The 20 HARDEST Grand Theft Auto Missions
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VOICE OVER: Ty Richardson
WRITTEN BY: Ty Richardson
From impossible flying challenges to rage-inducing escort quests, "Grand Theft Auto" has some brutal missions. Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're looking at missions that pushed players to their absolute limits across the "GTA" series. Our list of the hardest "Grand Theft Auto" missions includes Demolition Man from “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” (2002), The Big Score from “Grand Theft Auto V” (2013), Learning to Fly from “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” (2004), and more!
20 Hardest Grand Theft Auto Missions
Ty Richardson
Matrix link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iytJerF3tI2C36_znBPUc-ttNk-aYIK8juyyutv8TNY/edit?gid=0#gid=0
FL Notes: N/A
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at the 20 toughest missions we’ve ever encountered across the “Grand Theft Auto” series.
This may not be the strongest entry to start off with, but really, the Triathlons are difficult mostly in terms of tolerance. There isn’t anything super complicated in the controls nor the AI. No, this mission is purely a test of endurance and patience. Whether you’re speeding on the bike, swimming across the Alamo Sea, or competing in a cross-country race, having to sit there and mash X for an extensive period of time gets stale after Minute One. Honestly, we’d rather be doing anything else besides this.
Elizabeta wants Nico to track down Jacob’s dealer and get her product back. Sounds like it should be an easy errand like when Ryder had us track down the dealer in the beginning of “San Andreas”. Indeed, the first half of the mission is fine. It's when the National Office of Security Enforcement arrives when this mission becomes migraine-inducing. Not only do you need to take out any and all NOOSE officers inside the hospital, you will also need to shake them off and lose your Wanted level before you return to Elizabeta and Jacob. Easier said than done, so try to make sure you have a reliable vehicle for a speedy getaway.
OG Loc is one of the most annoying characters you will ever meet in “San Andreas”, and what makes us more annoyed with him is that he is the epicenter of one of the game’s most difficult missions. “OG Loc” the mission tasks you with tracking down a man named Freddy and getting rid of him once and for all. Here’s the problem - he’ll book it and force you to give chase on a motorcycle. And guess who will be doing the shooting? OG Loc, ol’ Jeffrey himself, and he is a terrible shot. Theoretically, you could try to just side swipe Freddy to knock him off his bike, but then, you risk killing Loc, which results in mission failure. Honestly, Loc should have just given us the gun and stayed behind instead.
In terms of narrative, Bury the Hatchet is among the best missions featured in GTA V. In terms of gameplay, it can be rather grueling when trying to progress the story. Right when Michael and Trevor are about to have a standoff, the Triads crash the party and proceed to abduct Trevor. As if the night sky doesn’t already make it tough to spot enemies, your enemies now have an absurd amount of accuracy in their shots. To make matters worse, the walls and tombstones don’t provide a decent amount of cover. You may as well open Michael’s coat and shout “fire at will”. Alas, there is more GTA V, so you’ll have to suffer and figure something out.
If you want to talk about games that haven’t aged well in terms of balance, there are plenty to choose from “Vice City”. Although, that could be a whole list itself. Among the first that come to mind is S.A.M., the mission that brings an end to Asuka’s portion of the campaign. Understandably, a finale such as this should be hard. After all, you are helping the yakuza, and Liberty City police are going to deem you a threat the second they spot you. Even so, the aggression here is a little too absurd and winds up making this mission more frustrating than it needs to be. But that’s what you get when you’re trying to beat a game from 2002.
Sniping missions can be loads of fun, but the problem with GTA III is that some of these sniping missions demand too much from the player. Such is the case with Bomb Da Base: Act II. While 8-Ball sets up the bomb, you’ll need to use your sniper rifle to kill enemies before they can stop him. Problem is that this mission throws in way too many enemies for you to properly divide your attention between, and adding to the frustration is 8-Ball’s tendency to join the fight before he can finish setting up the bomb, which ends up getting him killed. It’s like you’re trying to become the ultimate saboteur with the Lemmings as your assistants.
“Oh boy! A mission where we get to pilot a helicopter!” That was the level of enthusiasm almost nobody had when High Wire showed its ugly mug. For some reason, GTA has a strange history as we’ll see in a short bit. In High Wire, you must use the helicopter’s giant magnet to move crates before having to rescue a cartel crony from a rival gang. It’s a whole mission consisting of very simple tasks, yet the helicopter’s controls make this obscenely hard to pilot and align the magnet with the object you’re trying to snatch.
