7-30-2009                                         ___
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|   ||   ||       < .----'   ||   ||   ||   ||   |
|   ||   ||   ..   ||   ..   ||   ||   ||   ||   |
|   ''   ||   ||   ||   ''   ||   ||   ||   ''   |
'.___    ||___||   |'._______||___||___|'._______|
.---'   |     |   '----.
|_______.' ___ '.___    |                            ___
.-'   '----.|   '---.  .------. .--------..-'   '----.
'_     ____||        ||        ||    ____|'_     ____|
|   |.---.|   ||   ||   ||   ||   '----.  |   |.---.
|   ||   ||   ||   ||    ____||    ____|  |   ||   |
|   ||   ||   ||   ||   |.---.|   |       |   ||   |
|        ||   ||   ||        ||   |       |        |
'------' '---''---' '------' '---'        '------'
______   ___  ___    ___        ______    _____  ______  ______
.'      '.|   ||   |.-'   '----..'      '. |     ||      ||      |
|___'|   ||   ||   |'_     ____||   ..   | |     ||_    _||_    _|
.----'   ||   ||   |  |   |.---.|   ||   |  |   |   \   \  /   /
|   ..   ||   ||   |  |   ||   ||   ||   |  |   |    \   \/   /
|   ''   ||   ''   |  |   ''   ||   ''   | |     |    \      /
'._______|'.______.'  '.______.''.______.' |_____|     \____/
FAQ/Walkthrough and ASCII art by ElectroSpecter
Version 2.00
CONTACT INFORMATION:
--------------------
THIS GUIDE'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL:    http://youtube.com/user/TravelLibertyCity
PERSONAL YOUTUBE CHANNEL:        http://youtube.com/user/IAmElectrospecter
EMAIL ADDRESS:                         ElectroSpecter26@hotmail.com
.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
|                             - Introduction -                                |
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
This guide is constructed in a sort of linear fashion, holding your hand
throughout the game. However, it CAN be used as a reference, so it's pretty
versatile. Please enjoy! It was tough work.
Also:
I tried to get the Wanted achievement. I ended up hating my life and this game.
If I never have anything to do with this game again I will be happy. Sorry.
Please no more emails about the game.
.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
|                                - Contents -                                 |
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
- FAQs                            ....... [FQQS] [N/A%]
- General Strategies and Gameplay ....... [GSGP] [100%]
- Walkthrough                     ....... [WKTH] [100%]
- 100% Checklist                  ....... [100L] [100%]
- Stray Body Armor                ....... [STBA] [100%]
- Vigilante and Most Wanted       ....... [VMWD] [100%]
- Drug Delivery Missions          ....... [DDMS] [100%]
- Exotic Exports                  ....... [EXEX] [100%]
- Street Races                    ....... [STRC] [100%]
- Car Theft Missions              ....... [CRTH] [100%]
- Assassin Missions               ....... [ASSN] [100%]
- Random Characters               ....... [RNDC] [100%]
- Flying Rat Locations            ....... [FRLC] [100%]
- Unique Stunt Jump Locations     ....... [USJL] [100%]
- Girlfriends / Friends           ....... [GFFS] [100%]
- Phone Fun                       ....... [PHFN] [100%]
- Internet Interests              ....... [ININ] [100%]
- Clothing                        ....... [CLTH] [100%]
- What Else?                      ....... [????] [100%]
- XBox 360 Achievements           ....... [360A] [100%]
- Credits                         ....... [CRDS] [N/A%]
- Version History                 ....... [VERH] [N/A%]
- Legal                           ....... [LEGL] [N/A%]
.============================================.
.---------------|                                            |----------------.
|               |                 FAQs [FQQS]                |                |
'---------------|                                            |----------------'
'============================================'
Q. How do I get Dwayne to become my friend?
A. If Dwayne meets the criteria of becoming your friend (i.e. he's alive after
a certain specific mission), he'll have sent you an email. You'll have to
positively respond to it before he'll call you for your first friend
activity.
Q. Can I rob stores or banks in this game?
A. As it turns out (I was mistaken before), there are a few things you can do
to pick up some extra cash. From David G. "I've found when armoured cars are
hit with a rocket launcher they spill a lot of money out onto the street,
however, you must be quick about picking it up and flee the scene unless you
want to shoot up a bunch of cops.
Also, in the internet cafes, if you walk up to the unattended cash register
in the "dining" area of the cafe, a prompt will ask if you want to take the
money from the cash register by pushing LB button.  There's usually $40-$150
available, but get out of there because sometimes the cops will show up."
Q. Ambulance missions?
A. Nup. They took 'em out.
Q. Where are the garages in this game?
A. Well, you have parking spots located outside your safehouse(s). They are
marked by yellow lines, you can't really miss it. They function similar to
garages in previous games in the fact that they will "heal" your car if you
leave it parked there and save (though you have to go one step further and
actually reset the game after saving, I think).
Q. How many vehicles can I store in each space?
A. Two. Alsyon explains: "On the X360, your reserved parking spaces will "eat"
vehicles if more than two parked at any given safehouse.  This includes any
vehicle that is sharing even a fraction of the parking space when you save.
