Introduction

If you're ever stuck as to what to do next, come to IGN and talk to our guides team. We might be able to offer you a few suggestions. You've probably heard that line somewhere when you've been playing Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. Now you can be sure that you won't be reading some repetitive flavor text. IGN's unofficial strategy guide has precise locations of all the hidden parts, as well as sneaky ways to get away with faction-free murder. Read IGN's Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Strategy Guide for the complete low-down on how to make or break your military contracted bank account. Don't miss out, read us today! In this Mercenaries 2: World in Flames stratey guide, you'll find: PMC BASICS // Tips for weapons, vehicles, airstrikes and more. WALKTHROUGH // Our Mercenaries 2 walkthrough with secret locations. BONUS MISSIONS // Complete the bonus missions and collect every spare part with our detailed map.
2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. May not be sold, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast, in whole or part, without IGNs express permission. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. All rights reserved.

2008 IGN Entertainment, Inc.

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Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Basics

<< General Tips Weapons + Vehicles Airstrikes + Factions >>

Disable Auto-Save First off, let's not beat around the bush. Disable the auto-save. Auto-saving is probably the one weapon a player has against anything a game may unfairly do to him (or her). This game lets you save easily (and manually). Press the Start button and choose a slot. Being able (and willing) to manually save when you've done something right lets you quit (without saving) in case something untoward happens to your mercenary after the fact -- like dying so you need to get all yoru weapons back, or if you accidentally kill a High Value Target you wanted to verify alive. You can even exploit the manual save by walking right up to a Target of Opportunity belonging to faction friendly to your merc, lay waste to everything (and everyone), save the success of that mission, and quit the game before the faction can reduce their friendliness meter. How's that for power? Simply put -- if you are unable to utilize this power ability to save anywhere, you'll probably wind up screwing yourself out of more money than you care to lose.

The Big Picture and Three Little Ones The main goal of a mercenary is to make lots of money so they can retire before they die. Since your mercenary just got screwed out of a big payday (the $100 Million from a few years ago obviously got spent), you're now out for revenge. A merc will want to be paid, but there's also a reputation to protect. Get screwed by one dead-beat and the rest of them will follow. Hunting down your former paymaster however, isn't easy. Venezuela is a big place, and the mo'sucker has a bunch of dedicated goons drafted to protect his body from being turned into chum. This means your merc needs to squeeze information out of the local residents in power. There are three mercs you can play as, all of whom seem to play remarkably alike on the surface. However, there are subtle differences: Chris Jacobs
"Mind if I borrow this?!"

Formerly the "tough guy", now he's just the "weapons guy". Chris Jacobs can stock 20% to 33% more small arms ammunition. Although one rocket for an RPG may not be much, when you consider he can lug around 900 rounds for his light machinegun, you pretty much can have a load of fun without exposing yourself.

Jennifer Mui

"I ruin more suits this way."

Formerly the "stealth chick", this Anglo-Asian psychopath is now the "speed demon". Jennifer can sprint faster than the other mercs, which can lead to some interesting "I wasn't here when that airstrike killed your buddies" scenarios. Call in an airstrike and have her speed around a corner. Blameless murder made easier.

Mattias Nilsson

"This is an emergency! A Viking emergency!!"

Formerly the "speedy guy", this Swedish maniac is now the "tough guy". Like Chris Jacobs from the first game, Mattias is the beginner character. He can regenerate health much more quickly than the others. If you are not sure who to play first, play Mattias so you have a larger cushion of error.

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<<

General Tips

Weapons + Vehicles

Airstrikes + Factions

>>

No mercenary is ever without weapons although a few -- such as the infamous Hunk of Umbrella Corps. -- can kill with nothing but his bare hands. Weapons range from small arms to static emplacements to mobile weapons platforms. Exactly what's best for each engagement is what segregates the FNGs (freakin' new guy) fro Small Arms Small arms are precisely that -- portable (generally anti-personnel) weapons. These range from handguns to rocket launchers, but they are generally small enough to be carried by a single individual soldier. While there are a wide variety of small arms in the game (each with their own quirks), you only routinely require two, perhaps three different small arms throughout your tour in Venezuela:

Light Machinegun or Combat/Assault Rifle

This is a rapid fire weapon capable of killing many enemies before reloading. Those guns carrying more ammunition in their magazines tend to be less accurate, but at the ranges you will be firing, this is generally not much of a problem. Most LMGs carry 100 rounds, but some carry 75. Rifles carry 30 to 40 rounds. All are lethal in the hands of an experienced shooter.

Sniper or Marksman Rifle

This is a precision rifle designed for accuracy and power over rapidity of fire. There are two identical sniper rifles (one black and bullpup, the other a Dragunov knock-off), and there's even an up-gunned anti-material rifle. All are similar in function (hey, this ain't Rainbow Six Vegas) save that the anti-material rifle can appreciably damage vehicles. However, with the ability to call in air-strikes, the A-M rifle is more of a chore to keep. Sniper rifles are basically used when you want to precisely kill enemy guards around a package you want to extract, or to kill a soldier calling for help from far away.

RPG, Anti-Tank, Anti-Air launchers

A directed explosive. The RPG is the simplest, but very effective against slow moving tanks, light vehicles, and idiot soldiers. The AT missile launcher is designed primarily for tanks (but you can fire the missile without a lock-on); the AA missile launcher is for attacking helicoptors (same dumbfire available). You may occasionally find yourself using one to destroy an annoyance, but the scant amount of ammo means these weapons are "use if present; ignore if not". Carrying one around all the time means you're not able to fully exploit the airstrike system.

Handgun

Your merc will have this weapon if he or she is knocked out (life goes to zero) while fighting enemies. It's useless against anyone save to let you get a new assault weapon.

Shotgun

A neat idea but woefully short-ranged in open combat. Unless you are assaulting a small outpost, base, or unmarked depot, you may grow to dislike the limited range of the shotgun.

Hand Grenade and Placed Charge (C4)

These are thrown and set explosives. You can cook grenades by holding the grenade key for a little bit (overcooking means the grenade explodes in your hand). C4 has more power than a grenade and will kill your mercenary if detonated too close. C4 detonates only if triggered by your mercenary; to place more C4 charges, press the D-PAD to cycle from the detonator back to the C4 and place another charge.

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Vehicles and Disguise Armored Fighting Vehicles or AFVs, are weapon equipped vehicles. Tanks are a form of AFV, as are armored personnel carriers (APCs) and technicals (technically, a fighting vehicle ...). Vehicles give your mercenary an ability unique to this series: "Vehicular disguise". This is a form of disguise that lets a merc use a faction's vehicle to blend in with that faction for a short while. It helps against hostile factions, since they will not "knowingly" damage their own vehicle, but stick around long enough and the enemy will notice something awry with the presence of your merc-operated vehicle and open fire! Vehicular disguise is timed (unlike the first game where only officers can pierce disguise). Firing your vehicle's weapons or using it to commit vehicular manslaughter will also cause the disguise to vanish. Sounding the horn will cause the disguise to drop as well. Vehicular disguise is a very handy skill -- use it well and it will let your merc drive right up to the enemy HQ in a restricted area unnoticed until it's too late! While there are a wide variety of vehicles in the game (more than enough to shame any Grand Theft Auto), all vehicles break down into the following types:

Unarmed / Civilian

These are civilian vehicles like sedans and sporting cycles. While unarmored, they are capable of absorbing small arms fire to a limited degree. This puts your merc at less risk of impending death. Use civilian vehicles when you need to go through several territories held by different factions. Civilian vehicles are universally treated neutrally by all parties in the game, whether or not the factions are hostile to your merc at the moment or not.

Light Military

Light military vehicles are utility and recce vehicles. Some are heavily armed (grenade launchers and TOW launchers) but some only mount a pintle machinegun while some are not even armed at all. Light military vehicles are a good cheap standy-by to have around, but since they are so common, it is generally a waste of fuel to call in one specifically when you can simply spend a little more time in hijacking one.

