Desert Missions
This page contains walkthroughs of all of the Desert missions on Grand Theft
Auto: San Andreas. There are 9 story missions in total before the next section
of the map is unlocked. Every single word and screenshot shown on this page was
written and taken by Psy respectively, and no other websites have permission to
post any of this work. For more information regarding the legal notes about this
guide, please read
/guides/missions/index.php.
Using the guide is simple. Scroll through it and find the name of the crime boss
you are currently working for. All of the crime bosses are in large bold font
and have their radar icon next to them. Below the crime boss, you'll find their
missions. The missions will explain what happens in the cutscene, what your
objectives are, and the best way to go about them. You'll also be informed of
the rewards for completing missions, and shown a number of screenshots from each
mission. You can use the quick links below to jump to something specific if you
know what you're looking for. You'll find a number of links at the bottom of the
page which will take you to the mission walkthroughs for other areas. I'd
suggest you allow the page to load all of the images and content before clicking
on any other links. Clicking on the thumbnail screenshots will pop up with a
larger image. You can find additional help at the
forums
should you need it. If you're really stuck, you can email Psy at
[email protected] and
help will be given if the question hasn't already been covered in this guide.
You may also wish to check out some of the other guides on this site which could
aid you in other objectives.
Mike Toreno
 |
Monster |
Toreno wants to see how good at driving you are. He's set out a course for you
to do in his monster truck. You'll be told that it has four wheel steering
instead of a hand brake, so holding R1 will now make you turn much sharper,
rather than skidding to a stop. Get in the Monster Truck and begin the course.
You need a time better than 6:30 to pass the mission. This is really just as
simple at the many races you have done before. Drive as fast as you can through
the checkpoints, and use the arrows to point you towards the next one. Remember
to use square as your brake this time, as R1 will just make you turn a lot
faster. You probably won't need the four wheel drive, so just keep in mind that
it's square you need to slow down. Speed across the course as fast as possible
and then get back to the ranch to pass the mission.
Mission Passed!
$1,000 - $5,000*
*Your reward is based on the time taken to complete the mission. You'll be
ranked on the score board from 5th to 1st. Coming in 5th will earn you $1,000,
fourth will earn you $2,000, third and you'll get $3,000, second will win you
$4,000 and first will make you $5,000.
After the mission you'll receive a phone call from Mike Toreno, so head back to
his ranch for another mission. |
|
Highjack |
Toreno explains who he is and what he's here for. He needs you to do jobs which
he can't be caught doing. The first one is to Hijack a truck. He says you'll
need a friend to help you out, so Cesar has come over. When the mission starts,
get on the bike with Cesar. Drive the bike across the Kincaid rail bridge and
get onto the highway. You'll see a petrol tanker which is driving along happily.
You need to drive to the left side of this tanker and hold in position next to
the door. Cesar will then jump from the bike onto the truck and jack it. He'll
stop the truck a short way down the road and tell you to get in. So get in, and
drive the truck all of the way to the end of the highway. Turn around when you
reach the grass. You'll need a wide turning area because you can't reverse very
well at all with a gas tank attached to the back. Turn around then head back
along the highway towards the garage. Go off one of the slip roads and head to
the garage where you'll find a red circle to park in.
Mission Passed!
$7,000
After the mission Toreno will tell you to get back to his place now. So head
over there. He's known on the map as Toreno now, so head to the grey T. |
|
Mike Toreno
 |
Interdiction |
Toreno tells you about some cargo which is being dropped at El Castillo del
Diablo in the desert. He wants you to get there and let off a flare so the plane
knows where to drop the cargo. Grab the BF Injection outside and head towards
the yellow blip on the radar. Park in the red circle and you'll be told to grab
the Rocket Launchers and choose a suitable vehicle. I suggest taking the
Sanchez. Head up the mountain close by and when you reach the top stop in the
red circle. A cargo helicopter will make it's way over to you with the cargo,
but a number of agency helicopters will try to take it down. Switch to the
Rocket Launcher weapon and shoot at the smaller helicopters while protecting the
big one. One or two rockets should be enough to take them out. There'll be about
five or six helicopters which will come altogether, and you need to make sure
you take them out before they take out the big one. Just aim carefully, and aim
slightly in front of where they're flying. Once they're mostly all gone, the
Cargo heli will drop the cargo at the abandoned airfield. Get on your bike or
whatever vehicle you chose, and get down towards the airfield to pick it up.
Once you've got it Toreno will tell you to hurry up and take the package back,
so make your way to Toreno's drop off point. Drop it in the garage.
Mission Passed!
$1,000 |
|
Verdant Meadows |
Toreno tells you he needs to you buy the abandoned airstrip. He says it won't
cost much, but either way, you need to buy it before you can do any more
missions for him. It's $80,000. As usual, if you don't have the cash, go and
earn it. Once you've bought the place you'll need to do the flying school
missions which have now been unlocked. These are relatively easy, but if you
want to get Gold on all of them it's going to be pretty hard work. You can read
more in a separate guide, but for now, all you need to know is that you need to
complete the flying school.
