GTAIV : Chase Missions

[Spooner]

I'm sure this has been discussed countless times, but one thing the is sticking out to me as a true annoyance of the game is how many chase missions there are and, in those chase missions, how they force you to follow the person all over town before you can truly kill them. Can't tell you how many times I've shot the crap out of a car or motorcycle only to have them unharmed until i make it to the part where they get out of the vehicle

/rant

 

[iamwiz82]

I dont mind those because they are still kind of exciting. I hate the ones where you have to follow someone without being noticed. 10 minutes of chasing that is wasted because I accidently rear-end them when they come to a stop and the NPC gets 'spooked'

 

[mugs]

Yeah, I really hate when the game leads you to believe that you're supposed to do something, but the scripting of the game prevents you from doing it. So stupid.

 

[Spooner]

I love when they get a sudden bust of speed to make sure they are far enough away from you to continue the storyline. it's like they kick in the NOS or something

 

[mc866]

I found these missions frustrating also, mostly beacuse I'm a terrible driver. I also like how on these missions there is always a semi or large vehicle that likes to swerve at you.

 

[erwos]

There's a boat segment at the end (people who beat the game on Deal will know which one I mean) that I _just can't do_. My boat can never catch up with that, uh, "other vehicle" (avoiding spoilers). Am I missing something?

And I totally agree with the OP that those missions would be _so_ much better if you could kill them during the chase. I like how they get out at the end (it's hard to shoot while driving), but there shouldn't be a problem with whacking them on the way.

 

[swaytech]

I am with you on this, I hated that you couldn't just kill them, you had to wait for them to get out of the vehicle.

 

[Xavier434]

Well, I find that if you are a good shot and a good driver in a fast car then you can pull up beside your target and unload on them through their side window. That or you can get your hands on the some rockets and pin their car against a building long enough for you to get out and blow the crap out of them. In any case, the difficulty of these missions really revolves a lot around what kind of car you have and how skillful you are at driving.

 

[bearxor]

Originally posted by: erwos
There's a boat segment at the end (people who beat the game on Deal will know which one I mean) that I _just can't do_. My boat can never catch up with that, uh, "other vehicle" (avoiding spoilers). Am I missing something?

Get in your boat and gun it towards the destination. Ignore the other "other vehicle", even when it starts getting shots in at you. Just keep gunning it straight and you'll catch the "other vehicle" you're talking about.

Once in the "other vehicle", just follow the other "other vehicle" until it lands, you don't need to shoot at it.

 

[Ramma2]

This bothered me too. You can be in a much faster car, driving flawlessly through traffic, and the enemy in their clunky SUV hitting stuff and swerving all over the road is always 4 car lenghts in front of you.

Once I realized this is what the game does for those types of missions it wasn't as bad, since I knew what was going on and why my 800 rounds of smg fire wern't bringing them down.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Xavier434
Well, I find that if you are a good shot and a good driver in a fast car then you can pull up beside your target and unload on them through their side window. That or you can get your hands on the some rockets and pin their car against a building long enough for you to get out and blow the crap out of them. In any case, the difficulty of these missions really revolves a lot around what kind of car you have and how skillful you are at driving.

I don't think pulling beside them would work in the missions the OP is describing. It's not about a lack of skill at all, the game simply won't let you kill the guy before he gets to a predefined point. One such mission had the bad guys on motorcycles, so there was nothing between you and their bodies.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Xavier434
Well, I find that if you are a good shot and a good driver in a fast car then you can pull up beside your target and unload on them through their side window. That or you can get your hands on the some rockets and pin their car against a building long enough for you to get out and blow the crap out of them. In any case, the difficulty of these missions really revolves a lot around what kind of car you have and how skillful you are at driving.

I don't think pulling beside them would work in the missions the OP is describing. It's not about a lack of skill at all, the game simply won't let you kill the guy before he gets to a predefined point. One such mission had the bad guys on motorcycles, so there was nothing between you and their bodies.

Hmm maybe I just never noticed the difference between the ones where you can catch up and the ones where you cannot.

 

[erwos]

Actually, on one of the early motorcycle missions, I _was_ able to knock the guy off his bike and shoot him to death. It was a pure luck thing - I missed a turn, but he wound up doubling back, and he just slammed into the side of my car and went flying. It was Pure Awesome (tm).

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Xavier434
Well, I find that if you are a good shot and a good driver in a fast car then you can pull up beside your target and unload on them through their side window. That or you can get your hands on the some rockets and pin their car against a building long enough for you to get out and blow the crap out of them. In any case, the difficulty of these missions really revolves a lot around what kind of car you have and how skillful you are at driving.

I don't think pulling beside them would work in the missions the OP is describing. It's not about a lack of skill at all, the game simply won't let you kill the guy before he gets to a predefined point. One such mission had the bad guys on motorcycles, so there was nothing between you and their bodies.

Hmm maybe I just never noticed the difference between the ones where you can catch up and the ones where you cannot.

I don't remember many where I couldn't catch up (only one comes to mind, guy in a Ferrari who drove halfway around Algonquin), but there were some where I had no problem catching up and no matter how many bullets I put into the vehicle, they did nothing. The final mission is an example - don't waste your time shooting at the boat, you can't damage it or kill the guy.

 

[oznerol]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Xavier434
Well, I find that if you are a good shot and a good driver in a fast car then you can pull up beside your target and unload on them through their side window. That or you can get your hands on the some rockets and pin their car against a building long enough for you to get out and blow the crap out of them. In any case, the difficulty of these missions really revolves a lot around what kind of car you have and how skillful you are at driving.

I don't think pulling beside them would work in the missions the OP is describing. It's not about a lack of skill at all, the game simply won't let you kill the guy before he gets to a predefined point. One such mission had the bad guys on motorcycles, so there was nothing between you and their bodies.

