The Cousins Bellic

"My cousin is here!"

- Roman Bellic

The Cousins Bellic is the very first mission in Grand Theft Auto IV. It is given by Roman Bellic to protagonist Niko Bellic.

Description
Roman Bellic welcomes Niko Bellic to America and takes him home. Niko finds out that all Roman's story about his success was a lie.

This mission introduces the player to the casual driving of cars.

Mission objectives
In order to complete the mission the player must:
 * Drive to Roman's place.

Opening Scene
The scene begins with the sounds of sado-masochism in a room aboard the Platypus. Niko Bellic, the player character, begins knocking on the door, attempting to call Dave out of the room. Another person, Hossan Ramzy, calls to Niko, telling him to forget about Dave, and that they need to prepare for the docking. As Niko and Hossan discuss the "Land of Opportunity," the ship is shown nearing the Statue of Happiness. Niko tells of his cousin Roman's successes: sports cars, condos, parties, women, etc., while a person is shown inspecting a diamond, and then mixing it into a mixture in a mixing bowl. The Platypus docks, and Niko and the other crew members depart the ship, and many are greeted by friends and family, until the only one left is Niko.

Roman's Apartment
When Roman finally arrives (drunk/intoxicated), he's actually driving a taxi. Niko asks about it and Roman mumbles that his other car's in the shop. He's too plastered to drive himself, so he gets in the passenger seat and asks Niko to drive them to his apartment.

The drive begins near the docks in East Hook. The on-screen instructions explain driving basics and how to use the radar map. The GPS system plots a course highlighted by a yellow line on your radar. One must simply follow the yellow line (or any other route- the GPS will adapt) to Roman's apartment in Hove Beach, Broker. Use caution not to collide with vehicles - particularly police vehicles. This is particularly the case for those who are familiar with the GTA III-era vehicle driving controls, as they differ substantially in GTA IV.

Closing Scene
The closing scene showcases the tiny apartment in which Roman lives. Niko confronts him with his lies, and Roman insists that luxury and money are coming. He rushes off to get his taxi back to the taxi firm that he owns, and tells Niko to meet him there. As he leaves, he gets what appears to be a nasty call from someone he calls "Vladimir Glebov."

Video Walkthrough
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Achievement
Once this mission is completed, the player earns the "Off The Boat" achievement/trophy.

Trivia

 * Completing this mission will immediately grant you the Achievement/Trophy, "Off The Boat".
 * The first song heard in the game is "Soviet Connection" by Michael Hunter, GTA IV's theme. The second song heard is "Schweineé by Glukoza, inside Roman's cab. It is featured on the radio station Vladivostok FM.
 * Roman's Taxi in this mission has less acceleration since it is assumed that this is the first car driven by new players that are not yet familiar with the driving style (especially those familiar with the controls used in the GTA III-era games, as different controls are used in GTA IV).
 * The mission is very similar to the opening of the Rockstar game Red Dead Redemption as the main protagonists arrive by boat and a car gets loaded off the boat.
 * The song in Roman's car will change if you skip the cutscene. But it will always be in Vladivostok FM
 * Two important elements of the story this game and its two episodic packs (Lost and Damned & The Ballad of Gay Tony) briefly appear in the opening cutscene; the Diamonds and the Heroin.
 * Unlike most of the GTA games the first words are not spoken by the main character.
 * This is the first appearance of Niko Bellic, Roman Bellic, Hossan Ramzy, and The Cook.
 * Niko places his suitcase next to the front door of the apartment, but when the cutscene ends the suitcase is no longer there.
 * If you try going inside the safehouse before the Cutscene inside the Safehouse, it will be locked, but afterwards it will be open.
 * During the conversation with Roman, he states that he cannot show Niko around the city because of terrorist attacks, and also because Niko does not have a visa. Johnny and Luis do, and are not restricted as such (however since they have less missions and are in episodic content, it's likely they both have access to the whole city and Alderney for those reasons).
 * This is one of two missions to feature both the Diamonds and the Heroin, the other one being Departure Time.

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