Chapter 2: The Snowstorm¶

Well, we’re in a snowstorm. Lovely. As you can guess, the snow will affect your visibility, but as you play the storm will occasionally pick up every now and again and make things even harder to see. Just a forewarning!

After the cutscene, head forward and climb up the ladder. At the top you’ll see a shack but more importantly a mini-map of the area will appear in the top right-hand corner of the screen to help show where the data chips are that we need to find.

From the ladder, grab the [ GREEN HERB ] to the right. Head down the walkway here and jump down to a lower level. Before jumping down again, destroy the [ WOODEN BARREL ] for some supplies. Jump down again and near the barrel you will find [ WOODEN BOX x3 ] along with a [ SNIPER RIFLE ] just laying there. What luck!

As you can undoubtedly tell, one of the data chips we need is over to the right, but it’s on some higher ground, so we can’t nab it easily. Instead, we’ll need to head northeast, but as you do two J’avo will head towards the data chip and jump down to your level to attack you from behind (so be ready!).

Up at the top of the path Jake and Sherry will encounter their first set of Meset enemies. These flying foes can be a pain due to their elusiveness, but keep on the move and remain elusive yourself to avoid them. They will hover and even land at time, letting you get off several shots in a row.

After taking care of them, head onwards and jump down to the area below. You will be attacked by two J’avo down here, from the north, so take them out. Note that in this area you can literally fight waves of J’avo enemies from the north by simply waiting for them to come, a good place to hone your fighting skills and pick up skill points and item drops if you wish. Beware of any J’avo with sniper rifles and note that some J’avo can morph into Meset or change their upper-body into a set of jaws when damaged.

When you are tired of fighting, head towards the southeast data chip. You’ll jump a gap on your way, and when you get near it be sure to destroy the [ WOODEN BOX ] and [ WOODEN BARREL ] in the area before grabbing the [ FOS MEMORY DEVICE B ]. One down, two to go.

Head north now to the area you may or may not have been fighting in. There is a [ WOODEN BARREL ] here as well as a ladder. Time to get some supplies! Climb up the ladder and head left, following the track. At the end break the [ WOODEN BARREL ] you find. The ladder here leads up to a ledge, but there’s nothing up there so ignore it. To the left of the barrel is a hole you can crawl under, but before doing so make sure you have two empty inventory spaces. Once you do, crawl under it and be sure to jam on the “pick up items” button. This little trip will drop you off by the sniper rifle barrel from much earlier, but will also net you a [ GREEN HERB ] and a [ RED HERB ].

Head back to the ladder and head north now, sticking to the right. Note that if you fight here (on this incline) and get knocked down, you will slide all the way to the bottom (so be careful of those annoying snipers and snipe them first!). This path will lead to a large open area on the left with stacks of lumber. You will also have to fight more J’avo up here, some of which will be riding some snowmobiles! Be sure not to get run over! The number of J’avo you face here will vary depending on how many you took out before, but you’ll always face at least two. There’s a Serpent Emblem nearby as well:

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After acquiring the emblem, destroy the [ WOODEN BARREL ] and grab the [ FOS MEMORY DEVICE A ]. With that grabbed, head south towards the bridge. There is a [ WOODEN BOX ] to the right of the bridge you can smash. Once you got it go ahead and cross the rickety wooden bridge heading east. Once you’re back on land, keep your eyes open to the right for [ WOODEN BOX x2 ] to smash by a truck. From here we need to nab another Serpent Emblem:

$$$item 1668

After that, head north and note the corpse. Enter the small shack for [ WOODEN BARREL x2 ], [ WOODEN BOX x2 ] and a box containing [ 4000 SKILL POINTS ] and [ FLASH GRENADE x2 ]. Very nice. Head outside and grab the [ FOS MEMORY DEVICE C ] but as soon as you do the corpse will turn into a Meset. Go figure.

Take care of it and start to head back. We need to head to the base of the tower and then north/northwest. Near the gate you’ll have to kill another Meset, so take it out and enter. You’ll get to see some cutscenes afterwards.

Invitation Only¶

Well, this scenario seems familiar, no? Time to show off your killing skills!

For the first part of this fight, J’avo will only come in through the two windows. Fairly easy to manage, right? Note that you can pickup some [ 9MM AMMO ] from a counter in the corner, but focus on staggering and then using melee moves on foes. Do anything you can to get them on the ground so you can head-stomp them!

After killing off 4-5 J’avo, a small scene will occur showing some other J’avo blowing open part of the cabin! This of course makes a big hole in the wall, allowing many more J’avo in. I highly recommend using a flash grenade or two here near the hole as you can easily catch 4-5 J’avo in the blast and can put down some killing melee moves. If you need health, be sure to try and exhaust your stamina before popping a health pill so you can instantly refresh your stamina again. Pair that with flash grenades to become a non-stop melee killing machine.

Soon the J’avo will then out and you’ll have to head outside. Doing so will trigger an avalanche, but thankfully there are two snowmobiles out here you can “borrow”. You of course had the option to try out these snowmobiles earlier, but since we are forced to use them now here are the controls:

You’ll of course want to accelerate as much as possible. The first section of this part is very linear. Just keep going and try not to steer hard to the right! Pretty soon Sherry will tell you to stick to the right, so do so to avoid the avalanche on the left. You’ll soon be in an area filled with trees which you’ll have to avoid. Stay generally to the right as the left can kill you and weave through the trees. It’s ok to let off the gas a little to ensure you don’t hit any trees but keep going!

