IX. The Cruiser

"Garza's funeral is interrupted by a surprise Helghast attack on Colonel Templar's cruiser task force. The crew of the New Sun prepares to defend their ship."

[INTEL: 1]; [SYMBOLS: 0]

Landing Bay: "Alpha Team splits up to go to their assigned posts. Sev must take the main elevator to the bridge, while Rico and Natko guard the central Intruder launch bay."

Walk forward when you gain control of Sev, taking the elevator up directly in front of you. Depart when it stops, turning to the left as one of the wall explodes. Helghast board the ship from a transport. Throw a grenade to kill as many as possible, taking cover with your ally to shoot the rest. This is an ideal spot to try getting five kills with one grenade for the trophy. Use the elevator near where the Helghast entered to continue up to the bridge.

Bridge: "The Helghast attack is overwhelming Colonel Templar's task force. Sev and the other soldiers onboard are asked to buy some time for the New Sun."

Step off the elevator and turn right to reach the bridge. Inside, talk to Colonel Templar. Return to the elevator when you have your new objective to descend to the gun deck. Collect ammunition on the weapons rack before heading into the power room.

Power Room: "Sev must make it to the AA gun deck but needs to fight off the invaders as the Helghast are dangerously close to the bridge."

The power room is pretty large, with multiple decks and walkways where Helghast have taken position. Regardless of whether you wish to go right or left in this administrative area near the door, you need to start clearing the area of enemies. Whenever you turn a corner or step out onto a walkway, check that you aren't walking into an enemy's line of sight. Because there are Helghast on multiple levels, you can end up being shot from below. Clear the administrative side of the top deck before venturing across the walkway. When you do, a Helghast transport breaks through the hull and a few soldiers stream out. Take cover and kill them before moving down the stairs to the deck below. As you come down the stairs, turn to the left to find a squad of Helghast. Lob a grenade toward them. It won't likely kill them all, but make them disperse and take cover along the walkway railing. Grab cover yourself and prepare to eliminate them one-by-one. Move to the server side of the deck and take either flight of stairs down to the next deck.

A heavy appears on the bottom floor, joined by the arrival of sentry bots and a several Helghast soldiers. Don't worry about the heavy just yet; instead, focus on destroying the sentries first. They will zip about the power room and find you if you don't eliminate the first. Next, dispatch all of the Helghast infantry on this deck. They scatter throughout the length of the deck surrounding the bottom floor, so engage them by running the circumference of the deck. With that cleared, you can work on defeating the heavy below. Remember to shoot his head to make him turn around, then fire on the red tanks. What remaining Helghast on the bottom floor are equipped with flamethrowers. Keep your distance as you fire on them. When the deck is clear, an ally will appear to open the door to the gun deck.

Air Traffic Control: "Whilst crew members start to evacuate, Sev and the other gunners must defend the ship at all cost."

Enter the air traffic control deck, heading down the stairs and the walkway to reach the anti-air gun. Hop in and start shooting. The objective here is simple: shoot at any ship with a pair of red triangular brackets around it. The gun automatically designates Helghast ships, so you just need to aim and shoot. R1 fires off the machine gun, but you can guarantee a kill with a rocket if you have a target lock. Use these sparingly, though, as you only have so many rockets. It's best to use them when you're swarmed with enemies and need to quickly clear the skies. The gun can overheat, so watch the barrel as it reddens to avoid being stuck with a momentarily useless gun. Short bursts of fire are best. When the officer says you're out of ammunition, you're automatically ejected from the gun.

Core Elevator: "Colonel Templar orders all personnel to abandon ship, however it seems as though all Intruders have already left the stricken craft."

Turn around upon exiting the gun to head through the doorway with Natko. Follow the halls to arrive at the large cargo lift. Activate it and head down. When it stops, exit to your right near the burning debris. Immediately you encounter Helghast forces. Start pushing along the walkway there, killing them with grenades and gunfire. Continue going around the core.

Emergency Stairwell C: "After a power failure in the main lift shaft, Sev has to reach the last Intruder on foot if he has any chance of escaping."

