Is there a way to get to Staunton Island in GTAIII without doing the missions?

March 28, 2006 9:39 PM

I've looked at the cheats and tried unsuccessfully, so I pose this to the ever-talented video gamers of Metafilter: Is there a way to get to Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale from Portland in Grand Theft Auto III without finishing up all the missions? Have you actually done this yourself? I've seen the subway and bridge jumping tips but haven't had any luck. I'm using a PS2 if it helps.
posted by tozturk to grab bag (8 comments total)

I did it once by way of a spectacularly unsuccessful (and probably darn near irreproduceable) jump attempt near a subway entrance in Portland once. Somehow I only halfway hit the ramp and my car fell down into the subway station, on the other side of the bars. I couldn't get back up to Portland, but could jog along the tracks to the other two islands. (Of course, if arrested or wasted, I respawned back in Portland, so I had to keep saving before trying anything stupid in Staunton or Shoreside.)

On preview: Gamefaqs.com notes a similar technique:

Get into the subway when it's blocked.
Near the Traid Gang area, there is a subway entrance that is blocked off. It has stairs leading down to it. There is a ramp that causes you to fly over the small gap. But if you drive up very slowly then you will fall of the ramp and land on the stairs. If you done this correctly then you should go through the cage. You will now be in the subway. You will now be able to either take a train to another island or drive your car to another island through the subway. This glitch works well with a Police car or a Taxi.
Contributed By: Stegatron

posted by Guy Smiley at 10:16 PM on March 28, 2006

Is this with cheats? Because you can spawn a tank and fly it anywhere you want right from the start by rapidly firing backwards and launching it off the bridge or the park hill on the downslope of the mafia neighborhood in the first area.
posted by moift at 10:25 PM on March 28, 2006

I have never managed the subway trick Guy Smiley mentioned, but I have been able to jump the bombed-out bridge—once. This was on a PC, though, and anyone who knows my attitudes about video games knows that I hate playing GTA on consoles because of the inherent superiority of the mouse+keyboard combo where GTA/first-person style games are concerned. I have to assume this is possible on the PS2, but I'll bet it's a lot harder.

If you're up for trying it, though (and you can save your game right at the spot before you jump—can't remember if this is possible on PS2), then basically you jump over the first set of barricades blocking access to the Portland/Staunton Island bridge by finding a tall vehicle and using it to vault over the no-clip barrier (it's been a while since I've done this so I don't remember exactly where you do this; try an Ambulance for the tall vehicle). Then run to the bombed-out portion of the bridge and look for a long piece of rebar sticking out from the far side of the gap. It'll seem impossibly steep but you can land on it. Save your game. Jump onto it (make sure you've got full health for this!). Reload your game when you miss the rebar, and repeat until you land the jump. Then run up the rebar onto the other side of the bridge. Congratulations, you're on Staunton Island. (This method is briefly described in Minesweeper's FAQ on Gamefaqs.com.)

The nice thing about getting to Staunton before it's open is that you don't have to finagle a way past the barricades to Shoreside Vale afterwards; that only gets blocked off when the game opens up Staunton. So the subway, bridges, etc. should be free to travel on. However, as you've already noted, actually getting to Staunton is really tough. Keep trying, though; enough people managed to get to locked areas in GTA3 and Vice City that for San Andreas, Rockstar stopped locking people out with blockades and just gave you a high wanted rating that you couldn't shake whenever you went somewhere you weren't supposed to.
posted by chrominance at 12:40 AM on March 29, 2006

Definitely remember having done the bridge jump on pc.
IIRC you don't even have to land the jump, as long as you make it more than halfway, you respawn on the other side.
posted by juv3nal at 12:52 AM on March 29, 2006

for vice city i just put on the no police cheat... on the ps2 that's circle,right,circle,right,left,square,triangle,up.

(i think.)

kind of removes some fun from the game, but it does let you explore the other islands.

(which i like doing as my housemate's ps2 doesn't have a memory card and both he and i are both stubborn enough not to buy one!)
posted by knapah at 2:48 AM on March 29, 2006

of course that isn't answering the question... oops.
posted by knapah at 2:48 AM on March 29, 2006

Building on moift's advice, it is easiest to spawn the tank¹ on the bridge and then enable the "cars can fly"² cheat. Rotate the turret 180°, continue firing as you approach the gap in the bridge, and you should soar right over. Note that saving your game after using cheats may or may not corrupt save games. (In later GTA titles, it definitely impacts your ability to reach 100% complete.)

¹ Circle Circle Circle Circle Circle Circle R1 L2 L1 Triangle Circle Triangle
² Right R2 Circle R1 L2 Down L1 L2
posted by Danelope at 8:31 AM on March 29, 2006

Finally, if you die or are busted anywhere on the still-locked island(s), you'll be transported back to Portland before the game resumes.
posted by Danelope at 8:32 AM on March 29, 2006