Heavy Military

Heavy military vehicles are proper fighting vehicles, including tanks, IFVs, APCs, and other tracked vehicles. Many are heavily armed, and within this class, some are more potent than others. Save fuel for calling in heavy vehicles, as their firepower and protection can only be matched or exceeded by hunter-killer helicoptors. If you cannot successfully hijack the heaviest tanks (the Chinese and Allied Nations MBTs) because of the difficult button matching patterns, opt to call Ewan to drop off one of these tracked behemoths for your immediate use.

Helicoptors

VTOL craft using rotors have been around since the end of World war 2. In the 21st Century, the helicoptor has taken the enviable roles of flying mule (transport), flying rat (gunship), and flying bat (recon) and blends them all into one effective, affordable package. Helicoptors are the fastest method of travel (barring the "warp coptor" when you ask for Transit) and unlike the coptors of the first game, their rotors can cut down small trees without instantly destroying them. Coptors are expensive to stock and to deliver. Between the airstrikes and armor requests, your fuel stock will be hard pressed. Luckily the grappling hook Eva gives you on her hiring will help you hijack choppers with greater ease than before. The only catch is that choppers are considerably rare (compared to the first game) unless you know where to look for them.

Boats

The only watercraft your mercenary can request are small and medium sized boats up to the speedboat size. Larger vessels like trawlers, missile boats, and gunships are too large for choppers to transport (unless multiple choppers are used, but that's not supported in this game). Boats are generally not useful unless you plan a naval attack of some sort. They are helpful in giving your merc deck space to stand and chuck smoke beacons for an airstrike, but since boats are limited to water travel, you will seldom use boats more than you would other vehicles.

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<<

General Tips

Weapons + Vehicles

Airstrikes + Factions

>>

Airstrikes & Designation Airstrikes are powerful attacks from waiting warplanes. Since these carriers have greater amounts and degrees of ordnance, you often want to call in strikes against very powerful or heavy targets -- like big-ass assault frigates, fortresses, or legions of combat tanks. Airstrikes however, are very expensive. Luckily, the conflict in Venezuela has left hundreds of pallets of airstrikes lying around (these respawn each time you reset the overworld map). Simply find them on your PDA, mark them, and have your PMC chopper pilot crane them back to base for your warplanes to use. While powerful, airstrikes run primarily on two things -- stock (do you have any munitions on hand for a strike?) and fuel (cost to deliver the strike to your chosen target). Early on, munitions will be an issue as you have not spent countless hours combing through rain forest looking for lost explosives. Later on, your concern may be fuel, as the bigger and better explosives require more fuel to deliver.
Smoke Designation

Smoke is the most basic form of designation and often used for slow moving craft like choppers. How Misha is able to spot smoke and drop his ordnance at that height is a testament to his abilities as a pilot. Smoke grenades are a great method of dropping bombs on a target down the hill from your merc -- just let the grenade pop and roll down the slope. If the slope is shallow however, or if the grenade hits a rock and stop, get ready to see your strike fall short. Smoke designation is often the cheapest in terms of fuel and in many cases, the most effective. However, while smoke grenades cannot be jammed electronically, the warplanes delivering the ordnance can be shot down by SAM sites. Until the danger of the SAM is gone, smoke designated strikes won't be permitted if they are done by warplanes (and almost all are).

Beacon Designation

Beacons are electronic signalling devices, similar to the smoke grenade, but beacons stick to surfaces (unlike smoke grenades). This is useful if you want a strike at a precise point on a structure, but since you throw a beacon, your merc will likely be in range of the destruction. When you use beacon designation, you should be ready to run or die. Using beacons has another downside in that they can be jammed by signal jammers. However, beacon designated munitions are often remote or indirect (no warplanes required), hence SAM sites do not impede them -only signal jammers.

Laser Designation

Laser designators are an upgrade to the old fashioned spotter/artillery set-up from the 19th Century. A targeting laser is used to "paint" a target, relaying reliable geographic information to the gunnery control officer -- hence resulting in accurate indirect fire. Modern fire officers resort to self-guided missiles but the laser designation is used to fine-tune the accuracy of "smart" weapons. Laser designation can be endangered by SAM sites (if strikes are done by planes) but the other added danger is your merc needs to be in line-of-sight to the target being destroyed. If you don't mind sitting out in the open with a targeting laser, this strike is one of the more accurate ones you can deliver -- just keep in mind the fuel for laser-type strikes are sometimes three to four times more than with comparable smoke or beacon strikes.

Satellite Designation

Satellite designation is the most luxurious of methods. You get a top-down view of the action and you'll be able to see over hills and other obstacles (like buildings). Satellite designation aren't hampered by jammers or SAM sites either; however, the cost of using sat-des is expensive. If you miss the windows to confirm the lock-on, you will stay in satellite view ... and the costs of "borrowing" the viewer will cost your PMC big bucks (lower right-hand corner). Still, when you need to get munitions beyond line of sight, satellite is the only way to go.

There are two or three airstrikes that are very common in the overworld of Mercenaries 2. If you pick up each one every time you go out on a mission or to explore (and don't use any airstrikes), you can collect a huge stock of free (except fuel) airstrikes when you actually go out on a mission. South of the PMC villa for example, are a Bombing Run and an Artillery strike. Be sure to always pick those up each time you leave the mansion, and you should have about a good dozen or two dozen free strikes you can call in, free of charge.

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Fac-U! Factions University (and Hostility) There are six factions in the game, but you can only work with five of them. Of the five factions, only four will have storyrelated missions for you (to chase down Solano and smash in his pinata). If you attack a faction's soldiery, they will respond in kind and deny your merc contracts you may need to finish the game. You can make friends with factions by attacking their enemies (the standing bounties), bribing them (more expensive than the U.S. national debt), or by doing other missions for them (extra bonus missions). Generally, this guide will avoid starting a fracas unnecessarily -- when the option appears to piss off a faction, IGN recommends that you don't. Not only will bribing a faction cost you time and money (mostly money), but being able to travel around the map without being hunted by every soldier you meet is helpful since the Venezuelan military will always be hostile.
Universal Petroleum

This is a private oil company operating in Venezuela under the former government's sanction. With Carmona's coup, Uni-Pet is now in danger of having its assets seized and its employees deported. While most will see this as "cutting one's losses", Texas oil companies don't like being told what to do. Uni-Pet is opposed by the PLAV and the Chinese (the Venezuelan military is a given). Allied Nations forces work well with Uni-Pet.

People's Liberation Army of Venezuela (PLAV)

This is a revolutionary (terrorist) group in Venezuela headed by Marcela Acosta, but suspected to be backed by Chinese, Russians, and other unnamed rogue states. The P.L.A.V.'s goals is to end foreign meddling by private companies like Uni-Pet and to reclaim their country. The P.L.A.V. is allied with China, and attacks the Allied Nations, Uni-Pet, and the Venezuelan military.

Allied Nations

The fictitious U.N. in the game is headed primarily by the United States. Unlike the first game, the CIA has taken a more direct hand in the Venezuelan matter since it is in the U.S.' own backyard. The Allied Nations are buddies with Uni-Pet, but opposes heavy handed action of the PLAs of China and Venezuela, not to mention the legitimized Venezuelan military.

China

Whether it's a "People's Republic" or a "Dynasty", China is always state-making and breaking on its own terms. China's search for crude has extended past Africa and SinOPEC is busy twittling its thumbs for the next big strike. Its support of the P.L.A.V. as a proxy against the grand-standing U.S. is yet another step in the Great Game. China is allied with the P.L.A.V. and actively fires on the Allied Nations and its proxy Uni-Pet allies. They treat the Venezuelan military no better than one would a garden viper -- as a pest to be crushed.

