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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11The safest way to play Grand Theft Auto III is to finish the Portland contact chains, move to Staunton Island, complete Kenji Kasen’s Smack Down before Donald Love’s Waka-Gashira Wipeout, and finish Asuka Kasen’s Two-Faced Tanner before Donald Love’s Grand Theft Aero. Those two dependencies are the important safeguards for a 100% file. The story then continues through Donald Love, Catalina, and The Exchange in Shoreside Vale.
This guide gives the island-by-island order, explains which activities can be missed or locked out, and separates a fast story route from a complete 100% route.
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How GTA III’s progression is organized
Grand Theft Auto III divides its world and mission markers among three islands: Portland, Staunton Island, and Shoreside Vale. The game opens in Portland. A story transition then opens Staunton Island, and later missions make Shoreside Vale accessible. Different contacts offer missions at the same time, so the game does not require one single linear list for every job.
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- ESRB Rating: Mature
- Genre: Action/Adventure
Mission-count terminology
One commonly cited inventory counts 50 storyline missions, 17 pay-phone missions, four off-road missions, and four remote-controlled missions: 75 entries in that classification. Other guides publish different totals because they may count cutscenes, sub-missions, or completion activities differently. The numbers are therefore useful only when the counting convention is stated; they are not interchangeable totals.
Recommended order at a glance
| Stage | Area | What to complete | Progression purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portland | Introduction, Give Me Liberty, then Luigi Goterelli, Joey Leone, Toni Cipriani, Salvatore Leone, and 8-Ball jobs | Completes the opening Leone-family storyline and triggers the island transition |
| 2 | Staunton Island | Asuka Kasen, Kenji Kasen, Ray Machowski, and Donald Love missions as their markers appear | Builds the central conflict and unlocks the later story |
| 3 | Staunton safeguard | Finish Smack Down before Waka-Gashira Wipeout; finish Two-Faced Tanner before Grand Theft Aero | Preserves the relevant contact missions for 100% completion |
| 4 | Shoreside Vale | Remaining Donald Love, Catalina, and finale missions through The Exchange | Completes the main story |
Portland: complete the opening island first
Portland is the only area available at the start. Mission markers appear gradually, so the cleanest route is to clear each contact’s chain before moving to the next major contact. The following order follows the contact grouping used by mission lists and keeps the opening narrative easy to follow.
Opening missions
- Introduction
- Give Me Liberty
Give Me Liberty establishes Claude’s first safe operating area and leads into Luigi’s missions.
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- Luigi’s Girls
- Don’t Spank Ma Bitch Up
- Drive Misty for Me
- Pump-Action Pimp
- The Fuzz Ball
These jobs introduce Luigi’s club, Misty, and the first set of organized-crime errands. If you are following a 100% route, complete all five while Luigi’s marker is active rather than leaving them indefinitely for later.
Joey Leone
- Mike Lips Last Lunch
- Farewell “Chunky” Lee Chong
- Van Heist
- Cipriani’s Chauffeur
- Dead Skunk in the Trunk
- The Getaway
Joey’s jobs expand the range of vehicle theft, escort, and gang-conflict objectives. The missions are offered from Joey’s garage and fit naturally after Luigi’s chain.
Toni Cipriani
- Taking Out the Laundry
- The Pick-Up
- Salvatore’s Called a Meeting
- Triads and Tribulations
- Blow Fish
Toni’s missions escalate the conflict with the Triads and prepare the story for Salvatore’s direct involvement.
Salvatore Leone and 8-Ball
- Chaperone
- Cutting the Grass
- Bomb Da Base: Act I
- Last Requests
- Bomb Da Base: Act II (8-Ball)
Salvatore’s chain is the Portland climax. 8-Ball’s Bomb Da Base: Act II is part of the transition sequence and should be treated as part of the same opening-island progression.
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The Portland transition and what to do before leaving
Last Requests moves the story out of the Leone family’s Portland orbit. After the transition, Portland’s Mafia relationship changes and some earlier opportunities are no longer practical in the same way. That is why a completion-minded save should finish all available Portland contact work and any Portland side activities you do not want to revisit before starting the transition.
- Finish every Luigi, Joey, Toni, and Salvatore mission currently available.
- Complete Portland pay-phone work you have started if you want a clean regional checklist.
- Record vehicle, import/export, hidden-package, rampage, and other activity progress rather than assuming every marker will remain convenient later.
- Keep a separate note of unfinished optional work; the story route and the 100% route have different stopping points.
The game can still be completed as a story even if you postpone optional content. The warning matters most when you are building a 100% save and want to avoid returning to an area after its factions have become hostile.
Staunton Island: the correct order for the middle game
Staunton Island opens the largest group of overlapping contacts. Asuka Kasen, Kenji Kasen, Ray Machowski, and Donald Love can present markers at the same time. You do not need to finish every marker in a rigid alternating sequence, but two relationships are important enough to govern your route.
Asuka Kasen’s chain
Work through Asuka’s available jobs as they appear. Her mission list includes:
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- Sayonara Salvatore
- Under Surveillance
- Paparazzi Purge
- Payday for Ray
- Two-Faced Tanner
- Kanbu Bust-out
- Grand Theft Auto
The critical checkpoint is Two-Faced Tanner. Complete it before starting Donald Love’s Grand Theft Aero. This is the safest ordering for retaining the relevant completion content.
Kenji Kasen’s chain
Complete Kenji’s available missions while his marker is active. The chain includes:
- Grand Theft Auto
- Deal Steal
- Shima
- Smack Down
The key checkpoint is Smack Down. Finish it before Donald Love’s Waka-Gashira Wipeout. Starting Waka-Gashira first can remove the opportunity you need for a clean 100% progression path.
