Gears of War/Act One: Ashes

14 Years After E-Day
"Time off for good behavior"

Exit The Cell Area
You, Marcus Fenix awaken in your prison cell at the sound of your friend Dominic Santiago, Dom for short, breaking you out of your cell. It's just in time, for the prison is being over run by the Locust Horde.

Dom will give you two choices of paths. A training path for those new to the game or a combat path to get right into the fighting. Take the path that is best for you.

Right Path: Training Path
If you take this path, Dom will show you the ropes of how to play Gears of War. This path is recommended for all new to the game.

Head Towards the Guards' Quarters
Follow Dom up the staircases on your right. This will take you to the Guards' Quarters. You will also find some ammo behind the couch in this room.

Use The Button to Open The Security Door
In the room is the Guards' desk, and sitting on the desk is a big glowing button. Hit the button with the to hit the switch and open the door ahead of you.

Shoot The Two Breakers To Unlock The Doors
Outside the Guards' Quarters is another door that needs to be triggered remotely to open it. Shoot the two red circuit breakers in this area to open the doorway. Use your to aim your focus and make this easier, instead of blind firing. Once the door is unlocked use the to bust it open to pass through it.

Get to the Prison Blocks
This next vacant room with the large stone blocks is a room to be able to test the art of cover using.

Once you are confident in the use of cover, work your way through the next few rooms. You'll eventually reach an open air bridge with a Locust Drone opposite you. Take cover and take him out which ever way you see fit.

After the Drone is defeated you reach a small control room with a button to open the next door ahead of you. Here you will need to use the Roadie Run to get across the bridge after you activate the button to open the door.

Once inside the other section of the prison, you will find a room full of Frag Grenades. Collect them because around the corner you'll need them.

Once you round the corner, you'll get attacked by a pair of Drones from the ground. You have the high ground, so take cover behind a pillar and use the to aim the throwing of your newly found Frag Grenades to clear the Drones out.

Left Path: Combat Path
Take this path if you've played the game before, or are just the type who learns how to play along the way and never reads the manual.

Open the Jammed Door
After you get to the main room with Dom there is a door stuck on the left side of the room. Use the to kick it open.

Get To the Prison Blocks
In the next area the guard tower topples as you are attacked by Locust Drones. Two come ahead of you while two attack from a neighboring bridge way to your right. Dom radios for air support to take care of those on the right, so sit tight until they are gone. Once they are clear focus on any remaining Drones to continue.

Grab the Frag Grenades at the end of the path here, and continue on to the Prison Blocks. Once inside the main room you will have three Drones to contend with. One takes cover in a room across from where you enter, toss a Grenade into his room to make short work of him. Then clear out the remaining two Drones who are hiding behind cover to your right.

Welding Door
Once you are at the door to exit the Prison Blocks the doorway begins to make some noise as the Locust start to bust through it. It seems strong enough to hold them back for a bit, so you better load up on the ammo in the room and take cover before they enter.

Once the Drones enter the room, Dom will get killed. Run over to revive him using the, this is part of the training for the game.

With Dom by your side, clear out the new visitors from cover.

Proceed To Yard For Extraction
Once outside another wave of Drones start attacking you from the end of the yard. Stay in cover and take them out one by one, or flank them from the left side where there is a raised platform.

Board the King Raven Helicopter
Once they are cleared, the King Raven copter lands. Walk past the newly cleared path to the helicopter to get inside of it. The helicopter takes off just in time before a Corpser breaks out of the ground to eat you and Dom.

Trial By Fire
"Begin the mission to find Alpha Squad"

Search For Alpha Squad
After you land to meet up with Colonel Hoffman you are attacked by a few Drones who descend the far staircases. You also join up into the squad led by Minh Young Kim and also gained a new squad mate Carmine.

Your squad will clear these approaching Drones out with little work being required of you. But feel free to help out to make it faster.

Continue up the staircase and into the building. Past the entrance you will run into three Drones in a courtyard. Rush to the left side wall for cover. This will give you a good vantage point on them before they can get cover.