Before you can access the emergency stairwell, you have to eliminate the squad of Helghast blocking the door out of the core. Chuck a grenade to kill most of them. Take cover and fire on the remaining forces. You can also run up and melee them if there's only one or two left standing. Go through the door when done, turning left to go down the stairs there. Three Helghast await on the lower deck. Run up to the first and melee him, then shoot the other two on the bridge. Move into the next room, taking out the Helghast on the upper deck. [INTEL #18: On the upper deck in the middle of the catwalk is the briefcase.] Push forward on the bottom floor, killing the handful or so of soldiers that appear. Walk down the stairs at the end of the room to reach the next deck, then another set of stairs until you confront a flamethrower. You should also find two ISA soldiers near the flamethrower. Cross the walkway to reach the launch bay.

Launch Bay: "Alpha Team clears the central launch bay and manually launch their Intruder to escape the New Sun."

Enter the room adjacent to the launch bay, killing the flamethrower near the weapons rack before heading down the stairs. A few Helghast are using the consoles for cover. Shoot them when they pop up and continue to the doorway. Kill the enemies in this room, then follow Natko as he jumps from the balcony down to the decks below. Go through the door on the bottom deck, then through the next hallway to reach the Intruder deck. Make your escape.

X. Maelstra Barrens

"After escaping the destruction of the New Sun and landing safely, Rico, Sev, and Natko make their way across the barrens but find one or two surprises waiting for them."

[INTEL: 0]; [SYMBOLS: 0]

Cargo Impact Site: "After escaping the New Sun, the Intruder's autopilot has brought what is left of Alpha Team to a desolate landscape."

From the Intruder landing site, hit up your waypoint by pressing up on the directional pad. Walk away from the Intruder to reach another squad of ISA soldiers near an EXO (read: mech suit). Sev commandeers is and now you get to traipse across the badlands in it. Go up and over the ridge, through the ravine to meet up with Natko, Rico, and Private Richards. Watch the scene, and then continue in the EXO. The first group of Helghast you encounter is over the small cliff. Fire a couple rockets at the group, then run up and start firing on the remaining soldiers with the machine gun. Move forward to deal with a second group of forces. The third Helghast retinue is joined by a couple of rocket troopers near sheet metal walls, so take them out before you deal with the normal troops.

Industrial Ghost Town: "The road through the valley was easy. But now Helghast infantry search the wreckage and they're not about to give up their loot without a fight."

On the other side of the metal wall is an industrial complex filled with Helghast forces. Before you rush in with the EXO, take a position between the wall and the adjacent rock. Fire rockets and the rocket troopers from there to rid yourself of them in advance. You can even shoot the Petrusite canisters on the platform to the right to kill the soldiers there. Proceed through the complex when you've killed all the soldiers in view. Ahead is an ISA buggy that has been stolen by the Helghast, destroy it with rockets. Fire upon more rocket troopers and soldiers as you veer to the left. Go up and over the ridge and continue until you reach a makeshift bridge. A tank will approach you from the other side. Fire some rockets at it to destroy it, then fire rockets at a second tank to the right of the first one. Go across the bridge to reach the crash site of the New Sun.

Grave of the New Sun: "Alpha Team rejoin Narville and engage the last group of Helghast held up in a large refinery complex. Multiple tanks and infantry will test the Exoskeleton to its limits."

Captain Narville and his Marines join up with you as you push toward the crash site. Destroy the tank that appears, then eliminate all the ground troops in the area before heading up the metal ridge. On the other side are two tanks and some rocket troopers. Peak over the ridge to fire rockets at one of the tanks, then move back down. Allow the EXO to regenerate a bit before attacking the second one. When it's been destroyed, the mission ends.

XI. Visari Palace

"With the destruction of Visari's main city the ISA now have an opportunity to capture Visari in his own palace, but they must first destroy the main arc battery."

[INTEL: 2]; [SYMBOLS: 4]

Lazar Highway: "Sev, Rico, and Natko must cross the heavily defended outskirts of the palace in order to reach the arc battery."

