- Tenpenny: "Some young journalist is out there trying to get a name for himself."
- Pulaski: "He doesn't know how the streets work - that he's supposed to report what he's supposed to report!"
- Tenpenny: "Yeah. Anyway, we need you to shut him up for us."
- Pulaski: "And that stoolie! Shut him up too!"
- —Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski brief Carl Johnson about his mission
Snail Trail is a mission in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas given to protagonist Carl Johnson by the C.R.A.S.H. team from Carl's garage in the Doherty district of San Fierro, San Andreas.
Mission
Carl goes inside the garage and is greeted by Jethro. He says that some cops are looking for him in the office. Carl realizes that it is Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski. He is welcomed by them, and they ask him how things are going, and how his brother is doing. Later on, they order Carl to kill a young journalist, who is apparently onto Pulaski. Pulaski also tells Carl to kill another journalist who is supposedly going to meet the young journalist at the end of Yacht Harbor in Santa Maria Beach, Los Santos.
Carl heads for and obtains a sniper rifle hidden by Tenpenny at the construction site beside the garage. After doing so, he heads to Cranberry Station, just across the street from the garage, where the reporter is waiting for a train to board. A little later, the reporter boards the train, and Carl pursues it. The train stops at Market Station in Market, and the reporter alights. He then hails and boards a taxi and heads for the end of Yacht Harbor in Santa Maria Beach. Carl discreetly follows him. Once the reporter arrives at his destination, he meets the journalist, and starts talking to him. However, before they can finish their talk, Carl kills the two.
Mission Objectives
In order to complete the mission the player must:
- Tenpenny has hidden a sniper rifle in the construction site nearby. Go get it.
- The reporter is at Cranberry Station. Follow him to the meeting place with the Target, then kill them both.
- The reporter has boarded the train and is heading for Market Station in Los Santos. Follow that train.
- The reporter has left the train. Pick up his trail and follow him to the Target.
- The reporter has climbed into a cab. Follow him to the Target.
- The reporter is ready to meet the Target. You have a sniper rifle. Assassinate them both.
Reward
Like many missions given by Tenpenny, there is no reward, though the mission Ice Cold Killa is unlocked.
Glitches
- On the PS2 version of the game, a second train (the one carrying the reporter) may occasionally appear some distance ahead of the train Carl is following. Therefore, the player should pay attention to their radar to check whether they are following the correct train.
- The Floating Train glitch can appear in this mission. A few minutes after the train leaves carrying the reporter, another train will arrive at the station but will not stop and instead take off from the rails and begin traveling towards Los Santos.
Gallery
Video Walkthroughs
Trivia
- This is one of a handful of missions where there is no scripted dialogue during gameplay.
- The driver of the Taxi in the mission is not actually a scripted taxi driver, but actually an African-American pedestrian found on beaches.
- Unlike a similar mission in GTA III, Carl cannot use a taxi to fool the journalist into his vehicle.
- During the mission, there is a special flag turned on that decreases the friction of the train tracks, allowing the player to follow the train easier.
- The direction the taxi comes from in is dependent on position and camera angle, the taxi will not come from a direction the camera is pointed at.
- There are 2 possible, different routes the taxi driver can take. Both of them have large detours and are way longer than an ideal route to the pier.
- Blocking the road of the taxi before the reporter gets in will cause an additional taxi to spawn somewhere else. Blocking all roads around the station will prevent progress until the blockade is cleared.
- It is possible to get into the train the reporter boards before he enters it and disappears if the player dashes towards the station fast enough. This will teleport CJ into the carriage and the player can skip the trip to the next scenario where the train eventually arrives at Market Station.