One would think that a whole mission centered on learning how to pilot a plane might mean there’s a solid implementation of flying mechanics in “San Andreas”. That would be the bee’s knees now, wouldn’t it? Learning to fly quickly becomes one of the most frustrating moments in “San Andreas” as you have to suffer through ten lessons on how to properly control a plane. Ten. Whole. Lessons. Even though beating this mission nets you a handful of rewards, it is really going to test your patience. Better prepare to dedicate an entire session to this.
Oh, look, everyone - another flying mission!! Look, you get the picture with this one. It’s the same exact problem as the previous two missions; pilot a flying vehicle to achieve your goal. And even five years later after that horrid Learning to Fly mission, Rockstar still hasn’t nailed down how to properly implement controls for helicopters and planes. We’ll be honest and say that they aren’t as bad here as they were in “San Andreas” and “Vice City Stories. Still, it is not great and needed much more improvement.
After all this time, you can finally bring “Vice City” to a close with this one, last story mission. It is time to bring an end to Lance Vance and Sonny Forelli. Well, you best be ready to do every objective in a single run! In addition to every enemy being armed to the teeth with lethal firepower, you have to play the entire mission from start to finish with NO CHECKPOINTS! Your temperament may be put to the test here, so try to remember that patience is a virtue…and you may need to git gud.
***
Anyone who has played “San Andreas” probably immediately thinks of this mission when it comes to discussing the hardest segments of the game. Wrong Side of the Tracks sees CJ and Big Smoke following a damn train to bring down members of the Vagos gang. Regardless of how good your driving skills are, the biggest pain in the butt here is that Big Smoke is a god awful shot. Had the roles been reversed with CJ shooting and Big Smoke driving, perhaps this mission would have been more tolerable.
For as good as the stories and gameplay were in the PS2 GTA games, it does not compensate for how loathsome the driving could be at times. This is especially evident in “Vice City’s” Death Row mission. Lance Vance is being held captive at a junkyard, and you have to rescue him before his health bar drops to zero. Problem here is that by the time you arrive and deal with the guards at the gate, Lance will already have lost about a third of health, giving you very little time to take out the rest of Ricardo Diaz’s goons. We’re just glad the rush to the hospital wasn’t as grueling…that is if you nab a car with moderate speed.
We won’t harp on about this mission for too long. After all, The Big Score is the penultimate mission in GTA V. So, it kind of makes sense that this would be a difficult mission. Even so, we weren’t expecting the Obvious Approach to be as challenging as it ended up being. Your patience will be tested here as enemies are super accurate with their shots. Basically, you’ll need to have a good grasp at GTA V’s awful gunplay. Otherwise, you might feel like you’re ramming your head against the wall.
Speaking of ramming your head against a wall, The Exchange has earned its notoriety in how it feels like your chances of success are entirely dependent on luck. Not only do you have enemies with great accuracy on your butt the entire time, you also have only seven minutes to get to the dam, take them all out, and rescue Maria. You’ll have to cheese the prehistoric AI in order to stand a chance, and yes, have a grasp on the awful gunplay. Again, we would expect the final mission or level in a game to be difficult, but not on this level.
Another notorious mission from “San Andreas” (and certainly not the last we’ll address from the game), Robbing Uncle Sam ought to have been renamed to Robbing Your Time (and Your Sanity). In an effort to arm the Grove Street Family, CJ and Ryder break into a military depot for weapons. This mission simply asks too much of the player and makes the multitasking more cumbersome than it needs to be. In addition to dealing with enemies, you’ll need to operate a forklift with abysmal controls to transport a crate to a box truck. You have to do this SIX TIMES to finish the mission! SIX! TIMES while praying Ryder is competent enough to land his shots!! And afterwards, you’ll have to lose the military vehicles chasing you before reaching your destination. There’s just too much to deal with here, man.
We’re no stranger to GTA’s occasional racing missions, but “Vice City’s” driving was harrowing to tolerate since almost every car felt like piloting an ice cube. That’s only the first half of why The Driver mission was so grueling. The other half is in how the game puts you in an unfair matchup against the AI. In order to recruit Hilary King, you will have to beat him in a street race. However, King gets to drive a muscle car while you get to drive a cheap sedan that has lesser stats than King’s vehicle. To make matters worse, the VCPD will start chasing you down mid-race for illegal street racing. We would have been fine with that part of the mission if our car had equal stats to King’s, and yet, we’re the ones being punished for making it this far in the game.
Yoga in real life might be enjoyable for some. Yoga in “Wii Fit”, perhaps, but not preferable. Yoga in GTA? Get that crap out of here. Did Somebody Say Yoga is way worse than any other mission in GTA V. We already got some annoying thumb exercises from the Triathlon and Epsilon cult missions, both of which consisted of mashing X for a longer period of time than we would have liked. Now, we gotta move the analogs at weird angles while holding the triggers? We shouldn’t be experiencing this much physical strain from a video game.
