Hidden & Dangerous 2 speedrun in 1 hour 19 minutes is now outHidden and Dangerous 2 is a highly random WWII tactical shooter for PCs. Here's the
Wikipedia page. The run is Hard mode (which only allows 3 saves / mission) and Lone wolf (which obviously means that instead of the usual SAS commando of 4, I only get to take one soldier into each mission).
The sample images of the video are
here. Click on top of the image if your browser shrinks it. As you can see, if you want to be able to see all detail and text, you'll need to download at least High quality. That will also help you make out what's going on in those night missions. There's a lot of sniping at night -- HQ+ helps here as well.
The game page is here, and the
download page is this way.
In case someone is looking for a specific campaign or mission, here is how I've broken down the run:
Part 1 - Campaign 1: 4 missions
Part 2 - Campaign 2: 6 missions
Part 3 - Campaign 3-6: 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 7 missions
Part 4 - Campaign 7: 6 missions
Here is some generic information about the run, as well as details of four example missions from each of the four parts of the video. To get the most out of watching the run, I've also provided some basic hints towards the end of this post for those who are new to Hidden and Dangerous 2.
I recommend that you watch the run first, and then read on. Some of the explanation below would just spoil a number of surprises.
General infoFirst, about game choice. Hidden and Dangerous 1 is just as fun as 2, but has rather outdated graphics and AI. Furthermore, it would have been WAY longer. I went with Hard mode because I rarely needed more than three saves per mission (though when I did, you wouldn't want to know the number of retakes
). Lone wolf is ideal for speedruns: if there were more soldiers in the team than disguises available, progress would just slow down. In most missions, there is at least one enemy disguise, or it's inherited from the previous mission.
I used the very first public version of the game, v1.1.0. This lets me use the medikit while doing other things at the same time. This way I can constantly heal myself while the enemy is shooting at me. In later versions of the game, using the medikit interrupts whatever you're doing, and you have to wait for a 3-4 second progress bar. This would have made it impossible to run through busy battlefields.
I chose James 'Angel' Saunby as my character because after some tests, it turned out that he's the best runner. With the given amount of load, he can sprint the longest. He's a poor medic but by the end I improved him quite a bit.
There are obvious strategies in speedruns: finding the fastest route, skipping unnecessary action etc. In addition, the HD2 specific strategies are to use a disguise where possible, and to make creative use of vehicles and weapons. Grenades are great at eliminating enemies in hard-to-reach places. Going into the missions with the minimum amount of load is also important. (The lighter the load, the longer you can sprint.) This requires planning well ahead: I tried to pick up just the minimum amount of ammo. Weapon choice is limited in the sense that you only want to carry as few as possible, and then only the ones you can pick up on your fast route.
Here are a few missions that may require some explanation. As I said, spoilers abound -- to get the best out of the run, watch the videos first.
Campaign 1 Mission 1 - Operation Snowball, First Strike (Norway)After skipping the Training Camp, the first mission offers two routes to enter the enemy compound. In both cases, I have to follow a guide as I approach it, so there's a short scripted sequence that cannot be skipped. (If you run ahead of the guide, he waits for you to come back. If you don't, a crucial mission goal is not fulfilled and you can't finish the mission.) Shooting starts at around 4 minutes into the video.
I used the "back door" route with the wire cutter. This route takes roughly the same time as the frontal attack, but I don't have to kill as many enemies. What's more, I end up at the favourable end of the camp: I just have to go through the enemy base and do what has to be done in this "kill them all" mission. The other route would require going through the camp twice.
I let the dog wound me a couple of times (and not just in this mission) because the more James heals himself, the better medic he becomes -- this skill is indispensable in later, more heated missions.
Campaign 2 Mission 4 - Operation Nomad, Caravan (North-Africa)This mission is especially fun for a number of reasons. First, there's a 2-minute waiting time before the enemy arrives, and with the amount of weapons and ammo lying around, one can prepare for the battle very well. Second, even as Lone Wolf, you get a companion, in the form of German doctor Michael Axmann (who borrowed his name from one of the game designers!
). He takes orders and is apparently indestructible -- I suppose the enemy doesn't shoot back at him since he's German. If he weren't in this mission, I myself would have to go to the distant corner of the map to kill the necessary number of soldiers.
The order of events is as follows:
- I set aside the necessary weapon and plenty of ammo for Michael in the previous mission
- I take three bazookas and a sniper rifle up the tower. Why three weapons, why not just one with three rockets? The game only allows you to put bazooka rockets into your *backpack*, which I don't have. (I could grab a backpack before the first mission, but that being a British item would blow my disguise. I couldn't find a German backpack in this campaign. But no problem since there's plenty of time to go up the tower twice.)
- Michael gets his weapon and is ordered to move to the big crack in the wall. This is where the enemy would be pouring in. He's given a "fire at will" order.
