Liberty City Achievement Guide—Off-Story Achievements

Published June 2, 2008

In this edition of our Liberty City Achievement Guide for Grand Theft Auto IV™, we'll be covering a number of miscellaneous achievements not related to action or side missions.

From Dukes to Bohan. That will be 5 Gamerscore please.

It'll Cost Ya (5 Gamerscore)
You need only enjoy a taxi ride from one island to another without skipping ahead to your destination to unlock this achievement. Luckily, since the northern island of Bohan is available to you from the beginning, you can score this achievement within your first few moments in Liberty City.

Tap LB when you're near a taxi (if they have no passengers) and they should pull right over. Make sure to hold down Y when you approach the cab to open the door as a passenger. If you just tap Y, you'll yank the poor cabbie out and jack the cab. Also, if you don't yet have any destinations highlighted on the island to which you're traveling, simply open up your map and set a Waypoint. You can then select Waypoint from the taxi's list of destinations.

Pool Shark (10 Gamerscore)
Taking a friend to task at a game of billiards for this ten-point achievement shouldn't prove overly difficult. That said, different characters boast different skills levels with each game. Avoid taking Packie (he's really good) and instead pick someone like Michelle, whose pool skills aren't quite up to snuff. Also, try the following:

• Toggle between the two different camera angles (behind the ball and overhead) to get a good view before committing to your shot.
• Place topspin (aim high on the ball) or backspin (aim low on the ball) with the right thumbstick to place the cue ball in position to attack your next shot.
• Finesse is called for more often than power, especially on long distance shots. There's no need to power the thumbstick forward on every shot.

Gobble Gobble (10 Gamerscore)
Bowling three strikes in a row for the Gobble Gobble achievement is almost certainly the most difficult of all the mini-game based achievements. The key here is to find a simple, easily repeatable pattern with as few steps as possible.

So much to do, so little time.

Because you'll throw the ball slightly left or right unless you're absolutely precise when pulling back and pushing forward on the thumbstick, each person is going to bowl a bit differently. Therefore, the alignment and spin that works for one player might not work for another.

However, the crucial element here is not where and how you start, but rather where the ball strikes the pins. Ideally, the ball should connect just off to one side of the head pin, striking either the one and two pins or the one and three pins on first impact. If you can angle the ball so it crashes right between the head pin and its neighbor, you're in good shape for scoring a strike.

One Hundred and Eighty (10 Gamerscore)
This simplest of the mini-game based achievements requires that you score 180 points in darts with three consecutive throws. You need only hit the triple marker under the 20 three times to unlock this achievement.

To make things even easier on yourself, place your first throw on one edge of the target, the second in the middle and the third on the other edge. This way you won't crowd the target area, making it tougher to line up successive shots. Also, remember you can hold Right Trigger for a more precise targeting reticle. Save this ability for the last shot though, as you can't use it on every throw.

King of QUB3D (15 Gamerscore)
This Tetris-like puzzle game is a touch more complicated than it may initially seem, but even so, scoring first place shouldn't take but a handful of tries once you grasp a few basic strategies.

• Do yourself a favor and view the tutorial in its entirety. Simply understanding the basic concepts, including how to obtain power-ups, goes a long way toward taking the top high score and unlocking this achievement.
• Whenever the two blocks are vertical, you can press left or right on the D-pad or left thumbstick, forcing the top block to fall in the desired direction. This is an important technique for lining up the colored blocks in your favor.
• Try completing the four-block squares that boost your power meter primarily in the early going. Once the grid starts to fill and new colors are introduced, concentrate just on stringing together four block combos rather than uniform squares.
• Pay close attention to the queue of blocks under the "Next" heading at the top of the screen. Knowing which blocks are coming before they appear at the top of the grid is perhaps the most important tool at your disposal.

If I can't get the high score, nobody can!

Genetically Superior (25 Gamerscore)
You must finish first place in twenty of Brucie's races to unlock this achievement. You should be granted access to these races soon after completing the "No. 1" mission. Simply call Brucie and select Race from your cell phone menu to trigger them any time after you've unlocked access.

The first set of races is spread out across all three major islands (Dukes and Bohan count as one). If you call Brucie and he says there's nothing going on, move on to another island and call him back.

The races themselves can prove challenging, but only if you're overly aggressive. Drive with caution, braking well before curves and easing on the Right Trigger to accelerate rather than yanking it down. Likewise, focus more on handling and acceleration than overall top speed when selecting your car. You can almost certainly count on the A.I. competition crashing around corners, so try to stay well clear of your opponents lest they take you with them.

Dare Devil (30 Gamerscore) and Endangered Species (50 Gamerscore)
Finding and completing every stunt jump for Dare Devil and shooting every pigeon for Endangered Species requires more dedicated exploration than skill. There are a few tips that can help you track down these hidden gems a good deal sooner than simply wandering around aimlessly.

• Strange though it may sound, the map that comes with the game can make a world of difference. Make a mark on it for every stunt jump and pigeon you find. Not only will this keep you from wasting time on stunt jumps you've already found, but it will clue you in on areas you haven't properly explored yet as large unmarked areas of the map begin to stand out.
• There are untold numbers of makeshift ramps that aren't stunt jumps at all. You can tell if it's a stunt jump by checking to see if a text message pops up when you fly off the ramp. If there's no popup explaining that you've successfully completed the jump, failed to complete it, or that you've completed it before, there's no reason (other than fun) to try it again.
• Look for the pigeons (referred to in-game as "flying rats,") primarily at night as the reddish glow surrounding each pigeon stands out clearly after nightfall.
• Use the helicopter to land on top of buildings, giving you a better vantage point from which to spot pigeons. Also, use the sniper rifle's powerful scope to scan farther off locations.
• Look closely for both stunt jumps and pigeons in landmark locations such as construction sites, parks, abandoned buildings, parking garages, bridges or any other location that stands out in your mind.

There are two hundred pigeons in the naked city.

Key to the City (100 Gamerscore)
Only the very dedicated will ever unlock this brutal achievement, but to help clear up any confusion, here are all the elements you must complete to reach 100% Game Progression. Good luck!

• Finish all story related missions.
• Unlock all the special abilities from your friends (such as Little Jacob's mobile gun shop and Packie's car bombs).
• Participate in all activities (the cabaret, strip club) and win every mini-game (pools, darts, etc.).
• Complete every Most Wanted mission and twenty Current Crimes missions. You can trigger these from the computers found in any police squad car.
• Finish all side missions, including car thefts for Stevie and Brucie, Little Jacob's deliveries, the assassination missions, Brucie's races, and even the random stranger missions.
• Find every stunt jump and shoot every "flying rat," (the pigeons).

That does it for this edition of our Liberty City Achievement Guide. Be sure to check out our side mission and independent action freestyle achievement guides for even more achievement tips.

Article by Ryan Treit