Vigilante



The Vigilante mission is a vehicle-based side mission in every 3D Universe game, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars in which the player is required to chase down and kill the indicated targets (other criminals) within a time limit. Vigilante mode can be activated at any time (when not already in a mission) from within a Law Enforcement vehicle.

Brown Thunder is an identical side mission, which can be activated from a Hunter attack helicopter in games in which the vehicle appears, excluding Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. It can be done in place of the Vigilante. The name Brown Thunder is a reference to the 1983 action film Blue Thunder, which centers on a heavily-armed law enforcement helicopter.

Overview
At the start of the mission, a criminal spawns in a random vehicle (clearly marked and shown on the radar) and attempts to evade the player. If the vehicle catches fire or is held in place for more than a couple of seconds, the occupant(s) will bail out and run or attempt to acquire new transport. They may even steal your car. In GTA Vice City, a new car will spawn for the criminals to use if the player doesn't kill them fast. As the player completes each level, the targets come armed with better weapons and, as of GTA Vice City, become more numerous until eventually, multiple vehicles appear with each new level. In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, criminals will have the ability to drive-by. The player has to be ready to flee as well, since some of the criminals come very heavily armed with, for example, Rugers and Shotguns that can, and will, kill the player and destroy their vehicle in seconds. In GTA Vice City, any nearby gang members will open fire at the criminals if they see them, but cannot kill them except if they destroy the vehicles that the criminals are in. The soldiers at the Fort Baxter Air Base tend to destroy criminal vehicles easily due to always spawning in groups and carrying the powerful M4s.

Aside from the obvious choices of drive-by shooting the target vehicle until it blows up or ramming it off the road, there are other options. For example:
 * Performing the PIT maneuver to spin the vehicle out and then successfully blocking it will prompt the targets to abandon the vehicle, allowing you to engage them in a firefight or simply run them over.
 * Identifying the target vehicle's likely route (only a practical option in some areas with few side roads) and setting up an ambush or roadblock ahead of it. Using a powerful weapon, it is very possible to blow up their car before the assailants have time to get out of it.

The mission is failed if the player remains outside of a Law Enforcement vehicle for more than 60 seconds in one go, if the player dies or is busted, or of course if the time runs out.

Vigilante mode does not grant immunity from the police, who will often pursue the player for murder, firing weapons, hitting police cars, etc. They make it a lot harder since almost no emergency vehicles can be resprayed, and you might rack up your wanted level faster than you can find police bribes.

Each time a Vigilante mission is started, the player must begin at Level 1, and cannot continue a previously failed or cancelled mission. GTA Vice City Stories has a checkpoint every five levels so you can restart at that checkpoint if you failed or canceled before completion.

In GTA III and GTA Vice City, the police dispatcher will call out the initial spawning locations of the criminals at the beginning of each Vigilante level (e.g. "Suspect last seen in [insert location]"). In other games, the player is told via an on-screen message instead.

Rewards

 * Grand Theft Auto III
 * +1 Police Bribe at the Hideouts (Total 10 Kills in Portland)
 * +1 Police Bribe at the Hideouts (Total 20 Kills in Portland)
 * +1 Police Bribe at the Hideouts (Total 10 Kills in Staunton Island)
 * +1 Police Bribe at the Hideouts (Total 20 Kills in Staunton Island)
 * +1 Police Bribe at the Hideouts (Total 10 Kills in Shoreside Vale)
 * +1 Police Bribe at the Hideouts (Total 20 Kills in Shoreside Vale)
 * Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
 * Maximum Armor Increased by 50% (Complete Level 12)
 * Running Rampant trophy (PS4 Only)
 * Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
 * Level 1 - $ 50
 * Level 2 - $ 200
 * Level 3 - $ 450
 * Level 4 - $ 800
 * Level 5 - $ 1250
 * Level 6 - $ 1800
 * Level 7 - $ 2450
 * Level 8 - $ 3200
 * Level 9 - $ 4050
 * Level 10 - $ 5000
 * Level 11 - $ 6050
 * Level 12 - $ 7200
 * Maximum Armor Increased by 50% (Complete Level 12)
 * Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
 * Maximum Armor Increased by 50% (Complete Level 12 / Level 9 in Mobile version)
 * Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
 * Maximum Armor Increased by 50% (Complete Level 15)

Vehicles

 * The following vehicles can initiate missions:
 * Barracks OL
 * Enforcer
 * FBI Car
 * FBI Rancher
 * FBI Truck
 * FBI Washington
 * FBI Cruiser
 * HPV1000 (bike)
 * Police Car
 * Ranger
 * Rhino (tank)
 * Hunter (helicopter)
 * S.W.A.T
 * VCPD Cheetah
 * VCPD Wintergreen (bike)

Cheat
In some of the 3D Universe games, it is possible to use cheats to complete vigilante levels very quickly - despite there not being any actual cheats made directly for the vigilante game mode.

