ACONCAGUA

Revisions: Updated Walkthrough to Disc 2.

CONTENT
1. Revisions
2. Introduction and Story
3. Urgent Plea to FAQ writers for diverse walkthroughs instead of the same
games everytime
4. Controls
5. Cast of Characters
6. Note
7. Walkthrough for Disc 1
8. Walkthrough for Disc 2
9. Credits

INTRO: Welcome, Aconcagua is Sony's latest venture into the action/adventure
genre with a little twist; you control all 5 characters and switch from one to
another whenever necessary to overcome puzzles.  Another major difference is
that the game is played by clicking on a cursor, a great departure (and slight
disappointment) from the 'Resident Evil' type of gameplay. Still, this is not a
bad game. Sadly, the sales figures were very low. Aconcagua is the name of a
real mountain in South America, although the country 'Meruza' is fictional.
STORY: Pachamama is the leader of a democratic movement and is returning to her
country Meruza for an election. Naturally the tyrannical dictator will want to
prevent her at all costs. A bomb is planted on the plane that she is
travelling. On board the plane are several other people such as journalists who
want to interview her. Halfway, the plane explodes and crashes into Aconcagua.
There are some survivors and you need to guide them down the mountain and
escape the Meruzian soldiers who are out to complete their task of killing
Pachamama and all other survivors.

URGENT PLEA to all past, present FAQ and aspiring future FAQ writers: I would
like to take this opportunity to talk about the state of game walkthroughs on
websites now. Ok, how many times have you surfed 'Gamefaq''s website or any
other gaming websites, in the hope of finding a walkthrough on a game that you
are stuck, only to see tons of walkthrough on the SAME particular games every
time? I surf 'Gamefaq''s website everyday, hoping to see walkthroughs of some
less prominent games. Tell me whether you know any of (or have been looking
for) these games that I have listed below, e.g. Riot Star, Farland Story, Dr.
Slump, Blue: Legend of Water, Maria, Noir Yeux Noire, The Mystic Dragoons,
Meremanoid, Deep Freeze, Cybernetic Empire, Backguiner, Exalegiuse, Moonlight
Syndrome, Elder Gate and Deep Sea Adventure, to name a few. No, don't get me
wrong, I am not telling you to import these games. What I am frustrated with,
is seeing tons of walkthroughs written on the same games, e.g. Final Fantasy 8,
Resident Evil 1, 2, 3, Vagrant Story, Legend of Mana, Suikoden 2 etc. (No
particular offence to Square's game lovers. I love Square too). I practically
see new or updated walkthroughs of these games almost everyday. Aren't you sick
of it?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a few writers writing the same games.
Different people have different writing styles. Sometimes, we can compare to
understand the game better, some writers are more clearer. In short, I am not
condemning writers who write walkthrough or faq about games that have already
been written because there is always some room for the same thing and some
people like to write about what they like best or feel comfortable with. BUT,
when there are more than 10 (my own opinion) walkthroughs on the same game,
there is something wrong. Do you feel that you have taken a step forward (or
even feel proud for that matter) for that particular game that you have written
or achieve some kind of breakthrough? No, in fact, I really don't know why
people still deliberately choose to write walkthroughs of games which already
have many. Worse, their walkthroughs are adorned with fanciful ASCII letters
depicting the game's title. It seems that they are very proud of what they have
accomplished. Are they AWARE that many walkthroughs of that particular game
have already been written?
This is a plea for all writers to DIVERSIFY and write about games which do not
have walkthroughs. There are people who are and will be interested in them. It
is very simple, if you know that you have a game that do not has an existing
walkthrough or faq, and if it is within your means, write about it! If
everybody do so, I am sure that game walkthroughs websites will be greatly
enhanced and be comprehensive. This is what I feel after suppressing my
thoughts for a long time. I am not targeting any particular writers and I
really hope to see more walkthroughs of obscure games. For those who agree with
me, I really appreciate it. I hope you can spread the word. The way I write
walkthroughs is this, first I check whether the game that I am playing already
has any walkthroughs. If not, I will try to write about it. I was actually
writing 'Dracula Resurrection' when I saw one being posted on the web. Guess I
was too late and too slow. Hence, I decided to abandon it to write about some
other games. I would like to thank all who have spared their time to read this
long rambling of mine and I hope that I have made some difference, no matter
how small it is. I am not getting anything by saying all these, I just want a
more comprehensive game walkthrough website.
Sad to say, I got a feeling that despite all my efforts here, there will be
tons of walkthroughs on FF9, to quote an example. By the way, I have also
written incomplete walkthroughs for 'Blue: Legend of Water', 'Riot Stars',
'Dark Messiah (Jap)/ Hellnight (NA)' and 'Dracula Resurrection' to name a few.
If there are enough requests and if I have the time, I would gladly post them
on the web. Enough said, on with the game. Those who want to criticise, send
their comments/agreement with what I said, or ask questions about 'Aconcagua',
can reach me at 'bengster@pacific.net.sg'.