I lost both the Comet from Brucie and the Infernus from Bernie this way in
Alderney.  If there is a vehicle you're desperate to keep, be very careful
what's nearby when you save."
Q. How do I manually dial numbers on my cell phone?
A. After pressing up on the D-Pad to bring up the phone, press up again to
access the keypad. Type in the number you want, and then hit the green call
button. Simple as that!
Q. Are there Police Bribe pickups in this game?
A. Nope, they took them out. You can still visit the Pay 'N' Sprays located
around the city though.
Q. How do I get to the game's multiplayer option?
A. I was confused too at first, as it's not in the menu. You must first get a
cell phone (doesn't take too long, all you need to do is complete the second
mission, "It's Your Call"), bring up the cell phone with up on the
directional pad, press A to access the phone menu, and go down to
Multiplayer.
.============================================.
.---------------|                                            |----------------.
|               |   General Strategies and Gameplay [GSGP]   |                |
'---------------|                                            |----------------'
'============================================'
- SUBSECTIONS:
- GETTING AROUND THE CITY
- GPS
- VEHICLE DAMAGE
- HEALTH
- BODY ARMOR
- WEAPONS
- WANTED LEVELS
- FIGHTING
- GUNFIGHTING
- VEHICLE BATTLES AND CHASES
GETTING AROUND THE CITY
-----------------------
- On foot, Niko can walk, run, swim, and climb ledges and ladders.
- Niko can drive pretty much anything on wheels.
- You can steal cars by pressing Y.
- If you are jacking a car with a driver in it, you can usually get them to
stop by standing in front of them. But often times you will be hit, which
isn't too fun. After they are stopped, press Y to pull them out (or scare
them out if you have a gun equipped), and hop in. Some drivers will fight
back and attempt to pull you from their car. If you drive away fast enough,
they won't get this chance. They might even cling to the side as you speed
down the road!
- Parked cars tend to be locked, and Niko will break the window and unlock
the door. After he's in, he hotwires the car, a process that can be sped up
by pulling RT repeatedly.
- You can hail taxis, and they will take you to any destination, including any
waypoints you have set. Hold Y to enter a Taxi when it stops.
- If there is already a passenger in the Taxi, you can approach the door
nearest them and pull them out to get in (hold Y instead of pressing it to
do this).
- You can either wait out the ride, or skip it (for a tiny extra fee).
- From Brian via email: "...you can get out of paying a taxi fare if you just
start shooting. the cab driver freaks out and runs away and you don't have
to pay."
- In the same line of thinking, you can kill the cabbie after you pay and get
all your money back. Both of these tactics can cause problems with the
police, however.
- There are many train stops throughout the city. Trains are a good fast way of
getting around.
- If you need to get around in the water, boats are a good choice.
- Helicopters become available to you later on in the game, a good choice for
getting around safely and quickly, and also pretty fun.
GPS
---
- The in game GPS is used to get from point A to point B. During missions, a
GPS route will appear automatically. If you need a GPS to an arbitrary
destination, you can set one yourself in the menu screen on the map, and
the GPS will now help you.
VEHICLE DAMAGE
--------------
- No matter what vehicle you're in, driving fast into something solid will do
more harm than good. Typically, you will be able to tell when a vehicle is
getting damaged when parts fly off, there are massive dents, and smoke is
coming out of the engine.
- When driving in cars, your tires can catch on fire and be burned off, and
they can also be shot out. When this happens, steering becomes much more
difficult.
- Massive damage and disfiguration on one side of the car can disrupt the air
flow over the car, causing it to drift when you drive.
- Flipping a car no longer causes it to light on fire and explode, but once
the car is flipped, you'll have a hard time getting it back upright again.
- If your car IS on fire though, that means it will explode, so get out
immediately. You can jump out of a moving car with Y.
A great tip from timekiller 92: "i have found out on numerous occasions that
if you run over a fire hydrant and set the part of the car that's on fire
over it that it will put it out.  If there is a fire truck near-by you can
also use that to put out the fire, if it's a car that you adore i wouldn't
exactly call for a firetruck because they could take forever to get
there...it's worth a shot though."
- If you hit something solid and immovable, Niko will fly out of the windshield
and smash into anything in his way, causing him to lose a lot of health.
- Cars won't always explode. Sometimes the engine will just stop working, and
Niko will attempt to start the car over and over. Normally, this means that
you'll need to find a new car, but you can actually call someone from your
contacts (or 911), hang up, and the car will work. I'm not sure if this is a
glitch or a secret. It's worth knowing though.
HEALTH
------
- Health is displayed as a green bar around the mini-map.
- Health can be restored by the following means:
- Restaurants.
- Street vendors (cheap and convenient).
- Soda machines (also nice).
- Sleeping at your safehouse.
- First Aid Kits (scattered around the city; see the Stray First Aid Kits
section).
- Calling 911 and dialing 2 for the Paramedics will cause an ambulance to
drive to your location, where the paramedics will heal you for a fee,
unless you scare them off.