By this point in GTA III, you have probably become accustomed to some of the game’s nonsense with its difficulty and AI. However, Espresso-2-Go is a different level of nonsense. A number of espresso stands are scattered across Liberty City, and you need to destroy all nine of them in seven minutes and fifty seconds. You will be shot at upon reaching a stall, and it’s this part of the mission that makes it difficult. You need a vehicle with good speed AND good armor. Your best option is to save this mission until after you’ve completed the Marked Man mission and unlocked the Patriot car, which boasts modest speed and bulletproof armor. This might be common knowledge today, but back in 2001, we were suffering. Thank god for the internet.
We have never been so happy to see a difficult mission be optional because holy hell, is Supply Lines infuriating! CJ must pilot a small plane and take down a handful of delivery trucks linked to Berkley. Moving targets are not a problem for us. We don’t expect any mission to have dull targets. However, we do expect some decent controls to at least make the mission doable. Supply Lines does not meet that expectation. Controlling the plane is abhorrently frustrating to the point where most folks will choose to walk away from the mission. Should you attempt this yourself, we recommend referring to a guide to avoid any headaches as speed, efficiency, and precision are of the utmost importance here.
GTA has an infamous reputation in god awful helicopter missions. Learning to Fly in “San Andreas”, Sexy Time in “GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony”... But the most aggravating is Demolition Man. We have already ranted a lot on controls, so what else makes this mission so infamous? On top of being just super monotonous to play in general, Demolition Man gives you absolutely NO checkpoints. You are required to suffer through this whole mission from start to finish. If you die, you start all the way back to the beginning, adding to the monotony. It is not only the hardest mission in the GTA franchise, it is also the absolute worst of them all. And may God have mercy on your soul if you’re trying to go for “Vice City’s” Platinum trophy because for one of the trophies, you will have to kill all enemies using only the chopper’s blades! Good luck!!
What’s the toughest mission you’ve tackled in a GTA game? Did it make our list? Let us know down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!
Ty Richardson
Matrix link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iytJerF3tI2C36_znBPUc-ttNk-aYIK8juyyutv8TNY/edit?gid=0#gid=0
FL Notes: N/A
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at the 20 toughest missions we’ve ever encountered across the “Grand Theft Auto” series.
The Triathlons
“Grand Theft Auto V” (2013)This may not be the strongest entry to start off with, but really, the Triathlons are difficult mostly in terms of tolerance. There isn’t anything super complicated in the controls nor the AI. No, this mission is purely a test of endurance and patience. Whether you’re speeding on the bike, swimming across the Alamo Sea, or competing in a cross-country race, having to sit there and mash X for an extensive period of time gets stale after Minute One. Honestly, we’d rather be doing anything else besides this.
The Snow Storm
“Grand Theft Auto IV” (2008)Elizabeta wants Nico to track down Jacob’s dealer and get her product back. Sounds like it should be an easy errand like when Ryder had us track down the dealer in the beginning of “San Andreas”. Indeed, the first half of the mission is fine. It's when the National Office of Security Enforcement arrives when this mission becomes migraine-inducing. Not only do you need to take out any and all NOOSE officers inside the hospital, you will also need to shake them off and lose your Wanted level before you return to Elizabeta and Jacob. Easier said than done, so try to make sure you have a reliable vehicle for a speedy getaway.
OG Loc
“Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” (2004)OG Loc is one of the most annoying characters you will ever meet in “San Andreas”, and what makes us more annoyed with him is that he is the epicenter of one of the game’s most difficult missions. “OG Loc” the mission tasks you with tracking down a man named Freddy and getting rid of him once and for all. Here’s the problem - he’ll book it and force you to give chase on a motorcycle. And guess who will be doing the shooting? OG Loc, ol’ Jeffrey himself, and he is a terrible shot. Theoretically, you could try to just side swipe Freddy to knock him off his bike, but then, you risk killing Loc, which results in mission failure. Honestly, Loc should have just given us the gun and stayed behind instead.
Bury the Hatchet
“Grand Theft Auto V” (2013)In terms of narrative, Bury the Hatchet is among the best missions featured in GTA V. In terms of gameplay, it can be rather grueling when trying to progress the story. Right when Michael and Trevor are about to have a standoff, the Triads crash the party and proceed to abduct Trevor. As if the night sky doesn’t already make it tough to spot enemies, your enemies now have an absurd amount of accuracy in their shots. To make matters worse, the walls and tombstones don’t provide a decent amount of cover. You may as well open Michael’s coat and shout “fire at will”. Alas, there is more GTA V, so you’ll have to suffer and figure something out.