CONTROLS: L1 and R1= Switch characters
           Triangle= Items select screen
                       Circle= Use item/ talk

CAST: 1) Pachamama
2) Katon (Japanese journalist)
3) Steve
4) Julia (American journalist)
5) Lopez

NOTE: Sometimes, it is not necessary to follow me and use that particular
character that I have used. I simple chose which character I deem best fit to
investigate around. So, play around with your character and you might even get
a different response from mine. You can talk to different characters by moving
the cursor onto them and pressing 'O' when the smiley icon appears. Naturally,
using different people to talk to the same person will get you different
responses. You can also press 'Start' to skip cutscenes.

DISC 1
- After the plane crash, investigate the dead body. Investigate the bag to get
a pair of 'Gloves'. Climb up the mountain. You can see some white tracks in the
middle of the screen. To climb, press 'Triangle' while the exclamation mark
appears on the tracks and press 'O' to use the gloves. Hence, items will be
used in this manner (sometimes, if you are facing the correct position, you can
simple use the desired item without making the exclamation mark appear).
- Talk to your friend who was sitting next to you onboard the plane. Talk to
Pachamama's friend, but Katon will not understand him.
- Go left to talk to Pachamama. She will revive and you can control her now.
Switch to her to talk to her companion to get 'Chest Key'. Run all the way to
the right side to see a chest ling on the floor. Use the 'Key' to get 'Fire
extinguisher'.
- Use 'Fire extinguisher' on the raging fire inbetween the mountain pass and
you will be able to proceed. Save point.
- Talk to Steve the engineer (he is sitting on the snow).
- Talk to the girl (Julia) who is trapped in her seat.
- Use Katon to make a path through the deep snow.
- Change to Steve and cross the deep snow. Use Steve to examine the suitcase to
retrieve the 'tool set'. Use the 'tool set' on Julia. Cutscene.
- Julia will have a 'knife' and 'lighter'.
- As Julia, cross the deep snow and cut the rope to get it. Give the rope to
Katon by talking to him. Note: An item that is transferred from one character
to another means that the person is the correct one to use it. Go to a rock and
use the 'rope' by tying it around it. Use Katon to climb down. Save point.
- After climbing down, explore the snow to pick up a 'sack'. Go to investigate
the front of the plane. It is leaking oil. Use the 'sack' to get 'oil'.
- As Julia, go to the torn out seat and use the knife to cut out some 'cloth'.
- Go back to the bleeding man and use the 'cloth' to stop his bleeding.
- Julia will help him to a seat. Now you need to enter the door of the plane,
but it is frozen.
- Splash 'oil' on the frozen door. Use Julia's 'lighter'. Enter the plane.
- Talk to the pilot. Check the dashboard. Save point.
- Go to the side of the plane to check for battery, but it is not there.
Cutscene. You need to find the battery.
- The helicopter will shoot you. Note: at any point in time when any of your
members are shot, their life bar will decrease by a portion. Try to time your
dashes carefully either before or after the helicopter passes. If there is not
enough time to reach the other side, quickly find the nearest cover or run
back. You can only afford to get shot for a few times (I think 4 if I remember
correctly), but hey, why get shot unnecessarily? Also, if any one member dies,
it will be 'game over'. If your life is bad or you want to maintain a perfect
life bar, you might want to consider resetting it and trying again. It is
possible to complete this part without getting shot. There is also a life
recover shortly after you have cleared this part which you can use to replenish
your health.
- Use Katon and run all the way to the right to the second hill that is
climbable. Use 'gloves' and climb up to get 'S. battery'. Run back to Steve and
give him the battery.
- As Steve, run back to the torn plane and put the 'S. battery' on the side of
the plane. Run into the cockpit and transmit (by investigating the dashboard).
However, Steve does not understand the language. Change to Pachamama. Save
point and cutscene.
- The Meruzian soldiers are out to kill everybody. Wait for the helicopter to
pass you before running across the exposed snow. As Katon, run across the first
hill and pick up the 'stock' (which dropped from the helicopter as shown in the
cutscene) which is at the foot of the hill.
- Climb up the hill and investigate the yellow box, but he cannot reach it with
his hand. Use the stock to hook it to get 'L. Raft'.
- Still on the top of the cliff, run to the edge on the left. Do not do
anything first.
- This part is crucial, so follow my steps carefully. Change to Julia and run
all the way right and down to the bottom of this part of the mountain where
there is a wrecked part of the aeroplane. You will run pass a dead Meruzian
soldier on the snow. Go forward to examine the plane until you get a close-up
view. There is a rope and a handle dangling down from the helicopter. The
helicopter will pass you every now and then. Hook the handle to the parts
jutting out from the wrecked plane. Wait for the correct moment. This is when
the handle passes Julia and is close to touching the jutted part. Press 'O'
button (repeatedly if necessary) and if successful, a cutscene will show Julia
hooking it. If not, simply wait for the helicopter to come again and try it
again. The helicopter will be caught by the dead weight and hover there.
- Change to Katon (who should still be standing at the top of the cliff at the
