The five modern mainline GTA games (and by that, we mean from Grand Theft Auto 3 onwards) contain 346 story missions. 346 opportunities for blockbuster moments, unforgettable sandbox spectacles, career-making crimes, and the occasional excruciating nightmare. But among the missed trains, RC planes, and yoga sessions are some of the most memorable gaming experiences ever crafted, courtesy of developer Rockstar Games. These are the missions that propel us to that next letter on the minimap, the ones that start with a goofy cutscene and end with an orchestra of explosions and emotions.
These are the greatest Grand Theft Auto missions.
11. “Give Me Liberty” - GTA 3
The first moments of Grand Theft Auto 3 are among the most impactful in gaming history. The scene is set in just five short minutes: an opening credit roll accompanied by jazzy piano, a bank heist and betrayal, and an armored convoy attacked on a dark and stormy night in Liberty City. After protagonist Claude is inadvertently freed from his prison transport, fellow escapee 8-Ball gives us our inaugural GTA mission, the first of many, many more to come.
Truth be told, “Give Me Liberty” is incredibly simple. Now trapped in Portland, you and 8-Ball simply drive to a safehouse, then drive to Luigi’s. There’s no real challenge, but as an onboarding experience it’s hard to overstate just how important a first mission can be. Similar titles of the era such as Driver and Stuntman were infamous for brutal tutorials that either bored the player to death or frustrated them to the point of quitting, and it’s not hard to imagine a world where GTA 3 forced you to do slaloms and handbrake turns in a parking garage before letting you loose in the sandbox.
“Give Me Liberty” isn’t just an introduction to a game, it's a bold statement of the series’ evolution and ambitions. In the top-down games, missions were more like goals than in-depth stories, conveyed exclusively through the medium of payphones with a few lines of unvoiced text. “Give Me Liberty” couldn’t be more different, with moody shots of the city establishing a cinematic atmosphere as hazy headlights smear through pouring rain punctuated by flashes of lightning. The vibes are, frankly, immaculate, especially when experienced on the original PS2 hardware, perfectly setting the tone for what GTA would become.
10. “Museum Piece” - GTA 4
“Museum Piece,” like many GTA missions, begins with the protagonist being chewed out in a cutscene. After some heated words between Niko Bellic and mobster Ray Boccino, Niko agrees to sell $2 million worth of stolen diamonds in exchange for Ray’s help locating Niko’s former comrade-in-arms Florian Cravic. It’s a fairly standard pretext for some fun criminal action-adventure, but this one is special for two reasons:
The first is the setting. Unlike a typical back-alley exchange, “Museum Piece” takes place at, you guessed it, a museum. The Libertonian, to be precise, a hybrid of New York’s real-life Met and Museum of Natural History. Spoiler alert: the deal goes south, leaving Nico with no diamonds, no money, and legions of mobsters and cops out for his blood. The resulting shootout sees you blasting through the hallowed marble halls of a dimly lit museum after hours, shattering priceless artifacts and even destroying a dinosaur skeleton that took the developers so long to make they left a salty plaque behind as an easter egg. It’s one of the most unique interiors in the entire series and a refreshing change of pace from seedy warehouses and garages.
What really makes this mission special is that it’s a look into the future. Niko is accompanied on his mission by Johnny Klebitz, the player character from The Lost and the Damned DLC, and the mysterious sniper who breaks up the diamond deal turns out to be Luis Fernando Lopez, the protagonist of The Ballad of Gay Tony. All three stories converge on “Museum Piece,” and in their respective expansion packs we get to see how the deal goes down from Johnny and Luis’s point of view. One mission, three different perspectives. Sound familiar? Switching between characters would become a key part of the Grand Theft Auto formula beginning with 5, but “Museum Piece” pulled it off first.