It involves getting a police vehicle, driving it into a garage the player owns, then beginning the Vigilante side-mission. This would spawn a criminal, who is almost certain to be either inside or next to a vehicle. After leaving the garage, the player then enters in a cheat to blow up all vehicles, which would kill the criminal, but also blow up the police car; however, simply re-entering the garage would cause the police vehicle to be fixed. The player can then carry on doing this process, until they have cheated their way onto their desired vigilante level.

Using the cheat to spawn a Rhino after the cheat to destroy all vehilces has been activated will also work, entering the Rhino to progress to the next level each time the vehicles have been blown up.

Bugs
A glitch exists in GTA San Andreas that allows completion of Vigilante without actually having to engage the enemy. Trigger the sub-mission, and park the police vehicle near the entrance to a food place such as Burger Shot. When the targets are identified, exit the vehicle (a countdown clock to mission failure will begin) and enter the food place. Wait about 20 seconds and exit. If done correctly (the exact timing may vary and one must be careful not to run out of time), the game will indicate that the targets are dead. Quickly reenter the police vehicle and wait for the next mission. Repeat. On the PS2 this has been done successfully for all levels. One walkthrough reports it works on the Xbox too but only up to a certain point, and purchasing food may or may not be necessary.

In GTA Advance, it's possible to fill your Shotgun ammunition by entering a Police Car and repeatedly activating/deactivating the Vigilante mission. The same applies to refilling armor with a SWAT Van.

Strategy
In Grand Theft Auto III, getting 20 total kills on each island is necessary for 100% completion, but they do not need to be done successively; players can cancel Vigilante and drive back to the garage to repair the vehicle at any time, and then start Vigilante again. As with all side missions in the game, Vigilante should ideally be started as soon as possible (after collecting 20 Hidden Packages to collect some Uzi ammo), because most gangs become permanently hostile or upgrade their armaments as one progresses through the storyline. Getting 20 total kills in one Vigilante mission is, however, required for the "Going Rogue" Trophy on PlayStation 4 – again, it is recommended players do this as soon as possible, preferably before making the Triads hostile, and either learn where Police Bribes are located or let an attained Wanted Level disappear once the player earns one (any more than one and it will not disappear after a set amount of time passes).

In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Vigilante is again required for 100% completion and the "Running Rampant" Trophy. The Hunter can also initiate the Vigilante side mission (called "Brown Thunder", but considered Vigilante in all but name), and it is preferable over other vehicles due to its abilities to close distances easily, automatically lock onto enemy vehicles (only with the machine gun, not the rockets), and be unrivaled in the air. Possibly due to a glitch, kills with the machine gun are flagged as unable to gain a Wanted Level; granting technical immunity to the police. The Hunter can be obtained from the helipad outside Lance Vance's Apartment south of the Ocean View Hotel once the player has both completed the final mission "Keep Your Friends Close..." and obtained all 100 Hidden Packages. Therefore, while the Hunter is highly recommended, it isn't easily available until after at least completing the storyline.

In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Vigilante is, once again, required for 100% completion and the "What the City Needs" achievement/trophy. The Hunter is once again the best vehicle for the side mission, but is significantly more difficult to unlock as the player is required to get Gold in all Flight School challenges. An alternative and much easier way of obtaining the Hunter is by starting the "Heli Hell" race tournament, which starts the player in a Hunter, and, when the race begins, fly it to Las Venturas Airport, just near to where the player selected the race. Exit the Hunter and allow the timer to expire, which will disqualify CJ and boot the player back to the race tournament menu. The Hunter will be right where the player landed it, ideally very close by. Players can either take it the hangar in Verdant Meadows Airfield or immediately begin Vigilante (again called "Brown Thunder" when in the Hunter).

If the Hunter poses too much of a challenge to unlock, the Rhino serves as an adequate replacement (steal it from Area 69, store it in the garage at the nearby Verdant Meadows Airfield, and then save the game to clear one's Wanted Level); however, its slow speed can leave players open to getting Busted if a policeman gets too close if the player cannot accelerate away fast enough. Spinning the turret around 180° (facing behind the tank) and firing will allow the Rhino to accelerate quickly and gain incredible speeds.