- Entering an ambulance (refer to the previous tip for finding an ambulance)
- Paying a hooker for her services; get a suitable car (i.e. no police
vehicles), pull up beside a hooker, honk your horn, have her get in, drive
to someplace private, and pay her for her services; you will probably have
to search at night as well; you can kill her after for your money back...
if that's your style.
- Losing all your health will cause Niko to become wounded, and the screen will
fade as he's taken to the hospital. You lose a percent of your cash when this
happens, so dying when you have a lot of money isn't too recommended. Niko
will end up at the nearest hospital. Thanks again to timekiller92 for
reminding me that you keep all your weapons when this happens.
BODY ARMOR
----------
- When you get Body Armor, a blue bar will fill the other half of your
mini-map. When you are shot, the Body Armor bar will be depleted instead
of your health. Other types of injuries (e.g. falling, fire, getting hit
by a car, etc.) will bypass the Body Armor and deplete your health (makes
sense, right?)
- You can find Body Armor lying around the city (see the Stray Body Armor
section).
- Body Armor can be purchased from Gun Shops for $500 and from Little Jacob
for $300 (once you're friendly enough with him to unlock his ability).
WEAPONS
-------
- There are a variety of weapons that Niko can wield and use. Many are not
available to him at first, but as he progresses through the game, he can
use more and more.
- There are five main ways to obtain weapons and ammo:
- Finding the weapon lying about around the city (for weapon locations, head
to the Stray Weapons section [SWEP] of the guide). The weapons won't
exactly respawn fast, and don't come with a lot of ammo, so this is
the least efficient way of obtaining weapons and ammo, but it is the
cheapest, and it's fairly safe.
- Purchasing the weapon / ammo from a Gun Shop (which are first introduced in
the mission, "Do You Have Protection?"). This is also a safe method of
stocking up on guns and ammo, though it's expensive, and you won't be able
to buy much at first (more guns become available after completing certain
missions; availability and price are listed a tiny bit below). Also, you
can't enter the Gun Shop if you have a wanted level (for obvious reasons).
TIP: This is very important to remember, especially with things like the
RPG, which is expensive. When you run out of ammo, Niko will discard that
gun, meaning you'll have to buy it again. As long as you have at least one
bullet left, you can avoid spending the extra money on the weapon. So
always try to avoid expending that last bullet!
- Purchasing the weapon / ammo from Little Jacob. This option becomes
available once Little Jacob becomes your friend (after the mission,
"Shadow") and once you have participated in enough activities with him to
raise his friendship level to 75% or above. From this point, you can call
him and ask to see his weapons. He'll appear in an out of the way place,
and tell you to meet him there. (Most of) his wares are cheaper than the
Gun Shop, so definitely hang on to this option (I say "hang on" since you
can lose this option by ignoring Jacob when he calls and asks to hang out;
you can always earn it back, however).
- The fourth way to collect weapons and ammo, and by far the most common, is
to just kill enemies that have guns. Afterwards you can pick up any weapons
or ammo that they have dropped. Of course, this is the most dangerous
method, but you'll be facing tons of these enemies throughout the game, so
there's no way you will be able to avoid these situations. If you never get
busted, you may never have to rely on any other method of getting ammo
(well, that's a lie; you'll probably still have to buy grenades and RPGs,
as most enemies don't carry these weapons).
- Sometimes you'll just be given weapons from characters, usually during
missions. This doesn't happen all that often though.
- If you get busted, you will lose all your weapons. This would be a large blow
to your character, especially later in the game. Luckily, it's very hard to
get busted in this game.
- Here are various descriptions and stats of each weapon, including price (from
both the normal Gun Shop and Jacob's shop), availability, and brief tips
(availability for each weapon refers to when you can buy it in the shop;
it may be possible to collect these weapons before some of these points if
you find them on an enemy or lying around outside). Also listed is which
weapon "slot" the weapon is carried in, since you can only carry one out of
the two weapons that fit in each "slot" at any given time:
- KEY
- Slot - Refers to which "slot" Niko carries this weapon. You can only carry
one weapon in each slot.
- Availability - Refers to when this weapon becomes available for purchase.
If you are diligent, you can find weapons before these points by finding
them around the city, or on enemies.
- Gun Shop - The price to buy the weapon at the Gun Shop, follwed by how much
ammo costs for that weapon, using the format "Weapon Price / Ammo Price".
The number in parenthesis is how much ammo you'll recieve per purchase.
- Jacob - The price to buy the weapon from Jacob, follwed by how much ammo
costs for that weapon, using the format "Weapon Price / Ammo Price".
- FISTS
- Slot         - 0
- Availability - N/A
- Gun Shop     - N/A
- Jacob        - N/A
- If you don't have any weapons, you can always just rely on your good old
fists, though this won't do you much good when you're in a gunfight. You
can do a few special things with your fists, such as disarming an opponant
or stun-punching them. See the fighting sub-section a bit later on in this
section for more details.
