Jak II/Industrial

Mission: Rescue Vin at the Strip Mine

Location: Strip Mine

It's been a while since Torn has had a mission for us, but he's got one now. Follow the dagger icon to the resistance HQ and go in.

Cutscene: "Vin Needs Help"

Torn tells you that the baron's strip mine is being attacked by Metal Heads. This normally wouldn't a problem for the Underground but one of their informants, Vin, is trapped there and needs to be rescued. Torn points you to the power station where you can warp to the strip mine.

Follow the lightning icon to the power station in the industrial section. It's actually on the upper level reachable by catwalks bordering the buildings here. Go in and use the warp gate to get to the Strip Mine.

This is a sandy area with hills that are too steep to climb and pools of dark eco which spell instant death if you touch one. As expected the place is swarming with Metal Heads so explore as much of the area as you can if you're looking for gems. Take your time doing this though since the Metal Heads will tend to come at you all at once if you go too quickly.

You destination is marked by a golden beam of light, but figuring out how to reach it is a bit of a puzzle. Start heading west toward the light, but turn left when you come to a pool of dark eco and follow the conveyor belt when you reach it. Bear right at the end of the conveyor belt and follow the passage to the southwest corner of the area. Now ride the conveyor belts to the roof of the building there. At the far end you'll see a train of cable cars carrying ore; hop onto one of them to be carried north to another building.

Cutscene: "Meeting Vin"

You open the door there only to be shot at by the person inside, Vin. He's been hiding from the Metal Heads for a while now and the stress is too much for him. You manage to calm him down through and with the Metal Heads out of the way he's glad to use the nearby warp gate to get back to the power station.

Mission: Detroy Eggs at Drill Platform

Location: Drill Platform

It's pretty much impossible to avoid starting this mission after rescuing Vin, so there's no point to giving directions to it.

Cutscene: "Vin Wants Scrambled Eggs"

Vin thanks you for rescuing him but there's a new problem. There's been a drop in production from the city's main source of eco, the Drill Platform. Since eco powers the shields that keep the Metal Heads out, it's essential to keep production up, so Vin asks you to find out what the problem is. He strongly suspects that it's Metal Head eggs draining the eco though.

Use the Warp Gate to get to the Drilling Platform. It's the same one that took you to the Strip Mine in the last mission but somehow it knows that you want to go to the Drilling Platform. Follow the ledge west, clearing some spinning Metal Heads along the way, until you reach a lift. The lift starts on the middle floor; step on it once to got to the top, again to go to the bottom, and a third time to return to the middle. There are several lifts like this in the area and they may be a bit confusing at first since they break the universal video game law that lifts alternate up and down.

On the top level, mount the anti-aircraft gun which seems to be the only weapon capable of destroying Metal Head eggs. While in the gun you will be attacked by Metal Heads in flying jet-pack suits, so you actually do use the anti-aircraft gun against aircraft. The gun has a health bar shown as a ring in the middle of the screen, and if this reaches zero it will blow up. The gun also has a proximity sensor which points in the direction of the closest enemy; use it keep track of incoming Metal Heads. Meanwhile, the whole point of being here is to destroy the eggs; they glow a greenish yellow so they shouldn't be too hard to spot, though they can be above or below you an any direction. A counter on the right shows you how many eggs are left, so don't exit the gun until it reaches 0. While you're destroying the eggs you may notice that you break open a wall in one of the buildings nearby; this will be used to get to the next area.

Dismount the gun and take the lift to the bottom level. Scale the ledges here and continue right until you reach the broken wall mentioned above. There is a tricky type of Metal Head here that you haven't dealt with before; it hides behind a shield that protects it from your attacks. Its weakness is that it can't shoot through its own shield. So stand in front of it provocatively until it moves its shield aside to fire, then dodge its shot and shoot back. This takes some practice to master but it's worth it because these enemies appear in several areas of the game.

