Wanted Level

Revision as of 14:44, 1 January 2008 by gtw>Jim-jam 123
File:Wanted level.jpg
A player in GTA Vice City with a four-star wanted level. Ahead circled in pink is a police bribe

A Wanted Level is a measure of the how much the player is wanted by the police or other law enforcement. In GTA III era games, the player has a six-point scale of stars. One wanted star is gained by minor crimes, two by more serious crimes, and these are increased if the player continues to retaliate against law enforcement.

If the player has one or more wanted stars, the Police will give chase and attempt to arrest the player - bringing up the message "Busted". An arrest is executed by either knocking the player onto the ground and surrounding him, or by opening the player's car door and aiming weapons at him. In both cases, the player has no choice but to give up ,use a lowering wanted level cheat(R1, R1 ,Circle ,R2 ,up ,down ,up ,down ,up ,dowm),or use some police bribes. If arrested, the player is transported to the nearest police station and is released minus some money and their weapons(unless if in San Andreas Babra is CJ's girlfriend. In GTA Vice City, the voice of lawyer Ken Rosenberg can be heard persuading the police to let him go: "Officer, do you really think my client is capable of that?".

If the player retaliates and shoots at a police officer, they will attempt to take the player down with lethal force. If the player dies, the usual procedure of returning to the nearest hospital will happen. With a wanted level of 3 stars or more, police helicopters will give chase and attempt to shoot down the player with a gun as powerful as the tec 9 & the Micro SMG. On 4 stars, SWAT teams will arrive in Enforcers, and also will descend from the police helicopters, and attempt to kill the player. On 5 stars, the FBI will take over in their Ranchers and (in GTA Vice City) Washingtons. On the maximum wanted level of 6 stars, the Army will take over the entire operation and attempt to terminate the player with their Rhino tanks and Barracks trucks sometimes though there are some normal police running to you road vehicle.

A players wanted level can be decreased by several means. A one-star wanted level will disappear if the player "lies low" for a while (is not seen by the police, and does not commit more crime,its the easiest wanted level to loose). Higher wanted levels can only be lost through the use of Bribes, which are floating stars (similar to Hidden Packages) which will lower the wanted level by 1 star. Also, putting the car through a Pay n' Spray will help put the police off the player's scent.

It is notoriously difficult to survive higher wanted levels without the use of Cheats. For all GTA III Era games, there are cheats to raise and lower wanted levels. GTA San Andreas also has a cheat to prevent the player from ever obtaining a wanted level.Click on cheats to find what they are .

GTA IV

In Grand Theft Auto IV, it has been revealed that committing any crime will instigate a warning level, rather than just ones directly noticed by police, according to Games magazine.

"Instead of sprinting to the first available car, jacking it then hurtling to the nearest Pay N Spray, escaping from the cops in GTA IV is a far more organic affair. For starters, any crime you commit will give you a wanted level. Jack a car anywhere and you'll get a star because there are witnesses. Instead of the cops just screaming to your position though, the star warning you're 'awarded' translates to a visible search area on the radar. If you manage to escape the circular search area, then your wanted level will flash and disappear. If you're spotted though, the centre of the circle changes to your position, and you have to start again. This offers up numerous options. As police only operate on their own line of sight, if they can't see you they can't stop you."

One Star

A one-star wanted level is attained by committing minor crimes, such as:

  • punching someone
  • shooting someone
  • shooting/punching a car
  • destroying a car
  • driving into/shooting at a police vehicle.
  • firing a weapon in public, if seen by a police officer.

Police officers near you will chase you and try to hit you with their nightstick if you aren't displaying a fire arm or in a car but if you are they will fire with a pistol at you; if a police car is close by it will follow you. However it is easy to lose them because they drive very slowly, and if you run long enough and lie low, they give up. Simply hiding will also lose the police. You will get Busted if you stop and a police officer gets to your car, or if you fall of a bike/building and a police officer has time to get to you.

