Gears of War 2 Act 1 Rolling Thunder

This is part 2 of our complete Gears of War 2 game guide, featuring Act 1 Rolling Thunder.

Rolling Thunder
1. You start this next mission aboard a massive rolling Derrick, a huge troop carrier.
2. Collectible! Grindlift Notice. Turn around toward the back of the rig. On the left side of the round part of the wall is a square piece of paper. Grab it for the collectible.
3. Things go to hell pretty quickly. You can move up and use the turret at the front of the vehicle, or you can grab cover along the edges and use your own weaponry.
4. First, you'll need to defend from the nemacyst mortars. They all come from the front of the rig, so orient yourself and shoot them as they come at you.
5. TIP: The turret is pretty much your best option here. It takes a second to get moving, but the chain gun has more ammo and is more powerful than any other weapon you carry. However, watch out for it to overheat, as indicated by a bar in the top right corner of the screen.
6. When the mortars are destroyed, you'll be attacked by Reavers. Quickly turn to the left to see one matching speed with your rig. You have to kill this Reaver to advance.
  - YouTube: Gears of War 2 Walkthrough: Chapter 1 - Rolling Thunder PT 1
7. Ignore the two drones riding on the reaver. It'll hit your rig twice before you kill it, but if the big monster hits you three times, it's game over. Use the turret to pour the fire on and try to hit it in the facial region.
8. When the rig stops, you'll have to disembark to defend it. When you hit the ground, quickly run to the left and pick up grenades.
9. Collectible! Munitions Requisition Form. It's easy to miss, but just to the left of the ammo is a scrap of paper you can grab.
10. An Emergence Hole opens up just ahead of you. Throw a grenade into it to seal it up and prevent Locust reinforcements. Do so quickly to limit the number of attackers that make it out.
11. When they're dead, another hole opens up. Use your last grenade to close it quickly, then get in position to defend yourself from a flanking force that appears on the ridge to your right.
12. Some other rigs will appear to assist you. A third emergence hole opens up ahead, but you can't do much about it. Shoot at the Locust and quickly fall back to the rig to board it again. That ends the mission.
The Big Push
1. Your rig will come under attack almost immediately by a horde of Locust. Get up to the turret to start out.
2. Locust take over the Derrick next to you, so you need to clear it continually. Blast at the Locust aboard with the turret to put the hurt on them. More will keep appearing, though, so be ready.
3. Before long, you'll pass some drones with grappling hooks. They'll shoot a hook up to the side your rig. Drop the turret and blast the hook to knock it off before any can board.
4. Turn your attention back to the hijacked rig. When the windows in the cab are blasted out, drop the turret and get over there to kill the driver. Do so quickly or he'll crash your rig.
5. Next you'll be attacked by several Brumaks. These hulking beasts are fairly invulnerable, so focus your fire on the huge guns strapped to them.
6. Before long you'll face down a Brumak face-to-face. Hit the gun on its back to kill it.
7. You'll end the mission and collect the Escort Service Achievement.
Roadblocks
1. The road ahead is blocked, so grab the ammo crate near the cars and then go left to a wooden door there. Kick it down with X.
2. Inside you'll find more ammo behind the bar, plus a staircase. Take it up to find grenades.
3. Collectible! Jacinto Sentinel Newspaper. In the center of the room at the top of the stairs.
4. Go back down and follow the hallway through the building. You'll see some Tickers. Head into the room and face out to fight them.
5. When all the tickers are dead, the path will be clear for the rig. Cross the street and go through the fence the tickers blew open into a back yard.
6. Follow the path through and take cover when you return to the street. More tickers appear, but you should have little problem mopping them up.
7. When the way is clear, head forward down the street to where it turns left.
8. Collectible! Memorial Inscription! Turn right instead and you'll see a statue. Read the inscription for a collectible.
9. Go back left and you'll come under nemacyst mortar fire. Take cover and kill the Troika turret gunner just ahead.
10. If you move any further forward, you'll trigger Locust reinforcements ahead of you. There's also a troika to the left.
11. Clear out the Locust you can shoot at and try to kill the Troika ahead of you. Ignore the gunner to the left as far as trying to kill it.