There are more spinning Metal Heads on the next platform, so eliminate them before you start to explore it. Check to the left for a group of barrels that are stacked one high, and more next to them that are stacked two high. Hop on one then the other and then to a platform. There is a bridge with flames coming out of it periodically, so wait for the right moment and cross quickly. Continue over a similar bridge and smack the red lever to raise a ledge like a giant spatula for a couple seconds. Hop on it and hop again to the next ledge. Follow a conveyor belt, then turn the corner for another switch and spatula, followed by a long bridge. A Metal Head in a jet-pack appears on the far side and there's nothing really you can do about it until it shoots the bridge a few times. Fortunately there will still be enough to cross and it takes you to the next lift.

This one works the same way except there are a few more enemies guarding it. Use the anti-aircraft gun to clear eggs as before. Go to the bottom level, watching out for a swarm of Metal Heads, and scale some barrels to a broken wall. Defeat the Metal Head with the shield as before. In the next room there are a number of ledges along the wall but no floor. Most of the ledges collapse a second after you step on them, so hop quickly to the corner swinging on the horizontal poles to get over the wider gaps. This takes you to the last lift and anti-aircraft gun. Use them as before, now as a result of your weapon fire a crane collapses leaving a beam conveniently placed so you can reach a Warp Gate back to the power station.

Mission: Beat Time to Race Garage

Location: Haven City (Port to Stadium)

Reward: Green pass (start)

Follow the martini glass icon to the Hip Hog and go in.

Cutscene: "Krew's Racing Contract"

Krew says the city's champion racer is Erol and he needs someone willing to race against him for a client. He has a "standard" contract all ready for you; all you have to do is prove your skill by getting to the stadium in three minutes. He gives you a security pass which allows you to get past the barrier between the slums and downtown.

First a little bit about the security passes. You got the red pass which opened up part of the city after completing a few of Torn's missions, so it seems reasonable that you would get a new one to open the city a bit more at around this point in the game. It seems likely that what was meant to happen is that you would get the green pass now and then the yellow pass a bit later after doing some missions related to the stadium. What actually happens though is that you can get the passes in either order. If you get the yellow one first then you can travel to any part of the city, and the one green barrier only forces you to take a longer route if you want to get from the slums to downtown.

This wouldn't be that important but in this mission, since you have to cross the city very quickly, the route you take is critical. If you have the yellow pass then you can go straight north into the downtown area, there aren't as many turns, and the streets are mostly wide boulevards. In fact you don't even need the green pass that Krew gives you even for a shortcut. If you don't have the yellow pass then you're forced to wind your way through the alleys in the industrial area and the slums. Not that it's impossible without the yellow pass, but it's more difficult and may require a lot of practice and course memorization. The upshot is that if you want to avoid some anger and frustration, first do the Find Pumping Station Patrol mission first to get the yellow pass. There is a trade-off though in that if you do this mission and Krew's next mission you can get a weapon upgrade which may help with the mission to get the yellow pass.

In any case, the mechanics are pretty simple. Follow the wrench (aka spanner) icon to the stadium, then look for the golden beam of light to show you where to park your zoomer. The KG will ignore you unless you hit one of them, so switch between high and low to avoid them and other traffic. If you do alert the KG then just drive low since the damage has been done. There is a chance that the alert will lift while you're driving if you stay out of sight long enough.

Cutscene: "Who's Behind the Curtain?"

You call out looking for Krew's client, but all you can see is a rather shapely shadow behind a curtain. In a suspiciously familiar voice she informs you that she's not actually looking for a driver after all and she's too busy to discuss it. But she is working on a JET-Board prototype and if you can do well with it on the stadium course you might have what it takes to be a racer.

Mission: Win JET-Board Stadium Challenge

Location: Haven City (stadium)

This mission is started for you when you complete the Beat Time to Race Garage mission. Follow the flag icon to the stadium proper; it's just a little way from the garage where you start. Pick up the board in the golden beam of light and the voice you heard earlier gives you a quick lesson on how to use the board. Follow along and you will be led to the stadium JET-Board course. The course itself is very complex and interesting, but if you just want to complete the mission then you'll be wasting your time if you give it much study. Like the gun courses, you can win Bronze, Silver and Gold trophies. Do a bit of extra practice if you want, then go into the golden beam of light to start the course. Before doing so we recommend you mute the speaker, otherwise you'll hear the voice tell you to combine moves 4 or 5 times during each run.

