Roman: "These guys think that they're better than me. They think they can fuck me around and beat me up because there are more of them. Not any longer. Me and you, Niko, me and you are going to show them. Fucking Dardan smashing my fucking stuff. Who does he think he is? Just some fucking petty Albanian hood. If I wanted to buy a stolen TV I'd go to Dardan. Who does he think he's fucking with? Bellic Enterprises, that's who. We're going to the top, Niko, the top."
Niko: "For now, let's just try to survive, cousin."
As the player nears Michelle's place for his first date, Niko's cousin calls to ask him for help; the Albanian Mafia loan sharks have him trapped on the basketball courts in the Firefly Projects. The player can choose to either ignore this call completely (in which case the above is not heard), decide to ignore Roman's call for help and continue with dating Michelle, or skip the date and attend Roman (if this happens Niko will later apologize to Michelle and will have another chance to date her).
If either of the first two options are chosen, following the date with Michelle Niko receives an angry phone call from Roman telling him to pick him up at the hospital and drive him to the taxi depot. This adds an extra task, but is not considered part of a mission (i.e. there is no reward for doing this). Soon after returning Roman to the depot, Niko will receive another phone call from Roman indicating that Roman is under attack (again) at which point the mission proceeds as it would have had Niko skipped the date earlier.
The player must follow the radar blip to the basketball courts. Upon reaching the basketball courts, Bledar approaches Niko, while Kalem continues to beat up Roman.
An onscreen tutorial walks the player through melee combat techniques. The player must defeat Bledar and then Kalem in hand-to-hand combat. It is also possible to pick up the baseball bat in front of the Hove Beach Safehouse (it can be found on the weapons map). The player can beat up Bledar and Kalem with this weapon in the mission or Niko himself may also ram through the fence with the vehicle he has and run them over. Another alternative is to take the shotgun from the police car that spawns at the Hove Beach Police Station close to the Safehouse, then shoot Kalem and Bledar instead.
Go and help Roman.
After fighting off Bledar and Kalem, Dardan waves and gets in his car (beige Willard).
Niko and Roman enter Roman's taxi and chase Dardan.
Dardan has abandoned his car. He's escaping on foot up the staircase.
The chase eventually leads to BOABO, where Dardan stops, gets out, and flees up a flight of stairs into a large room, bordered by floor to ceiling windows.
Take out Dardan.
When the player enters the room, Dardan will draw a knife and attack the player. At this point, the game provides instructions on how to disarm an enemy, prompting the player to take Dardan's knife and use it against him. The player can also simply beat Dardan until he crawls over towards a window; hitting him again will trigger a small cutscene in which Dardan falls through the window, onto an overhang, and into the Humboldt River, though the fight is considered over even if this doesn't happen; Niko is considered to have won if the on-screen instruction to return to Roman's car appears.
Niko Bellic kill Kalem, and returns to Roman Bellic. Roman Bellic then spots Dardan Petrela escaping and they get in the car.
Niko Bellic:
You alright, cousin?
Roman Bellic:
Yeah, fine. Fucking loan sharks, man. If one more of these gangsters tries to... Speaking of shitheads, here's Dardan. Come on, my car is over there, let's get him. You drive. I don't feel so good.
Transcript
Niko Bellic chases Dardan Petrela. (First Possible Dialogue)
Roman Bellic:
These guys think that they're better than me. They think they can fuck me around and beat me up because there are more of them. Not any longer. Me and you, Niko, me and you are going to show them. Fucking Dardan smashing my fucking stuff. Who does he think he is? Just some fucking petty Albanian hood. If I wanted to buy a stolen TV I'd go to Dardan. Who does he think he fucking with? Bellic Enterprises, that's who. We're going to the top, Niko, the top.
Niko Bellic:
For now, let's just try to survive, cousin.
Niko Bellic chases Dardan Petrela. (Second Possible Dialogue)
Roman Bellic:
Ever since I get to Hove Beach, Niko, ever since I arrive here I have been pushed around. Vlad, Dardan, Bledar, even Mallorie push me around. Me and you, Niko, me and you are going to be in control from now on. Ain't going to let no one push us around. Going to stand up to all this pimps and loan sharks from now on. Liberty City won't know what hit it, man. We going to own this town, Niko. Mark the words that are coming out of my mouth.
Dardan Petrela abandons his car and tries to get away, and Niko Bellic follows Dardan Petrela.
Roman Bellic:
Dardan is stopping, he trying to get away on foot.
Niko Bellic tries to kill Dardan Petrela. [These dialogues will play in random]
Dardan Petrela:
Motherfucker, stay away.
Dardan Petrela:
Your cousins owes us money, shithead.
Dardan Petrela:
Stay the fuck away from me.
Dardan Petrela:
You broke my arm already, man.
Niko Bellic kills Dardan Petrela. (First Possible Dialogue) [This dialogue will only play if Niko Bellic beats up or shoots Dardan Petrela]
Niko Bellic:
There's what we owe you, Dardan. Nothing else.
Niko Bellic kills Dardan Petrela. (Second Possible Dialogue) [This dialogue will only play if Niko Bellic pushes Dardan Petrela out of the window]
Dardan Petrela:
Ahhhhhhhh!