Jamaican Pirates

Although there are pirates of every nationality, disenfranchised Jamaicans make up the pirate population in the islands north of Caracas. They have no story related missions for your merc to do, but their bonus missions unlock more shop items for you. Note that the pirates indiscriminately attack all other factions -- and like-wise, they are detested by every faction save your own (the PMC faction).

Venezuelan Military

The military is nominally under Solano's command, but it is under Carmona's control. until they are forcibly killed or captured, Venezuelan militia will attack all factions on sight -- including their own fledgling insurgency.

PMC

Vehicles and personnel under this faction are those who follow your mercenary. If a faction is hostile to your merc, they will fire and destroy your vehicle; otherwise they treat you as friendly. In short, there is no difference in belonging to this faction, as it is reflected by your own standing status with the factions.

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Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Walkthrough

PMC Uni-Pet P.L.A.V. A.N. P.R.C.

PAGE 01 | PAGE 02 | PAGE 03

The PMC under your mercenary's command has several missions devoted to destabilizing Venezuela. The pay for these missions are smaller than the ones you can fulfill for the other factions, but they play a major part in advancing the game. Since so many of the objectives are easily marked on your PDA, any illustrations will simply be for local color. As mentioned in the tutorial mission (Free General Carmona), your PDA is pretty much all the direction you need. Fiona Taylor will ping you notes and other tutorials when you encounter new situations (like racing checkpoints, airstrikes, fuel, pick-ups, etc.). The game practically teaches you all the basics, and reveals to you your objectives, hence IGN will focus on the stuff the game doesn't tell you, like secrets and stuff. We'll also tell you about small details you might miss -- like using a handy enemy vehicle to level an enemy base. Mission: Free General Carmona This is the tutorial mission. If you're earnestly at a loss here, you may want to reconsider your choice of career. The freebie grenade launcher you get in the beginning will not stay with you, so use it up. Note the same is said of all the other weapons you will come across during this mission. Nothing is kept, so don't bother keeping any ammunition. Apart from the prison guards and the occasional rocket soldier, the sheer amount of free firepower you get (the free tank helps) will more or less let you walk all over the enemy easily. Just remember to keep cool, get the correct buttons in on the satellite strike, and meet Carmona. This pretty much ends the tutorial.

Mission: Seize Solano's Villa Now that you've learned the basic lesson of "the most dangerous enemy to a mercenary is perhaps his employer", it's time to start stockpiling good small arms and other crap. Begin by plodding towards Solano's (soon to be yours) villa. Your goal is to kill all of his flunkies before you can get inside his mansion and take it over. You can approach the front or the back of the villa -- there is a small cut of land you can pass through near the edge of the villa's runway (looks like a short dashed road near the marker). It's recommended you attack the back of the house first, since it's less chaotic than the front yard. You can also hijack vehicles to protect your merc's health if you're having a tough time. The first few flunkies (on the villa's southwest) are hidden by the garden hedges and stuff; if you have a vehicle and lots of grenades, you can cut through the hedges easily and nuke them all -- if you don't have a vehicle, there are some Venezuelan army trucks in the back of the villa. It is much more preferable to destroy people and property of the Venezuelan faction (unless it's an HVT) since going around the obstacles takes a lot of time. The other flunkies in the back of the house will be better protected -- there is a maniac soldier with a stationary recoilless rifle doing overwatch on both flunkies. The recoilless is on the second floor balcony of the mansion. Cook your grenades -- hold the throw grenade/C4 button -- and take out the recoilless position or you will find that enemies in this game have annoying accurate aim.

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The outside's secure! Time to head in!

Once all the flunkies of Solano are puking up their guts, ignore Fiona's whining and walk around the villa's grounds to take good weapons, health and ammunition. You will want a reliable assault rifle (or the assault gun with its 75 round drum or light machinegun with 100 rounds), and maybe an RPG for the time being (since you don't have airstrikes yet). When you are pyschologically and physically prepared, enter the mansion's front door. Inside the mansion, ignore the stairs and stand to the side of the marked door (not in front, we said to the side) -- a Venezuelan light tank will burst through the walls. Hijack the tank by killing the exposed gunner, then press the key prompted on your game system to "hijack tank". Press the next button displayed to kill the crew and take the tank. Use the tank's cannon to blast all the enemy RPG soldiers. When the kill-the-flunkie condition is satisfied, you will have take the villa, and have completed the first official PMC mission.

PMC

Uni-Pet

P.L.A.V.

A.N.

P.R.C.

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Mission: Uni-Pet's Gun Recovery This mission is tied in with Universal Petroleum, so refer to that page of the guide.

Mission: Hire Eva the Mechanic This mission is available by talking to Ewan, the Irish chopper pilot after the kidnapping mission. He will mark Eva's shop on your map. It's recommended you ignore the story missions and hire the rest of your PMC team first, since they greatly expand your field abilities. Locate Eva's shop in east Gunare. She will challenge you to a race with the Cacharro Del Muerte, a monster car capable of making short jumps. Although the course is relatively straight-forward, there are a few things you need to keep in mind:

The Cacharro's jets don't need charging; once your car hits the ground, you can immediately jump again.

The jets are for jumping -- it doesn't accelerate the lateral speed of the car. To make the jump at the gorge (or any jump for that matter), hit the booster button as your car leaves the stunt ramp.

The Cacharro is tough but it can still flip over and explode (a natural way to destroy a vehicle in the game). When you find your car rolling in mid-air, hit the brake (or accelerator if your car is going backwards) and handbrake buttons together to hopefully stop the car once it touches the ground. The Cacharro is bottom heavy and generally rights itself pretty easily.

Tilting the joystick up and down will affect the car's angle of ascent and descent by a slight amount. Never touch it if you are trying to jump the dumpsters next to the strip mine's water hazard.

The Cacharro is not tank cannon-proof. Jump over that Venezuelan tank or expect to the car to explode.

Once you complete Eva's course, you are warped back to the villa. You now have the ability to hijack helicoptors by grappling them with Eva's Grapple Gun. Simply aim at a low-flying chopper and press your context action key.

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Mission: Hire Misha the Pilot Find Misha the pilot in the Pirate Islands. Beware that if your vehicle is disguised as any faction except the PMC, the pirates will destroy it immediately (possibly destroying Misha's building as well, requiring a map reset). Misha wants your merc to kill a Venezuelan officer who canned him. The lieutenant's location is marked on the map and since this is an assassination mission, there's no apology. First off, hijack some Bunker Busters from the Venezuelans. You get threse free, so don't use them up (anything you don't use for a mission stockpiles to your PMC). Since the pick-ups are not really in danger of being blown up, call down artillery to nuke the alarms, barracks, and other flammables. Should be easy. Next, use the bunker buster (just one, not all three) to destroy the officer and any venezuelan soldier who looks at you cross-eyed. When the officer is slain, you will recruit Misha. With a warplane at your service, you can start using those free Bombing Runs you've been hoarding up, along with any other plane delivered ordnance.

Mission: Blanco's Secret Meeting (No Communists Allowed!) This mission is tied in with the P.L.A.V., so refer to that page of the guide.

PMC

Uni-Pet

P.L.A.V.

A.N.

P.R.C.

