Grand Theft Auto IV/Playboy X

Deconstruction For Beginners
Be sure to do this mission as soon as it becomes available because you get grenades unlocked, which come in handy on other missions. Grenades replace Molotovs, so don't waste money buying Molotovs before this mission. You will want to have full health and armor, though if you are slow and careful, you should not need it all.

This mission is a lot easier in daylight (finding the guys to snipe), so if it is evening or night, go have some fun or get some sleep and wait until morning before going to see X to start this mission.

If you charge in guns blazing, you may find this mission hard to complete, but this is not a time-limited mission, and if you take your time and take cover at every chance, it is easy.

After you snipe the 3 lookouts, you will be told to hurry on down and storm the construction site. As always, in missions which are not time-limited, ignore such advice and take your time. Before leaving the roof top, scan the tops of the buildings in the construction sites for enemies. You should find two areas each with 3 Bad Guys ("BGs"). Snipe 'em. Then head down the lift, get in the SUV, and drive across the street up to the opening to the site.

Park just outside the opening and using it for cover, use the scope on the sniper rifle to scan the second floor of the construction area. You should eventually see all or part of someone. Snipe him. That is one of the bosses.

The BGs will start after you. Take cover behind the car and take them out. When the action dies down, go in and pick up ammo/weapons. You'll probably have to take down a few more BGs, but no big deal.

Go up the plywood ramp and the next boss should be unprotected if you sniped his guys from the roof, so taking out this boss is easy. Keep going and don't worry about the chopper dropping off reinforcements -- just more BGs for you to have fun with. Stay in the cover mode. Only aim-and-shoot when one or two guys come out from behind ocver. When they all stay behind cover, use blind shooting (don't pull the left trigger) and lob grenades.

With all these BGs dead, you may get lucky and find the last boss within rifle range where you can easily take him out; otherwise, you'll have to go after him, but that is also no big deal.

Photo Shoot
Nothing to this mission. The best part is the new phone.

The Holland Play
You have to choose to kill either X or Dwayne. Most people choose X because you get his cool penthouse after the job is done.

Online writeups give elaborate battle plans, but this one is extremely simple. You will get control in the cover mode just outside the door to X's penthouse. X runs out onto the patio, but left the door open, so just toss a hot grenade through it — end of mission. (Edit: After getting an update to the game, this strategy no longer worked. No matter how many grenades were thrown onto the patio, Niko still had to go chasing after X.)

Even if you kill X with a grenade, there is still a room full of thugs who will come after you, so after throwing the grenade, switch immediately to an Uzi and prepare to take out the charging thugs. But even if they get you, you still accomplish the mission, you'll just end up in the hospital.