Vigilante

The Vigilante mission is a vehicle-based side mission in every GTA III Era game, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars in which the player is required to chase down and kill the indicated targets (other criminals) within a time limit. Vigilante mode can be activated at any time (when not already in a mission) from within a Law Enforcement vehicle, such as a Police Car).

Brown Thunder is a (technically) separate but more or less identical side mission, which can be activated from a Hunter attack helicopter in the games in which that vehicle appears.

Overview

GTA III era

At the start of the mission, a criminal spawns in a random vehicle (clearly marked and shown on the radar) and attempts to evade the player. If the vehicle catches fire or is held in place for more than a couple seconds, the occupant(s) will bail out and run or attempt to acquire new transport. They may even steal your car! In GTA Vice City, a new car will spawn for the criminals to use if the player doesn't kill them fast. As the player completes each level, the target/s come armed with better weapons and, as of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, become more numerous until eventually, multiple vehicles appear with each new level. In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, criminals will have the ability to drive-by. The player has to be ready to flee as well, since some of the criminals come very heavily armed with, for example, Rugers and Shotguns that can, and will, kill both the player and their car in seconds.

Aside from the obvious choices of drive-by shooting the target vehicle until it blows up or ramming it off the road, there are other options. For example:

• Performing the PIT maneuver to spin the vehicle out and then successfully blocking it will prompt the target/s to abandon the vehicle, allowing you to engage them in a firefight or simply run them over.
• Identifying the target vehicle's likely route (only a practical option in some areas with few side roads) and setting up an ambush or roadblock ahead of it. Using a powerful weapon, it is very possible to blow up their car before the assailants have time to get out of it.

The mission is failed if the player remains outside of a Law Enforcement vehicle for more than 60 seconds in one go, if the player dies or is busted, and of course if the time runs out. Vigilante mode does not grant immunity from the Police, who will often pursue the player for murder, firing weapons, hitting police cars etc. They make it a lot harder since almost no emergency vehicles can be resprayed, and you might rack up your wanted level faster than you can find police bribes.

Each time a Vigilante mission is started, the player must begin at Level 1, and cannot continue a previously failed or canceled mission. GTA Vice City Stories has a checkpoint every five levels so you can restart at that checkpoint if you failed or canceled before completion.

GTA IV era

In GTA IV and GTA Chinatown Wars, the Vigilante missions are retooled. When Niko or Huang accesses a police car, they can access the criminal database computer and view crimes in progress in the area. The player has a time limit to get to the crime scene, but once there the timer stops. These crimes include: Gang activity, which involves killing a group of thugs; Stolen vehicle, which involves chasing down the criminal in the stolen vehicle; and Suspect on foot, which consists of only one criminal fleeing a crime scene, and are usually the easiest, as the criminal can simply be run over. In GTA IV, 20 missions must be completed for the Cleaned The Mean Streets Achievement and for 100% completion. The 20 missions however do not need to be done consecutively. In addition, there is a new form of the mission called Most Wanted. In GTA Chinatown Wars, the side-mission automatically ends when you kill the last criminal on each wave, and to restart it you must reenter a Law Enforcement vehicle and access the Police Computer, so you don't have to beat all five waves consecutively to obtain the Gold Medal, as long as the chain is completed without failure.

Rewards

Grand Theft Auto III

• +1 Police Bribe at the Hideouts (Total 10 Kills in Portland)
• +1 Police Bribe at the Hideouts (Total 20 Kills in Portland)
• +1 Police Bribe at the Hideouts (Total 10 Kills in Staunton Island)
• +1 Police Bribe at the Hideouts (Total 20 Kills in Staunton Island)
• +1 Police Bribe at the Hideouts (Total 10 Kills in Shoreside Vale)
• +1 Police Bribe at the Hideouts (Total 20 Kills in Shoreside Vale)

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

• Maximum Armor Increased by 50% (Complete Level 12)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

• Maximum Armor Increased by 50% (Complete Level 12)

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

• Maximum Armor Increased by 50% (Complete Level 12)

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

• Maximum Armor Increased by 50% (Complete Level 15)

Grand Theft Auto IV

• Cleaned The Mean Streets Achievement/Trophy
• Manhunt Achievement/Trophy

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

• Maximum Armor Increased by 100% (Get Gold Medal)

Vehicles

GTA III Era

• Barracks OL
• Enforcer
• FBI Car
• FBI Rancher
• FBI Truck
• FBI Washington
• HPV1000 (bike)
• Police Car
• Ranger
• Rhino (tank)
• Hunter (helicopter)
• SWAT Tank
• VCPD Cheetah
• VCPD Wintergreen

GTA IV Era

The following vehicles can initiate missions:

• FIB Buffalo
• NOOSE Cruiser
• NOOSE Patriot
• Police Patrol (GTA IV / GTA Chinatown Wars)
• Police Cruiser (GTA IV)
• Stockade
• APC
• Police Stinger ( GTA: TBoGT Multiplayer)
• Police Bike (GTA: TBoGT Multiplayer)
• Police Buffalo (GTA: TBoGT Multiplayer)
• Brickade

The Enforcer, Annihilator and Police Maverick can be used to continue missions after they have been initiated in another vehicle.

San Andreas glitch

A glitch exists in GTA: San Andreas that allows completion of Vigilante without actually having to engage the enemy. Trigger the sub-mission, and park the police vehicle near the entrance to a food place such as Burger Shot. When the targets are identified, exit the vehicle (a countdown clock to mission failure will begin) and enter the food place. Wait about 20 seconds and exit. If done correctly (the exact timing may vary and one must be careful not to run out of time), the game will indicate that the targets are dead. Quickly reenter the police vehicle and wait for the next mission. Repeat. On the PS2 this has been done successfully for all levels. One walkthrough reports it works on the Xbox too but only up to a certain point, and purchasing food may or may not be necessary.

Notes

• In GTA IV, as mentioned, the player may still receive a wanted level during a vigilante mission. However, upon completion of the mission, their wanted level seems to be cleared (at least up to three stars).
• In GTA LCS, the Barracks OL is not intended to be used on Vigilante.
• In GTA Vice City, the VCPD Cheetah is a very good car to use for Vigilante. It is very fast but can actually be put in a Pay 'n' Spray, which will both repair the car and remove your wanted level.
• In GTA San Andreas, the HPV1000 combined with the invincibility cheat makes the vigilante missions easier.
• The Rhino Tank can be a very useful Vigilante vehicle owing to its ability to destroy other cars simply by driving into them (making head-on "chicken"-style ambushes a good tactic) and it's long-range gun. It is, however, very slow, and it is entirely possible for criminals to outrun the player until the time limit expires even at fairly low levels, particularly on larger highways or off-road. It can also be very difficult to obtain a Rhino without using cheats or earning a 6-star wanted level (although the tank does spawn in some locations, such as Fort Baxter in Vice City and Area 69 in San Andreas). In Vice City Stories this problem is compounded by the fact that all Rhinos encountered prior to the completion of the second last mission, Over The Top, whether at Fort Baxter or under a 6-star wanted level, will be locked and cannot be driven.

See Also

• Most Wanted - For more information on the other mission accessed from the police computer in Grand Theft Auto IV.