PAGE 01 | PAGE 02 | PAGE 03

Mission: Solano's Amazon Bunker (Not affiliated with Amazon.com) This mission is available after you verify Blanco for the P.L.A.V. Talk to Fiona and make sure to save beforehand, as it can get ugly. You will want to make sure you have the grappling hook, loads of small arms and airstrikes (the free ones that are the cheapest are best) and perhaps do some of the Pirates' missions to be able to buy a Venezuelan helicoptor if you are not confident in your chopper hijacking skills. Hijacking choppers should be more than second nature for you by now (especially if you've been taking out extra HVTs and targets of ooportunity). The reason is at one point of the mission, you will have 10 minutes to get back to the base before it's "game over". Head to Solano's bunker and pay attention to any Venezuelan choppers you can hijack. Clear out the area near the marked bunker and use one of the free bunker busters you got during Misha's recruitment mission to attack the front of Solano's bunker. Once the bomb lands, get back into your chopper -- if you don't have a chopper, wait for the incoming enemy chopper to get in range and hijack it. Despite the timer, you should have more than enough time to reach the PMC villa provided you use a chopper and fly directly to the villa -- honk repeatedly to make sure your VZ chopper isn't blasted. If you've been friendly with everyone, this is the least of your worries.
Checkpoint - At the Villa

At the villa, you will have a checkpoint. That's a good thing, since if you die, you can retry from this point in the mission. There are some Venezuelan tanks and SAM units attacking the mansion. Let the mansion be destroyed and you're screwed. Although it's risky, you can try to hijack some of the un-marked tanks south and west of the villa's entrance -- these tanks are the second wave (they don't attack anyone until you get into their sights), so if you manage to destroy and hijack all three tanks, you get rid of the second tank wave and hopefully capture a good tank to use on the current wave of "problems". Attack the first wave of tanks by driving through the front gate. Delay any more and the mansion will be destroyed. Take out the two Venezuelan tanks first. Once you do that, the SAM tanks cannot really hurt you much -- destroy them (or hijack them to disable them), then explore for weapons if you need them. When you are ready, drive the remaining marked vehicles into the water except for one tank (the one with the most health). If you did not take care of the second wave of tanks, go through the front door of the villa's grounds and fight off the

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three tanks there. Once the last unit from the first tank wave is destroyed, the second wave of tanks will become marked for you. Take care to hijack a tank so you can use its cannon on enemies. The third wave of tanks attack from the east (direction of Gunare on your PDA). They will be sitting outside your manor's walls actually, all three of the rumbling bastards, so take one of the hijacked tanks and run it around the outer walls of your estate. Kill all the tanks that pop onto your mini-map. When all the tanks are destroyed, enter your mansion and you will get another checkpoint.
Mansion Safe. Kill Carmona.

The general is treated like an HVT but there is no bonus for keeping him alive. Chase him down (you may be lucky and ram him into Lake Maracaibo, but that's highly unlikely) using the fastest Venezuelan jeep you can hijack. While he won't be too fast on his escape (like Sergei's escape in the first game), you don't want to fall too far behind and lose the mission. You want to catch Carmona quickly, as he will enter a Hind gunship at the end of his escape and try to fly out of the map (at that point, you do lose the mission). If you're not able to kill or capture him on the ground, you must hijack his chopper (or shoot it down with a Stinger). Take your poison. In any case, Carmona must be eliminated before the mission ends and more of the map can be unlocked.

Mission: Solano's Amazon Bunker Part 2 After helping the Chinese or the Americans capture Caracas and turning Venezuela into a factory-state, a portion of the overworld map will be destroyed. Depending on who you helped, that section of map will be forever impassable. If you didn't get any of the spare parts in that region (and there are spare parts in those inaccessible areas), you'll have to start a new game to get them all. Regardless who you help though, you will have one free nuclear bunker buster (using it incorrectly means game over). You can try to save and then use it by mistake -- since you start this part of the mission in Caracas, retrying the failed portion may warp your mercenary right in front of Solano's bunker (cutting down your travel time). Regardless of how, get to Solano's bunker again. Get rid of the Hind gunship and T-10 heavy tank parked out in front. Once those two menaces are gone, all you worry about are the Stinger carrying soldier atop the bunker itself (generally killed once the nuke goes off), and anyone else hanging around. When you have enough freedom, laser the bottom-front of the bunker -- if you don't the strike will miss and you will fail. Only the bottom portion of the bunker will be destroyed. The rest of the bunker will stand after the nuke cloud vanishes. Head inside the bunker and touch the golden circle. This initiates a button sequence to "verify" (kill) Solano -- if you fail, you need to fight the Hind and T-10 outside again when you retry. The sequence always seems to be the same:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. B / CIRCLE LEFT A/X RIGHT X / SQUARE

Once all the buttons are pressed (just once -- no mashing), you win. Miss one button in the sequence and you die. When you complete the game, you will unlock the Nuclear Bunker Buster in Eva's shop ($1 million per pop) and will be able to march around the map as you please. None of the missions in the outposts will be available, so anything you missed will now be lost to you forever. If you find yourself missing some spare parts, you can try to join a game where the player hasn't finished the game so you can access the area that's denied to you. IGN recommends assisting the Allied Nations for the Battle Of Caracas, if only to localize the nuked area to a small portion in the center of the map.

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PMC

Uni-Pet

P.L.A.V.

A.N.

P.R.C.

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Asset Summary

Uni-Pet is a privately held petrochemical company specializing in mining and prospecting crude oil. Its presence in Venezuela is part of its ever expanding sphere of influence and control. Universal Petroleum is your first contact in the game to find (and kill) Solano. The faction has military style equipment that would make it the envy of any police and paramilitary force in the world, but the light tanks and McDonnell choppers it deploys are too light to be of any use against the heavier firepower of the Venezuelan army. Uni-Pet soldiers use a no-frills version of the Colt M4, as well as sniper rifles. They seldom carry anything more sophisticated; there are isolated instances when they will deploy guided missile weapons, but this will be in defense of very vital ground or resource assets (meaning mission based).
Area of Operations

Maracaibo, Cabimas, western sector(s) of theatre.

Principal Contact

Dr. Lorraine Rubin, Ph.D, MDB, KOTB, KOTG, KGB, FSB, HBO, CNNBCBS
Outposts

Maracaibo Airport, Uni-Pet Depot, Cabimas, and Altagracia

Outposts for Uni-Pet As the game and Fiona explains, outposts are essentially warp points for Ewan to drop you off. Taking over an outpost is easy -- initiate the mission with the first outpost (or the HQ) and get to the Venezuelan base. Kill the alarms first, then rocket spewing barracks, then SAM sites, tanks, and anything else that outrages your sense of peace. Call in enemy strike teams (always by chopper) and let them take over the marked building one at a time. Outpost missions are handy if you need a chopper to go somewhere, as you have infinite calls for the strike team choppers, but it's far better to take over the outposts to increase your PMC fuel maximum.

Mission: The Missing Guns (PMC Favor) While this is a "PMC" mission, it's more or less done for Uni-Pet, so it's filed under here. After getting Solano's Villa, talk to Fiona and she will direct you to steal back some Uni-Pet guns from some Venezuelan pirates. Head north from the villa, cack the forkers, and hijack the truck. The cargo missions in the game will be perhaps the most annoying to do (especially if enemies constantly fire on you). Luckily, these missions don't have timers. Instead you need to keep a certain amount of cargo on the truck's bed. If too much cargo flies out of the truck, you lose. This mission is just a primer for the nightmare missions you will have with the Jamaican pirates. Take the drive slow and

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steady and steer yourself towards Uni-Pet assets on the ground. Any Venezuelan or P.L.A.V. attackers will meet incoming fire while you wheel away with most of your cargo intact. Note that the guns in the truck are not real -- you cannot steal any for yourself. Park the truck where indicated and talk to the Uni-Pet guard for your next mission. Mission: Devastator A simple job. Head east to the Uni-Pet Depot, grab the pink scooter and drive it back to the same spot where you parked the pick-up truck. Any enemies in the area should be shot; survivors shot again. Take their weapons (look for a good large magazine weapon) and get on with this minor task. After delivering the Devastator, but before you head upstairs to talk to the good, oil-grubbing doctor, head back to the Uni-Pet depot and hijack the tank you saw earlier. It will come in handy when you do the next mission in about five krezzy minutes.

PMC

Uni-Pet

P.L.A.V.

