GTA IV's Liberty City: A Story Primer

Released April 2008 on PS3 and Xbox 360, Grand Theft Auto IV relaunched the series in the HD Universe with a darker, smaller-scale, more morally weighted story than anything Rockstar had shipped before. Niko Bellic's Liberty City campaign is GTA's most internally focused story — less empire-building, more disillusionment and survival.

Below: the full plot, condensed for replay prep. Spoilers throughout.

Setting and timeframe

GTA IV is set in 2008 Liberty City, a reworked version of New York City split across four boroughs plus Alderney (New Jersey analog):

• Algonquin — Manhattan analog
• Broker — Brooklyn analog
• Bohan — Bronx analog
• Dukes — Queens analog
• Alderney — New Jersey analog

The campaign opens with Niko arriving in Liberty City to live with his cousin Roman, expecting wealth and finding debt.

Act 1 — Broker and the Slavic mob

Roman's debts to Vlad Glebov (Slavic mob) and Mikhail Faustin (Russian mob) drag Niko into Liberty City crime. Niko works as a debt-collector and enforcer through the first act, eventually killing Vlad after discovering Vlad has been sleeping with Roman's girlfriend Mallorie.

The killing of Vlad escalates Niko into Faustin's orbit, and the first act closes with Niko killing Faustin himself at the request of Dimitri Rascalov (Faustin's lieutenant). Dimitri immediately betrays Niko, taking control of the operation and marking Niko for death.

Act 2 — The McReary family and Bohan

Niko relocates to Bohan in the second act, working for the McReary Irish mob family. Key members: Packie (the youngest), Gerry, Derrick, Francis (a corrupt cop), Patrick (the family head). The McRearys give Niko several heist missions including the iconic "Three Leaf Clover" bank robbery.

The middle act also introduces:

• Brucie Kibbutz — a gym-rat friend who becomes a recurring side character
• Little Jacob — Niko's Jamaican-Rastafarian friend and most reliable ally
• Ray Boccino — a Pegorino-family lieutenant who hires Niko for several mid-game contracts

Act 3 — The Pegorino mob and the war reveal

The third act centers on Jimmy Pegorino, the Italian-American mob boss in Alderney. Niko works his way up through Pegorino's organisation while pursuing the war-betrayer subplot — the search for Darko Brevic, the soldier who sold out Niko's Yugoslav-war unit.

Mid-third-act, Niko finds Florian Cravic (now living in Algonquin as Bernie Crane), confirming Florian wasn't the betrayer. The actual betrayer, Darko, is located shortly after — Niko has the choice to kill him or let him live, and both options are canonical.

The two endings

The campaign's final mission has two paths:

1. "Deal" — Niko takes Dimitri Rascalov's heroin deal at Pegorino's behest; Roman is killed at Niko's wedding; Niko avenges Roman by killing Dimitri.
2. "Revenge" — Niko refuses the deal; Kate McReary (Niko's girlfriend) is killed at the wedding by a Pegorino assassin; Niko kills Pegorino.

Both endings end with Niko alive but mourning a major loved one.

The expansions

GTA IV received two episodic expansions:

• The Lost and Damned (2009) — Johnny Klebitz, biker gang
• The Ballad of Gay Tony (2009) — Luis Lopez, nightclub manager

Both are set during the same 2008 Liberty City timeline as the main campaign, intersecting with Niko's story at several points. Together with the main game, they're sold as GTA IV: Complete Edition.

The HD-Universe canon

GTA IV's events are canonical in the HD Universe and referenced in GTA V (a Lifeinvader page references "the Bellic incident"). Several characters recur:

• Packie McReary — recurring; appears as a meetable / heistable character in V
• Brucie Kibbutz — recurring; appears in V
• Roman Bellic — referenced indirectly
• Niko Bellic — does not appear in V; canonically alive but off-screen

For the Niko character deep-dive, see Niko Bellic's Character Arc. For the iconic missions, see GTA IV's Iconic Missions Ranked.