Meltdown (GTA V)


 * For other uses of Meltdown, click here.

"Congratulations, Mikey, we did it. Such a pleasure working with you. You see. I was here. Unlike your wife. She seems to be...stuck at home."

- Devin Weston

Meltdown is a mission in Grand Theft Auto V, given to protagonist Michael De Santa by Solomon Richards.

Mission
Michael and Jimmy attend the Meltdown premiere at the Oriental Theater on Vinewood Boulevard. On the red carpet, Michael notices that Amanda and Tracey are nowhere to be seen; Devin Weston appears and coyly hints that the latter are in trouble - specifically, that he has sent Merryweather agents to deal with Michael's family.

Michael rushes to his house within two minutes and fights off hordes of agents to keep his family safe. After being incapacitated by one agent, Jimmy comes to Michael's rescue and knocks the agent out. Michael tells his family to lay low while he makes some calls.

Mission objectives

 * Buy a tuxedo in Ponsonbys to attend the Meltdown premiere.
 * Meet Jimmy.
 * Get in the limousine.
 * Go to the red carpet.
 * Save your family.
 * Kill the kidnapper.
 * Kill all the Merryweather in the house.
 * Go to your family.

Gold Medal Objectives

 * Time - Complete within 6:30
 * Pedal to the Metal - Reach top speed in any vehicle
 * Tier One Operator - Kill 12 enemies with a headshot
 * Headshot Rescue - Rescue Amanda and Tracey with a headshot

Aftermath
Following this mission, Michael's family and housekeeper will no longer be present at the safehouse until after the final mission of the game (depending on the ending chosen, they may not appear on screen again). Several posters for "Meltdown" will now be visible in the safehouse. The film itself may also now be viewed at any of the movie theaters, although it is in rotation with the other two films.

LS24 Newspaper
"When the screen went dark and Meltdown began, I bathed in the rich images of Liberty City. The vibe was incredible. Then suddenly every movie clich- was unleashed upon the audience in rapid fire, as empty and soulless as the computer-generated backgrounds. A love interest started and didn't go anywhere. A voiceover appeared in weird places. Bizarre music choices were picked for the soundtrack. As the credits rolled, we were left with a warm fuzzy feeling about what happens when greed tries to win. It never wins. I loved the movie. It has flaws, but much like with my wife and her ever-sagging body, I will plod through the motions and get lost in the nuance."

Lifeinvader Posts

 * Amanda De Santa - "See you in a few days. The house is going to take some cleaning."
 * Tracey De Santa - "So much for everything being fine now. Yeah, apart from the robo-soldiers in my bedroom with machine guns!!!"

Bleeter Posts

 * @HaydenDubose - "Either Michael De Santa has the volume way up on one of his war movies again or something really terrible is happening over at that house"
 * @SolomonRichards - "I thought it would never happen but Meltdown is finally released to the world! A movie about the economic crisis almost ruined by economic crisis... wait, are you thinking what I'm thinking? Meltdown 2."
 * @JimmyDS - "I teabagged a mercenary of war!"