A.N.

P.R.C.

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Mission: Kidnapped When you're ready for your first real mission, talk to the Texas oil shark. Dr. Rubin will tell you about her troubles, and advise you to locate the P.L.A.V. for more info on Blanco. Still, it can't hurt to get more cash. Begin with the first listening post by going northeast. Nuke the Venezuelans there and summon Ewan. If the listening post is flipped over, you will need to call in another one (it's free, so do it). Do the same with the next listening post to the northwest. Leave the southern most spot for last. If you go there, a 15:00 timer will start and you will unnecessarily trouble yourself with a restriction. At the southern marker, be sure to kill the SAM operator before calling Ewan. If he's damaged, he will take some time to fly away and you cannot call him again for a while. Place the final beacon at the roof of the garage and head back into Maracaibo. Take any car and locate the kidnappers' van. The van doesn't suspect your merc is onto them, so you can click your left joystick to spring, catch up to the back of the van and hijack it. Press the one button when it appears and you'll have the van. Drive it back to the Uni-Pet HQ and you're done.

Once you complete the Kidnapping mission, you will recruit Ewan onto the team. Talk to him about Eva the Mechanic (this unlocks more area to cover Gunare and Merida) then start stealing supplies (duck out of sight or run far away once the Collect Resource grenade is thrown) for your own use. Money is always handy, as you will be spending a lot to buy stockpile items and increase your fuel capacity. Eva the mechanic, in turn, tells you about Misha the pilot. Recruit the rest of your team and you'll be set for the next few missions. You may also want to help establish Uni-Pet's outposts for greater fuel storage as well as unlock more spots for you to explore.

Mission: Leave No Trace This mission will be tough if you haven't increased your fuel capacity, recruited the rest of your team, and stockpiled a few more free airstrikes (the cheap Bombing Run and Artillery are very cost-effective). Also -- this mission will not appear until you've made contact with the P.L.A.V. and done at least one mission for them. Begin by going quickly to the area marked by the PDA. Kill the Venezuelans and talk to the Uni-Pet exec. Ask him to follow your merc and take any available vehicle to the first warehouse. Defend the warehouse at the dock by going up to the oil tanker and using the mounted recoilless rifle. Blast all the jeeps, tanks, and trucks before they ferry in more troops. Once the first wave is killed, dismount and move to the recoilless mount to your right. Attack the incoming enemies on the second road -- this should look familiar to the players defending the ROK camp in

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the first game, except the job here mixes in enemy APCs, which require explosives to destroy. Stop the second wave and head back to the first recoilless position to fight off the third wave. Once the third wave is killed, head back down to the Uni-Pet exec and get him to follow. Drive to the second warehouse. Let the exec start his paper shredding while you head upstairs on the crane/rig. There is a recoilless you can use to stop the enemy APCs and jeeps. You only have to leave this emplacement when the enemy attacks with choppers. If you have Eva's grappler, you can hijack these choppers and use their missiles and guns on the enemy; otherwise, use the old method of firing the AA missile on the choppers and destroy them. The ground forces are what's counted for this mission -- any choppers you leave around will only harass you when you take the exec back to the Uni-Pet HQ. Unless your vehicle is very slow, you should make it back to the Uni-Pet HQ without incident. The Uni-Pet pick-ups are sufficient and fast for this job.

The rest of Uni-Pet's missions are outpost missions and other side-jobs. None are exceptionally hard and it's recommended to do them all before completing the game. Otherwise, you will never unlock that particular shop item.

PMC

Uni-Pet

P.L.A.V.

A.N.

P.R.C.

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Asset Summary

The People's Liberation Army of Venezuela is a self-styled left-wing insurgency fighting the right-wing capitalists and their "death squads". Headed by Marcela Acosta, most of the PLAV are recruited from the disenfranchised portions of Venezuela. The faction has acquired much of its equipment from the Venezuelan stocks, hence many of their vehicles look alike. This can prove hazardous in battle, when you accidentally fire on a friendly PLAV vehicle and incite their wrath. Nevertheless, the PLAV has access to almost all the Venezuelan equipment, save for the gunships and heavy tanks. The PLAV's infantry equipment is not much better than what you find amongst the Venezuelan dead. They have a similar proportion of rocket soldiers, but thankfully lack a good amount of guided weaponary.
Area of Operations

Amazonas, Merida (disputed), Gunare (disputed)

Principal Contact

Marcela Acosta (huah!)

Outposts

Southwest Amazon, Southeast Amazon, Orinco River, and East Merida

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Outposts for P.L.A.V. As the game and Fiona explains, outposts are essentially warp points for Ewan to drop you off. Taking over an outpost is easy -- initiate the mission with the first outpost (or the HQ) and get to the Venezuelan base. Kill the alarms first, then rocket spewing barracks, then SAM sites, tanks, and anything else that outrages your sense of peace. Call in enemy strike teams (always by chopper) and let them take over the marked building one at a time. Outpost missions are handy if you need a chopper to go somewhere, as you have infinite calls for the strike team choppers, but it's far better to take over the outposts to increase your PMC fuel maximum.

Mission: Paint The Town Once you've fulfilled the outposting requirements of this faction, you will have this damned charmer of a mission. It's actually pretty tough (especially the bonus of not killing civilians) since you have so few options in regards to surgical strikes. Concetrate instead, on actually completing the mission, as there are no system related rewards for clearing all bonus criteria. If you're lucky, you can begin by hijacking a PLAV Calavera tank or better yet -- the Venezuelan light tank (same body, different name). The VZ tank is preferable since you can drive right up to what you need destroyed by using vehicular disguise. Instead of using airstrikes, you can try using your tank's cannon to destroy the buildings one by one. This will be your best chance to achieve no civilian casualties. Since there is no time limit, you can leave the fighting area, then inch back slowly to your target until it is barely in range. This cuts down on the number of rocket attacks you receive.
Buildings Gone. Save Church.

Once all three of the Venezuelan buildings are destroyed, get your tank (or yourself, if you lost your tank) over to the middle of Merida and defend the church. Although it looks like you will have a tough time of things with your single tank against a horde of enemies, there are emplaced recoilless rifles around the church. You need to draw fire away from the church, preferably by hijacking or destroying all the enemy tanks. Luck does play a big factor in your success, as enemies spawn from set locations and occasionally get stuck behind buildings -- this leaves them open to an easy hijacking. Fend off all four attempts to destroy the church -- you only need it to survive (doesn't matter how much life). Once the Venezuelans run out of steam, Fiona will mark the enemy officer in charge of the attack on your PDA.
Church Saved. Kill Enemy Commander

The enemy officer is in Merida's square stadium to the west. It would be a very good idea to hijack any Venezuelan vehicle (although a tank is best) and use vehicular disguise to surveil your target. You can verify the officer alive, but that's unnecessary. There are plenty of rocket and SAM soldiers in the stadium's bleachers, so you may want to simply execute his ass and get this mission over with. The things to worry about -- (1) a lot of rocket soldiers, (2) there's an empty (escape) chopper, and (3) there are tanks guarding the sides of the soccer field. Use a mix of tank aggression and artillery/airstrikes to level the place (destroying the bleachers will kill the rocket soldiers on one side). If you want to capture this guy just for the hell of it, you will want to carry him out of the stadium and call for an extraction when it's clear. Otherwise, just shoot him in the head -- just like you would in Resident Evil 4 and 5.

PMC

Uni-Pet

P.L.A.V.

A.N.

P.R.C.

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Mission: Corporate Head-Hunting This mission is available from the East Merida PLAV outpost -- the one with the Chinese "advisor". You may need to wait until after the A.N. and Chinese have entered the war to find it. In any case, he will instruct you to kill four Uni-Pet officers. Naturally, if you are still doing some Uni-Pet side jobs, you may want to restrain yourself. Otherwise, you can go right ahead and kill them all.

