Grand Theft Auto IV Complete Walkthrough (spoiler alert) Part 1

SPOILER ALERT: There ARE spoilers ahead obviously, so you've been warned if you want to keep your GTA IV experience all fresh and virginal.

Finally Grand Theft Auto IV is in the shops, and the race is on to achieve Niko's American dream and get the key to Liberty City.

We know GTA IV's missions can get very tough at times, so here's our day one, no-nonsense guide to every mission in the game. Good luck.

ROMAN'S MISSIONS

The Cousins Bellic
A nice easy introduction to GTA's driving. Drive to Roman's place with your drunk cousin in tow. If you fail this, you've got a long road ahead.

It's your Call
Another simple mission, and your first chance to use your mobile phone. Just watch out for the loan sharks and phone Roman when they arrive. Get back to the depot. Easy.

Three's A Crowd
Another mission with the loan sharks. Pick up Mallory at the subway. Then go pick up Michelle, then take her back to her apartment. Call Roman and he'll tell you to buy some clothes - just don't spend too much, because money's tight at the moment.

First Date
Here you need to take Michelle bowling. We're not sure if you need to win, but she's so hopeless at bowling that you probably will anyway. Then just take her home. After this, you can call her anytime to set up another date.

Bleed Out
Go and find Roman on the basketball court. You're going to have to fight the people beating him up, but try to only take on one at a time, or you'll get surrounded. Use the disarm on Darden to take his knife away and then stab him.

Easy Fare
This is your first cab mission for Roman. Pick up Jermaine, take him where he wants, then lose the cops. After this you'll be able to take on taxi missions to earn extra money.

LITTLE JACOB'S MISSIONS

Jamaican Heat
Pick up little Jacob and take him where he wants. Go to the vantage point and wait for dealers - if you stay where you're told, there's no chance of them hitting you. Shoot them all, then get back to Jacob's house. Another easy mission.

Concrete Jungle
This is your first chance to do some in-car shooting, but it's just as easy to run Little Jacob's competitors over. After that's done, take Jacob to the dealers' house and let him keep them busy while you shoot everyone. This mission introduces cover shooting if you haven't done it yet.

VLAD'S MISSIONS

Bull In A China Shop
Go to the shop that's giving Vlad trouble, and throw a brick through window to convince them to pay up. This brick trick's handy for causing a distraction in situations when pulling a gun might be considered going a bit far.

Hung Out To Dry
Here you're chasing the owner of the Laundromat, so you'll want to pick a fairly chunky car to ram him off the road - if you hit him directly from behind you might go through the windshield. There's a car out the back you can hotwire, but a Patriot might be a better choice.

Clean Getaway
Here you just need to catch the subway, then punch out the two guys there. If you've got a gun, just shoot them. Then it's off to the car wash and then to the garage to finish the mission.

Ivan The Not So Terrible
Ivan's a pretty ropey driver, so the tough bit of this mission's chasing him across the rooftops. Chase him in car, across rooftops, stamp on his hands or let him go. This might affect what happens later, though...

Uncle Vlad
Head to Comrades but park your car out back and equip a shotgun. Pop the bodyguards, sprint through the doors, drive out front and make sure you pick up Roman, then follow Vlad. You need to be quick, but you finally get to execute the guy who's been causing you so much grief.

FAUSTIN'S MISSIONS

Crime and Punishment
This is the first mission where you need to get a cop car: to do it, either call 911 - although this means one guy will stay in the car and need to be dealt with - or fire into the air to attract police attention. This way both cops will leave their car to investigate, and you can steal it without getting a wanted rating. Now all you have to do is pull over vans - but make sure you've got a shotgun equipped for when things inevitably go wrong.

Do You Have Protection?
Drive to the Sex shop, then kneecap the guy Faustin tells you to. Head back to the gun shop and you'll be rewarded with an SMG.

Final Destination
Here you're heading to the subway to whack a guy. Have a gun ready, because one of his bodyguards has an SMG and you need to take him out fast. After that's done, sprint across the tracks and pop your target before he gets in a car. Or shoot out his tyres and kill him when he crashes.

No Love Lost
This is one of the first missions where there's no point in shooting at your target - you just need to be careful you don't fall off your bike and chase him at a distance. When his gang turn up in the park, dismount at a distance from them, and use trees as cover while you shoot them all. There's no rush for this.

Rigged To Blow
Here Faustin's given you a truck rigged with a bomb. Drive carefully, because one or two knocks will make it explode. Just take it to the destination, and watch it blow from a distance. Easy.

STORY MISSION

Killing Faustin
Before taking on this mission, answer Dimitri's text to find a bulletproof vest behind the bins. Shotgun pull before the club. Shogtun everyone, through the alley, up the staris. Wait for him to get to the roof, then you can do him as he pops out. No mercy, because he's got a machine gun.

BRUCIE'S MISSIONS

Logging On
This is your introduction to the internet café. Just go and set up a profile at Lovemeet.com - the second part of this mission comes later.

Search and Delete
First, get a cop car and use the computer. When you find your target, you can't stop him until a certain point, although you can shoot out his tyres. You need to watch out for trucks swerving around in the road in front of you, but the trickiest part of this mission is losing the police attention you'll get from running through toll booths. Just stay calm and don't bump or shoot any civilians and it'll be fine.

Easy As Can Be
This is a tough drive with lots of shooters. Brake early on the corners - it's better to slow down a bit than power slide, mess it up and have to reverse out of a spot while everyone's peppering you with gunfire.

Shadow
Although this mission's called Shadow, you don't really need to be that stealthy - you can just spook the dealer you're after, then sprint after him. Then shoot him and his mates, and you're done.

