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Vidmaster Challenge: Deja Vu Walkthrough by Declan Clarke and the Spartan I Project


Vidmaster Challenge: Déjà Vu

Composed by Declan Clarke and Kayla Tess Batteiger

A Spartan I Project Walkthrough

Ready to tear up the highway? We are...

HBO and the Spartan I Project have joined forces again to provide you with another exciting achievement walkthrough. This time we're cracking another Vidmaster Challenge. It's called "Déjà Vu". To get this achievement, you'll need to boot up your copy of Halo 3: ODST and set up the following:

  • 4 player co-op over Xbox Live.

  • Coastal Highway on Legendary.

  • Iron skull switched on.

  • You cannot use the Warthogs or Scorpion.

Look familiar? Well it is! It's the exact same format as our little Annual achievement. And guess what? That's right, the "SIP Highwaymen" (dedicated Déjà Vu team) have broken this achievement down to just 30 minutes! The final steps on your Road to Recon start right here. So if you're ready to rip it up down the highway, obliterating everything on sight, fire up H3: ODST and let's get to it! We've got you covered with an in-depth write up and some top quality HD vids. Enjoy!

**Laying the Law**

When your game loads up, you'll be hitting the streets on foot. You gotta get to the highway and escape the city. But that isn't going to come easy. You'll encounter a Covenant patrol nearby and will need to take it out before proceeding. It's not too tough though, so don't worry. When you approach the controlled area you'll be able to slip underneath one of the buildings to the left. There are some health packs and some AR / Shotty ammo. Not only that, but there is a stairwell that leads onto an upper balcony and a sniper rifle. Have a decent sharpshooter go up onto the balcony and take out the grunts on the tower only! The remaining players should push up along the covered section to the far left as there is another ammo case ahead and this one has some Rockets at it. Work together and kill off the brutes and straggling grunts while keeping out of enemy fire as best as you can. Remember, with Iron activated, one person's death means the team re-spawns at the last checkpoint!

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**Burnin' Rubber**

Ok so you've made it to the highway. N.B: Back away from the Hog!! But now you're asking yourself, how the - blam! - are we gonna get past the Covies without a hog? Well luckily for us, there happens to be two shiny Mongooses sitting ahead in the first underground passage. Head towards it and not only will you find your four-wheeled tools of destruction, but you'll also find four rocket launchers, each equipped with nine-hundred and ninety nine rockets! Just remember, "Explosives can be dangerous!" One other thing before you collect your goose...Whoever has the sniper rifle from the last section should use it to take out the fuel rod grunt that is waiting for you up ahead.

Ok so a few tips before we hit the road:

  • One driver and one gunner on each goose. Everyone should take rockets.

  • When firing rockets, fire into the distance only! Short range fire will almost always put you at risk.

  • When on foot (and you will be), be sure that you don't walk in front of each other as you might just walk into an oncoming rocket. Be aware of your team mates' positions!

  • Watch the following videos, learn where to stop and where your best fields of fire are.

Head towards the door at the end of the highway section and stop outside it. Just drive past your enemies. Once at the door, get off your goose and return fire to the enemy. Once it's safe to do so, head on to the next section.

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**N.B: Beware of glitching checkpoints! **

You acquire a new checkpoint upon entering the large rooms between road sections. But there is a catch...You must enter these rooms as a team and not individually. What do I mean by that? Well, if I walk into the room while my team mates are still fighting the Covies, it won't load. Not even after my team mates rejoin me! I don't know why this happens but 95% of the time it always will. To avoid it, regroup just outside the door and enter into the room at the same time. Keep this in mind during every section. It's extremely irritating otherwise.

The next section is very similar. Drive straight down to the door way, passing all enemies along the way. Once at the door, get off and return fire. You will only need to take out the covenant near the door since when Dare arrives, you will be proceeding to section four.

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If you've managed not to blow you and your partners up already, congratulations! The next section is where things start to pick up. Race towards the door at the end of the road section and have your passenger take out the towers along the way. Now, when you near the door you'll notice a ramp in the middle about 30 - 40ft (in game terms) away from the door. Stop there! Get off the goose and target towards the middle of the doors. When Dare arrives, the doors open and tons of drones appear. Oh no! Unfortunately for them, you are going to blow them to pieces! As soon as the doors begin to unlock, fire at will! If you have an SMG also, use it to finish off stragglers. Then proceed onwards on your quest.

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After you kill the drones and move on, you'll enter another simple section. Again, apply the same techniques as before. Drive to the far end, get off and fire! There is nothing majorly difficult in this area. Once done, head on into the next area and prepare for some fun.

