Pinned Down is the first mission in Ranger’s story. After he joins Baker’s crew, the experience of heisting conjures memories and nightmares from his time in Vietnam. In his first dream he recalls saving his wounded captain when he was trapped between a Viet Cong sniper and a mine-riddled rice paddy.

Strategy

Move to the captain

Mines will injure—but not instantly kill—Ranger as he traverses the paddy. Players can backtrack slightly to regain their sprinting ability, then hop across the rocks to avoid most of the wading and minesweeping as they approach the GI captain.

Get out of the field

Ranger can once again avoid wading by running along the dead branches and dirt at the edge of the paddy. He should head toward the left of the Viet Cong sniper’s perch, since it provides the shortest route up. Several Viet Cong soldiers will try to stop Ranger’s as he approaches.

Locate the sniper

Once players reach the cliff face, they should enter the leftmost trail, then take the right-hand path at every fork, following a winding trail up to the sniper.

Eliminate the sniper

One more Viet Cong stands in the bushes between Ranger and the Viet Cong sniper.

Consequences

After Ranger makes it through his first nightmare, it’s not long before his day job takes him back to Vietnam again, and he dreams of how his squad acquired the Red Star from a VC bunker.

If instead Ranger dies in the dream, he dies in real life, too:

Heart attack—yep. Mmm, OK. Dead. 1996. May. Monday. Nasty—PTSD, I figure. Poor guy.