Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory/M-03

Here is the first mission playing with teammates. You'll be facing off against a rival gang to see who can pick up and deliver the most cargo in the shortest amount of time. Included in the mix are some law enforcement vehicles, who only seem interested in you for some reason. Each pickup location will only have a single item, so it's first-come, first-served. You win by being the first team to make five deliveries in the time limit. In your first play through, you will only have the Super Buggy and theD-5 Hondo from which to choose, and you can go either way on how to make up your team. If you are going to play with the Buggy and you think you can get ahold of the loot without much problem, then pick Hondos for your teammates and they will keep the rival gang off your back. If you're going with the Hondo yourself, you may want to include one or more Buggies on your team to go after the next pickup if they're closer.

If all vehicles are open to you, you have probably formulated your team strategy by now. For a refresher course, you can take a look at the Gameplay page for a breakdown of team roles and how they work together with different driving styles.

Walkthrough
Because anything can happen during a team mission, this isn't an exact walkthrough. You'll need to be somewhat familiar with the area to be most effective on this level, and you may end up getting items from other vehicles rather than pickup locations. You start out with the first pickup between you and the rival gang. It pays early to have a fast vehicle that can snag the loot before the other team gets there. If you get the item first, be prepared to flip around, because the first drop off is behind you. The second pickup is on top of a hill in the middle of the area. Depending on which way you're coming from, it's possible to overshoot the grab and have to make your way back uphill. The second drop off zone is out of the way in a relatively open area, so there is plenty of room to maneuver if there's a rival cherrypicking you there.

Things start to get complicated at the third pickup, because it's on top of a hill and you'll need to get back down and across a river to get to its delivery point. There's not a lot of room to juke an enemy at the delivery zone, and you may also find that a train is coming through to further complicate matters. The fourth pickup is a little easier if you didn't get flattened by the train; it's all alone in the middle of a huge slope. From there, you can get some good speed on the way down and over the train tracks on the way to the next drop off. The next location is back on the tracks where you started the level, so make sure not to kill yourself if you're coming off the top of the ravine to nab it. Its delivery zone is back along the tracks and into the valley. If you're quick enough, you can fly off the edge and over a rival cherrypicker right into the delivery location.

There are more pickup and drop off locations, but eventually either the other team will get five deliveries before you, or the time will run out.

Best time
In order to finish this mission with the fastest time, you need to make all deliveries yourself. The quickest way to do that is to make all the pickups yourself. Your most helpful teammates are going to be backs, because it is of paramount importance that the rival forward doesn't get a pickup before you. You don't need a corner, because if the rival team gets a pickup, you can't get the best time, and while guards are useful as defense against the enemy backs and corners, they won't stop the other forward from snagging loot. Use Grenadiers for your teammates because they are faster than Kavostovs, and pick the ATV Monster for yourself. During the entire run, if your friends do their jobs right, you shouldn't ever see them or any of the rival gang except for the guy cherrypicking all your drop off zones.

Pickup 1
You start the mission with the first pickup right in front of you, but don't boost immediately because you'll need the speed to make a 180° turn without slowing down too much. A second after "Activate" fades from the screen and you've gotten closer to the loot, boost the rest of the way and make a hard right turn without using the handbrake. You'll run up onto the hill on the side of the ravine, and if done correctly, your speed should be back over 100mph by the time you're heading to the drop off zone. At the drop off, do a quick handbrake $($$)$ and turn left just before the delivery location so that you're ready to zoom back down the hill into the ravine.

Pickup 2
When you hit the bottom of the ravine, boost along the train tracks even after your arrow starts turning to the right. You'll want to take a shallow angle up the slope of the hill to avoid the cop who's waiting up there. At this heading you should only need a slight adjustment to the left to be going directly to the next drop off. You can head straight for it, as this part is nice and smooth with just a little hop going over the train tracks. Don't worry about cherrypickers here, as you've probably beaten them to the delivery point and if you haven't, they're most likely not set up yet. Do another slight handbrake-left down the slope next to your delivery spot, because you'll need to go in the opposite direction for the next pickup.

Pickup 3
As you cross the valley here, you may encounter some cops who come flying over the train tracks at you. Just avoid them, but try to finish your maneuvers before jumping the tracks yourself or you may find yourself losing control when you land on the other side. There are three guys standing around and a flatbed between you and the hill you're headed to, and hitting any of them can have a drastic effect on your route and time. Make a hard turn to the left with no handbrake at the next pickup, so you can go over the highest point of the ridge facing the river. It's very easy to land badly in the water, and if you don't turn far enough left you may land on a tree or another truck. Now straight ahead around the hill to the right is the road leading up to the drop off point. More than likely there will be a Baja Truck waiting for you in an awkward hilly area. When juking this guy, make sure you veer right then come back left to make the delivery, because you'll need to go left out of there to the next pickup. If you can make this drop off right in front of the train, you'll know you're doing good on time.

Pickup 4
Use another boost to get across the water here, and avoid smashing into the flatbed that comes out of nowhere when you're in the blurred motion of a super boost. Angle up the slope to the next pickup earlier rather than later so you can get a good hard turn back downhill. You don't want to boost down across the valley if you were ahead of the train before, because you'll more than likely smash into it or have to go out of your way to avoid it. Just aim to take the jump right over the tracks where they descend from the bridge, and hopefully the train will have just passed if you're doing good on time. You'll probably land in the river on the way to the drop off, and if you can, you'll want to head to the left around the hill so that you can make your delivery on a right turn to put you facing the next pickup. Beware of the guy cherrypicking here, as he is one of the harder ones to avoid.

Pickup 5
After making your drop off, head across the river and hit your boost to get up the hill, straight over to the next pickup. It's fairly uneven around here, so watch your handling as the ATV likes to bounce around. You should come flying off the ravine edge to the pickup, and if you're still doing good on time, the train will just be passing the loot. Snag the contraband and turn the quickest way depending on your landing so that you're facing toward the last drop off. When you're heading in the right direction, hit your last boost and aim directly for the delivery point. You want to fly over the rival gang member who's guarding it and hit the red smoke about twenty feet above the ground to make your delivery.