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Chapter 3: No Mercy.
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Things start to hit harder in this chapter. You're going back to the City and
you'll find things have changed there. Division Soldiers have now entirely
replaced the Police foot patrols and they will appear both on the streets and
on rooftops, often in teams. Abrams and Bradley tanks are on the streets too,
often posted at major intersections. The response team that comes out if you
get the meter high enough now includes Hulkbuster Infantry units, though it's
still just Comanches if you're in the Badlands. The general number of vehicles
and pedestrians on the City streets is unchanged, but you should be noticing a
heavier undercurrent of fear. Get ready to face it- the missions in this
chapter will test your combat and movement abilities harder than anything thus
far.

As before, the mission opens with a text recap of the story. Read it over to
pick up a few details the cutscenes so far have left out. It seems the
psychosis Blonsky has been experiencing since his gamma infection is getting
worse, and so is Bruce Banner's inner battle with the Devil Hulk. The Division
has also deeply infiltrated the City, and you're running out of time to finish
your machine. Finally you will learn the identity of that woman we've seen near
Blonsky in a couple cutscenes. Her name is Mercy and she's a powerful gamma
mutant allied with the Division. After you're done absorbing all this, head
into the Church and read over the new Blonsky Files. You'll find more
information on Mercy's capabilities- apparently she is a powerful psionic with
skills in telekinesis and teleportation. A tracking device is implanted in her
body, and while Blonsky worries about her loyalty he still finds her a capable
bodyguard. Another new file has design specs on a new type of Hulkbuster called
the Combat Warden. These things are called "unassailable," and it looks like
they have good reason to be. Their armaments are heavier than the basic
Infantry unit's, their armor and flight/charge power capacity are upgraded, and
their interfaces are quicker to respond to pilot commands. Wonder if Hulk will
soon be fighting these things. :)

Now for the new moves on the Buy Menu. Some real gems have just become
available. As before, you want to get all you can and practice them. First on
the list of new moves to grab here is Air Enemy Grapple. With this you can grab
flying foes while you're in the air- which can be handy to immobilize and smash
up Hulkbusters. Next up is Cyclone Skyjack. This move allows you to down any
aircraft instantly just by grabbing onto it- very useful. If pesky Comanches
have been giving you trouble, this move can be a lifesaver. Remember that
targeting aircraft and then moving towards them with a jumping Air Strike is a
great way to get close enough to set this move up.

As for the other moves, Spear Impale is another great Club Move and Dashing
Uppercut is another great Air Combo starter. You can easily knock Hulkbusters
and light tanks into the air with Dashing Uppercut, so get and master it.
Shield Grind offers you a new and very fun way to travel- you can turn your
Shield into a ground surfboard and move quickly across tough terrain. Your
momentum is increased greatly when Grinding- objects you run into will take far
more damage than from your ordinary charge. You can even crash into and wreck
tanks! Just be careful not to hit a building or take too much damage, you can
fall off your board. Get the Shield Grind Kick upgrade as soon as possible
after purchasing Shield Grind- this move will allow you to quickly exit your
board and damage enemy ground formations in the process. Bowling is another
great way to damage enemy formations- this move allows you to weaponize any
large round object into a giant ball you can roll to damage enemies in a line.
Objects useable with this weaponization include the gas station ball and
hamburger signs in the City and the big round boulders in the Badlands. Gamma
Quake is a great way to seriously damage any Hulkbuster you've grappled, and
Floor Kick can damage prone enemies- use it in combos to pummel Hulkbusters
you've knocked down before they get back up to fight you again. Elbow Drop is
by far the most powerful move available to you outside of Critical Mass- it can
be hard to set up since you must run up a high wall first but it can really do
some damage to bunched-up enemies. The more height, the harder it hits. Get
Hitchhike if you want to be able to grab large foes like Destroyers and pound
on them- it's not going to be useful any time soon but it might be later. :)

More important than all these moves, though, are the newly available upgrades
for your existing moves. Dashing Groundslam will allow you to devastate enemy
ground units while moving quickly- a good move to take out emplaced tanks and
far more powerful than Sonic Clap. Against aircraft, you'll want the Super Air
Strike so your air combos inflict more damage and the Super Air Dash so when
Air Dashing you can travel farther at greater speed. Shockwave Smash Repeater
is expensive, but will be extremely useful against tanks and non-flying
Hulkbusters. Think of it as the Rapid Punch Burst of special attacks. Critical
Mass Surge Level 1 should be purchased as soon as you have the points- even if
you haven't been using Critical Mass moves that often this upgrade will extend
your life bar and the level at which your attacks do the most damage. Perhaps
the coolest upgrade of all is Missile Catch- this move lets you grab an enemy
missile out of the sky for use as a weapon. You can then throw the missile at
anything you want, and charging your attack makes it a homing missile. If
you've been looking for a fun surefire way to down those evasive Comanches,
this is it. It also works well against Hulkbuster Infantry. Just remember to
practice it as much as possible so you get the timing down.

When you're ready, save your game and then head into the City for your next new
mission.