Hardcore Visits Liberty City
At A Glance
- Hardcore tackles Liberty City with a number of self-made hardcore challenges. Can you survive the hardcore way?
Published May 12, 2008
Such a large part of the allure of Grand Theft Auto IV™ is the freedom it offers players. Some will no doubt power through the core missions while taking full advantage of Niko's ever-expanding arsenal and unlockable skills. There's no real shame in that after all, but for the hardcore player, GTA IV offers all the opportunities and tools required to crank up the overall difficulty on the fly.
Have you found the Statue of Happiness's secret?
Whether you want to prove your GTA IV prowess the first time through, or you're looking to bite off more than you can easily chew on a second playthrough, I urge you to consider the following hardcore suggestions.
No Lock On For You!
Where I wonder can an accomplished gamer glean any satisfaction from scoring headshots courtesy of the game's auto-aim lock-on feature? I can appreciate its many uses for the casual gamer, sure, but any time I leap forth from cover to squeeze off a few well-aimed rounds at an opponent's noggin, I want to know it's my skill alone that puts them down for the count. Head to the Controls menu, and toggle off Auto Aiming.
Suddenly even small victories are brimming with achievement, creating moments of tension and elation that would otherwise never exist.
Tools of the Trade
When some Liberty City underworld punk tries to pump me full of buckshot at close range, I have no problem bringing my own street howitzer to bear, trust me. That said, I like to even the playing field weapons-wise when taking on a mission. It adds that extra bit of heft to the mission's native challenge. In short, if the enemies are sporting nothing more daring than a submachine gun, leave your assault rifle, rocket launcher, grenades, and sniper rifle at home.
Forbidden Dating Skills
I hesitate to keep Niko from his extracurricular dating activities. They are both rewarding as a break from the action and often hilarious, but the special abilities these endeavors unlock should never be triggered during a mission. When you shatter Liberty City's calm with a heated firefight, it should be up to you alone to shed the police pursuit rather than simply make a phone call to dial back your wanted level.
Is your GPS turned off?
Face the Achievement
The clever gamer can and will find shortcuts for unlocking achievements in Liberty City. Indeed, Denny and I highlighted two such strategies in our Insider Moves video. For the hardcore gamer though, these achievements can only be satisfactorily unlocked when the tension is taut, and failure a very real possibility.
Therefore, your pursuit of the One Man Army achievement for example, should involve manually attaining each star of your wanted rating through rampant destruction and mayhem, followed by a desperately dangerous five-minute fight for survival not involving armored cars, rooftops, tunnels, or any other hiding spot. Likewise, the Walk Free achievement should involve much the same dangerous strategy.
Pigeons and Stunt Jumps
Exploring Liberty City is one of the game's chief delights, but if you care to add a shade or two of intrigue to your endeavors between missions, try the following. Only accept another side-mission or story line mission once you've found at least one more stunt jump or pigeon.
This should prove relatively easy in the early going, but come midway through the game, this hunt for Liberty City's hidden treats will require some careful exploration. More importantly though, this hardcore challenge will force you to become intimately familiar with Rockstar's magnificent metropolis.
What? They ticked me off!
Off With the Waypoints
It's time to navigate Liberty City the old school way, without the game's GPS navigation system holding your hand from point to point. Use your own wit and skills behind the wheel to the find the fastest route to your required destination, so head to the Display menu and turn off the GPS Route option.
Eat the Healthcare Cost
It's a common tactic among veteran GTA players to reset their console upon death so as not to pay their medical bills. This is even more prevalent thanks to the Half Million achievement, as players horde every bit of extra cash until they've unlocked that bit of Gamerscore. If you take a dirt nap during a mission though, know that you owe every last cent for your resuscitation. Failure requires setbacks after all.
The hardcore path through GTA IV requires sacrifice as you embrace self-made challenges for every facet of gameplay. It's this extra challenge that adds so much satisfaction to every success. Suddenly even small victories are brimming with achievement, creating moments of tension and elation that would otherwise never exist. Consider gaming the hardcore way on your next visit to Liberty City.
Article by Hardcore