- now the enemy vehicles are approaching. It's important that I shoot the tank before Michael sees and shoots at the enemy. If Michael fires a single round first, the tank would turn its turret toward the oasis, making it impossible for me to hit the back of its turret -- the only vulnerable spot of the tank! -- with the rocket. I gotta tell you at this point that sniping with the bazooka is great fun
- I then order Michael to advance toward the far corner of the map, killing Nazis along the way. That's where they are coming from.
- the truck is blown up as well
- now to mop up all soldiers that I can see in the dark
- finally, when the armoured truck arrives, snipe it with the third bazooka.
- the doctor finishes the remaining soldiers with his MP40 unhindered
This mission, when played with speed in mind, has one unfavourable aspect. Since Michael shoots most of the enemy, I only get to kill a handful. I simply can't see the rest of them because by that time the doctor has finished the ones that would be close enough for sniper shots. The rest of them are still far away. The game, as usual, was not planned with speedrunners in mind
I still fired a few rounds into the dark at what seemed to be soldiers, hoping that I could at least wound some of them for an easier kill for Herr Axmann.
Campaign 4 Mission 1 -2: Operation Stranger, Anthill / Mountain King (Burma)Not many HD2 players know that there is a surrender monkey among the Japanese soldiers. Great opportunity to get a disguise which will be extremely useful in the second mission. The first mission features the shortest segment in the whole run: just 6 or 7 seconds. It's very difficult to get that disguise.
Another lesser known fact is that in the second mission, you don't actually have to kill everyone in the two bunkers like the mission objectives say. It's enough to finish the important-looking commanders in the top brass gear in each bunker.
(Otherwise, way to go for the enemy AI: they easily mistook a British guy in a Jap uniform for one of their own
)
Campaign 7 Mission 4-5: Operation Liberator, Annual Fair / Gin send off (Czechoslovakia)This is the largest map in the game, daytime at first, nighttime in the second mission.
With no vehicle in this spacious map, it's important to plan the shortest route. Travelling salesman problem anyone?
The distribution of soldiers at the start necessitates that I don't miss shots. If I do, I would have to reload just for one shot which would be very inefficient. There are three hard-to-reach places, great opportunities for some grenade action.
With several vehicles, three explosions, and two mass grenade kills, the second mission is great fun, especially the last part. Virtual brownie points for anyone who can correctly guess how many soldiers my nade killed at the end
Hardest segmentsIn addition to the final shot in the run, these segments required the most retakes:
Campaign 2 Mission 1: Operation Nomad, Spaghetti Airport (North Africa)The first segment in this mission is tediously hard to get right and took at least a full day. For one, the map is flawed in that sometimes the flight book, which is a mission objective, is nowhere to be found (at least in version 1.1.0 of the game). I go to the far end of the airport for the book first (roughly a 1 in 10 chance that it's there) and get a disguise (which is also risky; the enemy usually kills you or dies far too easily) -- all in one segment.
Shooting at the incoming reinforcements with the MG42 got its dedicated segment since killing all those distant soldiers without having to reload takes quite a bit of luck. There are only 75 bullets. That's why I dedicated two saves to before and after the MG action, leaving so much to the first segment.
Campaign 7 Mission 3: Operation Liberator, Business (Chechoslovakia)With each additional task in a segment, the risk of getting shot and blowing the take gets higher. With this many soldiers in a map, and a blind truck kill with a nade, I had to at least get to the house in the first segment. This took a huge number of retakes because once you blow your disguise in the spot I did, lots of soldiers start shooting at you while you're out in the open. In the meantime, you have to pick up a nade and some ammo. You might as well wear a T-shirt with a crosshair on it...
The necessity to pick up ammo comes from the previous two missions where I had to go in as light as possible. This was so I could sprint through both maps.
Brush up on your HD2 knowledgeThe three bars near Saunby's image at the bottom are:
- the leftmost is the health bar
- stamina bar. If this runs out, you can't sprint until it recharges back again.
- disguise-o-meter (only when wearing a disguise). This recharges slowly when you're alone, but the more enemy soldiers are watching you, the faster it decreases. If you do anything suspicious like shoot, pick a lock, plant bombs, visibly wear Allied gear etc. this goes back to zero.
Disguises carry over to the next mission in the same campaign, except in Normandy but I don't use disguises there. You can only get a disguise if a soldier surrenders and you don't kill him. Surrender monkeys are sometimes random, other times they are at fixed locations.
That's all I had in mind for now. If you've got questions, ask away.
My own request regarding this run: if you think I missed a shortcut, or if there's a way to speed up this run significantly in any way, please share your insight -- I'd like to learn from you.
If you liked this video, why not check out my
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic ("KotOR") speedrun, if you haven't watched it yet.
If you've played or are interested in Star Wars X-Wing Alliance, see you in the
XWA Speedrun discussion.
If you've played the HD2 Sabre Squadron add-on, would you please let me know?
Cheers,
Thinkshooter