- KNIFE
- Slot         - 1
- Availability - Whenever you unlock Jacob's ability.
- Gun Shop     - --
- Jacob        - $100
- The knife is useful early on in the game before battles become almost
exclusively about firearms. Pulling a knife on someone when you're in close
quarters will be both effective at draining their health very fast, and
also staggering them and lowering the chance they will attack back. It's a
very fast weapon, and you can tap the button repeatedly to swing it madly.
The knife is also useful for stealth (when a mission calls for it). Though
I don't think stealth kills were added into this game, at least you won't
be making noise with gunshots.
- BAT
- Slot         - 1
- Availability - Complete "Do You Have Protection?"
- Gun Shop     - $5
- Jacob        - --
- The bat is the other melee weapon available to you early on (and also only
really useful early on). The baseball bat is similar to the knife in that
it will stagger the enemy when you use it on them (well, knock them to the
ground), at which point you can continue beating on them before they get a
chance to get up.
- PISTOL
- Slot         - 2
- Availability - Complete "Do You Have Protection?"
- Gun Shop     - $600 / $35 (17x)
- Jacob        - $420 / $25 (17x)
- Probably the first weapon you'll pick up on your adventure. Each clip holds
17 bullets. It isn't the most powerful gun, but it will always work well in
a pinch. You can use it as a drive-by weapon as well. Finally, you can use
it for cinematic executions.
- COMBAT PISTOL
- Slot         - 2
- Availability - Complete "Museum Piece"
- Gun Shop     - $1500 / $100 (9x)
- Jacob        - --
- There are a few main differences between this and the regular pistol. The
first is that it only holds 9 bullets per clip. Second, it is more powerful
than the pistol, and finally, you can't use the ammo you were using for the
pistol, so once you get the combat pistol, you'll have to build up your
cache of ammo again. The combat pistol can still be used for drive-bys and
cinematic executions.
- PUMP SHOTGUN
- Slot         - 3
- Availability - Complete "Do You Have Protection?"
- Gun Shop     - $1200 / $100 (8x)
- Jacob        - --
- I don't really like using the shotguns in this game, mostly because it's
only useful in close quarters, and situations where you're the only one
shooting are very rare (if you're in a firefight using the shotgun, expect
to die in a matter of seconds when you finally get close enough to
effectively use the shotgun). Still, if you need to blow up a car and you
don't have explosives, whip out the shotgun and pump some shells into it.
- COMBAT SHOTGUN
- Slot         - 3
- Availability - Complete "Blow Your Cover"
- Gun Shop     - $2500 / $200 (10x)
- Jacob        - $1500 / $100 (10x)
- If you are insistent on using a shotgun for whatever masochistic reason,
the combat shotgun is definitely an upgrade. It holds more shells (meaning
less reloads), shoots faster, and is more powerful.
- MICRO-SMG
- Slot         - 4
- Availability - Complete "Do You Have Protection?"
- Gun Shop     - $1200 / $100 (50x)
- Jacob        - $840  / $20  (50x)
- This will pretty much become a mainstay weapon once you start to get into
the real firefights of the game, at least until the assault rifles become
available. The rapid fire will decimate enemies quickly, though the spread
can become bad if you hold down the trigger for too long. To mitigate this,
use short, controlled bursts when firing. This weapon can be used for
drive-bys, of course.
- SMG
- Slot         - 4
- Availability - Complete "Luck of the Irish"
- Gun Shop     - $2500 / $150 (30x)
- Jacob        - $1750 / $20  (30x)
- This larger SMG will hold less ammo per clip, but is more powerful (much
like the combat pistol). It also seems to be a tiny bit more accurate. This
can still be used for drive-bys. Ammo is interchangable between the micro-
SMG and the SMG.
- ASSAULT RIFLE
- Slot         - 5
- Availability - Complete "Deconstruction for Beginners"
- Gun Shop     - $3500 / $80 (30x)
- Jacob        - $2450 / $55 (30x)
- The assault rifle is a great weapon, beaten out only by the carbine rifle.
It's highly accurate, has an insane range, and will devistate anything you
shoot at. Ammo will be easy to come by later in the game as well, when
enemies start using assault rifles (which is a mixed blessing!).
- CARBINE RIFLE
- Slot         - 5
- Availability - Complete "Three Leaf Clover"
- Gun Shop     - $5000 / $100 (30x)
- Jacob        - $3500 / $70  (30x)
- The best all-around weapon in the game, in my opinion, especially since, as
I mentioned, ammo will be easy to come by (it's interchangable with the
assault rifle). The difference between this and the assault rifle is added
damage.
- SNIPER RIFLE
- Slot         - 6
- Availability - Complete "Luck of the Irish"
- Gun Shop     - $6000 / $800 (5x)
- Jacob        - --
- Sniper rifles are fun, though it's a disappointment you don't get to play
with them in the earlier missions. Once you do get one, you'll find it very
easy to pass certain missions, even if they don't call for stealth. To use
the rifle, you'll of course have to stop before shooting, and reload after
five shots. Use the rifle to great effect from remote places like bushes
off the road or rooftops. Each shot is very powerful, and if you don't kill
a target the first shot, chances are you will down them with a second.
