Los Santos Backcountry
After Tenpenny evacuates you from Los Santos, you’ll have to do a few favors for him and a pal of his before you can move on to San Fierro. The missions here sometimes involve annoyingly long rides across the country, so if you fail and die or get busted, you can choose between loading your savegame to get all of your weapons back, or just hitting the mission again. If you reload, you’ll have to make the trip to your destination again, but if you just try again without reloading, you can take advantage of the game’s trip-skipping feature.
C.R.A.S.H.
Badlands
Video Walk-through
Getting to the snitch quickly will help you avoid a laborious car chase.
Your first mission for the CRASH bandits involves tracking down and killing an internal affairs snitch. He’s way up in the mountains, so you’ll probably want to track down one of the Sanchez dirtbikes before you head up. You’ve been stripped of all your weapons due to your "arrest," but you can find an Uzi behind a trailer to the southwest of the CRASH mission spot. There’s also a save spot right next to the CRASH trailer, so save up before you head out.
When you reach the hideout, get out of your vehicle and approach on foot towards the back of the cabin. The Feds are all over the place, but the guy you really have to worry about is the snitch; he’ll leave from the back door and head towards the car in the driveway. If he gets in, you’ll have to chase him down and kill him, but if you tag him as he’s leaving the cabin, you can drop him before he gets in the car and make your way back to the drop zone on your own time.
Catalina
First Date
Cesar’s cousin is...feisty, to say the least. After you escort her from the bar, she’ll have four sub-missions for you. They’re not mission-critical, but they pay well, and you’ll have to do at least one before you can move on with the story. Since it’s close by, head over to the gas station near the bar to start with Tanker Commander.
Tanker Commander
Since your stickup at the gas station doesn’t go too well, Catalina decides that it’s time to hijack a nearby big rig and tanker. You’ll have to back the rig into the tanker quite slowly before it hitches on; after you’ve got your load, start heading west out of town. If you follow the road, you should find your destination without a problem. The only trouble here will come from losing the tanker; if you turn too sharply or go over a big bump, it can detach, which will fail your mission. If you do happen to fail, don’t be stupid and reload your game like we did; you don’t lose any weapons or anything, so just head back to Catalina and try it again.
First Base
Thanks, Rockstar, for putting Catalina halfway across the damn state. You’ll need to drive for five minutes or so just to get to her, but at least she’s near a save point, so hit it before entering the house. After a little sweet talk ("I’ll let you kill anyone you wanna kill, baby!"), you’ll have to hit one of the other three robbery missions. The closest one is the off-track betting shop in Montgomery, so take the Buffalo and head out.
Against All Odds
The actual robbery of the betting shop goes fairly smoothly; after you blow open the safe and retrieve the cash (stand well away from the explosion!), though, you’ll have to deal with a four-star wanted level. The nearest spray shop is all the way down in Dillimore, so plan your route with the zoomed-in map and get there right quick.
Gone Courting
Love...is a very tender thing.... This is another interlude mission, so do your business and hit the road. Your next robbery takes place in Blueberry, due west of the hideout.
Local Liquor Store
Unfortunately for you, the liquor store you and Catalina were planning to rob will be hit just before you get there by a gang of rednecks on ATV’s. You’ll manage to nab one for yourself, though, so you’ll have to do your best to keep up with the robbers while Catalina kills them. They’ll drop briefcases full of cash when they drop, so drive over them or retrieve them on foot before continuing your pursuit. Don’t forget that CJ can shoot his Uzi as well, even straight ahead (by pressing the O button), so don’t let Catalina have all the fun. When you retrieve all of the cases, return to the hideout to get your share of the cash.
Made In Heaven
Well, the honeymoon is officially off. Head out to the last robbery after Catalina cuts you loose.
Small Town Bank
When you arrive at the bank, Catalina will tell you to cover the employees with your shotgun. You can hit the L2 and R2 buttons to cycle through them, which will encourage them to keep their hands in the air, but it doesn’t matter, as their hands will drop faster and faster until one of them presumably reaches the alarm. Instead of going through the motions, then, aim at the security guard (on the far right) and blow his head off, since he’s the only one of them that has a weapon.
After the alarm sounds, bust open the three ATMs and grab the cash before heading out the backdoor. You’ll have another little gauntlet of sherrifs to run through before a couple come in on bikes; kill these and start riding off through the backcountry.
When you reach the next town, Catalina will get surrounded by cops, so let her go on ahead and dismount while you’re still a ways away from the police, then take them out with whatever long-range weapon you have. After you finally get back to the hideout, you’ll be able to take another mission from Cesar; just wait for him to call you on his cell phone.
Farewell, My Love
Another race, this time involving someone who appears to be the unnamed main character of Grand Theft Auto III. The race itself is an exact reversal of Wu Zi Mu race that Cesar initiated, but you’ll be in a tight little ZR-350 this time, meaning that you’ll have an even harder time controlling yourself while you’re on the dirt roads. The good news is that you should be a lot faster than the AI cars, especially in the straights, so if you can build up a good lead, you can take the twists and turns near the river at the end of the race at your own pace.
After you win, get out of the car to get a cell phone call from The Truth, who has another mission for you.