left edge) now and use the raft. He will throw it down and the helicopter will
explode eventually. Cutscene and save point. Note: if you had skipped Julia's
part and thrown the raft down the cliff, it will miss the helicopter and Katon
will be shot and his life will be depleted.
- At the beginning, there is a forked path. Use Katon to go to the right path.
There is another split. Go to the left path where there is a broken wreckage.
Examine it and he will look up to see another part of a plane on top of a
cliff.
- Go to the end of the precipice (next to this wreckage) where he will see
another survivor, Lopez (the strong man). Note: you need to go right to the
edge of the precipice to trigger off meeting Lopez. Explore around if you
cannot find this precipice.
- Change to Lopez and run up the hill where the wing of the plane is stuck
upright in the snow. Examine it. Save point.
- Lopez will push it and they can cross the mountain trail now.
- Use Steve and run to the left side and examine the emergency kit. Use his
'tool' to get 'oxygen can'. There is an enemy soldier standing guard on the
right side.
- Use Julia to approach the soldier. Place the cursor on the soldier and use
her 'knife' on him. Cutscene of Julia stabbing him.
- There is another soldier further at the end. This time, Julia is too far to
sneak up on him. Change to Katon and talk to Steve to get his 'oxygen can'.
- Use Katon to climb up the mountain and run to the end. He will be directly
above the soldier. Use the 'oxygen can' and drop it on the burning plane to
cause an explosion. Cutscene. Climb down and run to where the guard was.
Examine the tent to get a 'rope'.
- There is a third soldier. Climb up the mountain next to the tent. There is a
small rock at the top. Use the 'rope' on it.
- Change to Julia. Run there and climb up the rope. Run to the end of the cliff
and walk on the broken plane lying against the cliff. Use 'knife' on the third
soldier. Save point.
- There is another split path again and a fourth soldier across the cliff on
the right side. Change to Lopez (or anyone else) and attract his attention for
3 times. Lopez will get shot, but do not worry. During the third time, the
soldier will drop through a thin ice surface. Run to the left and examine the
plane wreckage to see a 'recovery  kit'. Use it to recover life.
- Run back to where you used the boulder as a cover. Go to the left side of the
boulder to pick up a map of the military facility. Cutscene. They need to go to
the communication facility.
- Change to Julia and follow the trail to see a fifth soldier. When his back us
turned, run across to hide behind the boulder. Use 'knife' on soldier again.
Save point. Cutscene. Julia will kill another soldier, but he manages to fire
off and alert the rest.
- Now, there will be a countdown (slightly under 2 minutes). Examine the tent
and get an 'oxygen can' again.
- Go to the other extreme end to where the burning wreckage is and use the
'oxygen can' to cause another explosion and an avalanche. Cutscene. Save.
- Use Julia. There is another soldier. Run to hide behind a jutting mountain
crop when the soldier's back is turned. Use 'knife' again.
- Continue running to the communication facility. There is another guard at the
end. As Julia, climb up the ladder. Do not climb up the second ladder to the
roof yet. Run to the spot just above the soldier guarding the door below. Run
to the edge and use 'knife'. Julia will drop down and kill him. The soldier
will drop a 'walkie talkie' and Julia will pass it to Pachamama.
- The door is locked (the door on the second floor is locked too).
- Change to Steve and run to the locked door (which the soldier was guarding)
Use his 'tool box' on the electronic panel to unlock the door. Save.
- As Julia, go to the lavatory first and hide there (by staying there).
- Change to Steve and go to the generator room where there is a fire alarm
panel. Examine it and break it.
- The signaller in the communication room will go out and repair the blue power
switch next to the toilet. When he is repairing it, use Julia's 'knife' on the
toilet door. Save. Cutscene.
- Change to Steve to use the communication equipment.
- Change to Pachamama to obtain the 'diary' from the soldier's barrack.
- Run back and give it to Steve so that he can obtain information from it.
- Change to Julia to obtain 'keys' on the table.
- Go out of the building to the second floor. Use the 'key' to unlock it.
- Examine the yellow panel inside the room and pull the switch to cut off the
power supply.
- Important! This must be done in order to proceed. Change to Pachamama and go
up to the rooftop to check the direction of the satellite (radar dish). It is
facing South-East. Later, run back to the communication room and talk to Steve
and use the 'walkie talkie' (while clicking on the communication device, that
is, examine it for an exclamation mark).
- Change to Katon, go out the building and follow the snow trail to where 2 oil
barrels are. There is a track for Katon to climb down.
- Go to the end (the radar has stopped spinning and Katon can access it).
Examine the satellite dish and press 'Yes' to push it to face the right
direction. It must be facing South-East (towards the sunlight and not facing
the cliff). The satellite must be facing 45 degrees left when you are looking
at the screen of your TV. This is facing South-East. Note: if you cannot figure
it out, try playing around and rotating the dish slowly and see whether you got
it in the right direction.
- Change back to Julia and switch on the lever.
- Change to Pachamama and use the 'talkie'. Cutscene. Rescue helicopter gets
destroyed. Save point.
- Change to Disc 2.


