible liar. Or maybe I won't, but mostly because I'm flattered if anybody actually watches it in the first place, either way.

Big Al's expression is priceless, and it made the whole ordeal beyond worthwhile...you do NOT want to know how many tries this one took. (But you'll be burdened with a visual inkling soon enough, I'm sure.)

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Hang Glider

Oh man, my nightmare is realized...the previous mission's high-wind conditions at least didn't require anything more than attaining a lofty altitude...this time, you have to fly through a ring at a rather mid-low height under an extreme crosswind. And you have to do it TWICE.

This is especially problematic, because you can't exactly ride a thermal and get off whenever you want to. You have to ride it up, and circle around just long enough to reach the altitude you need precisely when you get to the ring. And this is an Expert-sized ring, too!

But, if you're made of tough enough glider stuff, the challenge is probably the most rewarding-feeling out of all the hang glider objectives. Just don't expect to get a time bonus if you can't take it on in a minimal number of passes.

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Rocketbelt

Oh my...it's a bunch of ultimate challenges all around this time, entirely unlike anything seen before in the game. Don't be fooled by the fact that they look like the balls of light that rings and bars and beams are made of. These ones have SUBSTANCE! You'll be pushed around! If you get under them, they're liable to push you into the ground on their way through.

I believe these things are actually the precursors to Pilotwings 64's obsession with floating polygonal "sphere" balloons!

Oh, and I was mulling over the options and realized rather late that even if I got 100 points on this event, I pretty likely wouldn't get the 80 points necessary for meeting certification from the light plane objective...so, when I noticed that I was way past time bonus anyway, I elected to change plan and go for broke on the attempt to enter the bonus stage.

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Bonus Chance: ??? (early Jumble Hopper, Birdman hybrid?)

And here we are, the one bonus stage we haven't seen yet, mostly because I'm afraid that having too high a score will hurt my ability to cover all the events like we saw in Lesson 4.

I'm actually at a loss for words here for exactly what this game is supposed to represent. It's like, well, the Birdman suit is on, but the idea is instead to jump around?

I believe this is the prototype for what would eventually get fleshed out into a game known as "Jumble Hopper" (a fairly confusing name for a really awesome activity from Pilotwings 64, if not utterly irrelevant to flight).

And...yeah...I'm pretty bad at it. You can expect some more remedial studies on my part, just for the sake of getting used to it.

Is it ironic that the event I perform the best at has the bonus stage I'm absolutely terrible at?

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Light Plane

What was that I was saying earlier about not wanting the impossible task of trying to make 80 points on the light plane?

Don't let the phrase "moving arches" scare you too thoroughly, because really, they're just spinning...and they're spinning fast enough that if you don't pass directly through them, they'll likely spin through you on the way anyhow.

I just can't believe that Al was so generous on the Accuracy score here.

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