Just after the cutscene you'll receive a phone call from Jethro telling you
about some 'unofficial' street races in San Fierro. These are now opened up
behind the Wang Cars showroom and can earn you a lot of cash. You can read more
about them in a separate guide. |
|
Learning To Fly |
This mission requires you to complete all of the Flying School Missions with a
bronze rating or higher. A separate guide will explain how to complete the
schools, so you may wish to read that for more advice, however they aren't too
hard once you get the hang of flying.
Mission Passed!
Respect +
The Pilots Licence Has Now Been Obtained. You can enter any airport you choose.
After completing the flying school you'll receive a call from Woozie. He now
owns a casino on the Las Venturas Strip and wants you to go along and check it
out.
Wu Zi Mu's Missions Have Now Been Unlocked.
Head along to the red marker parked in front of one of the hangars, with the
aeroplane as a radar icon for another mission. |
|
Mike Toreno
 |
N.O.E. |
Toreno needs to deliver some cargo to some people he knows, but he can't do it
because of people watching him. You need to fly a plane low on the radar so
you're not shot down. Get in the Rustler and drive out of the hangar. Tap R2 so
you turn slightly to the right, then take off heading almost directly South. Fly
to the right and get out of the restricted air space, then fly towards the
countryside. Stay as low as you can, but if you need to go up, pull back on the
analog stick and clear whatever obstacle is in the way, then push the analog
stick forward to drop back down. You can stay above the height limit for about
ten seconds which is more than enough time to be able to do something about it.
Dodge the trees as you fly through the countryside, and keep heading to the blip
on the radar. When you get there you'll be instructed to fly through the corona
to trigger the drop. Once that's done, head to the East and fly over the sea.
Keep low here, as there's no worries or hitting anything, and make your way
towards the new blip on the radar. When you fly over land just avoid the tree's
again and keep diving down when you're too high. Eventually you'll be over Las
Venturas, so just make your way straight towards the runway. Remember to stay
out of the way of the no fly zone though. When you get back you'll need to land
the plane, so head to the West and turn around, then hit R3 to bring down the
wheels and hold square to slow down and land anywhere on the runway.
Mission Passed!
$15,000 |
|
Stowaway |
A plane has unexpectedly landed at the abandoned airfield and Toreno needs you
chase after the plane which has tons of illegal weapons on board and kill
everyone on it. You'll be on a bike when the mission starts and you need to get
aboard the plane. Immediately when the mission starts, speed straight forward as
fast as you can on the bike. Hold forward on the analog stick slightly for more
speed. Dodge the barrels, then when you get close enough to the ramp on the
plane, drive up it. A cutscene will kick in and you'll be on board the plane.
Now you need to make your way up the aisle while avoiding explosive barrels.
Wait for them to go past, then run up to the gap to the right and kill the
agent. Be careful when killing through, because if you fire just one bullet that
doesn't get caught in their body, you'll blow up the plane and die. I'd suggest
beating them to death to be on the safe side. Wait for more barrels to go past,
then run to the next place on the right and kill the agent. After yet more
barrels go past, run to the gap to the left. Wait for more barrels, then go up
and to the right. Kill the agent here and another one behind you. Wait for the
last barrels to pass, then head up the plane and kill the last agent. Grab his
parachute. Once you've got it you'll be instructed to throw a satchel charge on
the plane. Make your way up to the door to the cockpit and throw a satchel. Once
you've thrown it, run to the back of the plane and bail while the plane blows to
hell. Freefall back down to earth and pull your cord before you hit the ground.
I'd suggest not pulling it until after you clear the cloud line, otherwise
you'll be falling for about 15 minutes.
Mission Passed!
$20,000 |
|
The Truth
 |
Black Project |
Firstly let me say this is the best mission in the game. You know Area 69? That
"No Fly Zone" place where you get blown to bits just by going near? You're
breaking into it and stealing "The Black Project". Cool or what! The
Truth will
take you there and literally throw you into the desert telling you to Go Go Go!
You need to sneak right around the back of the area and make your way to the
control tower. Well actually you don't, that's just one way of getting inside.
