Hack 20. Add a Twist to Your Shields

To activate your shield recharge, you must melee your enemies.

To find the interesting Black Eye skull, play the Great Journey level on Legendary difficulty. The mission objective to watch for is entitled "Enter the Control Room, and deal with Tartarus" it's the final checkpoint in the game. When this Skull is active, your shield will not charge normally. To charge your shields you must melee an enemy. If you melee enough targets, you can charge your shields into the overcharge range. You will know that the skull is active when you see the notification text "Black Eye."

In some situations, this skull is reasonably manageable to use. However, in other cases, it's extremely difficult to recharge your shields. For example, on The Great Journey level, a large number of your opponents are Brutes. Unless you're using active camouflage (AC), it's tough to melee a Brute and survive the experience.

To find the skull, play The Great Journey level. Eventually, you have to escort Sgt. Johnson, who is in a Scarab. Follow him until you see a huge compound in front of you (see Figure 2-50). This structure houses the control room. At this point, you can let the Scarab worry about the Wraiths; focus your attention on the Banshees.

Figure 2-50. Approaching the Control Room

This is also the point where Sgt. Johnson will use the Scarab to destroy the main door. Directly above the demolished door, there is a long angled beam. Land your Banshee on this beam and walk to the top (see Figure 2-51). Once at the apex, look down and to your left; you will see a circular angled wall. Jump onto this wall and walk as high as possible. You can follow along the right side of this area.

Figure 2-51. A great view of Johnson's door opener

Next, you need to jump over a small beam in front of you (see Figure 2-52). Continue walking straight until you come to a grassy area. Once there, walk up the grassy hill until you can jump onto the angled support for the tower.

Figure 2-52. On the path to the Black Eye skull

Jump onto the support and walk up as far as you can (see Figure 2-53). It's a steep climb, so you may want to speed things up by jumping while you walk. At the first landing, you will see the Black Eye skull. It will be resting on a glowing white panel in the floor. Activate this skull and let the clubbing commence (see Figure 2-54).

Figure 2-53. You must climb this support beam

Figure 2-54. The view from the Black Eye spawn spot