| Start | Get into a law enforcement vehicle and press the button shown in the help text |
|---|---|
| Opens after | In the Beginning |
| Needed for 100% | Complete level 12 in a row, in a police vehicle or as Brown Thunder in a Hunter |
| Rewards | $50 times the level number squared per level, and your maximum armor raised by half |
Vigilante is a string of chases: each level sends you after a criminal in a marked car, and you have to stop the vehicle before the clock runs out. The twelve levels must be done in one run, because a failed or canceled run starts again at level 1. A fast, handy vehicle matters more here than a big one, since the targets try to lose you across the whole city.
Starting Vigilante
Any of these vehicles starts the mission: HPV1000, the police cars of Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas, Ranger, Enforcer, S.W.A.T. van, FBI Rancher, FBI Truck (which cannot be obtained in normal play), Barracks, Rhino or Hunter. Sit in one and press the button in the help text. The game gives you the criminal’s last known area, and a timer. A marked vehicle appears on the radar and the driver tries to get away.
The HPV1000 police bike is quick and turns tightly, which makes it a good choice. A police car works too.
The chase
Catch up to the target and shoot the vehicle or its occupants until the criminal is dead. Setting the vehicle on fire or boxing it in for a couple of seconds makes the occupants bail out and run or look for another car, so be ready to deal with them on foot. A time bonus carries over to the next level when you finish one. You can leave the police vehicle to finish a target on foot, but you have only 60 seconds to be back in a law enforcement vehicle, and a message counts down how many seconds you have left.
If you spend more than 60 seconds out of a police vehicle, run out of time, or are Wasted or Busted, the mission ends.
Rewards by level
Every level pays $50 times the level number squared. All twelve levels add up to $32,500.
| Level | Cash |
|---|---|
| 1 | $50 |
| 2 | $200 |
| 3 | $450 |
| 4 | $800 |
| 5 | $1,250 |
| 6 | $1,800 |
| 7 | $2,450 |
| 8 | $3,200 |
| 9 | $4,050 |
| 10 | $5,000 |
| 11 | $6,050 |
| 12 | $7,200 |
Brown Thunder, Rhino and Hunter
Start the job in a Hunter and the mission is called Brown Thunder. It plays the same, but the Hunter’s machine guns and missiles end a chase far faster than anything on the ground. The levels you clear count toward Vigilante, so if you reach level 12 in a Hunter you do not need to repeat it in a police vehicle. The Rhino tank can also start the mission. See vehicles for where to find them.
The armor reward
Level 12 raises your maximum armor by 50 percent, so you can carry more body armor from then on. It also counts toward 100% on the 100% checklist, along with Firefighter, Paramedic and Pimping.
