Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory/Vehicles

There are eight different playable vehicles in Hostile Territory and one extra in Warzones, making it easier to find the characteristics that best fit your driving style. You will be given an opportunity to choose your vehicle from the your unlocked stock before each mission. While playing, you will be faced with time limits, rugged terrain and dogged enemies. There are different aspects to each vehicle which are best suited to one or another of these challenges. Depending on the current mission, you may need a stronger vehicle, which means it will be slower, or you may need a good climber and be willing to give up handling. Vehicle choice can make or break the success of your mission, so consider your driving style and what needs to be accomplished on the current level before making your decision.

Each vehicle has a distinct set of specifications based on speed, acceleration, handling and weight.
 * 1) Speed: On flat, straight terrain, the top speed the vehicle is capable of reaching.
 * 2) Acceleration: The speed with which the vehicle can attain top speed.
 * 3) Handling: How well the vehicle responds to player direction. This is not a gauge of responsiveness, as some of the lighter vehicles are overly-responsive and have been given a low handling ratings.
 * 4) Weight: The ability to withstand damage.

Each vehicle also has a team role and one or two countermeasures. In Hostile Territory, each vehicle gets one countermeasure, while in Warzones, they get two. In each section, "Countermeasure 1" is the one both games have, and "Countermeasure 2" is the Warzones-specific one. Team missions are played with two allies against a rival gang of three. Each vehicle's role dictates their strategy during the competition, either to snag loot, beat up other cars, protect you or cherrypick back at the other gang's dropoff point. Every vehicle gets five uses its countermeasure(s), which are unlocked at different times for each vehicle after beating certain missions. Countermeasures help you deal with law enforcement or rivals that are chasing you.

Super Buggy

 * Unlockable
 * Vehicle: Starting Vehicle
 * Countermeasure 1: Mission 2
 * Countermeasure 2:

You start with the Super Buggy on a new game, and it's considered a general purpose vehicle. It has decent stats in all categories, and with speed burst unlocked you'll find it much easier to escape from enemies or get back up to speed after a crash or spinout. One great advantage of the Super Buggy is its stable landing. Use the levelout properly in the air, and this car can land even the most awkward jumps very well. Although its handling is rated relatively low, its controls are not very sensitive, which can be an advantage for players who are having a hard time with precision steering.

As your teammate, the Super Buggy will attempt to pick up and deliver cargo for you. When you encounter a law enforcment Super Buggy, they employ the strategy of running up alongside you trying to push you off course. This car will be almost totally useless on the missions that require you to take out another vehicle, and harder to work with on missions where you take down radio towers. The vehicle is too light to do much damage to another car, and doesn't have an offensive countermeasure. The radio tower missions are doable, but just running into a tower does significant damage to the car.

In the hands of an experienced player with good route knowledge and driving skill, the Super Buggy is second only to the ATV for turning in low times on most missions. For less capable or newer players, it is a good practice vehicle on the early missions, but should be passed over in favor of stronger, better climbers in the later missions.

D-5 Hondo

 * Unlockable
 * Vehicle: Training Mission 3
 * Countermeasure 1: Mission 8
 * Countermeasure 2:

The Hondo is a slow, rugged little vehicle. It only exceeds the Buggy in one category, because it doesn't hop around as much on small bumps and jumps. Since they have the same weight, this is really attributed to the Hondo not being able to achieve speeds at which the terrain will throw you around. There is really nothing good to say about this vehicle, except for it being able to take a fair amount of damage and its decent countermeasure, the Oil Slick. The Hondo is basically outclassed in every regard by the Sahara Special, so you'll only want to use this vehicle on early missions where you are taking too much heat from the law enforcement. In its favor, the Oil Slick is a great way to temporarily lose the enemies that will have no trouble keeping up with you, as long as they are directly behind. Be careful not to use this while in a long turn, or you'll end up crossing your own tracks and spinning yourself out.

In its team role, the Hondo attempts to ward off rival gang members that are trying to bash you or steal your cargo. The vehicle does a decent job at this, although as with any guard, you'll find yourself getting entangled with him often enough if you are doing a lot of tight turns and 180°s. On the opposite team, the Hondo is most noticeable as the vehicle that comes out of nowhere over a rise for a head-on collision. Guards should be picked last, as all the other roles are more critical, and the Hondo itself is nearly worthless, so don't expect to spend much time driving this vehicle when it's not required.

ATV Monster

 * Unlockable
 * Vehicle: Mission 10
 * Countermeasure 1: Mission 14
 * Countermeasure 2:

The ATV, like the Super Buggy is a forward with super boost countermeasure. For practical purposes, this is the fastest vehicle in the game. Its top speed is only surpassed by the Du Monde, although with the terrain in the game, you'll rarely be able to open up the Du Monde to see those higher end velocities. The ATV is also the smallest, lightest vehicle in your fleet. As such, it has extremely touchy handling and even the smallest bump can send it flying off course. While this may seem similar to the Du Monde, the ATV has far greater acceleration, so any slowdowns you experience are much less noticeable.

In team missions, the ATV will act as a forward and try to bring back contraband for you. Even though its stats are different from the Buggy, the same inefficient AI is in control, so they are equivalent choices. Where you may see a difference is when the other side uses the ATV instead of the Buggy. In that case, you'll find it much harder to tag the ATV if you're trying to steal its contraband. It presents a smaller target, has better acceleration and will make more unpredictable movements due to uneven terrain.

Even though this vehicle is easily destroyed and hard to control, there is none better if you're going for high score. For nearly every mission in the game, provided you have it unlocked, the ATV with super boost will get the job done faster. On the few missions where you need to destroy other vehicles or radio towers, it's not the right choice, but by and large the ATV dominates the field in terms of time to completion. Unless you don't mind extremely difficult and frustrating levels, this vehicle is for experienced players only.

Special Du Monde

 * Unlockable
 * Vehicle: Mission 18
 * Countermeasure 1: Mission 21
 * Countermeasure 2:

Baja Truck

 * Unlockable
 * Vehicle: Mission 4
 * Countermeasure 1: Mission 7
 * Countermeasure 2:

Sahara Special

 * Unlockable
 * Vehicle: Mission 13
 * Countermeasure 1: Mission 17
 * Countermeasure 2:

Grenadier

 * Unlockable
 * Vehicle: Mission 24
 * Countermeasure 1: Mission 25
 * Countermeasure 2:

Kavostov

 * Unlockable
 * Vehicle: Mission 27
 * Countermeasure 1: Mission 29
 * Countermeasure 2:

Hover Sled

 * Unlockable
 * Vehicle: Get a "GREAT" rating in all Smuggler's Missions.
 * Countermeasure 1:
 * Countermeasure 2: