Top 10 Hardest GTA Missions Every Player Hated – Grand Theft Auto. Before 1997, unless you happened to work for the police, those three little words probably didn’t hold much meaning to your average joe.
But on the 28th November that year, things changed forever when Edinburgh-based developer DMA Design (now known, more fittingly, as Rockstar Games) released the first ever Grand Theft Auto game. A series that has revolutionised third-person open-worlds, and games as a whole. One that has made billions, and entertained millions!
But of course, no franchise can be perfect. And while most of their titles have been fantastic, Rockstar have certainly made their fair share of mistakes along the way, namely when it comes to terrible missions. Yes, today we’ll be discussing the top 10 hardest gta missions every player hated. So, let’s get started.
10. Robbing Uncle Sam – San Andreas
Despite not only being one of the greatest GTA games, but one of the greatest video games of all time — and despite improving and innovating on a winning formula to near perfection, San Andreas isn’t half hard.
Our first trip to the sunny west coast comes courtesy of “Robbing Uncle Sam”, a mission which sounds tricky on paper, and only gets worse in its execution. To complete it, players must break into a National Guard depot, steal six crates using a forklift, and successfully exit with them in a van.
The difficulty here comes from the fact that so much can go wrong. Van takes too much damage and explodes? Failed. Forklift destroyed? Failed. Too many crates destroyed? Failed. Companion, Ryder, shot dead? You guessed it, failed.
And the problem is, these things will happen, time and time again, because the entire time you’re lifting crates, you’re getting shot at by endlessly respawning members of the National Guard. Then, just when you think you’re safe and have fled the depot, the National Guard gives chase in armoured SUVs.
9. Bomb Da Base Act II – GTA III
GTA protagonists are remarkably obliging, aren’t they? Always willing to do something incredibly dangerous for a little Respect and a handful of cash. But providing sniper overwatch to gang member 8-Ball while he plants explosives on a Cartel ship to blow up their drug factory because the Mafia wants them out of the picture.
You’d think it wouldn’t be that tricky. Just hang back and snipe the brains out of any Cartel member foolish enough to get too close to your buddy 8-Ball. Simple, right?
Well, no. Turns out 8-Ball might be the brainless one in this scenario as he will very happily allow himself to get surrounded and shot to pieces every chance he gets. The game gives players such a small window of error when it comes to taking these guys out.
So infuriating is this, that the internet came up with a nifty solution to buy players a little more time: run 8-Ball over with a car. Doing this briefly traps him, allowing players to snipe the Cartel worry-free. Then all they need do is reverse the car, let 8-Ball back up, and allow him to plant the explosives on an empty ship!
8. The Snow Storm – GTA IV
The “Snow” in the name of this mission has nothing to do with the weather, but rather a whole lot to do with rival gangs and their “expensive medicine”. The “Storm” refers to the hail of bullets you’re going to have to get through to complete it.
The mission is, ostensibly, a simple one: sneak into the Old Hospital on Colony Island and liberate the Bolivian Marching Powder left there by drug dealer Elizabeta Torres. But, of course, if it were so simple, it wouldn’t be here, would it?
The moment the player arrives at the Old Hospital, they’ll realise the entire building is swarming with members of both the Angels of Death and the Spanish Lords gangs. Members who are armed to the teeth and rather annoyed to find someone sneaking around on their turf.
Cue one hell of a gunfight, as players are forced to take out dozens of members of both gangs, who have teamed up to take Niko out, as they make their way from one side of the hospital to the other.
The fun doesn’t stop when they retrieve Elizabeta’s pharmaceuticals, either, because that’s when N.O.O.S.E. (GTA’s version of S.W.A.T.) crashes in through the windows, and it looks like Niko’s at the top of their Most Wanted list.
7. Learning to Fly – San Andreas
And it’s back to San Andreas for another ridiculously unfair mission! However, unlike the previously mentioned missions with their gunfights, gangs, and explosions, this is a relatively understated affair. As long as you don’t crash, because that will result in a big explosion.
“Learning to Fly” sees CJ… learning to fly, something that, in video games, is already a little tricky, generally due to finicky controls. Usually though, they’re simple enough to get the job done, but the problem comes when games demand we pull off specific tricks and manoeuvres under pressure, which is exactly what happens here.
Lessons start out simply enough – taking off, landing, flying in a straight line – but rapidly introduce tricks like target shooting, loop-the-loops, and barrel rolls.
And when the plane reacts to even the slightest touch of the analogue stick by either launching itself into the stratosphere or nose-diving straight into the ground, even trying to keep the darn thing level takes the patience of a saint.
Honestly, I’m starting to think it would be easier to go out and get my pilot’s licence in real life. You only need 45 hours of practice for that, and I’ve easily wasted just as long trying to finish this damn mission!
6. S.A.M. – GTA III
As one of the last missions in the game, most players will probably go into “S.A.M.” expecting a decent level of challenge. They are met, however, with a veritable brick wall. The acronym S.A.M. is short for Surface-to-Air Missile, which in this case, comes in the form of the rocket launcher players are given to blow up an incoming Cartel aeroplane.
The problem is, they need to get to that aeroplane first, and the Cartel aren’t exactly going to let them waltz into the airport all willy-nilly. So instead, Claude takes a boat and sneaks in round the back.
I say “sneaks in”, but the moment players arrive, they’re assaulted on all fronts by heavily armed Cartel members, who have enough firepower to see that Claude never gets within a hundred feet of the runway.
