The Cousins Bellic

The Cousins Bellic is the first storyline mission in Grand Theft Auto IV.

Arriving in Liberty City
The mission begins with the crew of the Platypus, a merchant ship, preparing to dock in Liberty City. One of the crew members, Niko Bellic, is telling fellow passenger Hossan Ramzy about his cousin Roman and the "successful" life he has forged for himself since moving to America.

As the ship docks and the crew disembarks, Niko waits for Roman on the dock. Roman eventually arrives driving a taxi, drunk and delighted to see Niko. After calming Roman down, he asks Niko to drive them home because he is too drunk to do so. Niko enquires about the taxi, as Roman claimed he had a sports car, with Roman claiming it is "in the shop".

Drive to Roman's apartment

 * Drive to Roman's place .
 * Waypoint: Broker Safehouse, near Mohawk Avenue in Hove Beach, Broker

As Niko and Roman drive away from the docks, Roman explains that the bridges in the city have been closed due to a terrorist threat, and he advises Niko to stay in Broker because he does not have a visa.

Eventually, Niko and Roman arrive at a rundown apartment on Mohawk Avenue in Hove Beach. When they walk in, the apartment is incredibly dirty and unkempt, and Niko discovers that the life Roman had described in his letters to him (the mansion, sports cars and multiple women) was a lie, and he actually runs a taxi firm. Niko is dismayed, but decides to stay. The mission ends with Roman saying he has to get the taxi back to the depot, and he leaves the apartment whilst answering an aggressive phone call from a man named Vlad.

Tips

 * It might be a good idea to get some weapons hidden in areas around Broker, Dukes and Bohan, as the area around Hove Beach is very rough.

Reward
The reward for completing this mission is $25 and the mission It's Your Call is unlocked. The player can now save their game at the Broker Safehouse and store vehicles in the parking space outside. The player will also receive the Off The Boat Achievement/Trophy.

Trivia

 * The first song heard in the game is "Soviet Connection" by Michael Hunter, GTA IV 's theme. The second song heard is "Schweine" by Glukoza, inside Roman's cab. It is featured on the in-game radio station Vladivostok FM.
 * The song in Roman's car will change if the player skips the cutscene. But it will always be on Vladivostok FM.
 * After the April 26 2018 patch for the game that removed and replaced the majority of Vladivostok FM due to the music licenses expiring, the set song playing in Roman's cab will now be "The Invasion" by Seryoga.
 * Roman's taxi in this mission has lower acceleration than usual, presumably because this is the first car driven by new players that are not yet familiar with the driving style (especially those familiar with the controls used in the 3D Universe games, as opposed to the different controls used in GTA IV).
 * The opening of the Rockstar game Red Dead Redemption mirrors this mission, as the protagonists (Niko Bellic and John Marston) arrive by boat and a car is lifted off the boat by a crane.
 * Niko places his suitcase next to the front door of the apartment, but when the cutscene ends, the suitcase is no longer there.
 * If the player tries to enter the apartment before parking in the space (and thus starting the cutscene), it will be locked.
 * In the third trailer for the game, "Move Up, Ladies," the scene with Roman meeting Niko is shown during the day while in-game the mission takes place at night.
 * Niko says "Drago Dirat Dicu" in this mission. Many people consider this a "half and half" sentence (meaning that all the words used in this sentence are not of the same language). It was later confirmed by Michael Hollick at Comic-Con that all the words are part of the ancient Serbian language and are considered a part of Serbian in the old Yugoslavia and most parts of Russia.
 * Roman comments on how the city is a "big Üder Milken ice cream shop", with "36 flavors of titty". This is a reference to Baskin and Robbins, which is notable for having 31 flavors of ice cream.
 * The portion of the opening cutscene in which Roman enters in his cab is a possible reference to a similar scene from the 1971 film; The French Connection in which, a Lincoln Continental (on which Roman's taxi is based) drives at speed onto a Brooklyn dock as a car is being lowered from a nearby ship.
 * If the player somehow manages to save before this mission ends (such as enabling movement with mods after the second cutscene ends) then the save game file will be called "In The Beginning", similarly to that of 3D Universe GTA games.

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