S.A.M.
“Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” (2002)If you want to talk about games that haven’t aged well in terms of balance, there are plenty to choose from “Vice City”. Although, that could be a whole list itself. Among the first that come to mind is S.A.M., the mission that brings an end to Asuka’s portion of the campaign. Understandably, a finale such as this should be hard. After all, you are helping the yakuza, and Liberty City police are going to deem you a threat the second they spot you. Even so, the aggression here is a little too absurd and winds up making this mission more frustrating than it needs to be. But that’s what you get when you’re trying to beat a game from 2002.
Bomb Da Base: Act II
“Grand Theft Auto III” (2001)Sniping missions can be loads of fun, but the problem with GTA III is that some of these sniping missions demand too much from the player. Such is the case with Bomb Da Base: Act II. While 8-Ball sets up the bomb, you’ll need to use your sniper rifle to kill enemies before they can stop him. Problem is that this mission throws in way too many enemies for you to properly divide your attention between, and adding to the frustration is 8-Ball’s tendency to join the fight before he can finish setting up the bomb, which ends up getting him killed. It’s like you’re trying to become the ultimate saboteur with the Lemmings as your assistants.
High Wire
“Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories” (2006)“Oh boy! A mission where we get to pilot a helicopter!” That was the level of enthusiasm almost nobody had when High Wire showed its ugly mug. For some reason, GTA has a strange history as we’ll see in a short bit. In High Wire, you must use the helicopter’s giant magnet to move crates before having to rescue a cartel crony from a rival gang. It’s a whole mission consisting of very simple tasks, yet the helicopter’s controls make this obscenely hard to pilot and align the magnet with the object you’re trying to snatch.
Learning to Fly
“Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” (2004)One would think that a whole mission centered on learning how to pilot a plane might mean there’s a solid implementation of flying mechanics in “San Andreas”. That would be the bee’s knees now, wouldn’t it? Learning to fly quickly becomes one of the most frustrating moments in “San Andreas” as you have to suffer through ten lessons on how to properly control a plane. Ten. Whole. Lessons. Even though beating this mission nets you a handful of rewards, it is really going to test your patience. Better prepare to dedicate an entire session to this.
Sexy Time
“Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony” (2009)Oh, look, everyone - another flying mission!! Look, you get the picture with this one. It’s the same exact problem as the previous two missions; pilot a flying vehicle to achieve your goal. And even five years later after that horrid Learning to Fly mission, Rockstar still hasn’t nailed down how to properly implement controls for helicopters and planes. We’ll be honest and say that they aren’t as bad here as they were in “San Andreas” and “Vice City Stories. Still, it is not great and needed much more improvement.
Keep Your Friends Close…
“Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” (2002)After all this time, you can finally bring “Vice City” to a close with this one, last story mission. It is time to bring an end to Lance Vance and Sonny Forelli. Well, you best be ready to do every objective in a single run! In addition to every enemy being armed to the teeth with lethal firepower, you have to play the entire mission from start to finish with NO CHECKPOINTS! Your temperament may be put to the test here, so try to remember that patience is a virtue…and you may need to git gud.
***
Wrong Side of the Tracks
“Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” (2004)Anyone who has played “San Andreas” probably immediately thinks of this mission when it comes to discussing the hardest segments of the game. Wrong Side of the Tracks sees CJ and Big Smoke following a damn train to bring down members of the Vagos gang. Regardless of how good your driving skills are, the biggest pain in the butt here is that Big Smoke is a god awful shot. Had the roles been reversed with CJ shooting and Big Smoke driving, perhaps this mission would have been more tolerable.
Death Row
“Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” (2002)For as good as the stories and gameplay were in the PS2 GTA games, it does not compensate for how loathsome the driving could be at times. This is especially evident in “Vice City’s” Death Row mission. Lance Vance is being held captive at a junkyard, and you have to rescue him before his health bar drops to zero. Problem here is that by the time you arrive and deal with the guards at the gate, Lance will already have lost about a third of health, giving you very little time to take out the rest of Ricardo Diaz’s goons. We’re just glad the rush to the hospital wasn’t as grueling…that is if you nab a car with moderate speed.
The Big Score
“Grand Theft Auto V” (2013)We won’t harp on about this mission for too long. After all, The Big Score is the penultimate mission in GTA V. So, it kind of makes sense that this would be a difficult mission. Even so, we weren’t expecting the Obvious Approach to be as challenging as it ended up being. Your patience will be tested here as enemies are super accurate with their shots. Basically, you’ll need to have a good grasp at GTA V’s awful gunplay. Otherwise, you might feel like you’re ramming your head against the wall.
