Howlers are a strain of large quadrupedal Chimera and exclusively appears in Resistance: Fall of Man.
Overview
Howlers possess rudimentary and primitive vocalizations which are believed to provide the creatures with considerable ability to communicate. On the battlefield, their calls can be heard for miles and have been known to produce a "chilling" effect to those who are familiar with these beasts.
Howler first appear in the level Manchester - "Path Of Least Resistance" and attack Nathan Hale and the small group of British soldiers. It must be killed to enter the cathedral.
Their appearance is similar to that of a dog's and they attack by either trying to bite their enemy or maul them using their claws. Little information is available about the Howler, and so it is unknown in exactly how these canine creatures are created due to their non-humanoid appearance. It is possible they were bred by the Chimera like the Widowmaker.
Howlers are seen as being used as a weapon to create fear among human forces, their calls and howls strike fear deep into the enemy's heart. They might also be assigned as "watch dogs" as this can be seen in Manchester Cathedral. Just as Nathan Hale approach the cathedral, there is a Howler that is guarding the front doors, as well as one Howler inside the cathedral itself. They also seemed to be used in raiding parties or assault troops, as they were seen in the attacks on both Northern Command and Southern Command; and one was sent to help the attack on Lieutenant Cartwright's team.
As an interesting sidenote, the Howler's eyes are different from that of ordinary strains of the Chimeran virus. Their eyes are orange or red in color, rather than the bright yellow found in other strains. Also, the pupils are horizontal and figure-eight shaped, instead of the vertical slits present in Hybrids and other common strains.
General strategies
- The Howler isn't particularly fast, but they usually charge straight for the player. The Howler's thick leathery hide allows it to survive light-arms fire, but weapons such as the Rossmore 236 are known to be very effective in killing these creatures. On lower difficulties and if the player have the ammunition to spare, any weapon will do against the Howler, at a distance.
- On normal difficulty, killing a Howler requires about 40 rounds of Bullseye fire, or roughly an entire 50 round magazine of M5A2 Folsom Carbine fire.
- The Bullseye's secondary fire is very useful against Howlers; after tagging them with a target dart, you can circle strafe around them while firing at them without worrying about aiming precisely at them.
- If the player kill a Howler using a grenade, they will be rewarded with the "Fetch" skill point.
- On a higher difficulty the player may have some trouble trying to take down a Howler using the Rossmore 236. Try using a combination of the Rossmore 236 and the Bullseye's secondary fire, while running about firing. If the beast gets to close, whip out the Rossmore and shoot at its head. Using the M5A2 Carbine's grenade launcher is also more effective against the Howler.
- Grenades can help to soften up these beasts before using guns on higher difficulties.
Resistance: The Gathering Storm
In The Gathering Storm Howlers appears in the Chimeran invasion of America in late 1951, also serving as scouting units much like regular military dogs. It is surprisingly revealed that a single known Howler named "Ralf" is able to be tamed by a woman named Spook in Chicago. It is explained by Captain Bo Richards that Spook found Ralf who was wounded and nursed it back to health, and in return it serves and protects Spook. Ralf also helps Nathan Hale by mauling a charging Steelhead. This signifies that it is possible for certain low status Chimera to rebel against higher ranking Chimeran strains such as Angels. Or that a certain part of the Chimeran brain registers the telepathic command, and this was damaged when Ralf was wounded and became feral.
Gallery
Trivia
- Howler is the only four-legged Chimera appear in the game
- Howler was presumably created from the Chimeran Virus-infected Dogs.