Update 3: Cover Shooting 101
Before I start, this update is going to be kind of short compared to the previous two. The reason for that is that this entire segment is basically a introduction to the shooting segments in Gemini Rue.
Right after the screen fades to white, we wind up in a dimly-lit room in what is actually a place called Center 7. Center 7 is (as we’ll learn in a few minutes) ostensibly a prison in space where Delta Six is currently being held.
The door to the left opens up, and one of the two figures inside leave. Both have male voices.
Things are looking ominous already! The second person in the room leaves, and shortly afterward, the lights turn on to reveal Delta Six lying on the floor. This room is actually one of the most important rooms Delta Six will need to deal with during his stay at Center 7 - you’ll see why later.
A pre-recorded message featuring a female voice starts playing before getting abruptly cut off by a second voice. The second voice is one we’ve heard before - he’s the guy standing behind Delta Six when he gets mindwiped at the start of the first update.
: “Hello again…” : “My name is the director.” : “Delta-Six. Wake up, will you?”
Delta Six actually has a pretty smooth getting up animation, but it’s hard to capture in screenshot form.
: “Do you realize how far you’ve set back your training by trying to escape and having your memory wiped again?” : “Do you understand anything that I am saying?” : “… Please tell me they didn’t erase your vocal functions.” : “I specifically told them to do only the non-cognitive wipe.” : “Please say something. Anything. A simple word would suffice.” : “Alright, Delta-Six. Glad to see you back in functioning order.” : “But logic tests are such a bore, and you look fine to me. Don’t you agree, Delta-Six?”
Delta Six doesn’t respond. He’s really not much of a talker.
: “I’ll take that as a yes… so, let’s get back to the fun bit of your training.” : “Before your unfortunate escape attempt, we were training you in the finer aspects of the handgun.” : “Let’s see if you can still remember how to use it.”
Now, you might be asking, “Wait, if this is actually a prison, why the hell are they letting the inmates have guns?”. You’ll understand that eventually, but in the short-term..
If we try to leave the room with the gun, the scanner will pick it up and not let Delta Six out until he returns it. Instead, let’s pick up the gun and get shooting.
All of the shooting segments in Gemini Rue start with Azriel or Delta Six getting into cover. As long as they are in this position, Azriel/D6 can’t be hit, but also can’t hit anything.
This is the “out of cover” position, which allows Azriel/D6 to shoot. Both characters use semi-automatic handguns that operate the same - pressing space while out of cover fires a single, inaccurate shot that has a decent chance of hitting targets that are out of cover.
What the game doesn’t mention is that Azriel has limited ammo - Delta Six’s gun just kind of downloads more bullets via the magic bullet lever. Azriel can increase his ammo count by collecting spare magazines (which we’ll see later on). Running out of ammo as Azriel is a game over.
Finally, we have the most annoying part of the shooter segments in Gemini Rue - the headshot meter. If you have just the right timing, you can start the headshot meter by hitting control while out of cover. The headshot meter will flash about halfway up the green zone - shooting a target that is out of cover will instantly kill them if you manage to pull it off.
The problem is that enemies are usually only out of cover if they plan on shooting, and getting hit at all will cause the headshot meter to drop back to zero. The game does tell you that you can change the difficulty of the shooting segments - I recommend putting it on the absolute lowest difficulty. There are achievements for doing all of the shooting segments without getting hit, which is something for pure masochists. I won’t be doing those in this LP because fuck that noise.
Once we’re done with the shooting tutorial (where we must get two headshots, one on a moving target), the director has enough and lets Delta Six go back to his imprisonment.
: “Good. Now, I suppose you don’t remember why you are here anymore…” : “This is a training facility where you are taught to become proper citizens again.” : “As long as you follow orders, you will be out of this facility and back on the road to a normal life.” : “These tickets are usually good for three meals.” : “You can redeem them at the mess hall by inserting them into a dispenser.” : “Go ahead and take it. Your food and well-being is up to you to take care of.” : “Oh, and Delta-Six – please don’t try to escape again.” : “Erasing your memory is just as painful for you as it is for us.” : “We have a tight schedule and we’re on time limitations to get you and all of your friends rehabilitated.” : “For all of our sakes, I hope I don’t have to repeat myself again. Do I make myself clear?” : “Yes.” : “Good, Delta-Six. Now, please exit the testing chamber.”
At this point, we go back through that scanner. It sees we don’t have the gun, and lets us out back into the hallway. Center 7 is kind of a maze, but we can take the western door to advance the plot.
Waiting for us on the other side of the door is..
Delta Six just kind of does it without questioning it.
: “Do you know who I am?”
We’re given the option of either saying Yes or No. It doesn’t matter which one you pick.
: “… No.” : “Good. You have something on your sleeve that belongs to me.” : “Good seeing, you, Charlie.” : “…Charlie?”
This was the only item Delta Six had in his inventory. There’s no real reason to look at it, since all he’d notice is that it had scribbles on it. The woman walks off so fast that Delta Six doesn’t even have time to respond. She went to the west, so let’s follow her.
: “Who is that? You there, on Level 5.” : “Oh, Delta-Six… It’s me, the director, once again.” : “If you could be so kind as to figure out why the elevators have stopped working on that level, that would be great.” : “Could you do that for me? Please?”
You may have already noticed, but the power cable in the top-right corner of the screen got disconnected when the elevator broke. You may also notice the conspicuous blue crate near the left elevator door. You know what time it is? Time for a crate pushing puzzle!
Crate usage is mercifully short-lived in Gemini Rue. You move them by using the hand icon on them, and then hitting A or D to move them left or right. Delta Six moves them extremely fast: going from one side of the screen to the other took me maybe two seconds. You can also climb on top of them with W.
Fixing the elevator allows us to move freely through Center 7.
This is the elevator floor list. We can’t go down to maintenance right now, and the gym is also closed. We do have that meal ticket, so let’s go and use that.
Or not. In the style of every bad early access survival game, Delta Six gets promptly ganked for his ticket.
The two goons run off with Delta Six’s ticket, leaving us to go to the mess hall empty handed. Too bad we didn’t bring that gun.
There’s a woman sitting by herself at the end of the room, near the dispensers. I wonder if she’s got anything to say?
: “Did you find out where we are? The map?” : “…What?” : “You don’t remember… do you?” : “I… I don’t know…” : “… My name is Epsilon-Five.” : “…Your name is Charlie.” : “Why do you call me that?” : “You chose that name.” : “I’ve called you that since you first saved me.” : “You told me you were planning to have your memory erased again. They do that when you try to escape.” : “What?” : “You said it was to complete a map. To find out where we are.” : “Why?” : “Because… we have to get out of here… before the director…” : “I know you don’t remember anything… but … you have to trust me.” : “You took care of me when I got here, and now it’s my turn to take care of you.” : “I don’t… sorry…” : “Here… have the rest of my food.” : “I’ll meet you tomorrow at my testing chamber. We… we usually walk back together.” : “…okay?” : “Okay.”
Epsilon Five walks off, leaving Delta Six alone again. If we try to follow her…
I’ll cut out the elevator ride to the 2nd floor, where Delta Six’s room is. Delta Six has to use a retinal scanner to get into his cell block.
Home, sweet home.
Uh-oh. That doesn’t sound good at all. Has Delta Six only really been here for just under two weeks? Seems like a really short time to teach someone how to use a gun - speaking of which, why ARE they training the prisoners on how to use guns? Without any input, Delta Six automatically goes to bed.
We don’t get a fade to black before the screen transitions right into the next scene.
And there’s the ominous autosaving message. Next time, we’ll witness Azriel’s shooting skills and try to help Matthius get off the planet.