You may have noticed how slowly Niko switches weapons, and that it takes a long time to cycle through the weapons by only using left and right on the D-pad.  To avoid this, use the fast weapon switch by  holding down L1 and pressing either, up, down, left or right on the D-pad.

Pressing up on the D-pad will cycle between your rifle weapon, and your machinegun weapon.  Pressing left will switch to your pistol, and pressing left while holding L1 will switch to your grenade weapon.  Finally, if you press down on the D-pad, you will switch to your shotgun.

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To disarm an enemy, you must first dodge their attack with the weapon.  Simply by pressing X right as the enemy swings and Niko dodge the attack. Niko can also perform counter attacks after a successful dodge.  Pressing square or triangle after a dodge will make Niko perform a unique counter attack, which does heavy damage.

Be warned, jabs are extremely difficult – if not impossible to dodge.  Also be aware that Niko isn’t the only one who can block, as enemies are able to block Niko’s attacks as well.

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Niko never uses his seat belt while cruising around Liberty City, creating chaos and general mayhem. This unfortunately results in Niko going airborne through the windshield if he hits any solid object like a cement block or a house, which is also followed by a rather horrifying scream. This can be extremely damaging to Niko’s health and may also result in Niko becoming an involuntary speed bump for other vehicles on the road.

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If you smash into too many objects with your vehicle, one of two things will happen.  Either A, the car engine will not work and the car will stop working.  You can attempt to restart the vehicle by repeatedly pressing R2.  Option B is more fun, but alot more dangerous.  Too much damage will cause your vehicle begin smoking, and it will soon catch fire if it is damaged further. You have a short time to get safely away from the vehicle before it explodes.

For maximum mayhem, you can dive out of the car and use it as a mobile bomb to attack enemy vehicles such as police cruisers or N.O.O.S.E vans.

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Sometimes in Liberty City you just don’t have time to waste.  The parked car theft animation that Niko performs is sometimes just too slow, and costly when your are being attacked.  Nothing is more painful to watch then when Niko is elbowing out a car window while the Cops take your life total from full to half.  You can counter this problem if your fast using this technique.

Use Free-look by holding L2 lightly, and shoot out the window of the parked car that you wish to steal.  Instead of performing the long “look around and elbow” animation, Niko will simply open the door and proceed on to hotwire the car.

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If you are in any vehicle that has a siren (eg: a police cruiser, ambulance, etc) you can activate these sirens or shut them off by pressing the L3 button down.  If you hold the L3 button down in a police cruiser you will get a different sounding siren.

Emergency sirens will cause all vehicles in your path to move out of your way by pulling over to the right.  If you pass through a toll booth with the sirens on, you will not gain a warrant level and will not have to stop to pay the 5$ fee.

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Everybody loves wheelies!  Niko can perform a wheelie on any motorcycle or scooter.  To do a wheelie simply hold down the accelerator button (R2) and hold the left analog stick backwards.  If you do not have enough speed while tilting too far back on the analog stick, it is possible to flip over backwards and crash the bike.

The more speed the bike has, the easier it is to maintain a full wheelie.  Use the wheelie to drive around Liberty City in style!

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If you steal an ambulance in GTA IV, you will recieve a full health boost for free upon entering it. Why pay $800for a health boost from the paramedics – when you can just steal their ambulance and get it for free?

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Grenades are a handy tool to have when you need to clear out a room full of enemies, destroying parked vehicles or causing general mayhem.  To prime a grenade hold down the R2 button, then release to throw.  Remeber, you have roughly 4-5 seconds to throw the grenade when primed or else it goes off in Niko’s hand…

Here are several ways of using the grenade:

#1 Lock-on Throw: Hold the L2 button to target an enemy to throw the grenade at.  Press/hold R2 to throw.

#2 The Free Look Throw: Exactly like free-look aim, hold the L2 button down lightly and aim the throw using the right analog stick.

#3 Blind-Fire Throw: While behind any type of cover, hold the L2 button lightly to use free-look mode, aim where you want the grenade to go, then throw the grenade.  Niko will automatically throw the grenade over, and around whatever object you are using as cover.

And yes, you can toss grenades into open car windows…

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Throughout GTA IV you will encounter many, many enemies. The key to passing missions that throw ridiculous amounts of enemies at you is: the head shot. Combining good cover, and the head shot can allow you to take on many enemies at once, without taking too much damage.

To get a headshot, simply use auto-aim by holding the L2 button and target an enemy. Use the Left analog stick to aim up to the target’s head and fire a burst of 3-4 rounds. The benefit of headshots is that not only are you dispatching enemies quickly and efficiently, but you are also conserving ammo.

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