Call of Duty: Ghosts extinction guide

The Point of Contact

After you have received the drill and taken out the initial hive, you will have the choice of three other hives to drill. It is random in which hives appear active, so it’s not always the same from game to game. Between rounds, you can take this time to scour the area to buy weapons that are on the ground and search the bags and boxes that are scattered about to find things like ammo, money, and even extra weapon parts like scopes, and grips.

You will take out the next three hives in the general same way that you took out the first, although now you will be able to use specific traps that are around the area. There are electric fence traps near the center hive in the parking lot and a fire trap barrel at the far end near the Motel sign. Once you have dealt with the first 4 hives, which honestly shouldn’t prove to be too much of a challenge, even in the early levels, the game will start to ramp up. Now you will encounter the barrier hive at the end of the street.

To get through this, the drill just won’t cut it. A chopper will announce to you that it is inbound and this will take on the barrier. While the chopper is shooting at the barrier, scorpion aliens will show up and fire their acid at it. You and your squad will need to take out the scorpions as fast as possible for if the chopper gets hit too many times, it will fly away to evade the spews. The more the chopper gets hit, the longer the fight will take, the more ammo you will use, and the more money you will spend.

To help the chopper take down the barrier (the barriers health is on the left side where the drill depth indicator usually is) you can pick up propane tanks that are scattered around the area and toss them into the barrier where they will stick. Toss a few in and shoot them to take a chunk of damage, as well as using grenade turrets and mortars if you have them unlocked.

The scorpions will always go to the same places—on the roofs, the rocks, and the sign—so taking them out fairly quickly won’t be an issue after you learn where they like to land. Once the barrier is destroyed, kill off the rest of the aliens and you will be rewarded with a money pile of $3000. Before you pick it up, buy whatever you need—ammo, guns, armor—or whatever as you can only carry a maximum of $6000 at a time. Now that the barrier is down, you can enter the second area, the city, oh and don’t forget to pick up the drill.

Jeff McAllister is a freelance journalist who has contributed to GamesRadar+ over the years. You'll typically find his byline associated with deep-dive guides that are designed to help you scoop up collectibles and find hidden treasures in some of the biggest action and RPG games out there. Be sure to give Jeff a thanks in the comments while you're completing all of those tricky Achievements and Trophies.