The difficulty is compounded by the fact that there is a strict time limit – if the plane lands safely, it’s game over – coupled with the fact the plane itself is tiny, making it remarkably easy to miss every shot with the rocket launcher as it comes in for touchdown.
Manage to take out the Cartel and the plane without dying, and you’ve still got to secure the packages it was hauling and lose the police to complete the mission.
5. Demolition Man – Vice City
If you’ve ever had one, you know real-life remote-control helicopters take finesse to fly properly, and are prone to nosediving if handled incorrectly. That being said, they are still easier to control than the RC Goblin in Vice City.
“Demolition Man” sees crazy Texan/property developer Avery Carrington hiring Tommy Vercetti to do a little dirty work to free up some new land. The issue is, an office is being built there and, in his infinite wisdom, Avery decides the only way to get rid of it is to pack it full of bombs via RC helicopter.
This is where the player comes in, as they are tasked with flying the fragile little chopper around the construction site. The fiddly controls would make picking up and delivering each bomb in turn tricky enough, but there are also security guards to deal with – security guards with guns and a vendetta against flimsy RC helicopters.
And if that’s not tricky enough for you, there’s also a strict seven-minute time limit to contend with, which is only just enough to finish if you know the mission like the back of your hand. For everyone else, it makes it nigh unbeatable.
4. Three Leaf Clover – GTA IV
Think you can successfully break into a bank, rob its contents, and then outrun and lose the cops in a single life? Well, Rockstar certainly thinks you can, and you’re going to have to if you ever want to get past “Three Leaf Clover” and see what else Liberty City has in store for Niko.
This is where Rockstar’s (former) weird predilection for missions without checkpoints really goes too far. Essentially the bank robbery from the film Heat in video game form, this mission sees players team up with the McReary crime family to don balaclavas and break into the Bank of Liberty branch in Chinatown to steal $1,000,000.
Long story short, one of your crew is killed by a hostage, the bank is surrounded by fully armed and dangerous N.O.O.S.E. and LCPD officers, and you, the player, have to fight your way out and escape via the underground subway tracks, only to then have to lose the police once you resurface. Die once, and it’s back to the very beginning!
3. Wrong Side of the Tracks – San Andreas
Turns out trying to keep pace with a speeding train while hurtling along off-road on a dirt bike, while getting shot at, is surprisingly difficult. Especially when the loudmouth riding passenger couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn at ten paces. Maybe that’s not exactly fair.
Big Smoke isn’t that bad of a shot, as long as the player keeps the bike at exactly the right distance from the train. Too close or too far away, and he’ll miss every time. Dead on, and he’ll hit maybe 70% of them.
That, however, requires near-perfect driving at all times – especially when you consider all of the obstacles, road blocks, and oncoming trains you have to avoid in the process. As well as the fact Big Smoke can die or even fall off the bike if shot too many times.
Honestly, it’s surprising anyone’s ever finished this one at all. And is all the effort worth it? Well, you and Big Smoke do gun down a handful of Vagos gang members, and… And that’s it. You don’t even get paid!
2. Espresso-2-Go – GTA III
On the surface, “Espresso-2-Go” sounds like the kind of simple tutorial mission better suited for the beginning of a GTA game, rather than one of its last. Cruise around the city and destroy nine coffee stalls that are being used as fronts to sell drugs? Easy as pie.
Oh, what’s that? There’s an eight-minute time limit? That’s not too bad… Oh? The coffee stalls are spread out all across Liberty City… Well, maybe I could… And they’re not shown on the mini-map, meaning you have to locate them yourself? That’s just cruel. But it gets worse.
The Cartel aren’t happy with players going after their drugs, so send in grunts to hunt them down. Oh, yes, and one of the stalls is located in Mafia territory, who have a little vendetta against Claude and will shoot him on sight.
Seeing as your vehicle isn’t bulletproof, these constant attacks will see it catch fire with alarming rapidity, forcing you to find a new one and waste precious time. If you don’t get shot to pieces yourself first.
1. Supply Lines…– San Andreas
It seems Rockstar didn’t learn from their mistakes with “Demolition Man” in Vice City, because two years later, they were back to their same infuriating tricks in San Andreas. This time, it’s with the mission “Supply Lines…”, in which electronics expert/feuding shop owner Zero tasks CJ with humiliating his rival Berkley.
How? By destroying the man’s fleet of delivery couriers by way of… RC aeroplane. Yes, instead of taking the easy route and shooting Berkley’s drivers the old-fashioned way, players must pilot a finicky and fragile RC plane and try to take them out with its mounted guns.
The difficulty here is three-fold – one, the plane handles terribly, making it almost impossible not to crash. Two, it’s weaker than a soggy paper plane. And three, its incredibly limited fuel acts as a ridiculously stringent timer, meaning you have to play perfectly in order not to run out.
Especially on the original versions of the game, where the fuel would tick down even when you weren’t using the accelerator! Thank goodness this mission is optional!
That is it from today’s post on Top 10 Hardest GTA Missions Every Player Hated. If you do not agree with the points in the post and have some of your own opinions, share them with us in the comments section down below. Keep visiting Animesoulking for more information about Anime and Manga.
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Chandan is the writer of “Top 10 Hardest GTA Missions Every Player Hated”. Also, Connect with me on YouTube and Facebook.
