Deconstruction for Beginners

"This is my town! Look at it. All them tiny ants down there...they work for me."

- Playboy X.

Deconstruction for Beginners is the first mission given to Niko Bellic by Playboy X to clear a construction site taking over by the Mafia and the Union.

Description
The mission starts with Playboy speaking (privately) with Niko Bellic on his top-floor balcony, away from the two women he was just sitting with. He explains his success in the city, just as Dwayne Forge -- a figure of his past who was mentioned in Niko's last encounter with Playboy. He reveals that he broke free from prison, and subtly criticizes Playboy for not having called in the last 4 years or having visited him. Playboy asks Niko to come downstairs, but Dwayne and Niko speak briefly.



On the way to the construction site in Castle Gardens, it is explained that Playboy X wants a real estate developer named Yusuf Amir to be on his team. However, Amir is completely ignoring X. Therefore, in order to get in his good graces and show that he has some influential power in Liberty City, Playboy sends Niko to clear out every last Union (Mafia) tough-guy goon on the construction site seized by the Union workers from Yusuf. X believes that Yusuf will then notice that Playboy X means business.

Mission objectives
In order to complete the mission the player must:
 * Playboy has left the weapons in a car in an alley downtown.
 * Take out the lookouts.
 * Go to the construction site and find the first Union Leader.
 * Take down the next union leader.
 * Take down the next union leader.
 * Backup has arrived to protect the last leader. Take him down.

Enemies

 * Messina Crime Family
 * Union Leaders

Walkthrough
Drive with Playboy X to a construction site in Castle Gardens, Algonquin. Get into the van that is waiting in the alleyway. After you get in and then back out of the weapons van, Playboy will get onto an elevating platform at the side of a nearby building. You can choose to follow him and go up to the roof, or eliminate the lookouts from the sidewalk.

Once you are on the roof or sidewalk, get out a sniper and take out the three lookouts on the cranes. Once you've done that, head into the construction site and run towards the first Union leader. Take him out with an SMG or Assault Rifle and finish off all the goons around his body.

Once you've killed everyone on ground level, run up the wooden board at the back of the site and get onto the second "floor". Immediately gain cover and use grenades to take out the second Union leader. Then use a powerful weapon to eliminate the goons near the spot that he died.

Go left around the corner and regain cover. Use a strong weapon to take out the goons and the third Union leader. Get out of cover and run ahead. The fourth leader has started to run and guards are on their way in a helicopter. Playboy warns Niko of the guards in the helicopter. Kill the guards and continue to chase the fourth Union leader. Once you see him in the open, take out any weapon and shoot him to death. It shouldn't be hard, because at one point, he will stop running, turn around and shoot at you, shoot him and he will die.

After you kill the fourth Union leader, you will be paid and Playboy X will call to debrief you. The reward cash is $6,500.

Alternate Route
A slightly less full-on means of completing this mission is to snipe, as before from the rooftop, eliminate the lookouts, then pick off the guards on the roof of the building site.

Once taken care of, head to ground level and head into the building site to the right of the main gates, between two stacks of shipping containers. From here, you have a clear shot at the next target without having to shoot through a gauntlet of guards.

With target #1 down, head towards the blue crane directly ahead of your position and climb to the top. The framework of the ladder should keep Niko safe from any stray gunfire. Once there, targets #2 and #3 are easily sniped from the crane (you'll have to peer around the large circuit breaker to get at #3).

Target #4 can't be sniped, as he always spawns when you get close enough to him. Stay and shoot down the chopper if you want (again, easy, considering it has below-average health for a chopper), descend the ladder and run out towards the water-facing side of the site. Along one wall, there should be a ladder leading up. Run past it, swim around and keep going until you come to another ladder around halfway down the main building. Climbing up, this should give you a clear shot at the final target. If not, you can always climb the ladder and take him out along with a few guards.

Casualties

 * Union leaders - Killed by Niko on the orders of Playboy to satisfy Yusuf Amir.
 * Union members  - Attacked by Niko to get to the Union leaders.
 * Union lookouts  - Sniped by Niko to gain access to the construction site.

Death scene
When Niko snipes the lookouts, the two on the far left will fall, the one in the middle falling on to a car. The third will just die as he cannot fall of his crane.

At one shot, the lookouts will panic; after many, they will blindly fore their guns.

Afterwords
Niko will call Playboy to confirm success. X will say that Yusuf Amir will be satisfied. Play boy will call back later, asking for Niko to help Dwayne Forge (Ruff Rider).

If Manny Escuela's mission The Puerto Rican Connection has been completed, then Elizabeta Torres will call, asking to help her in a argument with Little Jacob (The Snow Storm). An anonymous person will text you to meet them at Castle Gardens (Call and Collect).

Trivia

 * When Niko snipes the lookouts, each one will have a dying cutscene. The first will fall off the crane and smash hard on the street below. The second falls over, discharging his AK-47 and dies. The third will fall off the crane and smash onto a nearby parked Cavalcade, destroying its doors, heavily denting the roof, breaking all its windows, triggering the alarm system and then landing on the ground. You can take his AK-47 ammo which falls beside the car and lands on the ground. This is the only Cavalcade in this mission to have an alarm system.
 * If the player tries to kill the three guards with a rocket launcher, it will not work; the guards will be unaffected.
 * Each time one of the player's grenades detonates (or the player shoots an explosive barrel), Playboy will say things such as: "Whoa, player! Don't fuck up this site too bad!", or "Damn! I can feel the heat from here!" (he is up on the roof and says this through Niko's headset.)
 * The Union Leaders all have different weapons; the first one has an AK-47, the second one has a Micro-SMG, the third one has an SMG, and the fourth one has an M4.
 * This mission is also the only time a black Cavalcade with black rims can be acquired. The player can take it when the player enters the car to collect Playboy's weapons. The player can drive it back to the safehouse without failing the mission. Also the player can leave it at the construction site entrance, and once the mission ends it will still be there. Though its body color is not black, the Cavalcade that one of the lookouts falls onto has black rims.
 * The Union Workers are working for The Messina Family.
 * The Union Workers win the case by getting a memorial in honor of dying in the shoot-out designed by Yusuf Amir who rejects Playboy X.
 * The beta version of this mission would require Niko to destroy the warehouses.
 * This is the first appearance of Dwayne Forge.
 * If the Cavalcade is destroyed before acquiring the weapons, the mission will fail and a cutscene will play where Playboy admonishes Niko and then gets out of the car, becoming a random pedestrian.
 * If you take the subway to Castle Gardens, you cannot leave the subway, Playboy will stand at the exit; If you walk in to him or get in a car he will die and you will have to restart the mission.
 * Once you walk in the area in which the second union leader was standing you will hear the police radio saying "reports of gunfire possibly related to a union disagreement", however you will not gain a wanted level nor will the police take any action.
 * This is one of the two missions that the Cavalcade is unique to have an alarm system, the other being the Huntley Sport in Three Leaf Clover.
 * This is the first time where a vehicle is destroyed by someone's body; the second is High Dive in TBOGT.
 * During the drive towards the Cavalcade, Playboy X will mention that Yusuf Amir comes from Dubai and thinks that it is in Africa and that he and Yusuf could be brothers. However, Niko corrects him by advising him to "look at a map". This is the first time Playboy X shows his illiteracy; the last time would be at The Holland Play.
 * This mission will unlock the AK-47 at the weapon dealers.

Deconstruction for Beginners Deconstruction for Beginners Deconstruction for Beginners