ONE SHOT ONE KILL

This mission is troublesome only in the beginning, since the wind randomizes every so often. Operate the sniper rifle and know that you only have one good shot. Even though you have infinite ammo, as soon as you fire, the report will alert the enemies and they will immediately scatter.

Keep an eye on the red flag near the table with the weapons. Although you can wait for a while (a chopper can pass by almost twice), eventually, the target will leave. The best time to fire is any time the flag is flying towards you (or appears drooped). This means all you need to do is line up the sights and pull the trigger. If you fail, a checkpoint will be right after you enter the scope of the gun.

Once you do take out the Russian guy, zoom back on the scope and blast the cockpit of the attack chopper before it kills you. When you drop the sniper rifle, turn around and follow MacMillian to the fast-rope point and get out of the building before it blows up. From here on out, you will want to take an automatic rifle. Loud and messy, but effective.

Engage and drop the first wave of crazies and take an automatic weapon, like the G3, MP5, or AK74. Keep your M21, since the sniping comes in handy later. Evade the rest of the enemies and look for an opening into a building lit by a bonfire.

Worm your way through the inside the building and hop across the open windows to another building. Be sure to shoot the attack dog on the other side of the fence to keep your allied NPC moving.

On reaching the outside of the second building, machinegun the enemies gathering to ambush your team. Head outside and waste the rest. Be sure to search the fallen for weapons and ammo. An attack chopper will harrass you in the street. Use your M21 to place accurate shots on the cockpit and you should be able to down the craft.

As the chopper crashes, you can sprint (or just go to the spot where it always stops) and get ready to pick up your injured NPC ally. Just like before, you cannot sprint, duck, jump or attack while doing a fireman's carry.

Take your injured ally towards the objective marker and drop him when enemies appear. Be sure to reload completely before picking up your ally again, since you cannot reload while carrying him. After blasting the chopper soldiers and the patrol, you will enter a building that MacMillian hopes to, "lose the enemy in there".
 

Place MacMillian down in the building when you hear enemies -- there should be two soldiers and four attack dogs. If there are enemies left, MacMillian will ask you to check the rooms for enemies; if there are no enemies, he says nothing if you pick him up. A secret is coming up.

Continue and you should locate a building that has an empty swimming pool inside. Go through the bathhouse (or gym or whatever) and you should find two Russian snipers (take their Dragunovs if you like) and the infamous Pripyat ferris wheel (a constant icon in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.).

At this point you need to be very careful at what you do. Although the timer stopped, you still need to be aware that you can double your traps and get a secret if you know what you're doing.

To double your traps, place MacMillian down at the foot of the ferris wheel. You should have a stock of C4 and Claymores on hand already (from the start of the mission or by simply restarting from a checkpoint on Recruit or Normal. Place your traps to the west of the ferris wheel (or anywhere you like -- just don't move too far away or MacMillian dies).

Once you exhausted all your explosives, pick up MacMillian and place him on the glowing gold spot on the hill north and west of the ferris wheel. Your C4 and claymores should be restored and you have the 30 seconds to seed the place with more mines

This secret is only accessible during the final fight with the Russians at Pripyat. With the ferris wheel behind you, you will face compass East at a crappy looking Russian apartment. Approach it and look for a hole in the fence (bottom right image). Notice a closed door to another crappy Russian dwelling to the compass' Southeast.

Past that door is the laptop. If the door is not open when the Helicopters bring reinforcements in the second-half of the fight, then run past the building with the pool. There is an open double door and a short hallway. Stay here for a few minutes, forcing the enemies to spawn behind the door with the Laptop.

If getting this secret is too hard, consider using the easiest difficulty level (via Mission Select) to weather the enemy fire. Don't forget that you cannot use the cheats until you beat the game anyway.

Fighting off the Russians will require some skill, but if you are not going for the secret, you can simply afford to wait next to your NPC ally and use C4 explosives, sniper shots, and some gung-ho-ism to cock-punch the enemy.

A checkpoint occurs just before the enemy sends in three choppers with Russian soldiers; after you wipe out the last of them, your own chopper comes in from the East. Take the NPC to the bus and get the hell out of Dodge.

There are no secrets in this stage, but it's fairly tough. Begin by placing claymore charges on the road you are on. Use them all up and face them towards the objective marker (or just along the road, but in the middle). You will not have time to do much later. Approach the hill while prone and start the slaughter.

When the enemy pops smoke in the field, that's your cue to get up and fall back. Your next task is to delay the enemy at the chopper crash site. A minigun is hooked up in the chopper wreck. Since it overlooks the road where you placed your claymores, things should now be somewhat clear.