Trivia

 * This mission requires very fast reaction times (and use of Michael's special ability) as upon entering the house, the player has only a couple seconds to prevent Amanda from being shot, and after running to Tracey's room, the soldier must be shot in the head very quickly before he kills Tracey. If either soldier is wounded, not killed instantly, they will immediately shoot and kill Amanda and/or Tracey.
 * On the end of the mission, Jimmy makes a reference to modern FPS games. The camera changes to his perspective (First-person view), he enables night vision by using night vision goggles, brings both of his hands in front of him and, using his bong like a melee weapon, takes down the mercenary and then tea-bags Michael by accident. This scene might give a clue that Jimmy is influenced by shooters.
 * This mission is the last opportunity for the player to keep the Merryweather Mesa. At the end of the mission, when two Mesas pull out in front of the house, you can kill the agents and park a Mesa (even both) in your garage before going back upstairs to complete the mission.
 * This is also a reference to the Splinter Cell series with the iconic Trifocal Goggles, as well as the night vision sound heard when the goggles are equipped.
 * This mission keeps resemblance with the intro to Max Payne featuring both protagonists coming back home to find their homes overrun by mercenaries. Both have their respective wife and daughter inside the house, and both use bullet-time to fend off their attackers. However, unlike Max, Michael knew about mercenaries trying to kill both Amanda and Tracey at their house before arriving and he earns his victory with his family unscathed.
 * Michael makes a reference to Carlos when fighting in the garden shouting "Carlos ain't gonna like what you've done to the garden!".
 * This mission in many ways similar to Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories mission Love on the Run, where the player's goal is to protect an ally against a group of enemies in a mansion. In GTA LCS, Toni Cipriani protects Donald Love against an attack from the Colombians in the Cartel Mansion. In GTA V, Michael De Santa protects his family against an assault from Merryweather agents in their mansion.
 * The Song that appears in the Limo is "Hood Gone Love It" by Jay Rock ft. Kendrick Lamar that can be heard in Radio Los Santos. The song is also in Franklin's Trailer.
 * The Stretch has a special license plate, "VIN3W00D."
 * When Michael and Jimmy leave Vinewood Boulevard, the player can choose a variety of cars; one of them being a Pegassi Vacca. The Stretch they arrived in can also be taken, it's the slowest of the available vehicles. Still, a decently skilled driver can arrive at Michael's house before even half of the 2-minute time limit is over.
 * When Jimmy is attacking the Merryweather operative, one might notice that the cutscene skips a bit when Jimmy hits the operative, this also happens seconds later when Jimmy is tea-bagging Michael.
 * The player should not throw any Grenades/Tear gas in the house during the shoot out because it might bounce back to Michael, mostly while he's in the stairs.
 * Strangely, although Michael is tasked with purchasing a $10,000 tuxedo from Ponsonbys, and a traditional tux with bow tie is visible on the rack, the only tuxedo available to buy looks like a standard suit with necktie, although it is the first such outfit worn by Michael that includes a tie. Both Franklin and Trevor, if they go to the same place, can buy a bow-tie tux.
 * Jimmy using night vision goggles while attacking the Merryweather soldier, could be a reference to the Prestige Edition of the game Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, that comes with a functioning night vision goggles, the fact that Jimmy is a fan of FPS games also contributes to this reference.
 * Michael can call Solomon after the mission ends, Solomon will use a phrase from the movie Meltdown this time, he will ask Michael why he was not in the movie premiere and Michael will say to Solomon stay away from him for a while. He can also call Devin as well and yell at him for sending mercenaries to his house.
 * Michael will also be seen after this mission at Del Perro Beach, talking to Lester furiously on the phone, then Lester suggests the "Big One" (heist) and Michael agrees to it. Michael must then go to the Vanilla Unicorn where Michael, Trevor, Franklin and Lester discuss the heist.
 * Both Amanda and Tracey will call Michael after the mission, to ask him if he have already located the man who tried to kill them all. Jimmy will also call, but his call triggers the optional side mission Parenting 101.
 * The PS3 version has a glitch after this mission that causes the safehouse icon for Michael to vanish. However, the safehouse remains fully functional and the icon returns if Michael reenters the house. Several Meltdown posters can now be seen in the house.
 * Lazlow displays signs of facial injury reflecting Michael's forced piercing in "Reuniting the Family".
 * Michael can call Devin Weston after the mission where he will again say that he's sorry for what happened to Molly, but that the fatal accident ultimately happened because she was following Devin's orders. After Devin Weston threatens Michael and his family again by saying that "accidents happen", Michael will challenge Devin to come after him, telling Devin that he's not going to hide.
 * For some unknown reason, there will be two phone calls between Devin and Michael regarding Molly's death that will be exactly the same but will have different moods to it. The first conversation will be after the mission 'Legal Trouble', the conversation between Devin and Michael is shown that Devin is fairly calm and collected about Molly's death. The other conversation is seen during this mission where Devin is shown to be enraged at Michael for Molly's death. These conversations are almost identical to each other but with different moods of the two characters, whether this was intentional or not is unknown.
 * If the player chooses Option B, this will be the last on screen appearances of Amanda, Tracey and Jimmy.
 * This mission is the last visual appearance of Lazlow and Solomon Richards.