The alternative is to be seen by the lights and get a code red. The area will be
locked down, but there's a vent you can break into to get inside. The best
technique is to use both stealth and to get caught. When you start, move into
the base with a silenced pistol and grab the body armor. Use stealth and sneak
around taking out as many guards as you can. I'd suggest killing the few on foot
near you at the gates, then climb the watch tower to the right and use your
sniper rifle to take out as many guards as you can see. If you can't get them
all, move to another tower. Your inventory includes a silenced pistol, a knife,
some heat vision goggles (which suck) and a sniper rifle. You have roughly 8
minutes to complete the first objective which is actually getting into the
heavily patrolled base. Make sure you're sneaking all of the way! After you've
wiped out as many as you can see, make your way to the middle watch tower. From
here you should be able to rid the area of any last remaining enemies. Also here
you'll probably get spotted, but don't worry, it's just as easy to get spotted
as it is to sneak all of the way and get inside. It doesn't matter once you're
in, the alarm will be going off anyway. Kill any more guards you can see, then
leave the tower and kill literally all of the rest of them. Head to the yellow
blip on the radar and you'll come to a vent. Shoot it and it'll smash, then you
can jump down. Follow the pipe all of the way to the end, then shoot the cover
and get inside. You're no longer being timed, so you can work your way through
slowly, cleaning out rooms one by one. Once you get inside, the personnel will
be informed that a code red is in action. Fortunately most of them aren't too
clever and it's not really anything different to having a high wanted level,
besides the fact that the army dudes don't just spawn out of nowhere. Head to
the right and enter the first room. You'll find one soldier to the left, and
three or four on the floor below. I'd suggest grabbing an M4 and using that to
take out the soldiers. Five or six shots will kill them, so tap R1 until you
auto aim, then tap L1 to shoot six times, which should result in their death.
Once the six soldiers in here are killed, or even before, if you're in trouble,
head into the room to the right at the top of the stairs. You'll find a Vulcan
Minigun and some Body Armor. Once you've grabbed those, head down the stairs and
go through the door to the South. Kill the five or so guards here, some will be
on the floor below, so you may wish to jump down. From here don't head to the
yellow blip yet. You can of course do that if you want, however there's
something you should really do in order to survive later on. Get on the walkway
and follow the room South. When you come to another room, head to the right and
then right again. There's a large room on your left which can be entered, so go
in there and kill the two scientists, then stand in the red circle to deactivate
the SAM sites. Once you've done that, head out to the East and head towards the
metal grating on the floor. You can either run along this, or if you're running
low on health, just to the left of this open area, you'll find an open grate on
the floor. Drop down here and follow it along to pick up some health and some
more armor then pull yourself up at the end. Head up the stairs to the left, and
follow the hall way into the black. Kill the two guards to your right, then go
along by them and head left. There'll be one guard here, and another who will
walk towards you. Kill both of those, then head through this area and to the
left where you'll find one more guard. Once he's been disposed of, make your way
to the West, then North, then West and go through the door. You'll be told the
main door is locked, but a scientist offers to give you his pass card if you
don't kill him. Grab the pass card then kill him anyway and stand in the red
circle. When you get in the next room, shoot the dude right in front of you,
across the stairs, then the dude to the left and to go the right. Stop at the
corner of the railing and use manual aim with the M4 to look down and kill five
or so guards who are down there. You can just run down the steps and kill them
as you get to them, but this way almost guarantees you won't get hit. Kill as
many as you can see, then make your way down the stairs. When you reach the
bottom you'll find a jetpack! Walk into it and a short cutscene will explain
what you're doing next. Hold X to fly upwards and make your way out of the
launch pad. While flying you can hold R1 to aim, as you can on foot, and use L1
or Circle to shoot. There will be a few guards to take out on the stairs as you
exit, but if you have a decent amount of health, you should be fine. Fly out of
the launch pad, then fly to the North West until you reach the top of a
mountain. If you went out of your way to disable the SAM site, then you'll have
an easy route, just fly straight there, but if not, you'll be getting shot by
missiles every few seconds, and there's really no technique to lose locked on
missiles in a jetpack. Either way fly to the top of the mountain and stop in the
red circle where The Truth will appear and take the jetpack.
Mission Passed!
Grab the Sanchez at the top of the mountain and make your way to the airfield
for another mission. After you get off the bike you'll receive a phone call from
The Truth, this will unlock his next mission on the map. |
|
Green Goo |
The Truth needs you to fly the jetpack, land on a train and steal whatever they
least want you to get. First you'll need to know how to fly the jetpack, which
isn't hard if you just did the previous mission. Make your way to the green blip
on the radar which you'll find is the train. Presuming you have sub machine gun
ammunition, fly over the train, and hold R1 to auto target the guards. Kill the
ten or so guards all the way along the train, then land at the back and work
your way forwards. Shoot the blue crates until they blow up and see if anything
is inside. The first two will have nothing, the last one will have the 'green
goo'. Grab it, then fly back to The Truth as the airfield. Stand in the red
circle and The Truth will take the goo and leave.
Mission Passed!
$20,000
Asset Acquired!
The Abandoned Airfield will now generate revenue up to $10,000 a day. Drop by
each day and pick up the cash. All of the airfield's missions are completed.
The Jetpack is now available from the East side of the save house!
Now that you have the jetpack, it would be a good idea to use it to help you
find the horseshoes in Las Venturas. You can read more about these in a separate
guide, but if you intend to get 100% completion you need all of the side
objectives, and they can be pretty hard to do when you've just found random
ones, so I'd suggest following a guide through all of them. The next lot of
missions you have to do are Woozie's at his casino. He can be found at the
Yellow Dragon on the radar. |
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