Move down the highway, noting the Helghast tank across the torn out section of the road. There's nothing you can do about it from this side of the asphalt, so make your way down the stairs to the right. The area in from of the outer defenses is riddled with cargo containers and crates, which make for good cover as you engage the Helghast on the upper deck ahead. There's plenty of guns and ammunition around for you to choose from, so select your favorite weapon and begin clearing the area. A good strategy is to walk around the crates on the far right edge near the cliff. [SYMBOL #29: The first symbol in the level is located at the edge of the courtyard to the right. Look up to shoot it on metal jutting from the Arc Tower base.] From there, you can fire upon the machine gun and any Helghast near him. Climb up to the deck when they're gone, aiming at the second machine gun next. With both machine gunners gone, you can mop up any remaining forces and proceed through the door.

Outer Defenses: "The arc battery is preventing ISA reinforcements from massing and Alpha Team must take out the 4 guidance system towers before they can proceed."

Remember the tank from before that you couldn't destroy? Now it's right in front of you. As you come up the stairs and turn the corner, you can see the tank in the distance. There's a rocket launcher on the weapons rack to your right. Before you start firing on it, though, you need to eliminate the Helghast infantry bearing down on your behind the crates and pillars. Take cover yourself behind the crates near the stairs, popping up to kill the half dozen or so enemies. Grab the rocket launcher when all enemies except the tank have been eliminated, firing a few rockets to make it explode.

Come out from the hallway into the central defensive courtyard. You must demolish each of the four towers here, setting charges within each. That means killing any Helghast defending the towers one-by-one. You're welcome to tackle the towers in any order, although we're outlining a specific pattern for the sake of the guide. Begin by going up the stairs on your left to reach the first tower. When you arrive on the upper deck, there are three Helghast to take care of. Kill the first one, then grab cover. Shoot the other two, then climb the staircase to the tower's entrance. Chuck a grenade into the tower, than rush inside to shoot any remaining Helghast. Set the charge and exit to trigger it. Remaining on the upper deck, walk away from the other towers across a walkway to reach a machine gun. Mount it and fire upon the heavy in the center of the courtyard.

Go to the left of the machine gun once the heavy is down to access the second tower. There's no resistance outside, but more Helghast inside than the last tower. Again, throw a grenade inside, then rush in to eliminate any standing forces. Set the charge, trigger it outside at a safe distance. Run to the platform on the upper deck where the heavy was that you killed earlier. From this point, go around the Arc Tower to your right, up a set of stairs to a third deck. Follow the walkway until you reach the third tower. Throw a grenade to kill the Helghast that come down, then run into it and set the charge. When you come back out to detonate, run far enough away to both avoid the blast and the heavy on the deck below. After the explosion, drop to the deck below and deal with the heavy.

For the last tower, return to the third deck. Approach the tower until you are closer enough to shoot out the Helghast mounted on the machine gun. There's no way you can get inside without eliminating the machine gun first. Other enemies are defending the tower on the second deck; you can deal with them now or detonate the charges and then confront them. Either way, demolish the tower and wipe up any remaining Helghast. [INTEL #19: Near the last tower on the second deck is a set of stairs leading down to rocket launcher and LMG ammunition. On a crate in this room is an intel briefcase.] With the towers destroyed, you now need to access the elevators to Visari's palace which are located behind the machine gun you mounted to kill the first heavy in the area. Enemies have taken a hold on that position, so approach from the second deck and eliminate them from either side. Once clear, take the elevator up.

Inner Courtyard: "The Helghast will defend their leaders to the death. Expect to fight for every inch of ground as you try to make your way inside the palace."

Exit the elevator and walk along the wall to reach the entrance to the inner courtyard. [SYMBOL #30: Inside the second building is a symbol hanging from the wall to your left as you enter.] On the steps down, kill the flamethrower and begin pressing forward. You have three options here: move left, center, or right. None are particularly easy. What you need to do is push the Helghast back to reach checkpoints that insure that they do not continue to spawn. If you sit tight in a single position and try clearing the courtyard without moving up, the enemies keep spawning. Taking either side, you want to press all the way up to the side of the center tower. That's the first checkpoint. It's rather difficult because there's a machine gun on the left and tons of Helghast on the right. When you do get near the checkpoint (the stairs leading to the central tower), you have to brave stepping out in the open to trigger it. You can't just clear the area; they will spawn.