Past the courtyard is another long set of staircases. Pickup the Frag Grenades and ammo found here before heading up the staircase.

At the top of the stairs an Emergence Hole opens that starts to pour out a bunch of Drones. Flank to the left side, and work your way back behind the enemy lines to toss a Frag Grenade into the Emergence Hole to close it up. Once it's closed kill off any remaining Drones and regroup with the rest of the squad.

The path bends to your left past the Emergence Hole, you can either take the ground path with the rest of the squad or take the edge of the building which is higher ground. There are another three Drones here to clear out.

Grab any ammo you can find and then continue across the bridge with the rest of the squad. Kim will discover what he think is the remains of Alpha Squad and will radio it in to Anya.

Check the Bodies near the Emergence Holes
Kim will open the door with his codes, but as soon as you enter the room the floor begins to shake. An Emergence Hole opens to your left, take cover and clear it out with any Frag Grenades you have left. Clear out any Drones that made it out and grab the ammo and Frag Grenades found in the far right corner of the room.

Once you reach the back of the room, yet another Emergence Hole opens. This one is much closer, so if you have a Frag Grenade in hand it may be pretty simple to close this one up without any Drones getting out. If not, take them out and continue on outside to the street.

Fish in a Barrel
"Taking heat in Embry Square" You and the squad discover the remains of what could be Alpha Squad, but it's too minimal to tell. The resonator isn't here either, so Delta squad continues their search for Alpha Squad.

Take Out The Trokia Gun Emplacement
As this chapter starts out, you are under fire from a Troika being fired by a Drone Gunner. Toss a Frag Grenade towards the Gunner and his Spotter. If you are out of grenades, use your Lancer and take out the Drone Spotter first to make taking out the Drone Gunner easier. You may also choose to flank the Troika by taking the far path to the right, past the remains.

Continue To Search For Alpha Squad
As you continue down the street, the squad is confronted by another three Drones. Use cover and take them out one at a time. You can also use the Troika gun if you want to save on ammo.

Once to the large dry water fountain, you and the squad will be trapped in place amongst opening Emergence Holes. A total of four Emergence Holes will open around the fountain area here. Let your squad mates focus on clearing out the Drones while you focus on closing the Emergence Holes.

Fork in the Road
"Delta Squad divides and conquers in Embry"

Continue To Search For Alpha Squad
You and Carmine split off from the rest of the team.

Left Path
Work through the hallway on the left until you reach a stairwell with three Drones holding up at the top. Lure them down so you and Carmine can take them out one-on-one or just shoot them out of cover.

At the top of the stairway is a room with a Drone Gunner outside of it. If your squad mates did their job, they distracted it so you can kill the Drone Gunner with ease.

Continue through the bathrooms now with ease and regroup with the squad.

Right Path
Fight the pair of Drones you find at the top of the stairs here. Then distract the Drone Gunner in the Troika to aid the rest of the team. If the rest of the squad doesn't take out the Drone Gunner do it yourself with a Frag Grenade or careful shots with the Lancer.

Open the door behind the Troika and regroup with the rest of the squad.

Recombined Squad
Once regrouped there is a large room with a Troika on the left. Take it out by going up the right side and eliminating the Drone Spotter in the building. Use his spot to take out the Troika Gunner with ease. Once this room clears out, an Emergence Hole opens from the other side where you came from.

Grab the grenades in the Spotter's room and then run down to close the hole and clear out all remaining Drones.

Once the area is clear another Drone busts down the door the House of Sovereigns, take him out and continue on inside.

Knock Knock
"Infiltrate the House of Sovereigns"

Gain Entrance to the House of Sovereigns
Here you want to flank to the right and take out the Grenadier and get into the hallway. Take the Frag Grenades he drops, you'll need them. Work your way around to take out the Troika Drone Gunner, close the Emergence Hole on your way with your new found Frag Grenades.

