| Levels | One to four police heads at the top of the screen |
|---|---|
| Lose it with | A respray at a spray shop, or a Cop Bribe |
| If arrested | You lose weapons, armor and half your multiplier |
| Related | Power-ups, weapons, saving |
Your wanted level is the number of police heads shown at the top of the screen, from one to four. Crimes such as shooting, hit-and-run, crashing and stealing cars raise it, and it never fades by itself. Hiding in an alley does nothing: the heads stay on screen until you pay for a respray or pick up a Cop Bribe.
The four levels
| Heads | What the police do |
|---|---|
| One | Minor trouble, such as shooting or running over a few pedestrians, attacking a cop or blowing up a car. One police car comes to your last known position. |
| Two | Up to two police cars chase you, and the officers arrest or shoot you on sight. |
| Three | The first serious level. Roadblocks with armored officers armed with pistols appear, and cars try to force you off the road. |
| Four | The police turn aggressive and use Machine Guns, pedestrians vanish from the streets, and you are very exposed on foot. |
Police can notice you without being on the scene: breaking the law within earshot of a patrol car or officer gets you a wanted level at once. The heads bob up and down while a cop can see you and stay still when you are out of sight. A few missions push you to four heads instantly, for example the job in Gangsta Bang: Phone 1.
Getting busted
The police prefer to arrest you, though they will shoot or ram you too. If you are arrested, you are dropped at the nearest police station and your wanted level resets to zero, but you lose all your weapons, your armor and half of your score multiplier. That last penalty hurts, since it cuts every later payout. A Get Outta Jail Free Card cancels the penalties, so grab one when you can. See power-ups.
Losing the heat
There are two ways to clear your wanted level. First, drive to a spray shop. A respray or a new plate disguises the car, and the police stop looking for you even if they saw you drive in. It costs points, and the price rises with your wanted level. Second, pick up a Cop Bribe, a free pickup inside certain crates in every city. It clears the level once, so each bribe is worth saving for a bad moment.
Tips
- Stay in a vehicle at three or four heads. On foot you cannot outrun a Machine Gun.
- Do not deliver cars to a crane while wanted: the operator refuses. See crane bonuses.
- Think before the Gouranga stunt in bonuses, which gives you a full wanted level.
- The game saves only when you finish a chapter, so a bad chase is not saved. See saving.