You have a minute and a half to accumulate the points needed to pass. Normal jumps don't earn any points and grinding earns too little to amount to much, so you want to concentrate on trick jumps. This means press , then either or plus in some direction. Do these in quick succession and you should be able to pass the challenge. This probably won't work to get any of the medals though. None of the trick jumps are much use in the rest of the game, so don't bother trying to improve your score once you get a pass unless you specifically want to get the medals. With all the jumping around you might lose track of the exit, so when you're done look for the golden beam of light since the exit is right next to it.

The game makes you put the JET-Board back where you found it as you exit the stadium. You will eventually get it to keep, but not until later in the game. Follow the wrench icon back to the garage.

Cutscene: "A Piece of Information"

You tell the person behind the curtain that you passed the challenge, but she's a bit prejudiced against you because you work for Krew. You mention that the race champion gets to visit the palace and she says that she knows of another way in if you can restore the power to an elevator in one of the support towers.

Mission: Find Pumping Station Patrol

Location: Pumping Station

Reward: Yellow pass (completion)

Follow the dagger icon to the Underground HQ and go in.

Cutscene: "Torn Has A Mission"

Torn says a friend of his in the Krimzon Guard was sent on patrol to the Pumping Station but hasn't reported in on schedule. In reality she's working for the Underground so Torn wants you to investigate and help if needed.

Follow the propeller icon to the Pumping Station gate and go though. This is the third mission here so you should be familiar with the area already. Follow the path from the first mission, but this time when you reach a ramp near the end, use the three moving pistons opposite to get to a new ledge. You could probably get to this point just as fast by following the path from the second mission. The three pistons weren't working in previous missions so this is the first time you can reach the ledge. Follow if to the top.

Cutscene: Meeting Ashelin

Daxter has low expectations about what a female Krimzon Guard might look like, but then she takes you by surprise in more ways than one. You convince her you're on her side but she tells you she doesn't need your help. But just then a large number of Metal Heads appear.

Defeat the Metal Heads; it's a good time to use Dark Jak if available.

Cutscene: Daxter Makes His Move

Ashelin boards her transport to leave while pointing out the symbol of Mar, the artifact she was searching for here. She says that Onin, a soothsayer in the bazaar section of Haven City, might know more about the symbol. She leaves behind her security pass so you can get to that section of the city.

Ashelin doesn't give you a ride back to town so you're kind of left in the middle of nowhere. There is a shortcut though; look for a gap in the trees behind the symbol of Mar and drop down the ledge there. You should land on a pair of pistons fairly close to the area entrance.

Mission: Collect Money for Krew

Location: Haven City

Follow the martini glass icon to the Hip Hog and go in.

Cutscene: "Whine, Women and Song"

You meet the new bartender that happens to be the same blonde woman who was with Torn before you joined the Underground. Her name is Tess and she was actually sent by Torn to find out what Krew is up to. While Daxter is busy exploring Krew's refreshment selection, Krew tells you he needs someone to make some collections for him.

Hop on the zoomer outside the saloon and start following the green circles that show you where the pickups are. Just after the start the KG will go into alert mode, so fly at the lower level when possible. The route starts in the port, then makes a tour of the industrial area, and returns to the port again ending back at the Hip Hog.

Unless you make a serious wrong turn the time limits between pickups shouldn't be a problem. Instead what you have to worry about is all the fire your zoomer takes from the KG. So if your zoomer starts to smoke start looking for a replacement before the damage gets too bad and it blows up on you. You'll probably need to get a fresh vehicle after 2 or 3 pickups for the single seater, but a heaver model can probably last for 4 to 7 pickups. Don't wait until your zoomer blows up or you might have to stop and search for a new ride, which will almost certainly run out the timer.

Go inside after getting the last package.

Cutscene: "Quite the Money Collectors"

You give Krew his money and in return he gives you a weapon upgrade. This increases the scatter gun rate of fire.