- COMBAT SNIPER RIFLE
- Slot         - 6
- Availability - Complete "Luck of the Irish"
- Gun Shop     - $8500 / $500 (10x)
- Jacob        - $5000 / $500 (10x)
- The combat rifle is much better than the sniper rifle with a faster
recovery rate between shots. Pick this up as early as possible.
- RPG
- Slot         - 7
- Availability - Complete "Babysitting"
- Gun Shop     - $15,000 / $5000 (1x)
- Jacob        - --
- Ergh, this weapon is pricey. You're probably better off looking for the
few RPGs scattered around the city, especially since you will reach maximum
capacity for your rockets fairly quickly. As for its use, the RPG comes in
handy for missions when you need to take out a car / boat / helicopter.
Since a direct hit will blow up any of these vehicles, it's a good choice
when you find yourself in a tough mission. Be carful of using this in tight
quarters, however, as you can blow yourself up.
- MOLOTOVS
- Slot         - 8
- Availability - Complete "The Master and the Molotov"
- Gun Shop     - $500 (1x)
- Jacob        - $350 (1x)
- Molotovs are a fun weapon, and you'll have access to them fairly early on
in the game. You chuck them like grenades, but they will explode on impact.
The firey explosion has a pretty wide spread, so this is a good weapon if
you're facing large clusters of enemies. Molotovs are quite effective on
cars as well. A well thrown molotov will light a car on fire, burn off one
or more of the tires, and eventually cause it to explode. If the driver is
too stubborn to get out the moment the molotov hits (such as in a chase),
the driver will eventually catch on fire too, making for an easy kill.
- GRENADES
- Slot         - 8
- Availability - Complete "Deconstruction for Beginners"
- Gun Shop     - $1000 (1x)
- Jacob        - $700  (1x)
- Grenades are also quite fun, and it's a shame you can't carry these and
molotovs. The upside to having grenades is that you can blow up vehicles
faster with them, and you can also use them as a drive-by weapon by
dropping them out the window of whatever car you're in (works best if
you're in front of the enemy, which unfortunately isn't all that often in
car chases). You can "cook" grenades by holding down the button before you
release it again to throw it, but don't hold on to it for too long or it
will blow up in Niko's hand. You can tell it's time to throw the grenade
when a frantic beeping begins.
WANTED LEVELS
-------------
- Yes, there are still Police in this game, and yes, they get mad when you do
bad things. You should inherently know what these bad things are, but here
are a few things that could attract police attention:
- Stealing a vehicle.
- Discharging a firearm.
- Discharging a firearm into someone.
- Running over people.
- Fighting in public.
- Vandalism.
- Hitting a cop car.
- Resisting arrest.
- Entering restricted areas / islands.
- Driving drunk.
- Threatening people with weapons.
- You can earn up to a total of six wanted stars from participating in various
crimes. You usually get the stars in increments, but there are ways to jump
from no wanted level to a high wanted level, and pretty much anything in
between.
- When you have a wanted level, any cops and cop vehicles appear as blips on
the radar.
- The wanted circle plays a key part in the new wanted level system. It is the
circle that appears on your mini-map whenever you have a wanted level. While
you are in that circle, there is no chance of naturally losing your wanted
level. You need to escape the circle before the stars will fade. The circle
will more or less follow you around the map if any police can see you, but it
will pretty much stop moving once you are out of sight of any cops, making it
much easier to escape from the circle at this point. You will know if you are
out of sight if the wanted stars are grey, not white. The circle gets bigger
with each additional star tacked on to your wanted level, which, needless to
say, makes it harder and harder to escape.
- 1 STAR
- Any Police in the area will begin to pursue you, but none will actually
shoot at you. It is rare for more cruisers to arrive at this point. The
only danger you are really in at this point is if a cop on foot catches up
to you. He will point the gun at Niko, who stops and raises his hands in
the air. If you wait, Niko will eventually be arrested. You can still run
at this point, however, by hitting buttons. This will automatically bump
you up to two stars though, and you'll definitely be shot at least once.
- 2 STARS
- Cruisers will actively spawn and chase you now, and cops on foot will open
fire at any chance they get.
- 3 STARS
- One big difference here is the addition of a Police chopper. The helicopter
will make it both difficult to escape and to survive. Since the chopper
isn't restricted by roads, it will have a much easier time tracking you and
will make it harder for you to escape the wanted circle. Gunmen from the
chopper can also make your life difficult. Also, watch out for the police
Patriots, which will set up road blocks on all the major bridges. You can
plow through these blockades, but expect to take some damage, both to
player and / or vehicle. Police boats will also pursue you if you decide to
swim or boat away. You will also start experiencing the pain of the
shotgun.
- 4 STARS
- N.O.O.S.E. trucks will begin to appear, which are giant armored things that
can take a lot of punishment, aren't aren't exactly pleasant to slam in to.