Hmm maybe I just never noticed the difference between the ones where you can catch up and the ones where you cannot.

I don't remember many where I couldn't catch up (only one comes to mind, guy in a Ferrari who drove halfway around Algonquin), but there were some where I had no problem catching up and no matter how many bullets I put into the vehicle, they did nothing. The final mission is an example - don't waste your time shooting at the boat, you can't damage it or kill the guy.

Generally, you can't kill someone when there is a cutscene following the chase - which makes sense, I suppose, but it's still quite annoying.

 

[Childs]

I stopped playing San Andreas because of the first motorcycle chase. For GTA4, just didnt worry about catching them, just took it slow and kept the guy within sight, and eventually the sequence stops. It is frustrating though, especially if you failed once, know where the guy is going to be and head him off, but fail again because you didnt do the exact path the game wants. If the driving was nice and tight like burnout I'd probably love these chase sequences, but the cars handle like sh1t.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: mugs

I don't remember many where I couldn't catch up (only one comes to mind, guy in a Ferrari who drove halfway around Algonquin), but there were some where I had no problem catching up and no matter how many bullets I put into the vehicle, they did nothing. The final mission is an example - don't waste your time shooting at the boat, you can't damage it or kill the guy.

I do remember plenty of missions where the car just never seemed to blow up or even start smoking. However, there were also a lot of missions where I managed to catch up and shoot the guy in the face or do the rocket thing I mentioned. In some cases, those missions seemed anti-climactic which makes me wonder if there was supposed to be a small cut scene at the end or right after the enemy exits the vehicle or something. Instead, Niko just makes a call on his phone and it's mission complete. I haven't even finished the game yet let alone do the missions again to test any of this out so I cannot say for sure.

 

[mxyzptlk]

Yea, it sucks that 99% of the time you can't end the chase early but since we're not at holodeck level simulation yet, I think its one of those things you have to live with. I THINK that you can kill the target if its on a motorcycle, but I'm not 100% sure. I remember doing it once, and I've been trying to do it ever since with little success. If you just HAVE to shoot at people while your chasing them, aim for the tires. You actually CAN hit those and while the target will still manage to make it to their destination, at least you get to watch them swerve all over the place with a busted tire.. makes the chases a bit easier too.. not that they need to be really, they give you so many chances and so much leeway.. I fail to see how any of the chase missions are supposed to be a challenge. Frustrating and time consuming, yes..

 

[coldmeat]

Originally posted by: bearxor
Once in the "other vehicle", just follow the other "other vehicle" until it lands, you don't need to shoot at it.

If I didn't know how the last mission ended, I would now.

 

[bearxor]

Originally posted by: coldmeat

Originally posted by: bearxor
Once in the "other vehicle", just follow the other "other vehicle" until it lands, you don't need to shoot at it.

If I didn't know how the last mission ended, I would now.

In a huge firefight?

That's like 99% of the game

 

[Dessert Tears]

Has anyone tried shooting at the driver, not the vehicle? I've had four vehicle-vs-vehicle kills that I remember, plus several on-foot vs vehicle.

• Friend's back pay, Banshee (random encounter)
• 2 bikers in the tunnels
• not Ivan, first ULPC mission, sports car, through the rear window

I was particularly happy with the Banshee kill. I fired one shot wildly while trying to orient the reticule. The target hit a few cars waiting at a light, slowing him down. The second shot went in his head. Time to kill: under 20 seconds. Completely luck, not skill, but I'll take it.

It's been my experience that cars can soak up a lot of gunfire, especially from the rear. My impression is that they're more durable than in previous GTA games, but I haven't played them recently enough to say for sure. On the other hand, cars are not the magical shields they used to be. I'm sure everyone has taken damage while driving away, and not always from a gunman standing right next to the side window.

Of the chases I remember (aside from the final mission), only one strikes me as definitely no-kill: the one where they crash into the fountain. IIRC, there are specific instructions to take them alive to recover the package.

I won't claim that shooting the driver is efficient (I sprayed 300-400 SMG rounds at the 2 bikers) or the right tactic for mission completion, but my experience is that it's possible. Xavier434's drive-by technique has the advantage of a closer target.

 

[Xylitol]

you shoot their wheels and then the chase is no problem
make sure not to set their car on fire though if you're supposed to take them alive
otherwise after you set their tires on fire, you can drive by and shoot them in the face

 

[coldmeat]

Originally posted by: bearxor

Originally posted by: coldmeat

Originally posted by: bearxor
Once in the "other vehicle", just follow the other "other vehicle" until it lands, you don't need to shoot at it.

If I didn't know how the last mission ended, I would now.

In a huge firefight?

That's like 99% of the game

He tried to disguise what the "other vehicle" was but failed.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: coldmeat

Originally posted by: bearxor

Originally posted by: coldmeat

Originally posted by: bearxor
Once in the "other vehicle", just follow the other "other vehicle" until it lands, you don't need to shoot at it.

If I didn't know how the last mission ended, I would now.

In a huge firefight?

That's like 99% of the game

He tried to disguise what the "other vehicle" was but failed.

He wasn't even talking about the last mission, he was talking about the mission before it.

 

[coldmeat]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: coldmeat

Originally posted by: bearxor

Originally posted by: coldmeat

Originally posted by: bearxor
Once in the "other vehicle", just follow the other "other vehicle" until it lands, you don't need to shoot at it.

If I didn't know how the last mission ended, I would now.

In a huge firefight?

That's like 99% of the game

He tried to disguise what the "other vehicle" was but failed.

He wasn't even talking about the last mission, he was talking about the mission before it.

huh? If that's not the last mission, then I haven't beat the game yet.