Next you’ll hit a very icy patch of land, with plenty of jumps. This whole section leads to a cave at the end, but also has a Serpent Emblem coming up! Read ahead to make sure you grab it and be careful of the sides of this area as the avalanche can clip you and ruin your day.

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With the emblem in hand, head into the cave. Keep your speed up even if it sounds like the avalanche is gone (it isn’t!). Outside of the cave the ground will start breaking up, forcing you to aim for the chunks of land below you. Whatever you do, do not drive off any edged or even get caught up on them. A good tactic is to break slightly to adjust your snowmobile and then floor it! Also do not try to cut corners and drive over and land cracks that are breaking as you may very well fall to your death. Keep racing onwards and when Sherry yells jump be ready to hit a timed button press to end this section.

The Mines¶

Head forward and fight off some bats before entering the door at the end. Once you enter, watch the cutscene. Oh boy…

Here, the bugs (officially called “Oko”, but lovingly referred hereto as “bugs”) are obviously Ustanak’s sentries. But how to get rid of them?

Well, they only scan in front of themselves, meaning you can head behind them and smack them down. This kills them and gets rid of them, and is definitely the preferred way of dealing with them. Head to the left and you’ll see a garbage bin. You can hide in these. You can also shoot the bugs if you wish and then hide in these, but why waste the bullet? Shooting the bugs also alerts Ustanak, making hiding necessary.

Kill the first two bugs from behind and drop down to the lower level. Now, before killing more bugs down here let me give you a little heads up. The hallway here has three ice walls on the left, separating the hallway from the room beyond. Ustanak is in the room over there and will crash through these walls if you get caught.

However, if you want to easily get some skill points we’ll want to get caught! The idea here is to find the first ice wall, and let the first bug catch you by it when Ustanak is somewhere close beyond the wall. Then quickly run to the garbage can and hide. Ustanak will crash through the wall and will open it up for you. Once he’s gone, you can kill the first bug and use the hole to find a box in the corner of that room for [ 4000 SKILL POINTS ].

Getting those skill points can be tricky, so only attempt that if you are comfortable with fleeing. Otherwise just kill the two bugs in the path down here and soon you can either head up to the left on a ledge or drop down again. Be sure to take the small ladder to the left for a box with [ 2000 SKILL POINTS ].

Drop down to the lowest level and follow the path. At the end, push the cart out of the way with your partner to see a small scene. You’ll now have access to a new area, with plenty of bugs searching for you in a central area and garbage containers near the walls. Note that only the first garbage container on the left wall can be hidden in! Follow the left wall around the room and down some stairs to find a box with [ 5000 SKILL POINTS ] in it… may as well grab that!

Now, the bugs in this section are so clustered that we have to think carefully before we jump in. First, note that there is a small stand overlooking the entire lower area. You can use this to map out how the bugs travel, if you wish. To get down into that area you can either take the stairs or take the ladder by the right wall. Also note that there are five bugs total.

Go stand by the ladder. The section by the ladder is patrolled by a single bug who will eventually pass the ladder. Once he does, you can drop down and smack him from behind. One down.

With him gone, go stand by the stairs. To the left of the stairs is a small path that is patrolled by two bugs - one full time on a short route and one on a long route. The short route bug can be squashed easily when the long route bug is away, but retreat back to the stairs ASAP once you squish him. Two down. Now wait for the long route bug and kill him off. Three down.

The fourth bug patrols the far path parallel to the stairs but doesn’t round the corner that you killed the last two bugs on. This means you can wait for it to turn away by the corner and sneak up on it easily. Four down. The fifth bug patrols the stairway to the exit, going up and down the stairs. You can follow it up the stairs and kill it at the top. Five down. Area secure!

With the bugs dead, head up to the door. Here, go ahead and interact with the door so you turn the wheel on it, but do not enter. Emblem time!

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Once you have the emblem, Ustanak will hear the gunshot. However, with the door nearly open, simply turn around and enter the door. This will stop him.

Out here, once you start to walk on the ice Ustanak will hear you and break through a wall on the left. Funny how he travels so fast, huh!? Run down the path here and slide (LT, L1) when the gap comes up! You’ll be safe for now. Head up the ladders to find yourself back in the original wide-open area.

Jump down and you’ll see a quick scene. Now we need to get ourselves a keycard! To the right of this area you can find [ REMOTE BOMB x4 ]. Grab them and then head to the left. You’ll find a busted ladder that Sherry needs to head up. Send her on up and then she can access the keycard, but Ustanak is standing nearby.

We need to distract him! Take a remote bomb and set one up over on the right side of the area, where you found the bombs. Head back to the door and then detonate it. Once you do, Ustanak will head over there (with any bugs) and Sherry can grab the [ KEYCARD ] and return to you. Head through the door and watch the short scene.

Here, follow the short path to the wheel door. Do the normal process of turning the wheel and then opening the door, but keep that process in your head as soon the Ustanak will be at the door. Quickly turn around and open the next door! It is slightly harder to open but get through it ASAP! Yet another door is in your way so quickly open that one as well and finally yet another door. This last door is hard to open, and you must be fast in order to survive!

Once you are through that door you’ll see a scene. After the scene you will be on a giant drill, battling the Ustanak head-to-head! You will need to follow the on-screen prompts here to succeed. It’s a set pattern of turning your analog stick and then pressing a timed button. Repeat that until you drive the Ustanak back and finish him off for good!

After the battle of the drills, head towards the sunlight to exit the mines. Enjoy the cutscene that follows… it’s a good one!