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Targets 1 and 2

The first two targets are near the outpost -- the east. The area will be restricted once the mission starts, so you will need a Uni-Pet vehicle to get in. However, you can also walk along the outside of the restricted area and use airstrikes (the satellite Rocket Barrage is a good one) to kill your quarry. If you must lay waste to everything, do it quickly and there will be no one to report your activities to Uni-Pet.

Target3

The target at the Uni-Pet Depot in Maracaibo is actually the easiest to kill and get away with. You may want to save him for last, as alerting Uni-Pet to your double dealing is much more likely with the other three targets. Simply use a boat (you PMC hyrdofoils are best), get near the target, call in an airstrike (or snipe the target) on the crane and flee.

Target 4

The airport target is hard to root out without alerting the base. He is also in the middle of a restricted area, so getting in without an alert is hard. If only Sam Fisher was a merc! If you are intent on keeping Uni-Pet in the dark about your double-dealing, you will need to shell out a few more drops of fuel and free airstrikes on the airport target. Begin by blasting the corner watchtowers so no snipers can report you. Work over the other buildings as well. If you're not too keen on blowing this much ammunition, you can also use a laserdesignated smart bomb and blast the guy. However, be prepared to run, as most of the Uni-Pet snipers will be able to call you on that. If you opt for laser bombing the airport guy, kill him last -- once the mission is completed but before the transmission about your betrayal is completed, save the game and quit. You will have completed the contract and Uni-Pet will still be your friend. Mission: Tropic Island Get Away This is a very fun mission, provided you have a lot of firepower. You goal is to simply turn the "Fortress Island" into rubble -- or that dog-turd island you see in Contra on the Nintendo. There is a bonus for this mission. If you destroy all the enemy barracks (marked in blue) before destroying the castle, you will insure no surviving element will threaten the PLAV again. Sounds fun. Since the area is restricted, hijack a Veneuzlen boat or chopper and fly onto the island's east side. You will be in place to begin blasting the barracks. If you die here, you will start on the island, so don't sweat it. Use Misha's bomb runs or Fiona's artillery to level the place. Once the barracks are gone, start working on the enemy recoilless and rocket soldiers on the castle. You can call in multiple strikes and level the place. You need to completely destroy the island's two castle towers and its bridge to win. If you have airstrikes a go-go, you will not have much trouble meeting this requirement.

Mission: Blow Up Blanco (PMC Favor) While this is a PMC mission, the PLAV are the ones who instigate it (and unlock it in Fiona's dialogue back at the villa). Your goal is to interrogate Blanco about Solano's whereabouts (this is how you learn about Solano's super-bunker, if you read the PMC page before doing this mission). The oil rig in question is just north of the PMC villa. A short ride by your villa's hydrofoils. Still, you don't want to just kill everyone. There is a bonus for this gig -- capture Blanco alive so the PLAV will pay you more for the privilege of torturing him to death. You also need to question Blanco before you turn him over (alive or dead). To do this, you need to get aboard the oil rig. Since the place is massive and guarded by more Venezuelans than a I-Hate-Danica-Patrick party, you will need to use a little guile or speed to get aboard. IGN tried a randomly hijacked VZ chopper (it flew low enough to the water surface to be grappled while on deck of a fishing trawler), you can also climb aboard the rig the old fashioned way -- by ladder on the pylons. However, it's far easier to land on top of the rig, close to the marked meeting room, than it is to fight through the whole

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rig. Don't forget that the rig takes damage. Too much damage and you will have a collapse of mega-proportions. Get to the marked meeting room however you can, and open it for a movie. Afterwards, you'll be free and outside with Blanco trying to kill you. If you're not so keen about having Blanco die a slow death while being tortured in the PLAV base, simply call in an airstrike and waste the guy (or kill him yourself). Otherwise, run close and bash/subdue him. Once that's done, hope you have just enough room to call for the extraction chopper. If you must, kill Blanco and take his photo. Bring down the oil rig using big guns. Artillery is superb, but the beacon can sometimes stick to your chopper or boat -walk clear first before placing a beacon, or you might kill yourself. When all four of the pylons on the rig are weak enough, the rig will blow and the contract will be complete. You will have info -- and access to -- the first part of Solano's Super Bunker.

PMC

Uni-Pet

P.L.A.V.

A.N.

P.R.C.

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Asset Summary

The Allied Nations is an international group of countries that handles high-level diplomacy, and in times of crisis, limited and contained conflicts. Although technically an ambassadorial entity, the group's muscle consists primarily of superpowers like the United States, China, and Russia. In the Solano incident, the United States uses the A.N. as a front to meddle in the affairs of Venezuela. The faction has pretty much the top of the line technology and equipment. Hands down, the best -- and hence, the most expensive. Not just in price but als in fuel. Where pragmatism leads strongly in Russian military thinking, "safety" and "protection" are the major influences in U.S. tech. While A.N. vehicles are fast, tough, and well protected, they are also harder to hijack (getting close is a problem). The U.S. soldiers use the defunct M8 with a 40 round magazine. Guided weapons are routinely used by heavy weapons squads to take out choppers and tanks. RPGs are not used by U.S. soldiers. If you're missing the light machinegun, it occurs frequently with U.S. soldiers; generally as reinforcements in response to your merc's depredations.
Area of Operations

Caracas perimeter
Principal Contact

Agent Joyce -- C.I.A.

Outposts

Port of Caracas, South Caracas, Southwest Caracas, Southeast Caracas

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Outposts for Allied Nations As the game and Fiona explains, outposts are essentially warp points for Ewan to drop you off. Taking over an outpost is easy -- initiate the mission with the first outpost (or the HQ) and get to the Venezuelan base. Kill the alarms first, then rocket spewing barracks, then SAM sites, tanks, and anything else that outrages your sense of peace. Call in enemy strike teams (always by chopper) and let them take over the marked building one at a time. Outpost missions are handy if you need a chopper to go somewhere, as you have infinite calls for the strike team choppers, but it's far better to take over the outposts to increase your PMC fuel maximum.

Mission: Missile Command This mission is easy if you are on friendly terms with the Chinese forces. In fact, there is a good chance you can simply do this mission by helping the Chinese forces with a few bonus missions to raise their friendliness, then backstabbing them. Begin by heading into the shanty town south of Caracas. If you are on friendly terms with the Chinese, simply hijack the three MLRS, clump them together, and C4 them all. Otherwise, you will have to drop nuke all the carriers on the ridge, and that may prove hard.
Missile Crawlers Dead. Now Missile Boats!

With the three rocket artillery units destroyed, head down slope to the river and take over one of the Chinese missile boats. Kill the gunners on the deck, then hijack it to kill the pilot. The missiles have a very high parabolic flight path, so get a ways back before you fire on the other two missile boats. Alternately, you can leave your boat (enemies never retake a drifting boat unless they are already on board, so it's effectively out of action until you blow it up) and hijack the other two boats. If you do this, clump these boats together (beach them) and drop artillery/airstrikes on them to destroy them.

Boats gone, missiles gone. Officer kill mode.

There are three officers in the shanty town who need to be "retired" from active service (Joyce: Kill them. I want them dead. I want their families dead. I want their dogs dead. I want their houses burned down so I can pee on the ashes in the middle of the night.); this means however, you must expose yourself to involvement and risk your buddy friendship with the Chinese army. Get around this by using the airstrike exploit. Quickly nuke the area with artillery (wide path of destruction, may kill snitches) and gun down any lone survivor (or scroll him off the map). Repeat twice more for the surviving officers and try to place the beacon to get everyone (or as many enemies) in one of Fiona's explosive salvoes. If you have the manual save option, quickly save the game after the mission is over and quit before someone reports your merc's naughty activity.

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PMC

Uni-Pet

P.L.A.V.

A.N.

