For the building containing the safehouse, see Xenotime Street Apartment Building.
Playboy X's Penthouse, also known as the Northwood Safehouse, is Playboy X's residence in Grand Theft Auto IV located in Northwood, Algonquin, Liberty City; it eventually becomes a safehouse depending on the player's choice in The Holland Play.
Obtention of the Safehouse[]
The penthouse originally belonged to Dwayne Forge before he was arrested, after which he relinquished it to his protege Playboy X. The player's choice in The Holland Play determines whether Playboy X remains in possession of the penthouse or whether Dwayne relinquishes it to Niko Bellic, henceforth becoming a safehouse.
If the player decides to kill Dwayne, the safehouse remains Playboy X's, but the player can still gain access by landing a helicopter on the roof or by climbing from a nearby alley - the patio doors are permanently open, although none of the features inside can be used. The player can also access the penthouse by parking an SUV or other high-roofed vehicle at the bottom of the fire stairs and climbing up them. The safehouse can also be entered using the same method in The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. The player can also park vehicles in the parking space; Playboy's yellow Patriot is also parked there.
Around the same time this safehouse is acquired, Roman buys another one in Algonquin. Together, the Algonquin safehouses are vastly superior to the South Bohan Safehouse and the safehouse that follows in terms of their condition and facilities.
Amenities[]
The penthouse terrace.
The lavish penthouse is located on top of the Xenotime Street Apartment Building. It has a Panoramic wide screen television, jacuzzi, pool table, punching bag, stereo speakers (Tuned to The Beat 102.7), and an outfit based on the clothing style of Claude from Grand Theft Auto III; the penthouse itself has no internet, but you can use the guard's computer downstairs, in the lobby - interestingly, the monitor bears the Tw@ desktop when not in use. Niko can't play pool by himself, but can play against friends and dates. This pool table does incur quite a few unwanted glitches. Animations of characters setting up shots are often in incorrect directions and the balls often fall off the table when hit very hard towards corners. When the player picks up a friend or date, it won't be listed on the map, but the player can still walk through the door and take the elevator, regardless. The penthouse also includes photographs of a child Playboy X and Dwayne, evidence of the penthouse's previous owner and his associate.
From the bedroom there is an open double-door which leads out onto a wood and stone-floored patio. There are deck chairs and a sunshade, a hot tub and a gas barbecue outside with an explosive gas canister. The player can exit the patio by going down the fire stairs at one side, or can jump across to the adjacent building and take the internal stairs straight to street level. A fall from the patio will kill Niko.
Prominent Appearances in Missions[]
Grand Theft Auto IV[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The penthouse does not have a front door leading to the hallway with the elevator in it. There is only a door frame where a door should be.
- The penthouse is the only residence on its floor of the building. While this is not uncommon amongst real-life penthouses, it is more odd that there is no staircase leading up to its floor. This would make it unfit for living, as in a scenario where the elevator stopped working, residents would have no way up to the penthouse. Similarly, in the event of a fire, residents would have to run to the fire escape, although most apartment buildings have two types of fire escape: the one on the outside of the building, and the inside staircase.
- On the coffee table, there is a magazine entitled "BJ". If examined closely the front of the magazine has a member of the North Holland Hustlers.
- On the table, there is also a book titled "Baseball's greatest legends", which can also be found in Luis' Apartment.
- There is a glitch with the pool table: if the player shoots it a few times with a shotgun on the playing surface, it will make the "craters" larger.
- The penthouse is similar to the Shoreside Vale Safehouse in GTA III; this similarity is reinforced with Claude's clothing being available inside the penthouse if Playboy X is killed during The Holland Play.
- With a helicopter, the player can bring their friends/dates to play pool here at any time, but it is extremely difficult to get them off of the roof.
- There is a rare glitch where players who have beaten the game, who chose to kill Dwayne, can still play pool, watch TV, and change clothes, but still not be able to save. Some players have suggested a theory that this glitch is more common in the version of the disc that comes with Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition, which also gives the player The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.
- The parking spot can be used from the very beginning of the game when Algonquin is still locked. It can also be used to save vehicles even if the player chooses to kill Dwayne.
- The elevator in the lobby is facing east, but in the apartment, it's facing south.
- It is odd that Dwayne is the one that gives this safehouse to Niko after Playboy's death; he claims that he owns the deed to the penthouse. It is likely that they co-owned the penthouse, as Dwayne shows up unannounced in Deconstruction for Beginners, implying he knew where it was without Playboy telling him. Although Dwayne was extremely rich before his prison sentence and was known to buy apartments and houses to those close to him, it is more in line with Playboy's personality to have removed Dwayne as co-owner, seeing as how Playboy left Dwayne behind to work solo.
- This is one of five safehouses to be given to the player after killing the owner, the others being the Vercetti Estate, Brian Jeremy's Safehouse, Lancaster Safehouse and the Vanilla Unicorn.
[]
| Safehouses in Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City | |
|---|---|
| Grand Theft Auto IV | Broker Safehouse | South Bohan Safehouse | Northwood Safehouse | Middle Park East Safehouse | Alderney Safehouse |
| The Lost and Damned | The Lost MC Clubhouse | Brian Jeremy's Safehouse |
| The Ballad of Gay Tony | Luis' Apartment |