Grand Theft Auto IV/General Guide

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Beef up on ammo, health and armor

Before you start missions (or before saving) make sure you are fully stocked on ammo, health and armor. The most convenient way is to hail a cab and select 'Weapons'. Hail the cab again before entering the weaponshop, and the cab will hopefully still be there by the time you are done shopping.

Save often 

Make multiple saves from time to time. Decisions you make will alter the storyline, it's nice to have a backup. Also, if you fail a mission and have depleted your ammo stock, just use 'Load' from Game menu to reset to latest savepoint.

Use the cabs! 

Hail a cab or approach it holding down the car jacking-button (will work even if the cab has passengers). Once you are inside the cab, press Start and access the Maps menu. Set an Waypoint to where you want to go, exit the Maps menu. Select 'Waypoint' in the cab drivers GPS-system, and off you go.

Don't forget to use Sleep mode 

Don't forget to use the Sleep mode if you plan to do some exploration or just hang out in Liberty City. This will 'pause' the game-mode and you will not be bothered with phonecalls, messages or forced missions. You'll find Sleep mode in 'Options' on your mobilephone, last menu item.

Teleport to the Airport (PS3) 

You can warp to the Liberty City International Airport anytime that you're not on a mission. Simply start the SIXAXIS Tutorial on your phone. Quit the tutorial anytime you wish and you'll continue the game from outside of the airport. Nice!

Ask the game 

Go online in the game and go to the website www.whattheydonotwantyoutoknow.com in an internet cafe. You can simply click in the address bar and enter the address there (Xbox users, connect a USB-keyboard or the chat-pad for convenience). Now you are on some sort of message board. This shows you all the different locations, that are also on our Maps page.

Frequently asked questions

How do I hail a cab? 

Press the LB button (left bumper) on the Xbox 360, or the L1 button on the PS3. Niko will whistle if a cab is nearby and it might pull over if it is not already occupied. To get in as a passenger, you must hold the carjack button down (Y on 360, Triangle on the PS3). If you tap it, you'll carjack as usual instead of getting in the backseat. Note that you cannot hail a cab or enter a cab as a passenger before doing the mission "Bull in a China Shop," from Vlad.

How do I get away from the cops? 

Drive outside of the flashing circle on your map. It helps to 'hide' from the police, take corners, go through alleys etc. Once you are a bit outside of the circle, stop the car and wait. If you are having problems getting away from the police, pause every 15'th second and check on the map where the police-cars are, and make sure you are going in a different direction.

How do I get money? 

Do all the sub-missions and get your levels up with Jacob and Roman. Roman gets you free cab rides and Jacob saves you tons of money on weapons. Drive cab for Roman, even though that doesn't pay that well. Rob people around ATM's. Finish off missions. Steal cars for Stevie, that pays very well. Also, do Vigilante missions and pick up the ammo and cash from criminals you kill. You'll be at max ammo in no time without having to buy any. Or, just hang in there, after the mission 'Three Leaf Clover' money won't be an issue for a while.

I am trying to access the police computer, but instead Niko shoots out of the window, what do I do wrong? 

You are doing nothing wrong really, just too long. The car must be fully stopped. Now tap the LB(XB360) or L1(PS3) once quickly. If you keep it pressed for too long, Niko will start to shoot. If you just tap it, he will access the computer. Also the game will show you a message "press button to access" as soon as you can do so. Sometimes even then, you can't access the computer. It may not work if the car is trashed. Just keep trying.

Where's my garage? 

Unlike the three iterations of Grand Theft Auto III, you don't ever get a vehicle garage in GTAIV. Instead, outside of your safehouses, you have special parking spots outlined in yellow paint and painted with the words "Resident Parking Only". These areas perform the same function as your garages from the previous games, but now they're uncovered.

These parking spaces fit two vehicles only. Just because you can cram ten bikes into them, if you save and load, you'll only have two when you start up again.

So for most purposes, they're just like garages. Only one time during my games has a vehicle ever disappeared for no reason, so you really shouldn't worry if you're trying to hang on to a sweet car for dating or whatever.

If you do want to hang on to your cars however, take heed when you run into your safehouse to save. As it just so happens, I had a three-star wanted level and I tried to make it back to my safehouse. I parked close to the door and heard some crashing noises outside as I ran in. When I began playing the next time, my Coquette and Super GT were gone, replaced by two Police Cruisers, one with only one wheel inside the painted line! WTF?