P.R.C.

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Mission: Lost and Found If you didn't anger the Chinese faction the last mission, you will definitely in this one. Consider using this opportunity to cash in on the 50 targets the A.N. is looking for to unlock your shop items. If you die, you will start on the north shore of Cumana, with some A.N. vehicles for you. What you want though, is a Chinese chopper so you can sneak into their restricted area. Try to hijack a Chinese gunship patrolling the Margaritas -it will help you land close to the first captured pilot. If you don't want to bother with the bonus, simply blow up all three plane parts with airstrikes or tank fire and get out. If you want to tough it out and get the two bonuses though, read on. The first pilot is on the south tip of the island. Land there after you waste the Chinese SAM or land and take the tank. The Chinese SAM tank has explosive shells (lots of explosive shells) that you can use to kill enemies and blow up small vehicles. If you fail to rescue the first pilot, you will fail to rescue the second pilot. So, that in mind, do your best to level the base without killing everyone in the POW pen. Once the coast is somewhat clear, park your Chinese tank somewhere enemies can't get to it easily (but don't destroy it -- you will want its disguise for the trip north). Meet the POW, call in extraction and let him leave before you do. The first pilot will mark the location of his flight buddy. unfortunately, it's all the way north. Use a Chinese vehicle to disguise yourself and drive quickly by the plane parts. AVoid confrontation, as the Chinese army on the island can probably bomb you back into the Stone Age. Rescue the second pilot first, then you can dish out pain. Get to the north POW camp and check out what's the problem -- the enemy SAM tank can be hijacked, or you can destroy it. Once you get rid of enough enemies around the compound, meet the POW and get him to the exposed beach for extraction. When he leaves, it's time to take your kids' gloves off! With the bonuses squirreled away, you will likely have a checkpoint (but don't tempt fate). Get your diisguise on again and drive your "Made In China" vehicle to either of the plane parts located on the island itself. Neutralize the guards and call in an airstrike. Repeat. Now for the hard part. The part floating off shore of the Margaritas is on a Chinese frigate. These are ships that are too large to be operated by one mercenary, so you will face a vehicle that cannot be hijacked. You need to use guile or a lot of firepower (like 4 or 5 Bombing Runs) to destroy the ship. Luckily, there are respawning Chinese gunships when you sound an alert with a Chinese soldier; hijack one, disguise yourself and fly towards the Chinese frigate. The small missile packed Chinese chopper can quickly lay waste to the last plane part with its missile pod; if you don't have (or want) to hijack a Chinese chopper, you can use an A.N. Apache gunship -- just note that the Chinese have lots of SAM soldiers who do not appear as red diamonds on your radar. The Chinese chopper can fly under the frigate's minigun turrets and waste the part before anyone can respond (Apache ditto but riskier). Landing on the frigate to call in an airstrike is possible, but chances are your merc will be killed/knocked out by the twin minigun turrets on the aft deck.

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Mission: Battle for Caracas / Assassinate Peng This is the final story mission in the game. Be sure to complete all your side missions before you initiate this mission, as completing the game will lock out the rest of the outpost missions (you cannot complete them on singleplayer, only in a co-operative match with a player who has not finished the game). Doing this mission will also permanently make the Chinese hostile to your mercenary (the bribe to get them back is gi-normous). There are four Chinese installations in Caracas that you need to get rid of. That should prove easy, since the Chinese forces often spawn a lot of their artillery tanks to get you. Simply hijack one and use it to level the place; or use airstrikes. Joyce isn't too picky about how you do it. Because the A.N. spawns in Caracas outnumber that of the Chinese, you will have an easier time as well. The hard part is getting to the Chinese HQ and nabbing General Peng -- by land at least. General Peng will be at the parapet near the water. There is no bonus for assassinating him, so you can make your life easy by zapping him with a gunship (or airstrike). Just note that there are three SAM tanks around the castle, so you need to get rid of some before the smoke and laser airstrikes are available. You can also take one of the SAM tanks and drive through the castle's battlements (they fit). When in range, you just shoot and kill Peng. Warp back to Caracas and start the final part of the mission (see the PMC page).

After the Battle for Caracas (Allied Nations), a small area around the A.N. HQ will be forever irradiated and cannot be accessed. Since there are no spare parts kits there, it's advisable to favor the A.N. in the final battle, instead of assisting good old General Peng. However, if you do side with the Chinese (who give you greater moral support in your profession) and wind up ensnaring several spare parts in the irradiated zone in Cumana, you can still get them by playing co-operatively with a teammate who has access to north Cumana. At this point, please refer to the Solano Bunker mission on the PMC page.

PMC

Uni-Pet

P.L.A.V.

A.N.

P.R.C.

PAGE 01 | PAGE 02

Asset Summary

The People's Republic of China is equitable with the United States and Russia, with India closing the gap very quickly. No longer a mythical Far Eastern land, Deng Xiao Peng's pragmatists have industrialized China during the 1980s and 90s as much as the Meiji Period did to Japan in the late 19th Century. The faction has good, tough equipment. Although some units (like artillery) are slower and more ungainly than their U.S. equivalents, they are spawned more often than not, giving Chinese forces a greater initial shock value than the A.N. However, once alert is sounded, Chinese equipment just can't outlast the sturdier equipment of the Americans. The Chinese soldiers use the Type 95 rifle, along with guided weapons and SMGs. Their only weakness thus far seems to be air support. A.N. air power is unrivalled in this game.
Area of Operations

Cumana
Principal Contact

General Peng, a.k.a., The Penga Express

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Outposts

Port of Caracas, South Caracas, Southwest Caracas, Southeast Caracas

Outposts for China As the game and Fiona explains, outposts are essentially warp points for Ewan to drop you off. Taking over an outpost is easy -- initiate the mission with the first outpost (or the HQ) and get to the Venezuelan base. Kill the alarms first, then rocket spewing barracks, then SAM sites, tanks, and anything else that outrages your sense of peace. Call in enemy strike teams (always by chopper) and let them take over the marked building one at a time. Outpost missions are handy if you need a chopper to go somewhere, as you have infinite calls for the strike team choppers, but it's far better to take over the outposts to increase your PMC fuel maximum.

Mission: Exit Strategy This mission is a tough one to avoid angering the A.N. Strangely, it's in a place that's considered the Chinese faction's own backyard. For starters, the Chinese missions are generally the hardest in avoiding "unnecessary damage" to your opposing faction, so don't bother with being nice. Although it's tough to bribe back a faction to do their side-jobs, it will likely be your only option (note that subsequent bribes increase substantially fast -- especially if you destroy their outposts to piss them off). For starters, you may want to take Ewan's transit to the Eastern Cumana Outpost (cuts down on travel time). At the Chinese outpost, you can occasionally wrestle control of an A.N. Apache (Ambassador) that drifted too low trying to kill you or your Asian buddies. Although hijacking an Apache isn't necessary, it makes the mission go a hell of a lot easier, because you simply need a helicoptor to get to the Chinese VIP. If you don't have a chopper, you need to call one in; make sure to get rid of the SAM tanks. This however, doesn't get rid of the SAM toting soldiers (who spawn in regularly and don't appear on radar). Thus, the A.N. gunship is the most handy for getting the Chinese VIP in and out. Note that the bonus of destroying the enemy's three buildings needs to be done after rescuing the VIP -- one of the buildings marked for destruction is where the VIP is standing (with two guards and a missile man). Killing your bonuses beforehand results in death (and mission failed). You can try to destroy two of the three buildings, flee, let things cool down, then return for the VIP (tagging the building before taking off is a dare-devil tactic), but far safer is to take the VIP to the Chinese held outpost, get him to some remote spot on the edge of the map (in the hills where you can get him later), then heading back to nuke the bonus buildings. Co-op makes this mission far, far easier. Fly the VIP back to the marked LZ for Chinese extraction and you're done.

