BitLife is closing in on its fifth year on the App Store, and its Android version isn’t too far behind. But there’s no questioning its staying power on both major platforms, much of which is because Candywriter keeps rolling out major updates with new features and/or modes — not as often as before, but still on a fairly regular basis. Then you’ve got the weekly challenges, which are all based on a certain theme and allow players about four days or so to complete all the tasks based on that theme.
Except for a few requirements, this week’s BitLife challenge is a nod to another well-loved and critically acclaimed pop culture property. The Full Metal Soldier Challenge is, as the name suggests, partly inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s war film Full Metal Jacket, and you’re going to be asked to pull off several military-centric tasks, from the mere act of enlisting in the Marines to killing your commanding officer but still getting an honorable discharge.
Compared to recent challenges, this is one of the easier that we’ve completed, but if you need some assistance in wrapping things up sooner rather than later, this BitLife mini-strategy guide shows you how to complete the Full Metal Soldier Challenge in as title time possible.
Create a Character with Decent Looks and Smarts
Don’t get things wrong just because of the name of the challenge — although a lot of the Full Metal Soldier Challenge is inspired by Full Metal Jacket, you may have a hard time going about the requirements if you create a character too close to Private Pyle. It would be better to create a character who’s perfectly average at the very least — Looks and Smarts at 50 and above.
There are no restrictions when it comes to your character’s birth country or city, and you can create a male or female character. But since you will be asked to hook up with an enlistee in this challenge, it would be best if your character isn’t particularly unattractive or unintelligent.
After creating your character, you’re free to live your early years in any way you wish, just as long as you don’t do anything that could get you in juvie. By the time you graduate from high school at the age of 18, you can enlist in the Marines, thus taking care of the first of the Full Metal Soldier Challenge’s five requirements.
Drive-By Shootings Are Still the Safest Method of Murder
In Full Metal Jacket, Private Pyle kills Gunnery Sgt. Hartman by shooting him following a nervous breakdown, but in BitLife’s equivalent of this classic (if dark and disturbing) scene, you have a variety of potential murder weapons that you can use to kill your commanding officer.
If you chose Crime as a Special Talent in the character creation screen, most methods of murder are safe enough to use, in the sense that your target probably won’t turn things around on you, either by attacking you or killing you with the same method, or by calling the cops. But if you just decided to create an ordinary character, it would still be most advisable to kill your commanding officer via drive-by shooting or by pushing them off a cliff.
Pushing them off a cliff is fine, but don’t try pushing them down the stairs, as this remains one of the methods that are easiest to reverse. And since drive-by shootings happen so quickly, there’s a fair chance you will be able to pull this off even without a Special Talent in Crime. Just remember to quit the game and restart it in the event you’re unsuccessful (but still alive) following a murder attempt!
You Can Now Watch a Video to Reveal All Squares with Mines
In recent months, Candywriter has been making things easier for mini-game players — you may remember the time they started allowing players to watch an ad video to “bribe” the guard and allow you to escape from jail or prison without having to figure out an elaborate sequence of moves to elude the guard.
The Minesweeper mini-game also has something similar in place, and if you choose the “Use a metal detector” option after going on a deployment, you will be directed to an ad video, which you will have to complete. Once you’re done watching the video, BitLife will reveal all of the squares that have a mine on them. Flag those squares, tap on the vacant squares on the screen, and you should be all set.
Of course, you still have the option to play the Minesweeper mini-game the old-fashioned way, but in times like these, where you need to survive this part of the challenge to complete it, the safest choice is to watch the video. Take note that you need to survive two deployments to be credited for this requirement in the Full Metal Soldier Challenge!
Hooking Up with an Enlistee Won’t Be That Easy This Time
The last two requirements of the Full Metal Soldier Challenge are a mixed bag of sorts, in the sense that there’s one easy requirement and one that may not be as easy as you remember it. Let’s start with the latter.
Although hooking up with another soldier while enlisted may not seem like a difficult thing in non-challenge situations, the game seems to have made it more difficult for the duration of the Full Metal Soldier Challenge. We tried altering multiple NPC stats in God Mode, and even if you’re trying to hook up with a single person who has low Professionalism and Will Power and high Craziness stats, you might not have an easy go at things. It does help, as mentioned earlier, if you created a character with at least decent Looks and Smarts, but a little more patience may be needed as you try knocking off this requirement.
As it probably will take more than a dozen years enlisted before you go on your second deployment, there will be lots of time to complete this task. But when you do, and you’ve completed all other requirements, you can ask for your discharge, and provided you did not get involved in any incident that required HR intervention, you will be honorably discharged from the Marines. That wraps up the challenge, and that will free you up to claim a new hat or eyewear from one of the prize chests.