The Exchange
“Grand Theft Auto III” (2001)Speaking of ramming your head against a wall, The Exchange has earned its notoriety in how it feels like your chances of success are entirely dependent on luck. Not only do you have enemies with great accuracy on your butt the entire time, you also have only seven minutes to get to the dam, take them all out, and rescue Maria. You’ll have to cheese the prehistoric AI in order to stand a chance, and yes, have a grasp on the awful gunplay. Again, we would expect the final mission or level in a game to be difficult, but not on this level.
Robbing Uncle Sam
“Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” (2004)Another notorious mission from “San Andreas” (and certainly not the last we’ll address from the game), Robbing Uncle Sam ought to have been renamed to Robbing Your Time (and Your Sanity). In an effort to arm the Grove Street Family, CJ and Ryder break into a military depot for weapons. This mission simply asks too much of the player and makes the multitasking more cumbersome than it needs to be. In addition to dealing with enemies, you’ll need to operate a forklift with abysmal controls to transport a crate to a box truck. You have to do this SIX TIMES to finish the mission! SIX! TIMES while praying Ryder is competent enough to land his shots!! And afterwards, you’ll have to lose the military vehicles chasing you before reaching your destination. There’s just too much to deal with here, man.
The Driver
“Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” (2002)We’re no stranger to GTA’s occasional racing missions, but “Vice City’s” driving was harrowing to tolerate since almost every car felt like piloting an ice cube. That’s only the first half of why The Driver mission was so grueling. The other half is in how the game puts you in an unfair matchup against the AI. In order to recruit Hilary King, you will have to beat him in a street race. However, King gets to drive a muscle car while you get to drive a cheap sedan that has lesser stats than King’s vehicle. To make matters worse, the VCPD will start chasing you down mid-race for illegal street racing. We would have been fine with that part of the mission if our car had equal stats to King’s, and yet, we’re the ones being punished for making it this far in the game.
Did Somebody Say Yoga?
“Grand Theft Auto V” (2013)Yoga in real life might be enjoyable for some. Yoga in “Wii Fit”, perhaps, but not preferable. Yoga in GTA? Get that crap out of here. Did Somebody Say Yoga is way worse than any other mission in GTA V. We already got some annoying thumb exercises from the Triathlon and Epsilon cult missions, both of which consisted of mashing X for a longer period of time than we would have liked. Now, we gotta move the analogs at weird angles while holding the triggers? We shouldn’t be experiencing this much physical strain from a video game.
Espresso-2-Go!
“Grand Theft Auto III” (2001)By this point in GTA III, you have probably become accustomed to some of the game’s nonsense with its difficulty and AI. However, Espresso-2-Go is a different level of nonsense. A number of espresso stands are scattered across Liberty City, and you need to destroy all nine of them in seven minutes and fifty seconds. You will be shot at upon reaching a stall, and it’s this part of the mission that makes it difficult. You need a vehicle with good speed AND good armor. Your best option is to save this mission until after you’ve completed the Marked Man mission and unlocked the Patriot car, which boasts modest speed and bulletproof armor. This might be common knowledge today, but back in 2001, we were suffering. Thank god for the internet.
Supply Lines…
“Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” (2004)We have never been so happy to see a difficult mission be optional because holy hell, is Supply Lines infuriating! CJ must pilot a small plane and take down a handful of delivery trucks linked to Berkley. Moving targets are not a problem for us. We don’t expect any mission to have dull targets. However, we do expect some decent controls to at least make the mission doable. Supply Lines does not meet that expectation. Controlling the plane is abhorrently frustrating to the point where most folks will choose to walk away from the mission. Should you attempt this yourself, we recommend referring to a guide to avoid any headaches as speed, efficiency, and precision are of the utmost importance here.
Demolition Man
“Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” (2002)GTA has an infamous reputation in god awful helicopter missions. Learning to Fly in “San Andreas”, Sexy Time in “GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony”... But the most aggravating is Demolition Man. We have already ranted a lot on controls, so what else makes this mission so infamous? On top of being just super monotonous to play in general, Demolition Man gives you absolutely NO checkpoints. You are required to suffer through this whole mission from start to finish. If you die, you start all the way back to the beginning, adding to the monotony. It is not only the hardest mission in the GTA franchise, it is also the absolute worst of them all. And may God have mercy on your soul if you’re trying to go for “Vice City’s” Platinum trophy because for one of the trophies, you will have to kill all enemies using only the chopper’s blades! Good luck!!
What’s the toughest mission you’ve tackled in a GTA game? Did it make our list? Let us know down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!