Yet another strategy is to just stock up on a lot of MP5 or other SMG ammo (at least 2000, although the more the better) and do the side mission on a HPV-1000 motorcycle, which is highly maneuverable and allows the player to do drive-bys while facing forward. It is doubtful that the Wanted Level will go higher than 3, which is entirely manageable on a bike.

Overview
In GTA Advance, the player can undertake the Vigilante mission by entering an LCPD cruiser. The Vigilante mission is virtually unchanged from those of the 3D Universe GTA games - targets will be either be armed and on foot, or armed and in a vehicle.

Rewards
Please note: as there are three hideouts in the game, in each of the three boroughs respectively (Portland Island, Staunton Island, and Shoreside Vale), there are six police bribes rewarded to the player in total.
 * Police bribe delivered to hideout (10 arrests)
 * Police bribe delivered to hideout (20 arrests)

Overview


In GTA IV, the Vigilante missions are retooled. When Niko accesses a police car, he can access the criminal database computer and view crimes in progress in the area. The player has a time limit to get to the crime scene, but once there the timer stops. These crimes include:
 * Gang activity, which involves killing a group of thugs;
 * Stolen vehicle, which involves chasing down the criminal in the stolen vehicle; and
 * Suspect on foot, which consists of only one criminal fleeing a crime scene, and are usually the easiest, as the criminal can simply be run over.

The criminals in Vigilante missions have limited ammo. If their bullets ran out, they will throw away the gun and use their bare hand to fight.

The ability to call for police back-up (by dialling 911 on a cell phone) can also assist the player. Arriving police officers will begin shooting the criminal and eventually kill them. Firing a weapon, however, will lead to the player obtaining a wanted level (however the wanted level automatically disappears once the last criminal is killed). The player can not use the option to call from back-up from the Police Car for this purpose.

20 missions must be completed for the Cleaned The Mean Streets achievement and for 100% completion. The 20 missions however do not need to be done consecutively. In addition, there is a new form of the mission called Most Wanted.

Rewards

 * Cleaned The Mean Streets achievement/trophy

Vehicles

 * The following vehicles can initiate missions:
 * FIB Buffalo
 * NOOSE Cruiser
 * NOOSE Patriot
 * Police Patrol
 * Police Cruiser
 * Police Stockade
 * Police Stinger (TBoGT Multiplayer)
 * Police Bike (TBoGT Multiplayer)
 * Police Buffalo (TBoGT Multiplayer) (NOTE: It is named Police Cruiser in-game but in fact the car is a Buffalo)
 * Police Predator (boat)
 * Brickade
 * The Enforcer, Annihilator and Police Maverick can be used to continue missions after they have been initiated in another vehicle.

Bug
There is a glitch in that occasionally the time limit given for getting to the scene of the crime, the length of which is usually determined by Niko's proximity, is simply too short to physically get to (for example, having to go halfway across Broker in 20 seconds).

Overview
In GTA Chinatown Wars, the Vigilante missions are retooled. When Huang accesses a police car, they can access the criminal database computer and view crimes in progress in the area. The player has a time limit to get to the crime scene, but once there the timer stops. These crimes include:
 * Gang activity, which involves killing a group of thugs;
 * Stolen vehicle, which involves chasing down the criminal in the stolen vehicle; and
 * Suspect on foot, which consists of only one criminal fleeing a crime scene, and are usually the easiest, as the criminal can simply be run over.

The side-mission automatically ends when you kill the last criminal on each wave, and to restart it you must reenter a Law Enforcement vehicle and access the Police Computer, so you don't have to beat all five waves consecutively to obtain the Gold Medal, as long as the chain is completed without failure.

Rewards

 * Maximum Armor Increased by 100% (Get Gold Medal)

Vehicles

 * The following vehicles can initiate missions:
 * FIB Rancher
 * Police Patrol
 * The Enforcer can be used to continue missions after they have been initiated in another vehicle.

Overview
GTA V features a bounty hunting side-mission in the shape of the Bail Bond Strangers and Freaks missions for Maude. These missions are exclusive only for Trevor, and are a bit similar to GTA IV ' s Most Wanted, but limited only to find four criminals on the run. Vigilante missions are currently absent from the game, although they were in the game's beta.