Grand Theft Auto IV

[firehawk12]

Yeah, I don't know why you can't just start at where you are supposed to be, given that they have the Taxi loading screen that loads everything in place. Now you just load where the mission technically starts, which is pointless.

At least I haven't had to play the long missions too many times.

I also got "Fly the Co-op". This is a case where they purposely made the achievement extremely annoying to get.

 

[Hermiod]

I'm now stuck on two missions. One where I have to follow a frackin' subway/EL train and one where I have to chase down some DB on a bike who has Dwayne's money.

Since I'm not good at following, especialy trains and motorcycles, this is a bit tough.

Right, I did both of these first time. The secret is not to drive too "hard". Brake when you turn, don't try crazy handbrake turns. It's more important not to crash than it is to drive really fast. This applies to races as well. This has been the same since GTAIII.

When chasing people on motorbikes when you are directly behind the guy hold down the button that focuses the camera on the target. This is Circle on the PS3, I do not know what it is on the Xbox 360. Only when you have a clear shot should you open fire.

There are some chases where you just can't damage the car, the chase is effectively on rails and you just have to keep up until they crash in a specific spot.

 

[firehawk12]

Most of the chases are on rails, to be honest. Your best bet is to just keep on them until they tell you to shoot.

 

[Aragorn]

I suck at motorcycle chases. So I just got in a car, followed the guy from a distance and when I was finally able to get onto a street where he was coming straight at me, I ran him over.

 

[gh4chiefs]

I finally beat 3 leafed clover last night, on my first attempt at replaying it. This time when I got out of the subway and got in the get away car, I just followed the yellow route marker and surprisingly I lost my wanted level pretty quickly. I'm not sure how it happened, I wasn't doing anything other than just following the route, but by that point I didn't care, just glad for the mission to be over.

 

[BigFoot]

^ You've got a three-star wanted level when you get in the car right? Because personally I find it really easy to escape when I have a three-star wanted level. I often shoot at cops just for fun and then ram them and all that fun stuff for a while. My level usually gets up to either three or four stars. After that I escape, usually without a problem.

 

[gh4chiefs]

I think it's 5 star when you come out of the bank, but yeah it drops down to 3 by the time you reach the get away car. And I don't think it's all that easy to get out of a 3 star wanted level, but just like so many things about this game, different people have different views on things. To me the only truly "easy" level is one star.

 

[Hermiod]

I can usually shake two stars no problem. Three requires a bit of thought if I'm only allowed to do it on land (there is an easy way to lose them if you get a helicopter).

I did shake four once, but not five. On thinking about it I might have gotten a six when I tried to cross one of the closed bridges early on but you can't shake it if you got it for that reason. Plus I did not even have a gun at that point.

 

[gh4chiefs]

I shook a four star once. Not at all sure how I did that, but some how I did. Normally anything about 2, I'm toast.

EDIT TO ADD: After thinking about this for a few minutes, I'm guessing why I think the stars are so hard to shake is that I pretty much suck at driving in this game, therefore I crash a lot which slows me down, and I can't make quick high speed turns to duck down another road with no cops on it.

 

[BigFoot]

^ Yeah I can see how that would be a problem. Driving (cars that is, not bikes) is really easy for me. For instance, I was doing one of the races for Brucie the other day and I actually lapped two cars (one of them was a Comet - GTAs Porsche).

EDIT: Oh yeah, the key (at least in my experience) to shaking a three-star (and higher) wanted level is to take A LOT of turns. Cause one and two star levels, you can just drive straight for a little bit and you're good. But with higher wanted levels, you really gotta take a lot of (consecutive) turns while also paying attention to the map (so you can avoid the cops).

 

[gh4chiefs]

Well to give you an idea of how much I suck at driving, it took me several tried to beat Brucie's "No 1" mission. Most people have said to me "Oh that's easy."

So long story short, I just suck at driving. Of course what I love are all these snot-nosed brats that get on gamefaqs or somewhere and tell me the driving is "realistic". Well I've been driving for 31 years and beg to differ. I can't ever recall a car skidding out of control on me driving in a straight line on dry pavement (and yes I've driven in excess of 100 mph at times).

 

[BigFoot]

^ Well, it's definitely more realistic then in the previous GTA games. It's definitely not realistic (compared to driving a real car) though. I don't have the problem you described though. I can easily drive down most roads at 80% of full speed (sometimes even more) without much of a hassle. I think the key is not to steer the car left or right too much. Just tap the analog controller a bit.

Anyway, I'm really not trying to be a smart ass here, I'm just trying to give you some advice (which you probably know of).

 

[gh4chiefs]

It's all good, I know where you're coming from. Like I said, I just suck at it in this game, it's just the way it is.

I have noticed some cars are a lot worse than others. I jacked one last night and I swear the back tires must have been made of oil. I could NOT keep that thing straight. I didn't really pay attention to what kind of car it was, but I know I don't want another one.

 

[firehawk12]

Those caddies and the big cars are the worse for driving, really.
I think the problem is that people use the E-brake too much. Doing turns with it requires some practice, because too much and you'll 180, too little and you won't turn at all... for the most part, it's easier to just use normal breaks to make a turn.

 

[Hermiod]

^Yes, in chases and especially in races DO NOT USE THE E-BRAKE TO MAKE TURNS!

As I said earlier, it is more important not to crash than it is to drive fast.

 

[gh4chiefs]

Those caddies and the big cars are the worse for driving, really.

Well that's just it, this wasn't one of those big "lumber wagons." It's was a fairly small car. And it handled like you were constantly driving on banana peels. If there are any cars out there that handle like that in the real world, they should be banned immediately.

The e-brake is not the same as the reverse button correct? Or is that what I'm doing wrong, hitting the reverse (L2 on the PS3) instead of the correct brake button?

 

[firehawk12]

The e-brake on the PS3 would probably be... god, I don't know the layout... but the bottom one. The one you use to run when on foot.
Using the reverse button is what you want to do... you just need to slow down some more before you turn, I guess?

 

[gh4chiefs]

Ok, well I have been using the right button then. As I said, I just suck.

 

[biotech]

If its raining all the cars handle like shit, of course if you have had a tire or two blow out, same thing.

 

[Hermiod]

Ok, well I have been using the right button then. As I said, I just suck.

Edit - checked the manual.

L2 = Brake
R1 = Handbrake/E-Brake
X = Handbrake/E-Brake