PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 8 of 28

The levels get longer and more frustrating in the second half of the game...and not surprisingly, so do the videos.

First | Previous | Next | End

Area 4-1: Metal City

Unmarked Map (by Spannettone)

If you haven't gotten it yet, the Hard Bit is now available in the shop. With the Hard Bit, you can go through the blocks with the four screws in them. By getting rid of these blocks, you can find some hidden chips as well as some shortcuts.

After leaving the Kuru Ruins, the Red Dozers find out that the Red Diamond is in the stadium in Metal City. Here, you'll find out that the police are in cahoots with the Skullkers, and while the commissioner is on the take, Detective Carrie has a bad feeling about the police's partnership.

If you haven't been in the Red Dozers' Training Area, you'll see the Time Blocks for the first time, too. When you break them, you'll hear three sets of beeps. After the third set of beeps, the block will come back as long as you're not standing in the area where the block was. You'll need to take advantage of that to get around in a few areas.

You'll then see drill spinners on the wall. Hold one shoulder button down, then press the other one to launch yourself into the air. The higher the gear you're in, the higher you'll go.

The ball-shaped robots will shoot lasers at you, but if you can hit them in the front, you can knock them down. Get behind them and drill them in the head to destroy them.

The screw gates are also back. Experiment with the shoulder buttons to see which button moves which screws, then get to the other sides before the screw gates move back to their original position.

The flying enemy with the target reticles will switch between a vertical orientation and a horizontal orientation. You'll want to attack the exposed sides when the target reticles aren't coming at you.

You'll then get on the top of the subway. Avoid hitting the walls. If you see any walls with blue or yellow lights, drill into them. The yellow light walls are easy to destroy, but the blue light walls take a little more effort. Also, avoid the electricity on the ground, and drill anything that gets in your way You'll get another flying target reticle enemy, but the wall will destroy it. Just fight off the enemies and outlast being shot with lasers. At the end, you can find some energy before you make your way back up to the city.

Back in the city, you'll find out that somebody is about to take the Red Diamond. Shortly after this, you'll be able to get to third gear. Near the end of the level, you'll see the darker time blocks that are used to get to other areas. Thankfully, the block trick from Kuru Ruins that involves getting to third gear and holding the direction you want to go still works.

By taking a shortcut up and to the left, you'll be able to find the Square Stone to add to your treasures.

The flying copter enemy with the spiked disc will stop and shoot the disc at you if it sees you, but if you can get under or beneath it, you can destroy it.

Near the end of the level is another place where you can drop down after going through some of the darker time blocks, and to the right is a treasure chest. I completely miss it, not even knowing that it was there until it was time to do some post-game treasure clean-up, and I end up getting it later.

You'll eventually reach the stadium. When you enter it, you'll find the Red Diamond, but you'll fall into a trap where you fight Detective Carrie's new and improved Policebot.

To beat the Policebot, you'll need to send the missile it shoots back at it with the drill and play tennis with it, then drill the red column on the chassis when it is exposed. There will be a timer on the stadium wall, and you'll need the missile to hit the Policebot when it's at zero. If the missile is red, you'll need to use the R button; if it is red, you'll need to use the L button. Just drill into the missile, shift up to third gear, then press the other button and you'll send the missile back. When the explosion from the missile hits the Policebot, you can move in and do damage.

For the second phase of the battle, you'll be doing more of the same, but you'll have to be a bit more crafty and the missile back as late as possible. The timer will also vary on each missile, so watch the stadium wall and be ready to jump over the missile if you do it right. If you do it right, the Policebot - which will lose its wheels and will now fly around - will fly upwards. When that happens, you'll need to drill into it from below and shift to third gear as you do for maximum damage. This takes practice, and it can be particularly frustrating. Once you beat the second phase, you're mercifully done.

Afterwards, The Red Dozers will size up the situation, then realize that Detective Carrie is the only reasonable person on the police's side. They will also realize that the floating guy with the goggles who has been seen throughout the level is the Skullkers' professor, and they will have to go after him if they want to get the Red Diamond back. Since he said that you'll need wings to catch up with him: there's only one thing to do: flying up to the roof.