Crazy things can happen in GTA. Wild, unscripted moments that are both amazing and ridiculous, given the unscripted nature of the basic gameplay. This is one of those stories.

As I'm working my way through the Lost and the Damned, I've come across a very familiar mission. For the spoiler sensitive, we'll just say I have to work my way down and out of an apartment building and shake the heat. standard operation, stop and pop game play just breath fresh air. Once I get out in the open, I hop on my bike and take a few good shots, deteriorating all my armor. All I've got to do is get out of that search radius, and I'm on with the rest of my biker life. In the rush, I head for the Algonquin Bridge, hoping to outrun the radius and evade another restart.



But sure enough, there's cops on the bridge, already in road block formation. In a car, this usually isn't a problem. On a bike, its maximum risky. Throwing caution to the wind, I floor it and hit the barricade between two armored paddy wagons. Still getting used to bike physics, I didn't realize I would be launched into the air! As I make a grand 15 foot high flatspin, I right myself for a two wheel landing. If everything's good, I'll hit the ground ready to speed off against traffic, onward to freedom.

Everything was not good.

The Algonquin Bridge is a fascinating work of architecture. Along the surface, commuter cars travel between the island and the burroughs, while commuter trains pass underneath. Along the side, for only the craziest of health nuts, there's a walking path the runs the full length of the bridge, parallel to the train tracks. As I come down, my bike wedges in an impossible position right above the walking path, and just between the two levels of the bridge. Perfectly wedged, with no amount of revving making any difference.

So, against my biker instincts, I leave my precious bike wedged on the Algonquin Bridge, and I book it west to the island. Rain had started to fall and the police were still on to me it seemed. There were no trains coming, so I jumped over to the tracks and used that as cover, taking care not to be in the way of the train coming from the burroughs. I eventually outrun the radius, as the force passes over and around me on the road above. Out of breath, Johnny stops and bends over. I take a moment to camera swing around, marvelling in the ridiculousness of what had just happened.



Johnny then becomes very popular, receiving calls from Billy Grey and Liza Torres. Hurt up, he makes his way to a soda machine to regain health ... wait. Its the freaking Cable Car!

As Niko, I had always kind of wanted to find the cable car station and take a ride. I'd never worked it out, and had forgotten about trying by the time I had finished playing GTA IV the first time around. Now, by dumb luck, here I was. Hoping it was an honest to goodness working ride, I hung out. While I waited, Johnny receives another call, a threat. To the threat, Johnny forcefully advises the caller to screw himself, and to get a warrant if he wanted him.

Thinking nothing of the threat, I board the car when it arrives. Just as I go, a 1 star wanted level pops up, but just too late for the responding officers. As Johnny rides across the river, he deftly shirks the radius. Simply from taking a cable car ride.

That was the coolest lift ride ever.



I find my way to the street and call in a ride from the road captain. I was gonna miss that bike stuck on the bridge like that. It turns out though that the Hexer Classic isn't *really* that hard to come by. After saddling up on my shiny new Hexer, I ride off into the city, Liberty Rock blasting on the radio.

Say what you will about the sameness of GTA missions. With a world crafted with this much detail, the possibilities for unexpected experiences can lend a layer of freshness to even the most mundane of missions. I really enjoy the GTA series, and this one of the biggest reasons why.