9. “Black Project” - GTA: San Andreas
If there’s one word to describe the missions in GTA: San Andreas, it’s “variety.” CJ’s wild journey from his mom’s old house on Grove Street to Mad Dogg’s mansion in Mulholland sees him racing go-karts, robbing houses, stealing farm equipment, waging war with remote-controlled toys, flying cross-country to Liberty City, and much, much more. There’s so much diversity and possibility within San Andreas that it can even incorporate completely different genres. Case in point: “Black Project,” in which CJ all but straps on a bandana for some Metal Gear-style tactical espionage action.
In a scene straight out of Ground Zeroes (which wouldn’t appear for another ten years,) CJ finds himself infiltrating a top-secret military base on behalf of the Truth, a zonked-out old hippie with a psychedelic van who does Tai Chi on the back of derelict airplanes. The Truth is one of the best quest-givers in the entire series, a hilarious throwback to the days before social media when conspiracy theories were the realm of harmless kooks instead of algorithms designed to destroy our shared concept of reality. He sends CJ to the fabled “Area 69,” where the government is keeping a classified black project under lock and key.
Solid CJ has several options. He can shoot out some searchlights to sneak past guards, or just snipe them from afar. He can open the base’s blast doors or crawl through a ventilation shaft to gain entry. Once inside, he has the option to disable the facility’s defenses to make his escape easier, or just run and gun with reckless abandon until he reaches the prize: an ultra-classified, state-of-the-art, $60 million jetpack. Carl Johnson soaring out of “Area 69” with rockets strapped to his back as soldiers try to shoot him out of the sky might be the peak of the series’ silliness, a glorious monument to the weird and wonderful wackiness of the “3D era” games. Frankly, it’s hard to top, which is why Rockstar might have dialed things way back with GTA 4.
8. “Minor Turbulence” - GTA 5
An open world game like Grand Theft Auto has to do a lot of different things right at the same time: driving, shooting, swimming, dancing… it’s inevitable that something is going to suffer. Flying has never been GTA’s strong suit, from the clipped-wing Dodo of GTA 3 to the tedious “Flight School” and infuriating “Supply Lines” of San Andreas. You can’t even fly planes in GTA 4, and frankly, we didn’t miss it all that much. Flying would return in a big way with GTA 5, with one mission in particular finally delivering on the promise of vertical violence.
“Minor Turbulence” is a Trevor-only experience, the first mission after he and Michael are exiled from Los Santos. Trevor receives a tip from his long-suffering sycophant Ron that a Merryweather cargo plane full of military equipment is circling Mount Chiliad. Still salty over losing his ill-gotten gains from the last heist, Trevor takes to the skies in a dinged-up old cropduster to take down the massive jumbo jet.
We’d seen similar missions in previous games, but those all involved infiltrating from the ground. GTA 5 ups the intensity with a mid-air invasion that sees Trevor dodge rockets as he plows his biplane into the cargo hold of the much larger aircraft. After an awesome shootout dodging sliding 4x4s, Trevor takes over the cargo plane, only to be shot down by pursuing Air Force fighters, all to the tune of a god-tier Tangerine Dream track.
“Minor Turbulence” is a blockbuster mission that rivals the cinematic setpieces of Uncharted. More importantly, it’s fun. You’re not steering through rings or worrying about fuel or time limits, and while Trevor is forced to fly underneath the radar of the nearby military base, it’s a perfectly-judged injection of friction that makes the mission exciting instead of aggravating.
7. “Rub Out” - GTA: Vice City
One of the hallmarks of a great Grand Theft Auto campaign is the sense of progression throughout the story. We usually start as penniless street crooks hiding out in dingy motels, rising through the underworld ranks to become a feared and powerful kingpin by the endgame. GTA expertly doles out perks and amenities as the protagonist gains status, perfectly fueling the power fantasy of rags-to-riches crime stories like “Scarface.”
Vice City’s biggest inspiration is in full effect during “Rub Out.” Ricardo Diaz, the big boss who kicks off the whole story by getting Lance Vance’s brother killed, lives in a huge mansion on Starfish Island that is the spitting image of Tony Montana’s humble home. And since Tommy Vercetti winds up working for the man he swore revenge on, you’ll be seeing it a lot. Diaz flaunts his wealth and power throughout the story, making it extra satisfying when you finally get the chance to take him down.