Waste as many enemies as you can until you have orders to de-equip and move back. Head for the Russian hostel restaurant you found the secret earlier. It's time for it to save your ass.

In the hostel, there are four C4 detonators placed on the window sills (second floor). Approach each one, use it, and press fire to detonate them. It won't matter how many enemies you kill, so long as you blow the charges. Take the ammo and weapons inside if you need and fall back to the farm where Price executed Al-Asad.

The farm where you ended the mission Safehouse now has infinite Javelin weapons. Take one and use them to blow up the enemy tanks coming to attack your team. Once the enemy armor is erased, drop the Javelin and take up your spare weapon once more. Time to move through the enemy column.
 
The hardest part now is to fight your way back down the village through the whole Russian army and reach your exfil. You have 3 minutes to do it. Luckily, you are also given 10 free air strikes. The problem is once you designate, you have to wait for the bombs to drop.

Clear the field south of the farm and work your way towards the river. There is enough smoke that you can stay hidden somewhat if you don't fire any loud weapons and rely instead of your airstrikes to kill enemies. Nuke the gas station near the exfil of enemies, then waltz down and take your ride home. Your allies will magically warp to the exit, so you don't need to worry about them.

This mission is only annoying in that the secrets can be hard to find since you are always under a time limit. Apart from that, the time limit is only difficult if you have it set to Hardened or Super Extreme difficulty.

Begin by noticing your crappy sniper rifle is now a four-shot wonder. Take position at the junkyard and down the two jerk- asses in the watchtower to start the bloodshed. Be sure to ditch the R770 and grab a G36C or something that fires faster. You'll need that later. Note the secret that's kinda timed.

This secret is hard to get only if you aren't quick. Once you start the firefight at the restaurant, head into the diner and turn left. The laptop is on one of the tables. Note you may not have time to grab this after changing uniforms (when everyone dies).

The target you want is driving the jeep ahead of the BMP. Be sure to brain the guards sitting shotgun and in the backseat, as well as anyone else who objects to being arrested. A jeep will ram your watchtower and you will be ushered into a new section in 30 seconds or less.

Once you get back up, you need to pursue the Russian target or he eventually escapes and you lose. Chase the guy through the junkyard, kill teh attack dog and move into the Russian village.

Blast the initial enemies in the village and stick to the left (when you enter town). This way, you can weasel your way into a side alley and pursue the mo'fo to the next section. The next section that has your second secret.

After taking the "alley to the left", you come across a green car and a red dumpster. Take a right when you see those objects and down the Russians around the next corner. See the stairs leading up into the building? Head in, introduce the Russkies inside to Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson, then take the laptop and continue your pursuit of your quarry.
 

Continue past the sniper alley and use flashbangs to disable enemies around corners, etc. Although you need to be quick, being hasty and being swift are two different things. Hastiness will cause you to forget about reloading until you are dead from a fulisade of Russian gunfire.

When you spot some stairs, watch for the fortified machinegun nest. Wait for the gunship to take it out, then head across the carpark and up the stairs into the apartment. The only thing inside that should give you any trouble now should be the second mini-gun nest.

Again, wait for your gunship to roast the weenies at the nest, then head to the roof. Touch the target to end the mission.

This mission has one secret that's towards the end. Until you get to it, just worry about staying alive. Note that the weapons you keep for this stage will carry over to the next stage (if you keep playing), so you may want to start stocking up on RPGs when you get the chance.

Follow the team through the forest and into the village. Take out the enemies using silenced weapons and get ready for any attack to explode into an orgy of bloodshed. If you are careful enough, you may be able to avoid a full blown alert.

Locate the missing Sergeant in the second house, top floor. Undo his ties and head for the next section. Remember your previous encounters with choppers and going prone? It comes again into play. Listen for your C.O.'s cue to stop and drop.

Once the choppers fly over, place the C4 on the indicated points on the power tower. Blow the charges after you get to a safe distance, preferably at the chain link fence.

Go through the cut in the fence and head into the decripit old base. Take the weapons you want and get ready to fight off another Russian army.

The main sticking points to this fight are the RPG snipers on the rooftops. They also toss grenades at you, so you need room to move away, or speed to toss the damn things back (you pick). This area is also home of the secret, which sometimes plays havoc with your sense of priority.

As soon as you breach the abandoned Russian base, there is a motor pool building where enemies pour out from -- it is across the courtyard. If you get to the point where RPG soldiers fire from the ground floor (and not just the rooftops), you went too far ahead. Head into that building and search it for the secret (bottom right image - it's the small room in the back).

Get the secret once you secure the first facility and proceed to grab the rest of the base. Blast, blow, or otherwise eliminate everything that is hostile under your reticule. Move to the objective marker to end the mission.