This took place during the hotel basement segment, the part where you have to turn on the generator that powers the magnetically locked security door. After dying on my first attempt to start the generator, I decided to go up stairs and seek out the luminous runner that attacked me on my first attempt to start the generator. You know, the one that attacks before you even get the generator running. I found him, or so I thought, killed him and found a security key that would eventually open the locked door. Naturally the game auto-saved, and I went downstairs to start the generator again. This time, it started and a bloater with a few runners appeared.
Now, I had been playing the game up to this point hoarding like a mad man ( never bandaging up etc... ), so I had died the first time trying to start the generator because I had so little life. So to my chagrin, I begrudgingly parted ways with a Molotov. Backing up to the higher vantage of the first floor via the ramp created by the collapsed ceiling, I unloaded into the bloater and his cohorts only to be killed by a previously unseen runner patrolling the first floor. When the save game loaded, upon dying, I realized I had started at the beginning of the segment ( when all the rats run down the basement hall ) only this time I had the security key and one less molotov cocktail. I decided to go start the generator, again without healing because hey I have the key and one less cocktail, the bloater is probably dead. Nope, even worse, upon trying to start the generator I was nearly instantly bitten by a runner, no time to even cancel the "starting the generator" animation. I tried this a few times every time being bit by a runner before I could even stop starting the generator ( I looked all around for him too, basement and 1st floor ).
So I begrudgingly healed and decided I'll take my licks from him and move on. Nope, I killed one runner, went to start the generator, another one came before I could stop the animation. Frustrated as hell I left a bomb behind me to stop them. Finally I started the generator, turned around fought the bloater again and died. So to sum up to this point: I had died trying to start the generator, fighting the bloater gang, starting the generator, restarted due to an endless stream of runners, and died again on the bloater gang. Well the final F'n insult, was having never really reached a good save point, upon loading after the bloater's had killed me, I had one less health pack, one less bomb, fewer bullets, and almost no life. I manually saved, just so I wouldn't lose any more hard earned supplies and proceeded to do the following after much trial and error.
As soon as I tried to start the generator, I stopped, tossed a moltov cocktail at the wall and spun around to kill a runner that seemed to kill me no matter how much life I had with a bite animation. Bombs wouldn't work, because if I didn't see him die, another would come. The third time I fought the bloater and his friends, I did not die.
. People keep raving about the beginning, and they haven't seen anything yet.
