Game Basics

Controls (in vehicle)

• Select: Camera Modes
  

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• Start: Pause
• Triangle: Exit Vehicle
• Circle: Drive-by weapon
• X: Accelerate
• Square: Brake or Reverse
• L1: Horn
• L2: Look Left
• L2 + R2: Look Behind
• R2: Look Right
• R1: Hand Brake
• Directional Pad: Steering
• L Joystick: Steering / (L3) Change Radio Stations
• R Joystick: Tank Turret Control/ (R3) trigger Special Missions

Controls (on foot)

• Select: Camera Modes
• Start: Pause
• Triangle: Enter Vehicles
• Circle: Attack or Fire weapon
• X: Run
• Square: Jump
• L1: Look Forward
• L2: Cycle Weapon Left
• R2: Cycle Weapon Right
• R1: Target
• Directional Pad: Movement
• L Joystick: Movement
• R Joystick First Person Camera (R3) Look Behind

The Radar

The radar in the lower left corner of the screen will quickly become your best friend. You will never be left in the dark as long as you keep an eye on this devise. It will always direct you to savehouses, more work and targets within missions. The bosses are displayed on the radar by icons of their first initial and remain on the radar until all work from that boss is exhausted.

Savehouses

Portland, Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale all contain one area where you can go to hideout and save your game progress, these are the ‘Savehouses.’ These savehouses appear on the radar as a small house icon and only the closest one will appear on the radar. To save your progress and the vehicle you drove up in, place one vehicle in the garage (1 in Portland, but 2 possible in Shoreside and Shoreside) and enter the savehouse and save your game on a PS2 8mb Memory card. Each time you save the game 6 hours will pass in Liberty City and any damaged cars parked in the garage will be fully repaired! The 100 hidden package prizes (weapons and other power-ups) will appear at each savehouse as they are unlocked by finding packages in increments of 10. You cannot save your progress if you are currently in a mission –only before or after.

Liberty City Police Stations

When you get ‘Busted’ you end up at the closest police station where they take all your weapons and four hundred dollars in bribery money. When you are busted, whatever mission you were working on will end up in failure. The only time you can be arrested is when you are pulled out of a vehicle by the authorities. If you are not in a vehicle and you have a Wanted Level, they just shoot to kill (or waste) and then you end up in the hospital where the bill is larger than a bribe.

Understanding Wanted Levels

Looking in the top right corner of the in-game screen you’ll find a strip of six stars, this is your wanted level and it depicts just how bad you’ve been. The level increases from right to left as the stars light up to show your level of trouble. Doing nothing to relax the wanted level and continuing to add trouble on top of your existing wanted level will increase the level and with that comes greater forces of good to rain down on you.

Wanted Level Ramifications of Wanted Level

Lvl 1 LCPD Lvl 1
Lvl 2 LCPD Lvl 2
Lvl 3 SWAT Lvl 1 and 1 Helicopter
Lvl 4 SWAT Lvl 2
Lvl 5 FBI
Lvl 6 Army and 2^nd Helicopter

What’s Bad?

• Stealing Police Car w/cop inside
• Targeting police (even without pulling trigger)
• Fighting in cop’s sight
• Carjacking in cop’s sight
• Running into a cop car w/cop inside
• Fighting cops

The following list shows ways to lower wanted levels.

• Stay out of sight for a while
• Become Wasted (not a good choice)
• Complete the current mission
• Painting your (non-law enforcement) car at Pay ‘n’ Spray
• Running through Police Bribe power-ups