5 most notoriously difficult missions in the GTA series

The GTA series has a surprisingly good number of notoriously difficult missions to play through.

Everything about mission difficulty is subjective. As a result, all of the missions listed in this article will focus on public perception rather than personal opinion. For example, Did Somebody Say Yoga? is an easy mission for some players, but it still has a reputation of being a widely hated mission thanks to how slow-paced it is.

The line of thought is the reason for the entries listed below. Naturally, there are more than just five challenging missions players often struggled with, but this article will try to deviate from all of the usual suspects written on various sites.

Some obvious answers will be listed, while some more obscure ones will also end up on this list to add a little bit of flavor.

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Five highly tricky missions in the GTA series

5) Wrong Side of the Tracks (GTA San Andreas)

Some fans would consider this to be an overrated mission regarding its difficulty. Honestly, it is easy to complete if players jump onto the train and take care of the Vagos themselves.

However, most players don't do that. Instead, they choose to do it the way the mission intends them to do it by driving near the train so Big Smoke can shoot at them. Unfortunately, Big Smoke is a pretty terrible shot, and his gun is one of the weaker ones in GTA San Andreas.

Add in the fact that players are driving a motorcycle (which can crash easily, thus likely failing the mission), and it's easy to see why so many players struggle with it. Its reputation as one of the hardest missions in the GTA series earns it a spot on this list, even if there are objectively harder ones out there.

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4) Espresso-2-Go! (GTA 3)

A lack of basic map features can easily make a mission just that much more frustrating. If Espresso-2-Go! was in a game like GTA Vice City, it wouldn't be too bad because players could easily open up the map to see where they're going.

However, the original version of GTA 3 did not have that. Instead, players had to rely on their minimap to get around. Unfortunately, Liberty City isn't that easy to navigate, so casual players will likely have to spend a few minutes trying to memorize the routes to do it successfully.

The biggest offender for this mission is the fact that it's on a time limit. It's not an exceptionally forgiving time limit, either, so players who go on the wrong routes will waste precious time, making Espresso-2-Go! an unnecessary time waster.

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3) S.A.M. (GTA 3)

Like in Espresso-2-Go!, S.A.M. is another mission with a time limit. Inconveniently, the route to the airport has a bridge that raises and lowers from time to time, meaning that some players are forced to waste time just for a bridge to lower.

Aside from an unnecessary time sink, S.A.M. also features some heavily armed NPCs (including one with a Rocket Launcher). Speaking of Rocket Launchers, Claude is supposed to shoot down a Dodo with one in this mission.

Unfortunately, the easiest way to do this is to be on the runaway as the Dodo approaches players. Assuming they don't get run over embarrassingly, they will also have to deal with a four-star Wanted Level.

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2) Death Row (GTA Vice City)

Death Row has all of the elements of a mission some GTA fans would find difficult. There's a time limit, enemies have great weaponry, and it involves a lot of driving. The time limit isn't as evident as other missions since it's a more vague indicator of how long Lance Vance has before he dies.

Once players get there, they will have to be careful about the heavily armed guards in the junkyard. If they don't have armor, they will be shredded quickly. Likewise, some vehicles will be blown up easily if players are getting shot at all the time.

Once they get Lance Vance, they will have to drive back to the hospital. More of Diaz's goons will harass players, so they will have to be careful not to get Lance Killed on the way. There is also no monetary reward for completing this mission.

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1) Demolition Man (GTA Vice City)

RC missions are notoriously hated by the GTA community. The concept is excellent, but the execution is terrible.

Flying an RC helicopter to sabotage a construction building sounds excellent on paper, but the reasons the execution is terrible are that the control scheme and time limit are rather unforgiving.

Once players figure out how to fly the RC Helicopter, it's a tolerable mission. Not fun by any means, but they should be able to repeatedly beat the task every time they replay the game. The problem with this mission lies in a player's first playthrough.

If they are playing GTA Vice City for the first time, chances are, they aren't going to understand the helicopter physics very well. This mission is unlocked pretty early in the storyline, meaning that gamers will likely expect it to be as easy as the other missions up to that point, adding to the frustration.

Note: This article reflects the writer's personal views.