Ivan the Not So Terrible

     Spoiler Warning: Plot details, ending details, or both are in the text which follows.

Ivan the Not So Terrible is the final mission given by Vladimir Glebov to Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV. This is the first, and one of the seven missions in the game to offer a morality choice; where the player chooses whether to take one action or another (in this case it is sparing or killing Ivan), and is the first to use ladders and jumping.

Plot

The mission starts with Vlad telling Niko Bellic that Ivan Bytchkov has upset Mikhail Faustin, his boss, and wants Niko to kill him. Vlad explains to Niko that he persuaded Ivan to rob Roman Bellic's cab depot and wants him to kill Ivan in an act of "self-defense".

Mission Objectives

In order to complete the mission the player must:

• Go to Roman's garage.
• Ivan is already making an escape. Chase him.
• Ivan is escaping into the construction site. Chase him.
• Choose Ivan's fate.

Walkthrough

Grab Vlad's Blista Compact (the same one Niko has stolen in the mission Clean Getaway) and drive to Roman's Cab Depot. Don't stop once getting there - it seems Ivan's already robbed Roman. He is escaping from the cab depot. If arriving from Cisco Street, the route he'll take will be a lot shorter.

Chase Ivan to a construction site nearby. He will crash near a ladder and run up it. Get out of the car and run up the same ladder with the in-game instructions. Once getting to the top, Ivan continues up another ladder. Follow him. He continues to run away. Follow him until a cut-scene appears. In the cut-scene, Ivan will jump over to a nearby building. Get onto the crane and do the same.

He will jump a few more buildings - follow him. Soon he will get to the end of the building chain. As Niko shouts out to Ivan he has nowhere left to run. Ivan then runs across a catwalk leading to a broken fire escape- unbeknownst to him. He accidentally steps over the edge and falls but clings on. As Niko reaches Ivan, the player now has the choice of sparing him, by helping him up and letting him escape or killing him, by shooting him, or watching a cutscene in which Niko stamps on Ivan's fingers, sending him crashing to the sidewalk/road.

If Niko spares him, he'll come back as a random character. If Niko kills him, he will closely follow Vlad's instructions. Either way after that Niko refuses to do any more work for Vlad.

Transcript

This section/page depicts all cutscenes and dialogues in the mission "Ivan the Not So Terrible" in Grand Theft Auto IV.

Video Walkthrough

Trivia

• The mission's title is an obvious reference to Ivan the Terrible, a former ruler (Tsar) of Russia.
• There is a glitch with Ivan's car if the player destroys the vehicle, thus killing Ivan, the mission will still be to 'chase' Ivan. The only way to get out of this is by failing the mission either by leaving the area or death.
• This mission (along with Uncle Vlad) are the only times the player can freely enter Comrades Bar.
• In the opening cutscene, Vlad is seen talking to someone and saying "gorgeous." He was most likely talking to Mallorie because at the end of the cutscene, he says "Let's talk about tonight" meaning that he most likely had that affair with her and this mission most possibly leads up to the next mission Uncle Vlad where Niko kills Vlad.
• The whole traffic during the chase is scripted (as numerous other missions in the game). So the vehicles seen in the traffic are not random: a speeding Futo, a Chavos and a Marbelle in Mohawk Avenue, a Marbelle (and a parked Perennial) in Onion Street, a Stratum in Asparagus Avenue, a Perennial and a Voodoo driving (and one Perennial and three Marbelles parked) in Munsee Avenue, a Marbelle and a Mule in Montauk Avenue, a Chavos (and two Perennials and a Futo parked) in Hickcock Street, a Marbelle and a Perennial (and another parked Perennial) in northern Onondaga Avenue, a parked Stratum in Ringo Street, and a driving Bobcat, a parked Perennial, and a stopped Benson and Flatbed in southern Onondaga Avenue. There's also a stopped Biff in Kid Street.
• If the player arrives before Ivan at the construction site (coming over Masterson Street) and he parks his car blocking his way to the construction site, Ivan will walk down and go into the next entrance. It is possible for Niko to go ahead of him (funnily saying "You're a fast one, aren't you?"). If Niko reaches the crane, however, the cutscene of Ivan jumping out the crane will play and he'll be teleported in the other building already.
• It is possible to obtain Ivan's uniquely colored Ruiner. (black with yellow trim)
• During the end credits for The Lost and Damned, one of the scenes shown is the rooftop chase in this mission. However, the scene is cut away before Niko kills or saves Ivan. Also during the scene, the mission Bleed Out is somehow happening at the same time (Roman's Taxi and Dardan Petrela's car parked on the sidewalk, Bledar Morina and Kalem beating up Roman in the basketball courts under the El Train) despite already being completed.
• It is possible to kill Ivan before he reaches the ledge, if the player shoots him enough while he is running away (he has an incredible amount of HP, able to sustain several head shots with the Sniper Rifle or 3 explosions with a Grenade or Rocket Launcher), he will become wounded. The player can then finish him off.
  • Curiously enough, if the player wounds Ivan before he reaches the ledge, he'll walk in an injured animation and sometimes, he'll fall from the building; however, he'll re-spawn immediately over the roof. This also happens if the player pushes him off the building.
• Ivan will dangle there indefinitely; for example, the player have time to drive the Ruiner to his safehouse and come back. If the player takes a taxi, the taxi's destination indicator will flash alternately between "Friend" and another location.

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