Russian Revolution
Little Jacob will help you out on this mission, but this is mainly about precision aiming and taking cover. You'll have to brave the cops to make it out of the front, but if you pop a couple you'll have a fairly clear route past the rest. but then it's plain sailing to lose them.

Out Of The Closet
Go to the internet café. Your date's going to be at the diner on 69th and Hove. There are cops around so stab him when he runs. To avoid any trouble.

No. 1
This is the game's only story mode race - the only thing you need to worry about is the second last checkpoint where crashing through a barrier could put you in the riverbed. Otherwise, just take the corners steady - you'll have plenty of time to outdistance the other racers on the straights.

MANNY'S MISSIONS

Escuela Of The Streets
This is the first mission where you really need to tail someone. Watch out at the traffic lights and on corners, because it's easy to accidentally get too close and scare your targets off early. When you get to your destination, shoot everyone. You can either shoot the lock off the door - which'll warn them that you're coming in - or throw a brick through the window, climb in that way and take them by surprise. There's a Sprunk machine at the back of the warehouse to top up your health when you're done.

Street Sweeper
Here you need the element of surprise to get all your targets. Kill the first two gang members by ramming your car into them, jump out to finish stragglers then get the other car. There are cops everywhere, but if you start a gunfight there's a chance they'll actually do your job for you.

The Puerto Rican Connection
Here you're following an elevated train. Just switch to the far view with select and look out for corners by watching the radar. When it stops, pop the two goons then sprint after the guy. You can shoot him at a distance if you use the lockon, but try to do him in one shot to minimise police interference.

ELIZABETA'S MISSIONS

Luck of the Irish
A relatively simple introduction to sniping, this. The only tricky bits are that you'll need to shoot the guy struggling with Packie on the left, and the last guy through the window of his truck.

Blow Your Cover
Don't pull a gun until you're up the first flight of stairs in this mission - even though the people downstairs threaten you, you don't actually need to take them on. On the way up the stairs, blast everyone, and grab the medipack on the stairwell. Get the vest on the rooftop, then blast a path out through the SWAT teams.

The Snow Storm
If you've got a sniper rifle, you can shoot the first couple of guys with that. Then head into the old hospital and methodically clear everyone out. The room with the coke has two guys with guns and a bullet proof vest inside - you'll need it to escape from the cops. Don't get bogged down in a gunfight, just clear a path and grab one of the SUVs parked on the left as you leave.

PLAYBOY X'S MISSIONS

Deconstruction for Beginners
Although Playboy X wants you to go up on the roof with him, you don't have to - the three lookouts are on the end of each crane and you can shoot them from ground level with a sniper rifle. Switch to the AK as you enter the building site and be methodical before you move forward. Clean out as many people as you can before you shoot the third union boss - this'll send in a chopper full of backup for the final boss. You move in a fairly straight line, so as long as you don't dash forwards nobody shoot get behind you.

Photo Shoot
Here you'll need to use your mobile phone camera to identify your target, but as long as you get him vaguely in the shot you don't actually need to get a closeup of his face. Marlon's the one in the black jacket - he's got two cars parked for the getaway but you can pop him before he gets to them if you shoot straight away. If he makes it, they're both Patriots so you've got a tough chase ahead...

FRANCIS MCGREARY'S MISSIONS

Call And Collect
The blackmailer you're looking for's wearing a black and yellow puffy jacket. If you can't see him, just walk through the crowd - you can call him on the phone twice, but the second time Nico will start threatening him and scare him into running. There's no way to kill him without attracting police attention, so shoot him in the head and make a run for the nearest car.

Final Interview
Go to Perseus to get a suit plenty of time ahead of your job interview. Once you're in the office with him alone, shoot Goldberg. The easiest way to escape - assuming you've got a bit of health left - is to shoot out the windows and jump out, avoiding taking on security in his office. Then grab a car and make your getaway.

Lure
Once you're on the roof with the sniper rifle there are two ways of getting the target in your sights - you can either shoot his satellite dish so that he gets up to adjust his TV, or check his phone number - it's on his phone - through your sights and give him a call to make him get up. Either way, pop him in the back of the head.

DWAYNE'S MISSIONS

Ruff Rider
Go to the arcade: you'll be given a choice of killing a girl or letting her go, but either way you'll need to chase down her boyfriend on a motorbike. He'll crash eventually, and you can run over his head.

Undress To Kill
This is a slightly tough mission, because there are three guys to kill. The first is in the front office, near the doors, with a shotgun - if you sneak in, you can kill him with a melee weapon without alerting the club staff. The second target's near the stage, chatting to a stripper - you can't shoot him without causing a massive ruckus. The third guy's in a booth at the back, having a dance - he's carrying an AK and being guarded by a guy with a shotgun, but you're best off popping him second, then killing the second target when he runs.

Anyone who makes it to the car park will jump in a van and head down the stairs at the rear, making you chase them - if more than one guy gets away, the passengers will shoot at you as you chase them. If you've got a car, you can block the steps, but trying to break into any of the vehicles in the car park will set off the alarm.

Have A Heart
This is an easy mission - just remember to pay the toll on the way to the hospital, or you'll get bogged down in a police chase and run out of time.

The Holland Play
This is where you get to make the game's first major decision - whether to kill Dwayne or Playboy X. Dwayne's only protected by one guy with a bat. Playboy's protected by a gang of goons, and he'll make a run for it - but killing him gets you his apartment as a safe house.

MICHELLE'S MISSION

Wrong Turn
Check your emails and go to the jewellery shop to find your target. Watch where you can cut him off at corners as he runs, and you'll be able to chase him down easily.