Grand Theft Auto IV/Controls

The controls for Grand Theft Auto IV are numerous and context sensitive. This page details the controls used and when they are used.

Context sensitive controls
The common non-vehicular activities include walking, running, sprinting, jumping over or onto something, climbing/descending ladders, swimming, fighting with weapons, kicking and hitting, using the telephone, and engaging in Grand Theft Auto.

You should use the Pause Menu frequently. The main use is to bring up the map, primarily for setting the GPS for whatever vehicle you are in.
 * The Pause Menu

The other important feature is for reloading from your last Save. You can save a game by going to bed in a safehouse.

You can learn about various "cheats" online which give you more weapons, health, armor, etc., but why bother to play the game if you are just going to cheat your way through it. Besides, you can duplicate many of the "cheats" by a non-cheating use of the games legitimate features, such as frequent saving.

You will rarely accomplish a mission on your first try. If you are seriously injured, you will be taken to the hospital, which will cost you money plus take away any armor you had. You will also get the option of retrying the mission you just failed. Assuming you opt to do so, you may have to go buy more armor and any ammo you used up.

For that reason, before starting a new mission, you should max out your health and armor, buy any additional ammo you need, and then go to the safehouse and save. Then if you get wiped out, instead of doing a retry, reload the last save. The only drawback is that you will be back in your safehouse and have to go to your mission contact again before retrying the mission, which is a nuisance.

Even worse than getting killed, ironically, is getting captured by the police. So keep running and shooting and either get away or die. If captured, the police will not only take some of your money, but ALL of your weapons and armor. You will definitely want to reload in that case.

Getting Around On Foot:

The first "L" buttton above is the left joystick/analog control and is primarily used to control movement, in or out of a vehicle. The left and right joysticks are not easy to control. It's hard enough to control vehicles with them, but it's also hard just to run in a straight line. It's just something that takes time to get used to.

To walk, you just push L the direction you want to go, as long as the way is clear of obstructions. Run by holding "A" while pushing L. Sprint by repeatedly tapping A. Running and sprinting do not use up any energy, health, etc., so you can save time playing by sprinting whenever on foot.

When you turn by pushing L, you are always looking straight ahead, so you cannot see what you are turning into. This can be a real problem if you are chasing someone. Instead of pushing L left or right to turn while walking or running, you can keep pusing L straight ahead, and turn with the R stick.

R normally controls only the camera angle and not the direction Niko is turning, but when walking or running, it causes you to turn while looking more to the direction you are turning. Again, keep pushing L straight ahead while lookin-turning with R. (It is difficult to push A to run while pushing R to turn, but it is possible.)

When trying to chase someone and you are pushing L in different directions while tapping A, it is easy to accidentally press down on the L. As discussed below, this puts Niko into a crouch and slows him down. Then you have to press L again to get Niko out of the crouch. The whole thing is a royal pain. You can avoid the problem by pushing the sides of the top of the L button instead of putting your thumb on top and moving it around.

To vault over/onto obstructions up to about waist level, press X. Niko will boost himself over narrow barriers such as fences, or climb onto obstructions large enough to stand on.

To scale obstructions up to a height which Niko can reach by jumping, press X. Niko will jump up and grab hold, then press X again for him to try to pull himself up, or press L left/right to move left/right while holding on, or press Y to get Niko to let go. To pull himself up onto high objects, there must be something for him to press his feet against, such as a fence or wall, but not a bar with nothing below it.

To climb/descend ladders, press Y to get onto the ladder and then press L up/down. Don't get too close to the tops of ladders before pressing Y or Niko may fall. Hold A with Y to climb faster or to slide down very quickly.

Some objects cannot be vaulted onto, scaled, or climbed just because you are not meant to use them, such as a random step ladder.

This brings up the point that you cannot pick up or move random objects. If the story needs you to be able to pick up something, it will tell you to press the Left Button ("LB") to pick it up. GTA4 will also let you watch TV in your safehouses, but not do much more.

Likewise, random doors cannot be opened, so if you find a door that opens, there should be some reason for it, such as a weapon left on the roof of a building.

Swimming:

Sometimes you can escape or get to some nearby island by swimming. Controls are similar to walking. Push L to go and to change directions, hold A at the same time to swim faster, and tap A to swim fastest.

When you get to a dock or the side of a boat, you can usually pull yourself up by pressing X. If that doesn't work, you'll have to keep swimming until you can get out. On the plus side, you can swim forever without losing health.

