GTA Vice City Missions: The Complete List in Order

Every story mission in GTA Vice City, in the order the game unlocks them, grouped by the contact who gives it. Plus all eight asset missions, the optional storylines, and exactly what you need to unlock the finale.

GTA Vice City has a reputation for being a long game, but the story is actually four clearly separated stages. Understanding where you are in that structure makes the whole thing far less confusing - especially the middle section, where the game stops handing you missions and starts expecting you to buy businesses instead.

How the mission structure works

The game opens with the bridges closed, which quietly limits you to one island. Every stage is gated by something you have to unlock:

• Stage 1 is a single island and three contacts. It ends when the bridges open.
• Stage 2 opens the whole city and ends with you taking over the mansion.
• Stage 3 is the empire stage. The game stops driving you forward and starts asking you to buy businesses - these are the asset missions.
• Stage 4 is the finale, and it only unlocks once you have completed enough assets.

Two things unlock the map during stage 1 and 2: Guardian Angels opens Starfish Island, and Phnom Penh '86 ends the hurricane warning and opens the bridges to the mainland.

How mission progression actually works

This is the part that confuses most new players. Vice City does not hand you a single ordered checklist. Instead it puts a set of mission markers on the map, and each marker belongs to one contact. You choose which one to do next.

That has a few consequences worth knowing before you start:

• Several contacts are active at once. In stage 1 you can work for Ken Rosenberg, Colonel Cortez and Avery Carrington in any order. The game only forces an order when a mission is a prerequisite for something else.
• A contact's marker disappears when you finish their set. If a familiar icon vanishes, that storyline is done - it does not mean you missed anything.
• New contacts appear as the story advances. Kent Paul, Umberto Robina, Auntie Poulet, Love Fist and Mitch Baker all become available at specific points rather than from the start.
• Missions are repeatable, not missable. Failing a mission never locks you out of it. You lose the mission, not your save - the marker stays on the map and you can try again immediately.
• The middle of the game goes quiet on purpose. After Rub Out the phone stops ringing because the game wants you to buy businesses. If you are stuck with no markers, that is the reason.

What to do when no missions appear

1. Pan the map and look for any remaining icon. Optional contacts are easy to overlook - especially the pay phone.
2. Buy an asset. After Shakedown, seven businesses can be purchased. Completing their missions is what unlocks the ending.
3. Check the Print Works. Its two missions are mandatory and are the most common thing people forget.
4. Answer the pay phone. The five Mr. Black assassination jobs are optional, but if you are hunting 100 percent they cannot be skipped.
5. Visit a contact in person. Some missions only trigger when you walk into the marker rather than phone in.

Stage 1: The ambush (Vice City Beach)

Tommy arrives in Vice City to oversee a drug deal, and it goes wrong immediately. With the bridges closed by a hurricane warning, he has to work for three local contacts while he works out who set him up.

Stage 2: Bringing down Diaz

With the whole city open, Tommy keeps working for Cortez, Avery and Diaz while Lance Vance works out that Diaz organised the ambush. Lance tries to kill Diaz alone and fails; Tommy has to rescue him, and then the two of them take the mansion.

Stage 3: The empire (asset missions)

This is where most players get stuck, because the game stops pushing you forward. Tommy moves into the mansion - now the Vercetti Estate - and the story is driven by businesses you buy around the city. Each asset unlocks its own missions and pays daily income once completed.

Vercetti Estate missions

Asset missions

Asset prices and daily income

Income only starts once each asset's missions or tasks are complete. If you are short on cash, the Malibu Club is the most expensive purchase but also the highest earner.

Stage 4: The finale

Sonny Forelli sends collectors after Tommy's businesses, then flies to Vice City himself. Tommy plans to pay him in counterfeit money printed at the Print Works - and then Lance reveals what he has done.

Optional story missions

These four storylines do not affect the main plot and can be played once unlocked. They are worth doing - they add vehicles, cash and some of the game's better missions - but you can skip them entirely and still finish.

How to unlock the final mission

The requirement is more specific than most guides admit. To unlock the finale you need:

1. At least six assets completed, and the Print Works must be one of them - it is mandatory because the story depends on the counterfeit money.
2. Cop Land completed for the Vercetti Estate.
3. Cap the Collector completed.

