Deconstruction for Beginners

"This is my town! Look at it. All them tiny ants down there. Man, shit is crazy."

- Playboy X

Deconstruction for Beginners is the first mission from Playboy X in Grand Theft Auto IV.

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 Playboy 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 tough-guy goon, working for the Messina Family, 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.

Walkthrough
Niko drives with Playboy X to a construction site in Castle Gardens, Algonquin. Niko then gets into the SUV that is waiting in the alleyway to acquire an AK-47, Sniper Rifle and 20 grenades. After the player gets out of the weapons van, Playboy will get onto a window cleaning platform at the side of a nearby building. The player can choose to follow him and go up to the roof, or eliminate the lookouts from the sidewalk.

Once the player is on the roof or sidewalk, equip a sniper and take out the three lookouts on the cranes (1-3 on the image).

When the player snipes each of the lookouts, they will have a different dying cutscene. The first will fall over, discharging his AK-47 and dies. The second falls 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. (The player can take his AK-47 ammo which falls beside the car and lands on the ground.) The third will fall off the crane and smash hard on the street below. Once Niko eliminates all three lookouts, he heads into the construction site and takes out the first Union leader that will be right in front of the construction entry. A first aid kit is attached to a column nearby.

Once everyone is killed on the ground level, Niko runs up the wooden board at the back of the site where more goons will be waiting for him. Niko kills all of them before proceeding to the second "floor". A cutscene will show Niko running for cover as soon as the player reaches the top of the wooden board. Niko then takes out the second Union leader. There is another first aid kid next to the wooden board from were Niko came from in case the player needs some health.

Niko then goes left around the corner and takes out the goons and the third Union leader that will be taking cover behind some pillars. Once the third Union leader is dead Niko runs ahead to find the fourth and last Union leader. The fourth leader will start to run away and a helicopter will arrive with more backup for the workers. Playboy warns Niko of the guards in the helicopter. There's a third first aid kit near some gas tanks beside the place were the helicopter landed, and the player can use it if necessary. Niko continues to chase the fourth Union leader. Once he is in the open, Niko shoots him to death.

After Niko kills the fourth Union leader, he will be paid and Playboy X will call to debrief him.

Weazel News (Radio)
"A violent shootout in Castle Gardens earlier as striking union officials were killed at a construction site. Allegations had previously surfaced that the unions were blackmailing the project developer Yusuf Amir. Mr. Amir had no comment aside from promising that the development would be suspended as a mark of respect for those who passed."

Liberty Tree Newspaper
"Several members of the local Liberty City union for construction workers were massacred on a building site today. The site had been shut down because of disagreements with the property developer, Yusuf Amir, that resulted in a strike. No one is sure what caused the altercation but the union, which was long alleged to have links with organized crime, seems to have had several heavily armed delegates at the site."

Trivia

 * 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 this site up too bad, ya hear!", or "Damn! I can feel the heat from up here!" and "Boom! You mean business, don't you, boy!" (he is up on the roof and says this through Niko's headset).
 * Once the player walks in the area in which the second Union Leader was standing he will hear the police radio saying "Reports of gunfire possibly related to an union disagreement.", however the player will not gain a wanted level nor will the police take any action much like in Triads and Tribulations.
 * This is the first appearance of Dwayne Forge.
 * 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 ignorance ; the last time would be at The Holland Play.
 * The "Union Trouble" mentioned in this mission ties into the missions Practice Swing and Bang Bang in the The Ballad of Gay Tony.
 * This mission is also the only time a black Cavalcade with black rims can be acquired. The player can take it when they enter 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. A similar Cavalcade is also coincidentally owned and driven by Armando Torres and Henrique Bardas in The Ballad of Gay Tony.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * If the last union leader is killed before the Maverick lands, the Maverick will instantly explode. The Maverick is also incredibly easy to destroy with conventional means, less than one clip of SMG fire will down it.
 * The Maverick cannot be stolen.
 * The lookouts do not actually have to be killed, however, walking too close to the site without killing them will alert the guards; immediately afterwards, the lookouts will despawn.
 * If the player takes the subway to Castle Gardens, they cannot leave the subway, Playboy will stand at the exit; If the player walks in to him or get in a car he will die and the player will have to restart the mission. Thus the player can choose to ride to the next station, Feldspar, and then Playboy will follow him out of the subway.
 * The unions will not appear on the construction site unless the player gets inside the car first.
 * If the lookouts are killed on ground-level, Playboy will spawn on top of the building.

Navigation
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