Vercetti and Vance wage a full frontal assault on Diaz’s fortress, fighting through hedge mages and pools in the huge interiors that pay homage to the climactic massacre of “Scarface.” Once Diaz is disposed of and the dust settles, the entire place is yours. The Vercetti Estate comes complete with a respawning armory, an Infernus, a helicopter, and a bunch of brand new gang members gassing you up. There would be flashier pads throughout later GTA games, but Vice City was the first that made you feel like you’d finally made it.
6. “Breaking the Bank at Caligula’s” - GTA: San Andreas
The top of this list is going to be heist heavy, and for good reason. A great heist is the essence of all that is GTA: big brazen crimes, outrageous objectives, and open-ended improvisation when things go wrong. There had been heists in Grand Theft Auto before “Breaking the Bank at Caligula’s” – Vice City had a similar quest chain to rob the Corrupto Grande bank – but this was the first one that felt truly huge. San Andreas released just three years after Ocean’s Eleven ushered in the modern era of heist films, and the game aimed high with a similarly spectacular casino job that set the bar for future generations.
After Woozy makes CJ a full partner in the Four Dragons Casino, they decide to take out their biggest rival, Caligula’s, by robbing it blind. Setting up the job requires a variety of diverse objectives before things get underway – all of which CJ has to handle by himself. He has to woo and date a Caligula’s employee in order to obtain her keycard in exchange for a cut of the profits, steal four police motorcycles and an armored car, sneak into a city municipal building to snap some photos of the casino’s blueprints, and sabotage a giant dam to cut the power. It’s a lot of work, but in true San Andreas fashion every preparation mission feels unique and fun in its own way.
When it’s time for the heist itself, CJ dons a Caligula’s croupier outfit and infiltrates the casino with some mild, Hitman-esque social stealth. Once he’s in, CJ has to force open a garage door with a forklift, navigate the mazelike interiors with night vision goggles, lead a team of surprisingly cheerful accomplices to the vault, fight his way up to the roof and escape via parachute to a neighboring building in a stunt that would make Tom Cruise giddy, all within a heart-pounding seven-minute timer. “Breaking the Bank at Caligula’s” isn’t quite as impactful or in-depth as some future heists we’ll see on this list, but it remains an extremely fun and impressive feat for its time.
5. “A Dish Served Cold” - GTA 4
If you’re coming to GTA looking for branching narratives and tough story choices, you’re cluckin’ up the wrong bell. That’s not to say your choices have no impact on the plot, but they’re largely superficial: The smart way or the loud way; sparing your target or killing them; hiring the least expensive and most expendable goons for the heist or paying up for talented pros. “A Dish Served Cold” is a major exception.
In the final stretch of GTA 4, Niko Bellic is ordered by Jimmy Pegorino to conduct one last drug deal with the architect of his pain, Dmitry Rascalov, the mob boss who torments Niko throughout the game. Niko can take the deal at the behest of cousin Roman, begging him to leave revenge and bloodshed behind and start a new life. Or, if the pull of vengeance is too strong (and you don’t need the $250 grand), you can blow the deal and claim your retribution. The latter (and probably canonical) choice leads you to “A Dish Served Cold,” in which Niko wages an intense assault on Rascalov’s cargo ship and puts an end to their beef permanently.
It’s a fine mission, but it’s the repercussions that matter. If you ignore your inner demons and make the deal, Rascolov assassinates Roman on his wedding day. If you give in to your anger, Kate McReary – sister of Packie and a potential romantic interest who desperately seeks to escape the cycle of crime and violence – is killed in the crossfire of a Pegorino drive-by. They’re downer endings either way, gut-punching tragedies that reward you with a cheerful “You Won!” achievement amidst the anguish. “A Dish Served Cold” might be the most we’ve ever cared about GTA. It’s an unexpected, bittersweet resolution to the most human story the series has ever told, and it’s stayed with us ever since.