Much like their vehicles, the N.O.O.S.E. officers themselves can take a
great deal of punishment, and also deal it out with their automatic
weapons. They wear Body Armor, so they take longer to take down. These new
N.O.O.S.E. vehicles also take the place of the Patriots at the road blocks,
making it tougher to bust through.
- 5 STARS
- Annihilator helicopters make five star wanted level a major pain. The cops
in these helicopters carry assault rifles, which can decimate you or your
vehicle in moments.
- 6 STARS
- You're pretty much screwed at this point, unless you're really lucky or
really good at hiding. This is pretty much a more intense version of five
stars.
- Once you escape from a wanted level, you'll usually have a probationary
period where your stars will still be there blinking, but there will be no
wanted circle. This doesn't last very long, and all you have to do is behave
for its duration. If you get caught doing something again, you'll have your
stars back in full force, wasting the effort of losing the level in the first
place.
- There are a few different ways to lose wanted levels. The most obvious is
just by escaping the wanted circle. I usually divide escaping into three
steps:
1. Drive FAST to escape the view of any helicopter (if applicable), or
alternately, change up your route as much as possible if you're around
tall buildings.
2. Duck down streets to lose any vehciles following you. It's nice to drive
for a while to get them to "clump up," because then you can slam on your
brakes at an intersection that they're all bound to crash at, and they
will have a hard time following you when you take your new route.
3. Escape the wanted circle. If you have followed the above two steps, there
should be no one following you anymore. Police can still pop up on the
map though, so instead of trying to get out of the circle as quickly as
possible, play it smart and take it sort of slow so you can pick streets
that lead out of the circle, but have no cops.
- Pay 'N' Sprays are still around, and function the exact same way. You go in,
they paint your car, and your wanted level disappears. However, you'll still
have to behave for a moment after you leave the garage, since you'll still
have a blinking wanted level. Pay 'N' Sprays appear as spray paint cans on
the map. Also, you'll have to be sneaky about entering them. If a cop sees
you enter, you won't be fooling anyone (see steps 1 and 2 above to lose
pursuit).
- There are a couple people in Liberty City that have the power to get rid of
a pursuit with just a simple phone call. The first is Francis McReary, and
you earn the ability to call off a police pursuit if you complete the mission
"Blood Brothers" [M090] a certain way. There are spoilers in that section of
the walkthrough though, so be warned. Once you use this ability once, you may
not use it again, ever.
- The other person that can take care of a wanted level for you is Kiki, a
woman you can meet through an online dating service. Once you unlock her
ability, she can take away up to three stars from your wanted level if you
call her. You can use this ability three times before you need to go on a
date with her, at which point you can use the ability again. See the
Girlfriends / Friends section after the walkthrough for more information on
how to date Kiki [GFFS].
- Sleeping in a safe house will get rid of any wanted level.
- There are no police "bribes" like in the previous games (pickups that you
could walk or drive through to decrement your wanted level by one star).
FIGHTING
--------
- You won't be doing much of this at all. In fact, you can avoid it entirely
by getting a melee weapon as soon as you start the game. Regardless, I will
vaguely explain the fighting mechanics in the game, despite having avoided
it myself.
- You can dodge attacks aimed at you and follow up with a counter move. Press
A at the correct time to dodge, and then hit X or Y to counter.
- You can hold A to block.
- SuperGoop writes in: "To easily dodge and counter, rapidly press the "A"
button repeatedly. You may get hit a few times, but mostly, you will either
block or dodge. As soon as you see the dodge animation, quickly hit X, Y to
execute a counter-attack (a 1-2 punch followed by a reverse side-kick that
knocks the enemy down and usually out)."
- It's often possible to shake off attackers without getting your hands dirty.
If you run into the line of sight of a cop without fighting back, the cop
will arrest your attacker without bothering you. Also, you can use a random
person on the street for cover from your opponent's blows. The attacker will
hit the random person rather than you. Sometimes this will make the person
run off screaming, but if you're lucky, they will get angry and start
attacking your attacker, drawing any attention off of you!
GUNFIGHTING
-----------
- Cover. You will almost never find yourself in a gun battle without some sort
of cover available, even if you're not on a mission for some reason. Pretty
much anything can be used for cover, from walls to car doors to trees. Press
RB when you're near most anything, and Niko will duck behind it.
- If you are running towards something that you want to take cover behind and
you press RB, Niko will more than likely make a diving roll to get into
cover.
- You can quickly switch positions in cover by pressing the direction of the
new object you want to hide behind, and hitting RB. For example, if you're
taking cover behind a wall, and there's a gap in the wall, you can dart
across the gap to the other part of the wall by holding in the direction of
the gap and pressing RB.
- You can still shoot whilst in cover. You can even auto aim at enemies. It's
very easy to kill enemies this way. You can even switch which enemies you
want to aim for this way. It's good to do this anyway, as the auto-targeting
feature will pick up on enemies that you may not have noticed while you're
still safe in cover.
