Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
11
Premium Benefits
24/7
Access Available
21K+
Active Members
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
Trending
  • Saros review
  • Arc Raiders
  • The Boys S5
  • Best turn-based RPGs
  • Submit your clips. Win prizes
  • Delta Force giveaway
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
  1. Games
  2. Action
  3. Grand Theft Auto
  4. Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Radar: Daddy's back, you glitches!

Guides
By Mikel Reparaz published 7 June 2008

Car-killiing swingsets, two-way eyeballs and five more of Grand Theft Auto IV's most entertaining bugs

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Subscribe to our newsletter

After a few days of scouring the internet and attempting to replicate these bugs ourselves, we've compiled a long list of weird glitches, exploits and bugs - and then distilled them down to the seven we liked the best. Check them out in the videos below, or just try them for yourselves - either way, you've got to see them.

The friends Niko Bellic makes in Liberty City might be a motley collection of thugs, criminals and psychotics, but in general they're a pretty friendly bunch who can be trusted in a tight spot. But if there's one thing they can't stand, it's claustrophobia, and they'll show their true colors if they can't get out of the car.

Pulling this one off is actually kind of delicate. To see what happens when your buddies get desperate, you'll need to take them out for some activity - doesn't matter what it is - and then, when you're driving them home, block off the passenger-side door. The best way to do this is to get within visual range of their drop-off point, and then get out of the car and run away for a couple of seconds. Be sure to run into your buddy to make him stumble, and then cheese it back to the car and drive away a short distance until the game tells you to go back for your friend.

Latest Videos From

Now, park the car you're driving on the sidewalk, right next to your buddy's drop-off arrow, jack another one and go back for him. Now, assuming the first car is still parked where you left it, pull up next to it so that you're on the arrow, but your passenger's-side door is completely blocked. Then, this pleasant exchange will happen:

Given that your buddies all have pre-recorded carjacking lines, we're not sure if this actually counts as a "glitch." We've certainly never seen them steal a ride under normal circumstances. But really, if the whole thing was completely intentional, wouldn't it have made more sense for them to not punch Niko in the face before shoving him out of the way?

This is the bug that gave us the idea for this feature, and it's easily one of the best we've ever seen. Near the edge of Broker's lower east side is a playground with two swingsets, which are unremarkable except for the fact that they can launch your car into the stratosphere if you bump it into them. It apparently has something to do with the dangling swing chains, which carry so much force when they start swinging that they'll kick up intimidating clouds of shattered concrete. To get this ridiculous phenomenon to work for you, all you need to do is ram a car into either swingset's central supports.


Above: This is what you get when you mess with playground equipment

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

If you're playing in single-player, it'll launch the car away from you, possibly high into the distant sky. One the other hand, trying this trick in a multiplayer game will launch you along with the car, which is infinitely more fun:

The fun isn't limited to cars, either - it's also possible to just launch your on-foot avatar, which - again - we had better luck with in multiplayer. This is actually kind of difficult - more often than not, the chain will just injure you or hurl you into the nearby bushes. But the payoff when it works is amazing. Here's what we mean:

To accomplish this, you need to grab hold of the swingset and sidle around enough to get the chain moving, and then try to climb on top at just the right second to get a good launch. It's not easy, but the results speak for themselves.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

Current page: Page 1

Next Page Page 2
CATEGORIES
PlayStation Xbox Platforms
Mikel Reparaz
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.
Latest in Grand Theft Auto
GTA 6
Grand Theft Auto GTA 6 was delayed to avoid crunch, Take-Two CEO says, comparing working at Rockstar to college
 
 
Two GTA 6 characters gasp at a phone screen
Grand Theft Auto It's been exactly 1 year since GTA 6 Trailer 2, and fans are being as normal as you'd expect
 
 
GTA 6
Grand Theft Auto GTA 6 could sell 45 million copies on PS5 in its first week, Baldur's Gate 3 publishing lead says
 
 
GTA 6
Grand Theft Auto GTA 6 should be $80 so the whole "struggling" industry can raise game prices, Bank of America says
 
 
GTA 6
Grand Theft Auto GTA 6 devs aim for "perfection," and Take-Two tries to give "unlimited" resources to do so, CEO says
 
 
GTA 6
Grand Theft Auto GTA 6 skipping PC at launch not due to PlayStation deal, but to focus on "the core consumer"
 
 
Latest in Guides
A zombie fighter holds two miniguns in Survive the Apocalypse.
Simulation Games All Survive the Apocalypse codes (May 2026)
 
 
Lego Batman Legacy of the Dark Knight suits and costumes
Adventure Games How many suits are in Lego Batman Legacy of the Dark Knight?
 
 
The rare red Spike Slime in Slime RNG.
Simulation Games All Slime RNG codes (May 2026) for Luck, Coins, and more
 
 
Two 40K units in promotional art for Warhammer 40K Tacticus.
Strategy Games All active Warhammer 40K Tacticus codes (May 2026)
 
 
Lego Batman Legacy of the Dark Knight
Adventure Games All Lego Batman Legacy of the Dark Knight skills
 
 
Helldivers 2 Spore Burst Strain terminids
Third Person Shooters How to deal with Helldivers 2 Terminids Spore Burst Bug Buff
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 peasants drinking at a table
    1
    Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 lead designer says "friction is intentionally" in the RPG because when "you overcome the friction, you feel better about yourself"
  2. 2
    Mortal Kombat 2 ending explained: who fights, who dies and every fatality
  3. 3
    After 3 years of work, GTA 4 dev's sandbox game hits Steam as he has to tell people it's "completely different" from Minecraft: "For starters, no Steve"
  4. 4
    Paranormal Activity game dead after Paramount refuses to give legendary Mortuary Assistant dev more time to make it "the best it could possibly be"
  5. 5
    Old School RuneScape players riot as YouTuber's account is reset hours after finishing ridiculous 3-month grind, but Jagex has receipts

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...