DISC 2
- The starting is an Y-path. On the left is the mountain, which cannot be
climbed.
- Change to Katon. Go to the right side. Explore around, go inside a shed to
obtain 'lubricant'.
- Use 'lubricant' on the front of the truck to get out the winch.
- Change to Steve go to the edge of the hill where the winch is and climb down.
Use his 'toolbox' on the broken cart to get 'wheel'. Cutscene. Save.
- As Steve, run past to the railway track (where the lever is pullable) to the
overturned carriage and use the 'wheel'.
- Change to Lopez. Push the overturned carriage upright back to the track. Push
the lever.
- As Steve, investigate the broken lever. Then investigate the dangling pole
next to the rail tracks. Talk to Lopez and change to him. Note: only by doing
this will you be able to break the pole.
- As Lopez, break the dangling pole. Go back to the carriage and push it. Note:
the carriage must go to the left track and cut the pole to make it become a
pipe. Hence, you need to change the track lever if you had not done so or the
carriage will go in the wrong direction.
- As Steve, pick up the 'pipe' and fix it on the broken lever.
- As Lopez, push back the carriage to its original position.
- As Katon, go to the now repaired lever and use the 'lubri oil' (lubricant).
Now change the lever by pushing it to the right.
- As Lopez, push the carriage for the last time. Save point.
- Cutscene. Finally, the carriage crashes through, but the soldiers are
catching up. You need to blow up the dynamite in the carriage now.
- Lopez automatically picks up a 'can' and gives it to Katon.


Parting note: It's been quite some time since my update. Too few people are
playing this game. Once again, I will try to finish this by this year. Til
then, take care!