- After targeting an enemy, hold down the trigger to shoot. Niko will pop out
of cover automatically and begin shooting. He will duck back down when you
release the trigger. To kill enemies more effectively, aim a tiny bit up so
that Niko's first shot is more likely to be a head shot.
- If you find yourself without nearby cover, it's wise to keep as much distance
as possible. If, for some insane reason, there's no cover around, you're
probably screwed, but you can try rolling around to avoid gunfire. Press X
while locked on to an enemy and strafing to perform one of these rolls.
- Crouching increases accuracy.
- Sometimes it's possible to approach the site of a gun battle from a distance
and take out many of the enemies preemptively with a Sniper Rifle. This will
greatly help later on.
- For enemies that tend to cluster, throw a grenade! This is an extremely
effective way to get rid of opposition quickly. You can throw grenades from
cover too.
- You'll mostly just be using the pistol in the early parts of the game, the
SMG soon after (and for a while after that), and finally the assault rifle
for the remainder of the gun battles. These weapons are deadly, fast,
effective, and it's easy to refill their ammo, as your enemies usually will
be fighting back with the same weapons!
- Always look for environmental hazards. Cars and red barrels can typically
explode, especially when they're in the midst of a heated gun battle. Try to
use these types of items to your advantage and to avoid them when they would
be detrimental to you. In other words, don't crouch behind a vehicle for too
long!
- Some surfaces can be shot through / broken. This is helpful when there are
enemies in cover that you can't get to without running up to them to shoot
them. Look for surfaces like concrete pillars and crappy wooden walls that
you can shoot through.
- Sometimes you won't see your targets on the radar, and auto-aim sometimes
doesn't pick up on certain enemies that are too well hidden. Try to use your
intuition. Usually something will change or feel different about a mission
when there are no more enemies to kill in the immediate area. If you can't
get an enemy to come out from cover, and you know he's there, you may have
no choice but to run up and shoot him before he knows what's happening. More
often than not, this tends to work.
- Always check the radar if the enemies appear on it. You can tell if an enemy
is below you or above you by looking at the direction of the arrow on their
blip (unless you have a tiny TV, sorry).
- Cops shoot bad guys too. If you hold off on shooting when you're in an area
with plenty of traffic, sooner or later a cop will come by and notice the
commotion. If he doesn't catch you shooting, he'll start shooting your
enemies. Soon more police will arrive and possibly take care of everyone for
you!
VEHICLE BATTLES AND CHASES
--------------------------
- Most vehicle chases in missions are very scripted. Usually, you won't be able
to get in front of the enemy car, no matter how fast you're going, and any
gunshots will do no damage to the car. It's best during these chases to stay
at a low speed (without going so slow as to lose the target) and focus
entirely on keeping up.
- When you do have a chance to do damage to a vehicle, you have several
options:
- Ramming into the vehicle will cause damage (to your car as well, most
likely).
- Shooting out tires, especially on only one side, will cause the target to
swerve and most likely crash, making the chase easier.
- Shooting certain parts of the car will do damage to it as well. For maximum
damage, shoot into either the back or front of the car. After all, shooting
a car door isn't going to be as effective as shooting the engine.
- I guess the programmers did add in gas tanks, though there is no real
indication as to where they are. HBK619 writes in on the matter: "While I
can't confirm that gas tanks can be shot during a chase, I do know for a
fact that cars in general have them. They are on the left hand side of most
cars I've tested, and if you shoot them, especially from about a foot away
with a shotgun once or twice, Niko will first catch fire, then after a
second, the entire car will explode."
- You CAN, however, shoot the engines on the backs of motorboats to blow them
up.
- A direct hit from a rocket will end a vehicle immediately.
- Grenade blasts will light a car on fire, causing it to explode soon after.
- Molotovs can light cars on fire, melting away the tires.
- The specifics of weapons used from a vehicle:
- Press LB to bust any window that may be in your way.
- Hold LB to aim your weapon.
- You can use SMGs, Pistols, and Grenades from a car. Press X to cycle
through your choices.
- Press RT to shoot when aiming.
- If you are using grenades, hold LB to pull the pin, and then let go of LB
to drop it out the window. This is most effective when you are a couple car
distances in front of a target, so it can't always be used well.
- Non scripted chases will usually end when you do enough damage to the target
vehicle. At this point, the target(s) usually get out and flee, and you can
finish them off however you'd like.
- If you light a car on fire, the targets will run out of the car on fire and
die shortly thereafter, saving you the trouble of chasing them down.
- If your aim is good, you can end a chase early by shooting the driver in the
head. This is the quickest way to end a chase, and can sometimes happen if
you just crazily shoot in the general direction of the driver.
.============================================.
.---------------|                                            |----------------.
|               |             Walkthrough [WKTH]             |                |
'---------------|                                            |----------------'
'============================================'
The way I wrote this walkthrough was in a more linear fashion than the game
actually requires you to play through. I decided to do it this way simply
because this is what I would be looking for in a guide if I needed to find one
myself.
That being said, you can actually just skip around to whatever mission you want
to by reading the contents. There are a few missions I'll have written
strategies for that will assume that you've done some things before the
mission, but for the most part, you can use the walkthrough as a case-by-case
mission reference as well.