4. “Hood Safari” - GTA 5
Not every GTA mission can be a thrilling, epic, crime adventure. Sometimes, especially when a campaign is just getting started, they’re about getting to know the characters better, exploring a location, and just existing in the world while doing crimes and making a little money. Few missions capture this “hangout” vibe better than GTA 5’s “Hood Safari.”
Shortly after the game unlocks all three playable protagonists, Trevor barges in on Franklin as he is having doubts about his future with the Chamberlain Gangster Families. Eager to get to know his new pal better, Trevor insists on accompanying Franklin, Lamar, and Chop on a drug exchange with the rival Ballas that takes them back to extremely familiar territory. Returning to the iconic Grove Street cul de sac a few in-game decades after Carl Johnson’s journey began in San Andreas is a masterful callback, not as intense as the visit to Shadow Moses in Metal Gear Solid 4, but a lot funnier.
GTA’s humor can be extremely hit or miss, but the combination of personalities and always excellent performances help “Hood Safari” nail the perfect balance between characterization and absurdity. Trevor is his usual unsettling self, but his experience comes in handy during the drywall handoff. Lamar is hungry to climb the food chain and get serious about his career, but he can’t help fawning over rapper MC Clip’s fashion shoot – even while stealing his jetskis. There’s plenty of action, with a good old fashioned Grove Street turf war and a great chase through the Terminator 2 canal, but the real treasures of this mission are the friends we made along the way.
3. “Three Leaf Clover” - GTA 4
Unlike other signature GTA heists, there’s no preparation involved in “Three Leaf Clover,” no tailing NPCs for intel or stealing a getaway car in advance, just a text from Packie McReary telling Niko to put on a nice suit for a big job. The gang takes over the Bank of Liberty in China town, but the mission goes south when a hostage who clearly peaked in high school takes out one of the crew while the others are busy blowing the vault.
A massive police response swarms on the bank as you battle your way out through the streets of Algonquin with a million dollars worth of cash stuffed in your duffelbags. It’s a mad dash as Niko and what’s left of his squad use abandoned cars for cover, scrambling through subway stations as they barely escape Homeland Security organisation NOOSE. If you can make it back to Dukes alive, you’re rewarded with access to Algonquin and $250,000, a huge sum of money for that point in the story.
If “Caligula’s” was Ocean’s Eleven, “Three Leaf Clover” takes its obvious cues from Michael Mann’s intense 1995 thriller Heat, with a tip of the hat to Point Break. The mission is clearly inspired by Heat’s immortal downtown shootout, so realistic that actual armed forces have used it as an example of urban combat skills. While it’s unlikely GTA 4 will ever be taught at West Point, it’s a perfect fit for the game’s gritty vibe. This isn’t some slick heist with disguises and stolen keycards – we’re in the world of balaclavas and plastic explosives. “Three Leaf Clover” is brutal, inelegant, and ugly – everything that makes GTA 4 unique among the series. Heck, it’s so good that characters are still talking about it in the sequel.
Speaking of which:
2. “The Paleto Score” - GTA 5
By GTA 5, heists had evolved into a central pillar of the campaign. There are six heists through the single-player story, each of which requires careful planning and prepping. Now systematized, heists are almost a game mechanic unto themselves, with a whiteboard planning phase that asks you to weigh risks and make decisions before the mission is a go. Who will you hire? Will you go loud or soft? Which spooky mask will you buy for your crew? Important questions, all, with unique consequences for each choice – though it’s hard to get too chuffed about your cut of the money when most of it ends up going to FIB anyway.
Most of the heists in GTA 5 are fantastic, and nearly any one of them could fill this spot on the list without much argument. “Blitz Play,” another Heat homage, sees you hijacking an armored car in broad daylight. Michael and Trevor’s dream job of robbing the Union Depository is a suitably epic climax, and “The Merryweather Heist” puts you in the frankly implausible position of controlling a high-tech deep-sea submersible with only a video game controller. Great missions, all, but when it comes to pure power fantasy, it’s tough to beat “The Paleto Score.”