Two Stars

Two stars are attained by:

  • killing a police officer
  • destroying many cars at once.
  • killing many people in a short space of time.
  • crashing into a petrol pump (causing death or severe property damage)

Police officers will shoot at you, police cars and bikes will start chasing you, and if stopped by a police car, they will brandish shotguns and take cover behind their car doors. Getting a bribe will lose one star and you can just hide from then, or you can visit a pay 'n' spray. If you're on water, police boats will appear bit only in open water and they'll barely do anything.

Three Stars

You get three stars by:

  • continuing to attack police officers
  • killing more civilians
  • destroying property
  • causing excessive property damage very quickly, such as blowing up several cars at once

Small roadblocks will be set up with police cars and officers shooting at you, a police helicopter will follow you, putting a spotlight on you; and if given the chance will shoot at you; they will also make funny remarks "I can see him, its a guy!". Police will become more aggressive, keeping up with you no matter what car you are driving and shooting at you at any chance. In GTA Vice City spike strips will be thrown out to pop your tyres. In GTA San Andreas, Police bikes will also chase you and fire all the time. Police boats will fire at you a bit more.

Four Stars

You get four stars by:

  • continuing to shoot back at police
  • killing more civilians
  • shooting down several police helicopters
  • causing extreme property damage, such as blowing up 20+ cars with remote explosives
  • entering a city that you are not allowed into yet

With four stars, the SWAT team will chase you in their Enforcers armed with uzis; however they will not appear very frequently. The police helicopters will shoot at you constantly, and drop SWAT members down on you if they get the chance. larger roadblocks with more agresssive firing and very agressive police cars/officers. The SWAT team will not react to you as expertly as you'd imagine; eg if you are hiding on a building they will not sneak up from behind but will drive into the wall below, get out and shoot. Note that police bikes will no longer appear, only ones left over from three stars will continue to chase you. Also shooting a police helicopter down with a sniper rifle just below its rotor blades, will take it down without more stars being added in GTA San Andreas. A News Chopper or VCN Maverick will also follow you, but wont do anything. Retaliation for crossing the border if you are flying is that Hydras will follow you, respawn if somehow taken down and never give up (on top of the chopper and SWAT team). Less civilians will be seen on the roads too.

Five Stars

Attained if you:

  • continue to retaliate
  • take down 2-4 more police choppers
  • cause more property damage
  • fly into restricted airspace, such as that over a military base

Response is the FBI will chase you in FBI Ranchers armed with SMG's. They will set up strong roadblocks that are likely to seriously damage/destroy you vehicle if not avoided. Note that all other police and SWAT members will no longer appear and only ones left over from four stars will continue to chase. The FBI are not too sophisticated either, still opting for the drive at target tactic. If you stay a certain distance away from a Rancher in an airport they will completely ignore you and drive in circles, hitting each other of there are more than one. going slightly closer, will trigger them to drive at you, but go back and they go back to smashing each other up. Flying over restricted Military base results in SAM sites firing at you until you exit the plane/chopper, fly far away or get wasted. There will be almost no civilians around at this point.

Six Stars

Attained if you:

  • continue to retaliate
  • take down more police choppers and FBI agents

The Army will take take over the pursuit, chasing you with Barracks (or Barracks OLs) and Rhino tanks. They are armed with M4's and Shotguns. In Vice city they apparently have grenades, but if they do they never use or drop them. Roadblocks get set up with Barracks and they'll destroy most cars. If you are flying Hydras will give chase and never give up. The army can but you, but you'll probably be dead before they get a chance to. By now there are no civilian cars left apart from at spawns to use to get to a pay 'n' spray - which is the easiest way to legitimately stop the chase. You can't hold out on top of a building forever without cheats as helicopters will continue to appear and the wanted stars will not disappear. Sometimes if you drive around a freeway or in the countryside/desert long enough, you may loose a star but it takes time. Note that staying on a car park level with a roof, but not ground floor will make the police give up and no choppers appear, but your wanted level will freeze and not go down.