Telephone:

Pressing Up on the Four-Direction ("FD") button to the right and below the L button brings up the mobile phone, whether in or out of a vehicle. Press Up again to bring up the numberpad to dial numbers. Various "cheats" can be found online and activated by dialing a number; otherwise, calls are normally made via the Phonebook entries.

Once the phone is up, use the A and B keys to control the phone.

As you get deeper into the game, your Phonebook list will grow, but if you just randomly dial one of the characters, you will normally get an answering maching. Once you make friends with various characters, lines will be added to their phonebook entries for calling them for different purposes.

Other characters will often call you. Ironically, if they call about some important mission, their initials will be highlighted on the map on the Pause Menu and you can visit them at any time, but if they call you for a date or to play darts, etc., you have a limited time to pick them up. If you are late or if you turn them down because you are in the middle of something, they will like you a little less and not do favors for you which you may need later. Balancing these factors is part of the challenge.

Using the Options menu on the telephone, you can put the phone in the Sleep mode and not get calls from friends, but if they have tried to get you during that time and couldn't, you get the same black mark as if you didn't answer or if you turned them down.

Stealing Vehicles:

You can steal a vehicle by walking up to it and pressing "Y". If the car is parked and unlocked, Niko will just open the door and get in. If the car is parked and locked, he will try the door, the break a window and hot-wire the car. If the car is stopped at a light, etc., and someone is in it, Niko will pull them out of the car and get in.

Before breaking into a parked car or hijacking a car, look around to see if any police cars or walking cops are around. If so, walk away and wait unless you want the trouble of having to ditch the police. If you hijack a taxi or limo with people in the back, the first time you stop, they will jump out.

Once you hijack a car, get moving or the owner may pull Niko back out of the car.

To get into a taxi as a passenger (which takes money), walk up to a stopped cab and hold down "Y" until Niko gets in. If you just press Y and let go, he will hijack the cab. If people are in the cab when he gets in, You can hail an approaching cab by pressing the Left Button. Niko will whistle. If the cab is empty, it will pull over (eventually).

When you get into a taxi, you will be asked where to go. The easiest response is to bring up the Pause Menu Map and select a destination, unless one was entered on the map before you got into the cab.

You can steal any kind of vehicle, including big rigs, fire trucks, armored cars, limos, and high-performance sports cars.

Combat:

Niko starts with no weapons but his fists. "A" blocks, "B"/"Y" punch, and "X" kicks. As the story progresses, he will acquire more weapons.

Weapons can be selected with the left/right clicks on the Four Direction button.

The bat and knife are also used with the "B" button, but other weapons are activated with the Right Trigger ("RT").

The Left Trigger ("LT") will automatically lock onto an enemy and the inner ring shows his health. When the inner ring is gone, the enemy is dead. LT must also be used with the bat and knife.

The auto-lock-on circle will appear even if the enemy is behind cover, in which case you should save your ammo. Release the LT half way to release the lock-on and get free aim with the right joystick ("R"). If an enemy is behind cover, free aim may be used to shoot whatever part of him may be sticking out.

Auto-lock-on can be dangerous when facing multiple enemy because it may lock onto a covered target while uncovered targets are shooting you. Use R to change targets.

If you walk into a room and find several enemies aiming at you (which you should try to avoid), pulling LT will lock onto one, but after hitting him, you must release LT, turn towards the next opponent (if not in your field of view), and pull LT again to lock onto the next one, all while you are getting shot full of holes. An alternative is to do the half-pull (easier said than done in the heat of battle) and spray automatic fire by pressing R in one direction and holding it.

Get Cover:

On most (but not all) missions, you are allowed to take as much time as you want to finish off the enemy, in which case you want to be very patient; always take cover and advance slowly. Often, firing from a long distance with a sniper rifle is the best way to pick of the enemy without risking getting hit by return fire, even if the program is telling you to charge on in there and get the job done.

Inch up to a corner or doorway (or tree or other cover) and use R to move the camera to see what's around the corner. To get a quick look at what's behind you, press in on R.

If you are behind furniture or a short wall, crouch down by pressing L and use R to aim the camera over the obstruction.

Once you spot an enemy and want to engage him, press Right Button ("RB", above RT) to enter the Cover mode. This mode will not let you advance beyond a corner or doorway or above a short wall until you have locked onto an enemy and press RT to fire, then Niko will shoot until you release RT and duck back into cover. Against an exposed enemy, you can take him down before he gets a shot off.

If you see multiple enemies, start by targeting the left-most one so that he can't get a good shot at you when you come out to shoot at the right-most opponent.

