#2: Hangman’s Noose
Part of the game’s co-op mode, this sees you and three friends battling it out with GTA IV’s totally tenacious AI, as you have to protect infamous hoodlum Kenny Petrovic in a chase across the city...

Rob: Bringing together up to four human players for a battle royale, your task is to collect Kenny from the airport - only for every SWAT team in Liberty City to turn up, guns blazing!

Tim: It’s great stuff, this. As 747s landed around us, and evening started to creep in, we used baggage holds and metal crates for cover, and started to pop the SWAT teams on the tarmac outside Francis International terminal. Kenny’s inside a private jet behind you the whole time - but he won’t come out until you’ve cleared a couple of waves of cops from the runways.

Rob: Tim’s spot on here: visually, this level was off the scale. And it’s hugely exciting too. We were desperately ducking behind crates and locking to cover, before taking out swathes of heavily armored cops. Make sure you keep on firing once they hit the deck too - they can get back up again if you’ve got them in the chest, thanks to that precious body armor.

Tim: The damage model’s really good, actually. Hit an opponent in the head and they go down first time. Hit them in the leg or arm, and they clutch the wound. While we were messing around, we discovered that civilians will even try and hobble off when hit in the leg, and when they’re further away, kind of awkwardly limp-run clear!

Rob: Anyway, back to the game: when it’s finally time for Kenny to leave the jet, things get really good!

Tim: Nicking a SWAT truck, one of us piles in the front with Petrovic, while the other stands in the back, doors flapping in the breeze as we drive, firing out at the pursuing cops.

Rob: Trouble is, even though the truck’s thick armor-plating means it’s all but impervious to fire, the wheels can be shot out with little trouble - making steering a nightmare. Careering down the highway, piling into cop cars, is a test.

Tim: Yeah, but when we played there was a twist...

Rob: Right. Brilliantly, one of our four-strong gang had managed to lay his hands upon an attack chopper (!) at the airport and was laying down covering fire for us from above - with a massive mini-gun!

Tim: That wasn’t even the best bit. Didn’t you manage to blag your way into the attack chopper at one point?

Rob: Yeah, in the second game, I hitched a ride. It was absolutely brilliant. Leaning out the side of the ‘copter, blasting away with an AK-47, makes you feel like the king of the world. I must say that Kenny Petrovic’s AI could be a little… jittery, sometimes. On a couple of occasions, he seemed to simply refuse to climb into the vehicle I’d pinched. But, overall, with a dozen cop cars on our tail, sirens blaring and flashing lights illuminating the night sky, this mission really hammered home the visual clout, need for teamwork and seat-of-the-pants action GTA IV’s multiplayer provides.