Phil's Place does not count towards the six. If you are sitting at five assets and nothing new is unlocking, that is almost always the reason.

Character-by-character mission guide

Vice City's missions are organised by who gives them, not by chapter number. This is the full breakdown of every contact, where they are, and how many missions each one hands out. If you are short of things to do, work down this list - there is almost always one contact you have not finished.

The hardest missions, ranked

These are the missions that come up again and again when players compare notes. Almost all of them are hard for the same reason: they hand you a vehicle or a timer you cannot fight your way out of.

If you want to take the edge off any of these, the cheat code list covers health, armor and vehicle cheats that work in the browser version.

Missions that need special attention

The good news first: nothing in Vice City is permanently missable. Failing a mission never removes it, and no optional storyline closes off the ending. What you can do is miss content without noticing, because several things only trigger under specific conditions.

Mission order without spoilers

If you would rather play the story blind, you do not need any of the detail above. This is the running order of the mandatory missions only, with no plot information attached.

1. In the Beginning...
2. An Old Friend
3. The Party
4. Back Alley Brawl
5. Jury Fury
6. Riot
7. Treacherous Swine
8. Mall Shootout
9. Guardian Angels (unlocks a new area)
10. Four Iron (optional but recommended)
11. Demolition Man (optional but recommended)
12. The Chase
13. Phnom Penh '86 (unlocks the rest of the city)
14. Sir, Yes Sir!
15. Two Bit Hit (optional but recommended)
16. The Fastest Boat
17. Supply & Demand
18. Death Row
19. Rub Out
20. Shakedown
21. Bar Brawl
22. Cop Land
23. Asset missions of your choice (at least six, Print Works included)
24. Cap the Collector
25. Keep Your Friends Close...

Everything you can do without advancing the plot - side jobs, hidden packages, rampages, street races and the optional storylines - is safe to leave until after the final mission. There is no point of no return before it, and the game stays open after the credits.

Tips for the hardest missions

• Death Row - you are on a timer to reach Lance. Take a fast car rather than fighting your way in, and clear the guards at the gate before you go for him.
• Demolition Man - the remote-controlled helicopter is the whole mission. Practise the controls on an empty rooftop before you start the run; the bombs are on a timer.
• The Driver - Hilary's car is faster in a straight line. Win it in the corners, not on the straights.
• Checkpoint Charlie - 26 checkpoints by boat is a memory test more than a skill test. Do it in one clean run rather than restarting repeatedly.
• Keep Your Friends Close... - the final shootout is survivable with full armor and tier 2 weapons. The cheat code list covers both.

Mission order at a glance

If you just want the running order without the detail, this is every mandatory story mission in sequence. The optional storylines are left out on purpose - they can be done at any point once unlocked.

1. In the Beginning...
2. An Old Friend
3. The Party
4. Back Alley Brawl
5. Jury Fury
6. Riot
7. Treacherous Swine
8. Mall Shootout
9. Guardian Angels (opens Starfish Island)
10. Four Iron
11. Demolition Man
12. The Chase
13. Phnom Penh '86 (opens the bridges)
14. Sir, Yes Sir!
15. Two Bit Hit
16. The Fastest Boat
17. Supply & Demand
18. Death Row
19. Rub Out (you take the mansion)
20. Shakedown
21. Bar Brawl
22. Cop Land
23. Asset missions of your choice (at least six, Print Works included)
24. Cap the Collector
25. Keep Your Friends Close...

All Hands On Deck! sits between Death Row and Rub Out in the Cortez storyline, but it is optional and can be skipped.

Side missions and activities worth doing

Vice City's side content is not filler. Several of these unlock permanent bonuses that make the main story easier, and a few are required for 100 percent completion.

What 100 percent completion requires

Reaching 100 percent is a long project, and the story missions are only part of it. Broadly you need:

• All mandatory story missions and all eight asset mission sets
• All 100 hidden packages
• Every unique stunt jump
• All rampages
• The side jobs - vigilante, paramedic, firefighter, taxi and pizza delivery
• The optional storylines for Umberto Robina, Auntie Poulet, Love Fist and Mitch Baker
• Assorted one-off activities such as the shooting range and the stadium events

It is not required for anything in the story - the finale only needs six assets. Treat completion as a separate long-term project rather than something to chase on your first playthrough.

Frequently asked questions

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