Each mission description has three parts: The basics, an overview of the
different stages of the mission, and a detailed walkthrough.
.=============================================================================.
| 1. THE COUSINS BELLIC                                                [M001] |
'============================================================================='
Chain:   Roman
Prereq:  Start the game!
Starts:  East Hook, by the ship
Ends:    Hove Beach, Roman's Place
Rewards: Safe House (Roman's Place)
$25
Off The Boat - 5G (X360 Achievement)
Unlocks: It's Your Call
Overview:
1. Follow the GPS to Roman's Place while learning about the game's controls
(and well endowed women). Just don't blow the car up or kill Roman!
This intro mission starts as soon as the opening cutscenes end. Your cousin
Roman is a bit too much over the line to drive, and so Niko takes the wheel.
There are a lot of things going on at first (drunken chatter, the game's
control tutorial), but you can take some time while you're not on the roads to
practice driving. When you're ready, follow the yellow GPS line on the mini-map
(in the bottom left corner) to reach Roman's Place.
When you get inside, you'll be introduced to the game's saving and auto-save
features. Take a moment to peruse the menus and familiarize yourself with
everything. When you exit the house, you'll also be taught about the game's
"garage" system (similar to the garage system for saving cars in the previous
GTA games, minus the actual garages) and how to heal by eating food from a
stand.
And guess what? A lot of the game has already opened up to you, so go ahead and
run around if you want. Roman can wait, and there's plenty to do around the
city.
If you're playing the XBox360 version of the game, you'll have gotten the "Off
The Boat" Achievement (5G).
When you are ready though, head to the R icon on the map. You can either sweat
it out on foot, or just nab a car and head over. Look around first if you
decide to jack a car though, since there are sometimes police milling around.
This will be good practice for later.
.=============================================================================.
| 2. IT'S YOUR CALL                                                    [M002] |
'============================================================================='
Chain:   Roman
Prereq:  The Cousins Bellic
Starts:  Hove Beach, Cab Office
Ends:    Hove Beach, Cab Office
Rewards: Cell Phone
Roman as a cell phone contact
$30
Unlocks: Brian (Random Character)
Three's a Crowd
Overview:
1. Drive Roman to the hardware store.
2. Roman gives you a cell phone and heads in. After a while, loan sharks pull
up and start to head into the building (don't attack or scare them!). Use
your phone to call Roman before they get into the building.
3. They begin to chase you. Quickly follow the GPS back to the Cab office to
lose them.
The mission begins similar to the first one; you're in Roman's taxi driving him
somewhere. This time, it's to a hardware store, but this mission has nothing to
do with tools. Instead, Roman is gambling and trying to make up some lost
money. So just head to the hardware store.
When you arrive, you can just park in the spot out front, but to make things
easier later on, head PAST the parking spot, turn around, and park facing the
other way (assuming you were following the GPS). Roman gives you his old cell
phone before heading inside.
As you're waiting, use the right analog stick to look around. Roman will call
you after a bit, and you can answer if you'd like. Soon after that, the
Albanian loan sharks will pull up on the other side of the street (Niko will
spot them, even if you don't, and drop an audio clue). At this point, press up
on the d-pad to pull up the cell phone menu. Press A to enter the phone book
and call Roman before the loan sharks enter the building (or else the mission
will end).
Roman books it out of the building and hops in the car. If you parked facing
the other way like I mentioned, you can just drive straight and follow the
yellow line. Otherwise, you can either drive past the loan sharks and double
back to the GPS route, or spin the car around quickly. Either way it's not
really that hard, although they will begin shooting at you if you get too close.
When you reach the cab office, the mission will end.
Roman will have a new mission for you, but not immediately. You can just run
around the block a few times until the R appears though.
.=============================================================================.
| 3. THREE'S A CROWD                                                   [M003] |
'============================================================================='
Chain:   Roman
Prereq:  It's Your Call
Starts:  Hove Beach, Cab Office
Ends:    Hove Beach, Russian Shop
Rewards: Michelle as a cell phone contact and potential girlfriend
Some free clothes
Unlocks: First Date
Bleed Out
Overview:
1. Drive to the subway station to pick up Mallorie and Michelle (use your horn
to get their attention).
2. Drive to Michelle's apartment to drop them off.
3. Roman suggests buying some new clothes to better impress the ladies. Drive
there and buy at least one article of clothing (the first one will be free).
Another simple mission. Head over to the subway station to pick up Mallorie and
her friend Michelle. Mallorie will more or less set you up with Michelle, and
she gets added to your contacts list on your phone when you drive them back to
Michelle's apartment.
Niko now speaks to Roman on the cell phone, and Roman suggests getting some new
clothes at a Russian Shop in Hove Beach. Head there now, and head inside. You
can try on most of the clothes and accessories that you see here, and you'll
need to buy at least one article of clothing to complete the mission. Find
something you like, and purchase it. This first piece will be on the house, but
any additional clothes you want will have to come out of your own funds. This