Unlike most heists in GTA 5, you don’t have much of a choice when it comes to robbing the tiny rural bank in Paleto Bay. There’s no way around the alarm system, and the short police response time means there’s no chance of escaping under the radar, meaning it’s time to bust out the big guns. It begins a lot like the “Three Leaf Clover” heist, with Michael, Trevor, and guest barging into the lobby and taking hostages. While GTA 4 keeps things relatively grounded with its frantic footchase, The Paleto Score turns the tables and gives you the upper hand for a change.
As the local police surround the bank building, your crew emerges through the double doors decked out in heavy duty bomb squad armor and loading for bear. Wielding a minigun nicked from a military convoy, you blast through an army of country bumpkin cops and wreak havoc on the sleepy mountain town. The mundane scenery makes for an excellent explosive set piece as you shoot down helicopters and blow up cop cars while you wait for Franklin to gradually arrive with a getaway bulldozer. After dodging tank shells and a brief detour through a chicken factory, the gang catches a train and counts their earnings, just before Agent Sanchez shows up to snatch it all away.
“The Paleto Score” is the perfect middle ground between the cartoon craziness of “Caligula’s” and the grim verisimilitude of “Three Leaf Clover,” a brilliant example of the balancing act that defines modern Rockstar.
1. “End of the Line” - GTA: San Andreas
GTA campaigns can be long. Between all the cutscenes, travel, and quest-givers who just love stringing you along with tedious busywork, by the end of any given game you’re usually more than ready to roll credits. That’s why it’s so crucial for GTA to stick the landing and deliver excellent finales , which the series delivers more often than not. The big heist, the ultimate revenge, the culmination of hours and hours spent grinding your way up the criminal food chain – a great final mission doesn’t leave you spent and ready to move on to the next game, it revitalizes you and hypes you up to free roam throughout the postgame in the city you now rule. There have been some excellent final missions throughout the franchise, but they’ve never reached the same heights as “End of the Line.”
San Andreas is on fire. Literally. The entire city is shaken by the acquittal of Officer Tenpenny, the cop who's been using and tormenting CJ throughout the game. The chaos canonizes the infamous “pedestrian riot” cheats from the previous games as angry NPCs attack each other and cars explode in the distance. The altered world state makes End of the Line feel truly climactic – there’s no going back from this, and whatever happens, CJ, Los Santos, and all of San Andreas will never be the same again.
CJ and Sweet decide the time is finally right to take down the treacherous Big Smoke and his Ballas empire once and for all. After making their way to his fortress in East Los Santos, CJ commandeers a SWAT tank and smashes through the front door. He battles through three floors of Ballas, Vagos, Rifa, and Russian mobsters before barging in on Big Smoke, who is busy playing video games and hitting a bong. CJ takes him down, only for Tenpenny to spoil the moment, forcing CJ to shoot way back down the burning building and chase after the crooked cop, who is fleeing in a massive fire truck with Sweet dangling from the ladder.
Bombastic, brutal, and big in every sense of the word, “End of the Line” is the ultimate catharsis after 45 hours of grinding your way up from Grove Street. In clearing a huge game like GTA: SA, you share in CJ’s sense of accomplishment and closure when Smoke and Tenpenny take their last breaths. And as the group gathers to celebrate and discuss their plans for the future, CJ steps out into the hot Los Santos night alone, eager to “hit the block and see what’s happening.” The mission might be the “end of the line” for the San Andreas story, but for Carl Johnson, and us, the whole world is now our oyster and the journey is just getting started. It’s one of the best last levels of all time and, in our estimation, the greatest GTA mission ever.
What do you think of our GTA mission rankings? Did we leave out your favorite? Should we have shown Caida Libre more love? Did anyone out there have no problem following the damn train? Leave a comment to let us know, or vote in the poll above.