Find cover and allow your health to regenerate. If you're good to go, start clearing out the Helghast on the central tower only after you've hit the checkpoint and your guys have regrouped on your position. When the area is clear, push forward to take the next area. Like before, you can opt to go left, center, or right. Left and right options feature the same tactic: stil to cover while killing Helghast until you reach the bunkers for the next checkpoint. Going down the center route, however, requires hopping down from the central tower and walking through a hidden tunnel accessible from the side of the tower. Walk down that to emerge between the two bunkers at the end of the courtyard. [INTEL #20: Inside a bunker to the left of the barricade is a briefcase.] From there, you can eliminate the surrounding Helghast and mount a final push to the palace doors.

An ATAC appears as you pass through the pillars in the area before the palace door. It's only the first of many obstacles. Use an LMG to riddle it with bullets or hide behind cover and let your buddies do the work. Don't try pushing ahead until it's down, otherwise it will complicate your efforts. Choose a side to go up, either left or right, and start eliminating enemies while sticking to cover. There's so much gunfire that you can't stay out in the open long without risking death. On both sides, the machine gun in the bunker is your biggest problem. Try eliminating him as soon as possible. The LMG is not a good weapon for this. Find a rifle to do the job. With the gunner down, you at least have more flexibility in engaging the Helghast milling about. Move forward deliberately, making sure that your buddies are right behind you. Flamethrowers and melee attackers are an issue here, so you probably will need to resort to melee blows more than gunfire to survive. When you get close to the doors, the Helghast will start to group together and use machine guns near the door. Chuck grenades to kill and disperse them, making it easy to pick them off. [SYMBOL #31: Before going into the palace, go into the bunker that lines the wall on the left. There's a symbol hanging on one of the walls inside.] Once the area has been seized, head inside.

Autarch's Sanctum: "After fighting their way through its defenses, Sev and Rico must now try and capture Visari in his own palace."

Move through the antechamber into the sanctum. Radec appears with a mess of Helghast soldiers, which you happened to be trapped with in this room. This final battle comes in waves, each one harder than the last. To begin, move behind the bookcases that jut out near the center of the room, slightly before the statue in the middle. From here, you can fire upon the first two waves of soldiers. As things begin to get harder, retreat to the black area in which you entered the sanctum. You certainly need to take shelter there when Radec calls in the flamethrowers; use the pillar near the door for cover. Additionally, near the end of fighting on the first floor Radec orders the chandeliers dropped and you can seek refuge from the attack there.

After the chandeliers crash into the floor, the doors leading to the second floor open. Climb them and run to the back wall, of course, killing the two flamethrowers on each side. Load up on ammunition and prepare for waves of enemies that start on the ground floor, but will attempt to come and fight you on the second floor using the same set of stairs. The grenade launcher works brilliantly here, so use it until all the ammunition in the area is depleted. The initial wave is easy, the second slightly harder due to the larger force. Undoubtedly, one or two will make their way up onto the balcony. When that occurs, either run over and melee them or switch to your revolver and shoot them. The third wave is brutal because it comes with rocket troopers. You must eliminate these guys because they will kill you instantly. It's hard, but what you want to do is as soon as the third wave begins run away from the back wall to either side. There are four rocket troopers, two on each side. Run all the way as far as you can go on the balcony to the front end and shoot them from there. Do the same on the other side and then it's one to fighting Radec.

He's an elusive guy, phasing in and out whenever you attack him. Rest assured, you are damaging him but it takes a long time for him to fall down. Just have patience and shoot him whenever he phases in. He tries to slice at you with his knife, as well as fire upon you with a submachine gun; during both, shoot him to make him stop or phase out. Sometimes when you shoot him while he's unloading his submachine gun, he doesn't stop firing. In that case, find some cover. Radec likes tricking you by phasing in and out, only to appear behind you. Constantly turn your view and keep moving to avoid getting hit. You may also want to run at times to avoid him. When he falls, watch the scene then make you way to Visari. Congratulations on finishing Killzone 2!