Marine Nightmare Helpful Tips & Links

[TheBlaskar]

I've been sitting on this game for quite some time, not all too eager to give nightmare a shot as I'd heard it was ridiculously hard. It's truthfully not that bad (aside from the second mission for me, anyways). I did every mission in 1 or 2 tries aside from the Mission 2 which took like 3.5 hours of failing at different intervals. What I recommend doing is following the YouTube guide while on Hard mode, and if that guide fails you and you die, consult the other links in this post in order to find a better way of tackling a section. Once you make it through the mission on Hard, boot up Nightmare with your newfound successful strats for a fairly fluid victory. I've also aggregated the tips down below in my own little section (which I recommend reading prior to starting a level)

 

Most of the walkthroughs, guides, and forums say this game is "HaRdEr ThAn WoRlD aT wAr" and then I remember, "oh yeah, this was before the Souls era really began" so that's all they had to compare it to. Again, it's not as bad as it may have seemed in 2010. We've evolved (right?). Anyways, here go:

 

Link 1: YouTube Playlist with helpful commentary

 

 

Link 2 (very important guide, read the comments as well): https://www.trueachievements.com/a61657/i-love-the-corps-achievement

Link 3 (decent overview guide, I didn't need it much but it could come in handy): https://www.playstationtrophies.org/forum/topic/56466-nightmare-marine-tips-and-tricks/

Link 4 (final mission tips): https://www.playstationtrophies.org/forum/topic/271377-marine-campaign-tips-for-pyramid-mission-on-nightmare-difficulty/

 

Supplemental Tips from me:

 

• Mission 1: This one's all about blocking, countering, and firing a ton once you stagger the xenos. You don't have the benefit of one-shot weapons such as the shotty/snipe combo that's going to get you through most of the game. So, it's more challenging than some of the others due to your lack of equipment but it's not bad once you get the hang of the melee. This is also great practice for how to get used to the melee, which you'll need throughout the game. Playing on Easy first will show you when to use L1+R1 to block, or R1 to melee, and the difference between the two is sometimes life and death. So, now's a good chance to get the feel for it all. This will come in handy in Mission 2 when we're saving our shotgun shells for the end. Here's how melee works for all classes:
  • R1: Light attack, can interrupt an enemy's heavy attack
  • L1: Heavy attack, can interrupt an enemy's block
  • R1+L1: Block, can defend against enemy light attacks
• On Mission 2, the YouTube guide says to run straight for the lever at the end of the mission in order to beat the level. DO NOT DO THIS. I died to a heavy attack (or an enemy grab, maybe) from behind while in the animation for pulling the lever. What I very seriously recommend is to save your shotgun for the end. You're going to be tempted to use it throughout the level, but the more shots you save yourself for the finale, the better off you'll be. You're going to have to completely clear the room from xeno's before pulling that final lever, or else you risk dying at the last possible second
• Mission 3: You can speedrun the fuuuuck out of this. Seriously. My mission time was 7 minutes on Nightmare, just run past EVERYTHING. Practice on Hard. Succeed on Nightmare. I didn't kill a thing aside from a facehugger egg before you do something to a terminal of sorts, and the xeno at the beginning where you can pick up the sniper you surely won't use. Oh, and one android towards the end right before you open the final door. The other androids at the end can be sprinted past by taking the Right path around the forklift or whatever. Maybe practice first but this one's cake
• Mission 4: Speedrun the very beginning until you get to the door to override it. Snipe any xenos you see. Melee/snipe combo the ones that get close. The rest of this mission needs to be taken SLOWLY. A stark contrast to mission 3. You have to kill everything here. The Predator fight is simple. Stay behind cover. Snipe at range. Shotgun when close with L2 for double-barrel shenanigans. Again, take everything after this as slow as you possibly can. If you speedrun, you'll get ganged up on by a dozen xenos at once. 
• Mission 5: Again, slow and steady wins the race here. The YT playlist comes in clutch except for the end fight against Mamma Bear. Use the comment on the True Achievement site to jump over the railing and sprint to the elevator. The Praetorian will stay up near where you spawned in from the cutscene, the small xenos won't get you, and the Praetorian will only be able to launch acid at you. These are easily dodgeable, but do a helluva lot o' damage. The hardest part of the level is the androids, as they're not easily taken down. Keep your distance at all costs from these guys (unless the cost is death, don't do that)
• Mission 6: The tips on the PlayStationTrophies link (for Pyramid mission) will get you through the start of the game. The tips in the YouTube link will get you through the rest
  • In my own words, here's how you do the beginning. Run to the turret to turn it on, pick up the smart gun forward and to the left. Run back to the start of the mission in front of the elevators. Kill any xenos that make their way to you, they'll have to funnel into the large hallway so they're bottlenecked into your line of sight (no flanking to worry about). When the 2 Praetorians spawn, turn around to look at the elevators. Enter the one on the right. Walk towards the wall. Walk to the left so that you're standing in the corner of the elevator, in the middle of the room. The turret should take out the two final aliens on its own. Should that fail, they'll only be able to launch acid at you, and you'll be able to finish them off with any gun you wish. Until they walk past the turret (which is unlikely, they'll most likely die), you're invisible to them. If they do get past the turret, they're low health and at a distance. Easy peasy

 

To make you even more comfortable, do the collectibles on easy first. Get to know the levels, it couldn't hurt. Follow these guides and you'll have the marine campaign done in a weekend, at most. hmu on psn for any q's! more than happy to clear things up

Edited February 7 by TheBlaskar
typos & additional tips