Once those waves are clear, a Locust Sniper takes out Carmine. Swarms of enemies approach from the rear where an Emergence Hole has opened. Take them out with the Troika and then continue inside to finish off the Locust inside the House of Sovereigns entryway. Once inside and clear, Kim will open the door with his code.

Hammer
"Drop the Hammer on the House of Sovereigns."

Save The Alpha Squad Soldier
Once inside the House of Sovereigns, you will hear some survivors of Alpha Squad having a good time fighting off the Locust. As you approach you notice it's a lone squad member of Alpha Squad and he needs help. Ward off the Locust to save him, his name is Augustus Cole. He tells you of the radio transmissions being jammed by the Seeders and the rest of his squad is off safe in Tomb of the Unknowns.

Destroy All Seeders
You reach a door you need Jack to open, so he de-cloaks and begins his work. While he works the squad is attacked by a large group of Wretches, they come from both sides so be sure to find a safe yet open spot.

After you progress you will find the new weapon, The Hammer of Dawn, this weapon will be used against the Seeders. As you walk outside, you will find your first seeder. Focus and hold the Hammer's beam on the Seeder to toast it. Then feel free to use the beam on the remaining Locust.

As you progress back into the house, you will find another Seeder to take care of. Let your squad exterminate the Locust while you finish off the Seeder with The Hammer of Dawn. If you dropped it since the last Seeder battle, there is another to be found in the room.

After that Seeder is eliminated you can call up Anya to let her know your status on attempting to reach the rest of Alpha Squad. The communication is not great yet, which means a Seeder is still in the area.

Continue onward and clear out the Drones and Wretches here in the Sanctuary. To make short work of them take cover along one of the side pillars and take them out as they come down the stairwell on either side.

Wrath
"A bloody reunion with Alpha Squad."

Search For Alpha Squad
Clear through the Sanctuary here and reach the third and final Seeder. Take it out so you can get in touch with Anya and Alpha Squad. You find out that Alpha Squad is okay, but currently pinned down by Troika's on the rooftop of the House of Sovereigns.

As you come to the end of the hallway, on the left will be another Troika mounted at the end of the hallway. Roadie Run out into the hallway and into the doorway on the left. Follow this around, take care of some Wretches, and come up behind the Drone Gunner and do with him as you please.

Continue on and clear out a room full of Locust. Also there is lots of ammo to be picked up in this room once it is clear, so I'd do that. You can now continue on to the rooftop to help out Alpha Squad.

Secure the Landing Zone For Evacuation
Take out the Drone Gunners here and get into their Troika's to clear out all the Locust on the ground outside of the Tombs. Once you do this, you can signal ahead to clear out Alpha Squad.

China Shop
"Berserker bait"

After a cutscene in which Kim dies, there will be another one. Welcome to your first boss battle. The locust have set a berserker loose in the building, a creature intent on destroying everything in its path, it can't see, so it hunts by smell and hearing. In the cutscene, one of the generic "Carmine" soldiers will try to make a run for it; it doesn't end pretty.

Your first stop should be going over to where the soldier was ripped to shreds, among some small fires, you'll find a set of COG tags. After that, pick up the hammer of dawn near the entrance and get ready to do some dodging, because you need to lead the berserker outside in order to kill it.

After a wee bit of walking on foot, the berserker will crash through the wall in front of you, sneak by it and go to the right... to find a dead end. What you need to do here is get the berserker to charge the door, so get its attention by revving the chainsaw bayonet, then at the last moment, dive out of the way.

You'll need to do this three times, each with slightly smaller rooms. On the last one in a window to the left of the door, pick up another COG tag. Finally, when you get outside, its time to lay down the hammer.

Immediately run to your left to the fourth planter, behind it, you'll find the final COG tag of this level. Afterwards, using Dom as bait, drop the hammer on the berserker, be careful, because it will charge once it hears the beeping. Three shots with the hammer will kill it, but if you hammer it once, then run up and grenade tag it while its stunned, then this will also kill it faster and easier.