12. When you can, move up to the Locust position and a derrick will drive in to help out.
13. Collectible! Truck Driver's Note. Inside the small structure the drones came out of, on the floor.
14. With the Locust cleared out, head to the opposite side of the troika that was just destroyed. You'll see an opening in the fence you can mantel over.
  - YouTube: Gears of War 2 Walkthrough: Chapter 1 - Road Blocks PT. 1 (Time: 7:09)
15. Continue along the path and enter the tunnel. Inside you'll have limited light, so move carefully. Tickers appear just ahead of you, but stay back in the light from the derrick and take them out from a distance.
16. Keep pushing forward in the tunnel, stopping to blast tickers when they appear. Try to look for the dust they kick up as a sign for where they are, as it makes them visible even in the dark.
17. Collectible! COG Tags. Soon you'll come to a dead end. When you do, there's a staircase that leads up to a door. Go back toward the derrick on that same wall and look for an opening into a small room. Grab the COG tags to the right of the door.
18. Go back to the stairs and take them up. Kill the two tickers inside this room and go down the hall to the next door. Head back into the tunnel and keep going forward to draw the light from the derrick after you.
19. You'll fight a few more tickers as you head forward. At the end of the tunnel, a reaver drops in to attack you.
20. You can focus all your fire on the reaver's head to kill it, but you'll probably have an easier time clearing the two drones on its back first. Be careful of the reaver's powerful rocket attack in the meantime.
21. The reaver's death means you're clear to leave the tunnel, but now you'll have mortars to deal with. You can choose either the right or the left path. The right path, to the rooftops, affords you the chance to try out a new weapon, the mortar.
22. If you take the right, go up the stairs and turn right for some ammo, then head back left. Kill the two drones that appear and follow the roof around to a ladder.
23. Kill the drone up here and grab his mortar. You can use it to kill the Locust on the other side of the roof. You also need to drop a round through the hole in the roof across from you.
24. Fire the mortar by holding Left Trigger to aim. Hold the Right Trigger to adjust the distance at which the mortar deploys. The longer you hold the trigger, the further the blast will go.
25. ACHIEVEMENT ALERT! Killing 30 enemies with mortars earns you the Shock and Awe Achievement.
26. Go back down the ladder and wait for Jack to open the door at its base. Kick it down and head inside.
27. There are Locust through the windows to the left. You have to go to the door at the other end of the room to fight them outright. Kill them to clear the last of the mortars.
28. Grab a fresh mortar off the ground and turn your attention to the edge of the building facing down the road, toward your objective. A tunnel there will soon reveal a brumak.
29. Use your mortar to blast the brumak. He shouldn't be more than two or three distance notches away from you, so just keep up the fire with active reloads. The mortar ought to make quick work of him. With that done, the mission ends.
  - YouTube: Gears of War 2 Walkthrough: Chapter 1 - Road Blocks PT. 2 (Time: 9:43)
Digging In
1. You start standing beside a mortar. Grab it and head up to the turret position, because you'll need it in just a moment.
2. Use your mortar to attack the Locust drones as they start pouring out of emergence holes. You should be able to thrash quite a few of them fairly quickly.
3. Pay attention to the range you need on your mortar for the area just in front of the large statue to the right. A pair of mortar teams will set up there momentarily, and you need to kill them quickly.
4. When the mortars appear, blast them as fast as you can. If they get any shots off, make sure to dive backward to get clear of the explosions or you'll die for sure.
5. If you can't kill them with your mortar, grab the turret and use that to mow them down. Do so quickly or they'll tear you apart.
6. TIP: Back away from the turret. Even if you kill the mortar teams, chances are they've fired a shot and the turret will be damaged no matter what you do. The explosion will actually knock you down, unless you're close enough to be killed by it.
7. When the mortars are down, your rig will be boarded, one drone on each side. Kill them, then turn your attention back to the front to eliminate a pair of Boomers, which carry what are essentially grenade launchers.
8. If you still have mortars, use them to thrash the boomers. Between your fire and your squad's fire, you should put them down rather quickly.
9. Finally, two reavers show up. Their chief ability is firing rockets at you, but they don't move, so pick a good spot and lay into them until they die.
10. Finishing this last wave ends the mission and the act. You'll receive the Girl About Town Achievement for completing both.
  - YouTube: Gears of War 2 Walkthrough: Chapter 1 - Digging In (Time: 4:58)
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