PMC

Uni-Pet

P.L.A.V.

A.N.

P.R.C.

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Mission: Price of Gas Love blowing up crap? Hate listening to the whiny bastards who work for Uni-Pet after you hijacked their pick-ups and a gunner stayed on board so they can chat with your merc? Then you're in luck. This mission will anger the A.N. and UniPet at once, since both factions are patrolling Maracaibo. Your goal is to blow up the Uni-Pet HQ, the Uni-Pet Depot (where you got the Devastator), and the Carmona Bridge (the large bridge connecting Maracaibo to Cabimas and Altagracia). That's a pretty tall order, but considering the light stuff Uni-Pet has to throw at you, it shouldn't be all that tough.

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Kill the bridge

The bridge is in three sections (east, middle, west) and guarded by A.N. gunships, two jammers, and more AA guided missile soldiers than a Command and Conquer geek convention. Although it's unlikely, you can try to hijack one of the A.N.'s small cutters/gunboats (small is a relative term -- these are the largest water vessels you can hijack), sail under the bridge and throw a designator into the water (smoke, laser or satellite will work). Or you can use the cutter's weapons on the bridge itself (you'll run out of ammo for sure). You can also systematically destroy the bridge with a mix of C4 and artillery strikes after you disable the jammers on the bridge. (Note that this is not a suggestion for you to commit domestic terrorism on your nation's soil -- by blowing up through-traffic bridges). However, you do it, once all three sections of the Carmona Bridge is down, you can move to the next objective.

Uni-Pet Depot Outpost

This is the small outpost east of the Uni-Pet HQ. Attacking it by sea is best (you may even want to kill this target before you kill the bridge if you seized an A.N. cutter). The Uni-Pet tanks will be out in force, which means more chances to hijack a good tank and using its cannon. Ah, if the vehicle repair kits were still available! You can wreak so much more havoc. There are a lot more targets in the depot, but there is also a lot more fuel tanks. Use them as make shift bombs and the depot should be gone in no time. If you can, hijack a good Uni-Pet tank before moving on. The city is crawling with Uni-Pet's PMCs, and you need all the protection you can muster.

Uni-Pet HQ -- See you in hell Lorraine

The HQ is a sturdy building -- that and the fact the gate is closed to you this time. Since you're not inclined to knock, nuke the place with as much airstrikes as you can spare. The HQ won't take more than three artillery strikes before it turns to a D-minus art class project. Don't mess around too long, as there are infinite enemy respawns throughout (not like you haven't noticed all this time). Once all the targets are gone (Cal-Gon), you will have access to the final story mission for China.

After the Battle for Caracas (China), a large area around the Chinese HQ will be forever irradiated and cannot be accessed. Unlike the A.N. zone of denial, this area covers quite a lot of ground. Worse still, there are several spare parts kits in the Chinese radiation zone. If you did not get them before completing the final mission, you cannot go back in on single-player. Hence, it's advisable to favor the A.N. in the final battle, instead of assisting General Peng. If you do complete the final mission with Chinese moral and nuke support, and wind up missing a few spare parts in Cumana, you can still get them by playing co-operatively with a teammate who has access to that northern area. At this point, please refer to the Solano Bunker mission on the PMC page.

2008 IGN Entertainment, Inc.

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Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Bonus Missions

PMC Bets For Loser Mercenaries These missions use pre-set values to challenge you. If you manually save (good boy!) then you can save before you start a challenge, play it to check it out, then reset/reload to try again -- with the maximum bet allowed to make more money. Once you complete a challenge at level 3, you unlock a new costume for your merc. Jennifer Mui in a bikini? You'll just have to put up with her dry British wit and find out, won't you? A little hint about the challenges -bet the maximum amount at levels 1 (and 2, if you're good). Once you get to level 3, bet the minimum amount so you can keep playing for a little while. A lot of the challenges at level 3 require you to be perfect, or be able to exploit the game's engine to it's maximum to win.

Outpost Missions You should complete the hardest (level 3) missions from outposts before beating the game. Once the game is completed, those missions will no longer be available. This means anything you didn't unlock will now be forever unavailable to that file you were just playing, at least on single-player. You can always try co-op to get the mission done, but that requires cooperation online, and we all know how crazy people online mess up your chances of trophies and achievements now don't we? If you are going after the "no HVTs killed" achievement and trophy (the hardest of all the achievements/trophies), do these outpost missions first before you start offing enemies (saves money in bribes). While Fiona's voice can be annoying, the extra HVT markers mean you make some side missions more interesting.

Capture (do not kill) all 50 High Value Targets This is a challenge to do simply because you might run out of money trying to bribe the faction you pissed off. IGN recommends a systematic method of concentrating all your effort into handling all of one faction's HVTs first (Targets of Opportunity do not count for this trophy and achievement). This way, while the faction being beaten down by your merc is sweating blood, you can rack up the outstanding bounty (50 kills of confirmed hostile soldiers or vehicles of a faction's arch-enemy) at the same time. About the only thing you need to worry about is to manually save after each successful message of "Load HVT". You just need to mess up once and you have to reload and retry the last HVT you accidentally killed. By the time you're done (do the Pirates after the A.N. and China, as only pirate places will be destroyed -- there are no Pirate HVTs) you should have mostly hostile factions, and perhaps one or two neutral or friendly ones. After all the HVT business is done, consider which side (A.N. or China) you want to use for the final mission, and don't bother bribing the faction you're going to slag until after the game is completed. Alternately, you can do these missions after you beat the game, but keep in mind the blanked out areas will not be available to you. If a bonus mission in the game is in the restricted area, you're out of luck. Our advice is not to "shin bet" on all these bonuses being around -- after all, you can always use the extra cash before you decide to fight the world's leading superpowers in Caracas. The money from the last contract will be enough to bribe/placate one side - after you clear all the bonuses.

Standing Bounties Simply kill an enemy soldier or vehicle that is openly hostile to your mercenary. Only units from Uni-Pet, P.L.A.V., the Allied Nations, and China count for this bounty. These four bounties stay even after the game is cleared. Note too that killing official Chinese and American soldiers yield more money ($5O,OOO) instead of $5,OOO for the "amateurs" (PLAV and Uni-Pet).

Destroy Billboards These are easy. There are billboards and advertising signs all over Maracaibo, Caracas, Merida, and Cumano. Simply borrow a tank or an IFV with an explosive autocannon and go around wasting signs. The pay-off is low ($5K) but since this is a standing bounty, you get money each time you destroy a billboard by accident or design.

2008 IGN Entertainment, Inc.

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Spare Parts There are 100 spare parts kits for you to collect. Rather than write a long (very, very, very, very, very, very .... very, very, very long) text description, it's far easier to just mark it on a map. The small white (with red tinge) X-marks are very precise. We've counted, and all 100 marks are there. Although those marks in the open spaces may be slightly off, you shoudl not be lost at all and here's why. Generally speaking, none of the spare parts kits are in the middle of nowhere (the only exceptions are the ones you can try to get before the A.N. and China appears on the map, but that will only occur if you know where the kits already are). Where ever there is an X-mark on the map provided, there is always some sort of fuel depot (hence green markers), HVT, target of opportunity, or some remnants thereof to mark the kit's spot. Print the englarged map (in color) and mark off the little X-marks when you find a spare kit -- it's the fastest way when you are playing.

Since the spare parts kit is so easily spotted (it's bright orange-red), you will very seldom miss it unless you are very careless -- or used so much explosives you bounced the kit out of the area. Just reset the map (visit your PMC and exit) to reset the kit's position. One final note -- any spare kits your partner finds in co-op mode may appear as "received" for your (guest or hosting) character. If you don't want to mess around with counting X's, you can always insure that you play offline -- you share no glory but you won't be as confused.

2008 IGN Entertainment, Inc.

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