Interval 08 - Desolation
Urban Decay
The Replica forces have moved away from Armacham, apparently having obtained the location of the Vault, and you're hot on their tail. Unfortunately, your helicopter has been shot down near the Vault, forcing you to cover the intervening distance on foot, through the urban blight. You begin in an abandoned rowhouse, so go up and get your kill on.
There is a Reflex Booster in this area, just beyond the first small area where you go outside and see a helicopter fly overhead; head up the ramp made of trash to reach it. Shortly beyond is another surprise EVE unit that drops down through the ceiling. Fight it if you have the tools to do so, but the cramped conditions may make that difficult. You might want to just blast the boards off of the exit with a shotgun or something, crawl through, and leave it behind.
Next up is a little bit of a sniper's gallery, where you'll have to fend against numerous Type-7 wielding foes in distant windows. You can find a Type-7 for yourself shortly before your first exposure, and these guys are far enough away to reduce their accuracy to negligible levels, at least on Hard difficulty, so you shouldn't have a problem hitting them. Seeing them, on the other hand, can be difficult, especially when they're on the buildingtops. Watch for the electrical tracers from their fire to distinguish their silhouettes from the background. Be especially careful on the rooftop with all the airconditioning equipment, as there'll be plenty of snipers popping up as you walk across.
On the plus side, you can also find your first MP-50 Repeating Cannon here. This massively bruising weapon is essentially a rapid-fire grenade launcher, and will kill most Replicas in one shot, as well as do good splash damage to anyone around them.
Anyway, wrap back around into the other apartment block, pick up some more Type-7 ammo from the soldiers you killed earlier, and poke around for a Health Booster. After you get past another Fettel appearance, you'll have to jump out of a window into the alley below to move on.
Point of Entry
Welcome to the point of no return...for your framerate! The open areas here may do a number on your system's performance, so get ready to turn your graphical settings down, if need be.
You'll have to fight your way through a number of Replicas to get through the first series of alleyways, including a Heavy Armor with a MOD-3 rocket launcher, so take it slow. After the Heavy Armor goes down, jump over the crates and barrels to reach the dark alleyway beyond and move on. Be ready for the truck that comes at you; it won't be the last one to make an attempt to run you down, but at least your slomo will automatically kick in, allowing you to duck into the nearby building before it impacts you.
After a couple more close calls, you'll be able to enter the Pendleton Machinery Company factory, so crawl through and start ascending up from the factory floor. There's a Reflex Booster inside, near where you eventually have to drop down to move on.
After passing through the factory, you'll see Jankowski again, who'll let you know that Alma's close by. You'll have some tough fights coming up, including a pair of MP-50 wielding soldiers, and more Assassins. The worst part of this run, however, are the two EVEs that you'll eventually come across. Instead of going toe-to-toe with them, it's probably best to run out past the police car, stick to the left wall, walk through the gap behind the containers there, then run towards the stairwell up to the nearby factory as quickly as possible. So long as you keep a little distance between yourself and the EVEs, their rockets should go past you, allowing you to move on without taking a horrendous amount of damage.
Inside the next small area, after killing the ATC officers, find the red switch on the rear wall and flip it to move on. Shortly thereafter, you'll find a cargo elevator leading down into the Vault; before you head down, though, walk across the catwalk nearby to find another Health Booster.