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**Ghosts and Ghouls**

Ok the next section has those irritating purple floating devices known as Ghosts. It's time to change the battle tactics a bit. When the doors open, race down the left side towards the phantom wreckage and use it as cover. The Ghosts will start to swarm your location but you'll have enough cover to stay alive. Take them out one by one with your rockets. Be aware though that one or two of them may decide to track Dare and the Engineer. Once you've cleared the ones in your area, move up and finish the remaining ones. Make sure that while you're doing this that you don't enter the room by accident as it will result in a glitched checkpoint if your teammates are not present.

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Next section is even more fun. Ghosts and Banshees! Head on down the highway and drop down into the underground tunnel. If your passenger has a good shot, try hitting the ghost on the right side of the tunnel, just before you enter it. Go to the far end of the tunnel and hop off the goose. You need to take out all ghosts and banshees! Start firing at the enemy but remember that you are in a tunnel so you are quite close together. My advice, don't jump in front of an outgoing rocket...A good way to tackle the banshees is to wait till they line up to attack you. They tend to descend in a linear fashion towards you. Take them out then! Also, watch out for ghosts that charge into the tunnel. If one gets in (and you manage to avoid it), wait till it's a distance from you in the tunnel before shooting it. If it's too close, try hijacking it!

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**Is this a Wraith I see before me? **

Yes it is! And it's pathetically simple to take out. Upon entering the next section, keep left. You will move up to the brow of the hill and hop off the gooses. Now, our scenario looks like this: ghosts, banshees and a wraith. We need to take out the wraith first so from this position, launch a few rockets its way. It should only take 2, maybe 3, hits! Next, have one person hug the glass fencing to the left and move up on foot to take out the ghosts. The other 3 players can take the mongooses up to the door. When you all get to the door, focus on taking out the banshees. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION NOW: Even when the doors open, you need to kill off all banshees for the checkpoint to load! So when the door opens, make sure you don't enter it until all enemies are dead!

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In the next section you'll encounter two covenant turrets (one at the start and one at the end). But not only that, we've been blessed with an AA Wraith and some banshees too. Team work time! Get one goose to race towards the underground tunnel up ahead, taking out the turret on the way. The other goose is going to take out the Wraith. It is located on the left in between the entrance and exit of the underground passage. It should only need two shots to take it out. Then regroup in the tunnel. Same as before, take out the ghosts and banshees and also the other turret near the door. Move on when done!

The next section has nothing in it. Just continue on and wait for the door to open while taking cover from the overhead phantoms.

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Not long left to go now. This next area is swarming with ghosts! We're going to need cover. So drive down the centre of the road and take out the auto turret lurking there. There will be an overturned truck in the middle of the road. Use it as cover while you obliterate the enemy ghosts! Be sure to keep away from the right hand side until Dare passes by. She will kill you! Sometimes a ghost or two will stay up ahead and wait for Dare so once you've cleared off the bulk, head towards them and keep Dare from dying. There is also another auto turret.

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**The light at the end of the Highway**

This is pretty much it! The hardest parts are done and dusted. Just have some travelling to go now. Race past all the Covies and get to the door! Be sure that you use the right hand side of the road. When you get there, prioritize fire on the Fuel Rod Chieftain nearby. This time, as soon as the doors open, just get inside and on to the next area. It has nothing on it so just keep going. We're almost done!

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When you reach the Uplift Reserve, gather your team upstairs by using the staircases on the left or right. Position yourselves on the balcony and ready yourself for the final waves of enemies. You can also strategically place a player on the right hand side to take enemies out with close range fire as soon as they drop! You'll have to deal with four waves of enemies:

  • Wave 1: Grunts, a few brutes and a fuel rod brute!

  • Wave 2: Jackels (snipers and carbines), brutes

  • Wave 3: Hunters, a few grunts.

  • Wave 4: Jump packs, Chieftains.

Nothing a few rockets can't handle! Bear in mind that on wave 4, there are two wraiths on the highway. You can't hit them so don't bother, but they can hit you so be careful! As soon as you see Mickey, Dutch and Romeo coming in on a Phantom, move across to the car park on the right side. You'll finish your game there!!

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And VOILA!! You've just done Déjà Vu! Wasn't that easy? Of course it was. A good time to do this in is approx 25 - 30 mins! This particular run only took 23 mins! If you follow the steps here, you'll have this achievement in no time! And you'll be another step along the Road to Recon! Well not much more I can say here...If you can't find a team to do this with then check out the SIP Highwaymen from the Spartan I Project and get yourself sorted!

Just want to say a big thanks to Louis Wu and HBO for showing our stuff to the Halo community! And also to Kayla Tess Batteiger (tess622) and the rest of the SIP Highwaymen for the tips provided in this walkthrough.

Well, that's all folks...see you next time!

Declan Clarke
Co-Founder of the SIP Annual Team




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