History YMMV / HostileWatersAntaeusRising

* {{Anvilicious}}: The evil enemy council is ''very'' ObviouslyEvil, and extremely anvilicious about how all would-be tyrants are NotSoDifferent; It includes representatives from almost everyone who was in power under the old system, regardless of country or ideology -- including both a DirtyCommunist GeneralRipper and a capitalist CorruptCorporateExecutive who wants to nuke civilization back to the stone age because the modern post-scarcity economy is too ''equal'', for instance.

** Puma + Cloak + Flamer = You win. Always. Simply drive up to the oil rigs, decloak for a quick burn, then recloak and run like hell. The enemy can no longer fight back except for defense. The flames will persist and consume the rig eventually, even if you don't do much initial damage. It works in almost every mission except the last one. It can be done before you get the flamer, too, but you're more likely to lose the Puma since there's no damage over time. Even when the enemy respawns them, you just need to fly a plane over as a spotter, then rinse and repeat. In the rare cases where the Puma's built-in firepower isn't enough (some missions stick a bunch of turrets around to discourage this), the fact that it's completely undetectable unless it moves too close to an enemy unit makes the Puma a perfect spotter for [[DeathFromAbove Antaeus' guns]]. This can make some of the more difficult missions (especially the second to last one, where the enemy are dug in hard and you're on a time limit) much, much easier.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The evil enemy council is ''very'' ObviouslyEvil, and extremely anvilicious about how all would-be tyrants are fundamentally the same. (It includes representatives from almost everyone who was in power under the old system, regardless of country or ideology -- including both a DirtyCommunist GeneralRipper and a capitalist CorruptCorporateExecutive who wants to nuke civilization back to the stone age because the modern post-scarcity economy is too ''equal'', for instance.)

* NightmareFuel: The disassembler, nanomachines reprogrammed to rip a target apart from the atomic level. Your normal GreyGoo scenario just makes more nanomachines. This one leaves behind ''a blood-red puddle of goo and a melted landscape''. And ''then'' there's the ''sound''. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXP2VbhNhyg Just watch.]]
** There are repeated mentions that a disassembler attack turns humans into protein sludge. That means the aftermath could be harvested for food.

* ThatOneLevel: In the level where you go to the ''real'' Island Zero; if your first wave fails to cause crippling damage to the bugs' main production facilities, it becomes almost impossible for you to collect enough energy to clean the island. But the bugs have no similar problems.
** Well, not unless you abuse the fact they don't know you're there to knock out their oil rigs with a [[GameBreaker cloaked, flamer-equipped Puma]].

* HellIsThatNoise: The hellish chitter-whirr-animal noise the Species units and buildings constantly emit. On the other hand it makes them very easy to detect, even if they aren't appearing on your radar.

* CrapsaccharineWorld: The utopian world has all-reaching StateSec observing and even commanding all known dissenters through plants, all the mentioned place names are sterile and only infer geographic locations, not old nation states. It has been only 20 years since the last war to end all wars, yet the numbers of still-capable military personnel have been ensured by unknown means to be countable with two hands.

* NightmareFuel: The disassembler, nanomachines reprogrammed to rip a target apart from the atomic level. Your normal GreyGoo scenario just makes more nanomachines. This one leaves behind ''a blood-red puddle of goo and a melted landscape''. And ''then'' there's the ''sound''. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXP2VbhNhyg&feature=related Just watch.]]

* GameBreaker: Puma + Cloak + Flamer = You win. Always. Simply drive up to the oil rigs, decloak for a quick burn, then recloak and run like hell. The enemy can no longer fight back except for defense. The flames will persist and consume the rig eventually, even if you don't do much initial damage. It works in almost every mission except the last one. It can be done before you get the flamer, too, but you're more likely to lose the Puma since there's no damage over time. Even when the enemy respawns them, you just need to fly a plane over as a spotter, then rinse and repeat.
** In the rare cases where the Puma's built-in firepower isn't enough (some missions stick a bunch of turrets around to discourage this), the fact that it's completely undetectable unless it moves too close to an enemy unit makes the Puma a perfect spotter for [[DeathFromAbove Antaeus' guns]]. This can make some of the more difficult missions (especially the second to last one, where the enemy are dug in hard and you're on a time limit) much, much easier.

* GameBreaker: Puma + Cloak + Flamer = You win. Always. Simply drive up to the oil rigs, decloak for a quick burn, then recloak and run like hell. The enemy can no longer fight back except for defense. It works in almost every mission except the last one. It can be done before you get the flamer, too, but you're more likely to lose the Puma. Even when the enemy respawns them, you just need to fly a plane over as a spotter, then rinse and repeat.
** In the rare cases where the Puma's built-in firepower isn't enough, the fact that it's completely undetectable unless it moves too close to an enemy unit makes the Puma a perfect spotter for [[DeathFromAbove Antaeus' guns]]. This can make some of the more difficult missions (especially the second to last one, where the enemy are dug in hard and you're on a time limit) much, much easier.

** The escort mission is your first taste of the Species arbitrarily growing new units even if you've cleared the entire map. This in itself wouldn't be so bad, but the mission also forces you to waste two slots on static attack platforms and the final assault takes place on an isolated corner of the map surrounded by AA. You're pretty much guaranteed to lose your aircraft if you don't see it coming, and even then they mght get themselves killed.

** Also the isthmus mission. Recycle everything. Create a wave straddling the isthmus. Inch forward. Create carnage, a little bit at a time. Advance to protect the recycling units. Use almost all the recycled bits to replace thrashed units. Repeat oh, maybe a dozen times. Then hope there's enough energy left for your main assault.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The evil enemy council is ''very'' ObviouslyEvil, and extremely anvilicious about how all would-be tyrants are fundamentally the same. (It includes both a DirtyCommunist GeneralRipper and a capitalist CorruptCorporateExecutive who wants to nuke civilization back to the stone age because the modern post-scarcity economy is too ''equal'', for instance.)

* Anvilicious: The evil enemy council is ''very'' ObviouslyEvil, and extremely anvilicious about how all would-be tyrants are fundamentally the same. (It includes both a DirtyCommunist GeneralRipper and a capitalist CorruptCorporateExecutive who wants to nuke civilization back to the stone age because the modern post-scarcity economy is too ''equal'', for instance.)