Since a lock-on circle does not promise that the enemy is exposed, you may have to press in on R to zoom in. Press R again to cancel the zoom mode. If you are using free aim in the Cover mode, you cannot zoom around corners, only what you can see in front of you.

An even more cautious approach in the Cover mode is to free aim on an enemy then pull RT. This results in a blind shot where your body stays hidden and only your hand and arm are exposed.

While the crouch from pressing L looks a lot like the Cover crouch from pressing RB, there is a huge difference. From the L crouch, you cannot do a blind aim-shoot and you must expose yourself somewhat just to aim and lockon. Also, special weapons may be unusable from the L crouch.

Finally, in the Cover mode, you cannot leave the cover until you press RB again to turn off Cover mode.

Advancing Crouch:

Niko is harder to hit in the open when crouching, yet he can easily shoot down an enemy from a crouch in then open. So if Niko must get from behind cover to advance into an area which may have enemy hidden in it and he is in no hurry, the best approach is to crouch and scoot forward while pulling RT (which keeps the free-aim circle up) and using R to keep the aim on likely target areas.

The best example of this is when you have to go up a staircase: crouch and advance aiming at the highest part of the stairs you can. After you get up a couple of stairs, turn and look up at the railing (if any) to see if you can spot anyone. Continue slowly up the stairs this way and you shouldn't get shot.

Special Weapons:

Grenade: To aim a grenade toss, pull LT and a free-aim circle will come up. Move it with R. Pull RT to pull the pin nad release RT to throw. If you throw immediately after pulling RT, the enemy has time to duck for cover. Hold RT until it starts beeping and release RT to throw a "hot" grenade that explodes as soon as it hits. Hold RT too long and it will blow up Niko.

Aiming a grenade toss is an art form. You may need to bounce it off a wall or object. You often have to get to cover and/or change weapons after tossing a grenade since any surviving enemy are usually easy pickings immediately after the blast.

You can toss a grenade from the RB Cover crouch by using the free-aim circle, but since you get no such circle in the L crouch (which, again, looks the same otherwise), you are more likely to blow yourself up. Don't throw a grenade without using the free-aim circle.

The Sniper Rifle: is ideal from a long, relatively safe distance. You can zoom using L to see enemy who can't see you, use the point in the center of the scope to aim at their head, and see them go down when you hit them.

The easiest way to spot enemies is to look for fire from them, then bring up the scope and zoom in on them. If they are not firing, you can try scanning non-zoomed, and then scan the area zoomed.

Another very great use for the sniper scope is that you can zoom in on just a small part of a enemy who is behind cover. Hitting that part can take a man down where you have a full shot at him.

You cannot use the sniper rifle in the Cover mode because you must be exposed to see through the scope. Also, Cover mode is usually used in close quarters where it is not very useful if the enemy charges you.

Rocket-Propelled Grenade ("RPG"): You can pick up some "hidden" RPGs about a third of the way through the game, though you don't really need one that bad. If you get an RPG and decide to use it, make sure you are out in the open because it is easy to blow yourself up trying to shoot around nearby cover (and hitting the cover instead).

Attracting Enemy and/or Police:

Enemy usually don't react until after you fire the first shot, so make it count. In some situations, this may mean lobbing a grenade into a group first and then switching to an automatic weapon. (You would think that grenades and RPGs would wipe out the enemy, but you are almost always going to have to do some cleanup work with a conventional weapon.)

In missions where you are expected to use grenades and RPGs, doing so may not attract the police. If their use is not essential, they probably will attract police, so you are usually better off using the least powerful weapon which will get the job done, which may be a bat or a knife.

In a mission which has civilians around, killing bad guys may not attract police while killing the civilians might. Killing police will up your wanted level even higher, so try not to kill them unless you clearly have to do so.

Outside of missions, any weapon firing is likely to attract police.

Running into a police car or a foot cop will attract police, but normally just earns you one wanted star and is easy to get away from, while killing a policeman usually earns you at least 3 stars and is more difficult. The main thing is to drive as fast as you can, but avoid crashing, and never give up; keep pulling RT and LT to try to get out.

Police will try to swerve in front of you and also try to force you off the road. If you realize that they are starting such maneuvers, hit the brakes and let them commit themselves, then steer around them.

Watch for areas on the HUD/GPS which don't show police cars in them and head for those spots. Likewise, if you are almost in the clear but see a copy car ahead on the HUD, turn off before they spot you; otherwise, you will be back in the center of their radar again.

Wandering into the runway area of the airport gets you maximum attention.