Playboy X's Penthouse

Revision as of 05:10, 4 October 2011 by MrLanceVanceDance (talk | contribs) (added expolit)
File:PlayboyX'spenthouse-GTA4-exterior.jpg
The apartment housing Playboy X's penthouse. The main entrance into the penthouse is located on the left side of the building.

Playboy X's Penthouse, or the Northwood safehouse, is one of Niko Bellic's possible safehouses in Grand Theft Auto IV. It is located in Northwood at the Xenotime St-Galveston Ave intersection.

Getting the safehouse

The safehouse was originally purchased by Playboy X in 1993 when his mentor Dwayne Forge was arrested of a drug crack-down. Playboy X lived there until 2008 in the events of Grand Theft Auto IV where if the player decides to kill Playboy in The Holland Play, Dwayne will give Niko the penthouse as a gift.

If the player decides to kill Dwayne, the safehouse remains Playboy X's, but the player can still gain access by landing a helicopter on the roof - the patio doors are permanently open, although none of the features inside can be used. The player can also access the penthouse by parking an SUV or other high-roofed vehicle at the bottom of the fire stairs and climbing up them. The player can also own up to 2 cars/vehicles in the parking space, as Playboy's gold Patriot is still there.

Around the same time of acquiring this safehouse, Roman buys another one in Algonquin. Together, the Algonquin safehouses are vastly superior to the South Bohan Safehouse and the safehouse that follows in terms of their condition and facilities. It is unknown if Niko shared this safehouse with Roman, as they had shared all their other safehouses.

Amenities

It has a Panoramic wide screen television, jacuzzi, pool table, punching bag and an outfit based on the clothing style of Claude from Grand Theft Auto III; the penthouse itself has no internet, but you can use the guard's computer downstairs, in the lobby - interestingly, the monitor bears the Tw@ desktop when not in use. Niko can't play pool by himself, but can play against friends and dates. This pool table does incur quite a few unwanted glitches. Animations of characters setting up shots are often in incorrect directions and the balls often fall off the table when hit very hard towards corners. When the player picks up a friend or date, it won't be listed on the map, but the player can still walk through the door and take the elevator, regardless. The penthouse also includes photographs of a child Playboy X and Dwayne, evidence of the penthouse's previous owner and his associate.

From the bedroom there is an open double-door which leads out onto a wood and stone-floored patio. There are deck chairs and a sunshade, a hot tub and a gas barbecue outside with an explosive gas canister. The player can exit the patio by going down the fire stairs at one side, or can jump across to the adjacent building and take the internal stairs straight to street level. A fall from the patio can kill the player.

Trivia

  • On the coffee table, there is a magazine entitled "BJ". If examined closely the front of the magazine has a member of the North Holland Hustlers.
  • Playboy X's Penthouse is a near-perfect place to obtain the "One Man Army" achievement/trophy. To do this the player has to do the following: access the internet on the guard's computer in the lobby and go to littlelacysurprisepageant.com inside the apartment, therefore gaining a five star wanted level. The player must then either activate the "increase wanted level" cheat (this does not block any achievements) or kill police officers that come into the lobby. As soon as the player kills enough police officers to get bumped up to six stars or gains a six star wanted level with the first method, immediately head back for the elevator to the apartment. The player will have six stars, but the police won't be able to follow you up. However, the police can use the opposite building to access the player's loft. Crouch behind the pool table with an Ak-47 or Carbine Rifle and blast away any police officers that access the loft via the opposite building. After keeping this up for five minutes, the player should receive the achievement. When the player has achieved the achievement, save the game, and you'll be back to full health with the wanted level wiped out. Except for the saving part, the player can use this method regardless of if they have chosen to kill Playboy X or Dwayne Forge in the mission The Holland Play to gain the achievement.

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