Niko Bellic:
I promised myself I wouldn't kill people here.
Niko Bellic kills Dardan Petrela. (Third Possible Dialogue) [This dialogue will only play if Niko Bellic stabs Dardan Petrela with a knife]
Niko Bellic:
You shouldn't play with sharp objects, Dardan.
Niko Bellic returns to the car and drives back to the cab depot. (First Possible Dialogue)
Niko Bellic:
Dardan ain't a problem for you no more, cousin.
Roman Bellic:
Nice one, cousin. Drive back to the depot, these bruises are starting to pain.
Niko Bellic:
These men, these shylocks like Dardan, they always try to squeeze you for everything. A man in Europe, another Russian... Bulgarin. He live on the Adriatic. Believed I owed him money when I did not. He made my life impossible. There was no avoiding him.
Roman Bellic:
Did you deal with him like you did Dardan and Bledar?
Niko Bellic:
He had too many connections for that. I had to leave. He is one of the reasons I came here.
Roman Bellic:
And to see your cousin, of course.
Niko Bellic:
Of course.
Roman Bellic:
We will have no more problems from now on, cousin. it is all plain sailing straight to the top for you and me.
Niko Bellic:
We will see if things are that simple.
Niko Bellic returns to the car and drives back to the cab depot. (Second Possible Dialogue)
Roman Bellic:
Will you drive me back to the office, cousin? Argh.
Niko Bellic:
What is it?
Roman Bellic:
I think he broke my rib. Man that hurts. Shit. I need a massage. We should go out and find some ladies, get some message oil.
Niko Bellic:
What about Mallorie, Roman? You shouldn't stay with her if you want to have these threesomes.
Roman Bellic:
It doesn't matter. Argh, I think I'm in too much pain anyway. Fuck.
Niko Bellic:
You really are American. You don't even swear in our language.
Roman Bellic:
You say this now, but soon even you will forget about the Old Country.
Niko Bellic:
We shall see. I have reasons to remember it. I saw bad things happen there. You do not know what is it that...
Roman Bellic:
Urghgh... I think it must be two ribs. Those fucking punks. What were you saying?
Niko Bellic:
It doesn't matter.
Transcript
Niko Bellic arrives at the cab depot. Roman Bellic then enters.
Roman Bellic:
Thank you, cousin, I'll see you later.
Transcript
Roman's car has been trashed.
Roman Bellic:
My cab, Niko. My cab is fucked.
Niko Bellic and Roman Bellic alight from a bus outside the cab office. Roman Bellic then enters.
Roman Bellic:
Screw money I owe the Albanians, paying for the cab would be a lot harder. See you later, cousin.
Video Walkthrough[]
Trivia[]
When parked by the taxi at the beginning of the mission, Dardan's car is invincible, even to RPG shots, and the player cannot drive it.
If the player has a wanted level before getting to the basketball court, it will be lost when he goes to help Roman after beating up (or killing) Bledar and Kalem.
The "Mission Passed" song that plays at the end is exclusive to this mission, and will not be heard again at any other time in the game.
If the player shoots Bledar or Kalem with a weapon from a long distance, the objective "Kill Bledar./Kill Kalem." will instantly appear.
If the player pushes Dardan out of the window, Niko will express anger at having killed a man.
The whole traffic during the chase is scripted (as are numerous other missions in the game). The vehicles seen in the traffic are not random: a Bobcat, two Marbelles and two Vigeros are seen in Crockett Avenue, two Mananas, one Marbelle and a Vigero in Mohawk Ave, a Manana, a Marbelle and a Bobcat in Bart Street, a Bus, one Vigero and one Marbelle in Delaware Avenue, two Merits, three Yankees and five Marbelles in southern Mohanet Ave, two Marbelles, one Merit and a Trashmaster in Chicory Street, and one Marbelle and a Pony in northern Mohanet Avenue. Attacking those cars or shooting the drivers' head won't affect the mission, and it is usually not possible to obtain a wanted level in this way.
During the fight with Dardan, he wears a blue and grey undershirt under his jacket, however when he is kicked out of the window, the cutscene will sometimes show him wearing the white undershirt he wore in Three's a Crowd.
If the player abandons Roman's Taxi it will trigger a cutscene of Niko and Roman getting off a Bus, which cannot be used as public transportation during gameplay. The game otherwise won't allow the player to leave in another vehicle, such as Dardan's car. Depending on how much damage was done to Roman's car during the chase, abandoning it may be the only option.
If the player takes Crockett Ave instead of following Dardan, he will drive extremely fast to keep ahead.
If the player kills Roman without attacking Bledar or Kalem before the cutscene, they will walk off like nothing happened. If the player targets them, their health bars will appear red, but getting close to them or attacking will not cause them to fight back or run away. Killing them will also not affect the storyline.
There is a glitch where when the player punches Dardan and causes him to fall out of the window, he will sink into "blue hell", but Niko will act as if he killed him.
There is a somewhat rare glitch where Bledar will be next to impossible to defeat. Even using guns, it takes numerous headshots to kill him. Another glitch that accompanies this is that Roman may inexplicably die while Niko is fighting the thugs. It is unknown what causes this.
If the player drives a vehicle into the basketball court, parks next to Roman, and opens the door, it will instantly kill Roman.