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Ray Machowski’s chain
Ray’s missions are available from his police contact and can be interleaved with Asuka and Kenji work:
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- Arms Shortage
- Evidence Dash
- Gone Fishing
- Plaster Blaster
- Marked Man
Ray’s jobs are not the two cited lockout checkpoints, but clearing them as they appear reduces the chance that a side chain is forgotten while Donald’s story accelerates.
Donald Love’s chain
Donald’s missions drive the middle-to-late story:
- Liberator
- Waka-Gashira Wipeout
- A Drop in the Ocean
- Grand Theft Aero
- Escort Service
- Decoy
- Love’s Disappearance
Do not treat Donald’s marker as an instruction to rush every mission immediately. First verify the two prerequisites: Kenji’s Smack Down before Waka-Gashira Wipeout, and Asuka’s Two-Faced Tanner before Grand Theft Aero.
Shoreside Vale and the finale
When the story opens Shoreside Vale, finish the remaining Donald Love content and then follow Catalina’s missions toward the ending. The main-story endpoint is The Exchange.
Late Donald Love missions
Continue any Donald missions that remain after the Staunton sequence, including the late objectives that follow Grand Theft Aero. If a Donald marker disappears, check whether a prerequisite contact mission is still waiting elsewhere on Staunton Island before assuming the save is broken.
Catalina and The Exchange
Catalina’s late-story missions lead to the final operation. Complete the remaining Catalina objectives, including Ransom, then play The Exchange. Finishing that mission completes the central storyline, but it does not by itself produce 100% completion.
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Story-only route versus a 100% route
| Decision | Story-only route | 100% route |
|---|---|---|
| Primary goal | Unlock each island and reach The Exchange | Complete the story plus every required side-activity category |
| Mission timing | Follow available story markers; optional jobs can wait when the game permits | Clear contact chains before the two dependency missions |
| Portland | Complete enough Leone missions to trigger the transition | Finish all available Portland contact and phone work before leaving |
| Staunton | Advance Donald’s chain when you want to unlock later story | Complete Smack Down before Waka-Gashira Wipeout and Two-Faced Tanner before Grand Theft Aero |
| Tracking | A simple mission-by-mission save is sufficient | Use a checklist for phones, off-road, RC, vehicles, import/export, hidden packages, and rampages |
What 100% completion requires
A finished story is only one part of the completion total. Use a checklist with one line for every activity, not just every island.
Main story
- Complete the storyline from Give Me Liberty through The Exchange.
- Confirm that the two Staunton dependency missions were completed in the safe order.
Pay-phone missions
Complete all 17 pay-phone missions across the four phone contacts and their chains:
- Marty Chonks
- El Burro
- King Courtney
- D-Ice
Phone missions are separate from the main contact markers. A story-complete save can therefore still be missing a substantial portion of the completion total.
Off-road missions
Finish all four off-road missions. Treat these as a separate category in your checklist because they are easy to overlook while moving between story markers.
Remote-controlled missions
Finish all four remote-controlled vehicle missions. Their unusual controls and short scenarios make them distinct from ordinary vehicle jobs, so mark each one individually rather than assuming a completed contact chain covers them.
Vehicle missions and collections
- Complete the required vehicle missions.
- Finish the import/export lists.
- Collect the hidden packages.
- Complete the rampages.
The completion screen is the final authority for your save. If it is below 100%, compare each category with your checklist instead of replaying random story missions.
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Missable-content safeguards
Safeguard 1: Kenji before Waka-Gashira
Before accepting Donald Love’s Waka-Gashira Wipeout, verify that Kenji’s Smack Down is complete. This is the first order rule that matters for a safe completion file.
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Safeguard 2: Asuka before Grand Theft Aero
Before accepting Donald Love’s Grand Theft Aero, verify that Asuka’s Two-Faced Tanner is complete. Do not rely on memory of seeing an Asuka marker earlier; check the mission result in your save notes.
Safeguard 3: Portland before the transition
Before progressing through the Portland transition, clear the optional Portland work you want on the current save. Faction hostility and the island change can make a later cleanup inconvenient even when the main story remains playable.
Why different guides show different mission totals
Mission totals vary because authors classify the game differently. A list may count only storyline missions, add phone missions, include off-road and RC activities, or treat a cutscene and a multi-part job as separate entries. The cited inventory’s 50 storyline, 17 phone, four off-road, and four RC figures total 75 under that specific classification. Use the category breakdown, not a headline number detached from its definition, when checking your progress.
Troubleshooting a mission that is not appearing
No marker on the expected island
Visit every active contact on the current island and check the previous mission result. GTA III often unlocks the next job through another contact rather than the person you last helped.
Donald’s chain seems to have stopped
Check Asuka, Kenji, and Ray before assuming Donald’s missions are missing. Complete any outstanding prerequisite, especially Smack Down or Two-Faced Tanner, then return to Donald’s marker.
The story is finished but completion is not 100%
Use the category checklist: all 17 phone missions, four off-road missions, four RC missions, vehicle missions, import/export, hidden packages, and rampages. The final story mission does not substitute for those activities.
Edition and platform note
The official manual identifies Grand Theft Auto III as the product covered by this route. Menus, save behavior, and mission availability can differ between releases, so confirm the physical or digital edition and platform you are using before following a platform-specific checklist. The mission order above describes the original game’s three-island progression rather than a promise that every re-release has identical interface details.
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