5 Most Controversial GTA Missions Of All Time, Ranked

The "Grand Theft Auto" series didn't become the biggest franchise in gaming by being polite and inoffensive. In fact, ever since original publishers BMG Interactive hired publicist Max Clifford to encourage the backlash to 1997's "Grand Theft Auto,"  the saga has been synonymous with controversy. Of course, a game that affords players the freedom to indiscriminately mow down pedestrians, and in fact rewards them for doing so with cash and points, was always going to upset a few people, and the people didn't disappoint. In the almost 30 years since "GTA" first debuted, plenty of "GTA" characters have caused controversy, many a lawsuit has been filed, and multiple politicians have spoken out about how Rockstar's mega-hits have corrupted the youth.

Today, few take their arguments seriously. On the other hand, even the most dedicated "GTA" fans have surely had moments where they've questioned the ethics of the franchise. Now, with the upcoming "Grand Theft Auto 6" already facing a ban in at least one country, the tradition of controversy looks set to continue. With that in mind, now is an excellent time to take stock of all the horrific things we've done at the behest of crime bosses and corrupt authorities throughout the history of "GTA." 

While the open world nature of the games has allowed us to embark on deranged rampages at our pleasure, "Grand Theft Auto" has also made certain unspeakable crimes mandatory via missions that required killing, maiming, and even torturing in order to succeed. Did Rockstar go too far in some of these cases? Or is it all part of the "GTA" experience? Let's take a look at some of the most controversial missions in franchise history and see.

Does anybody look back on "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" with anything other than fond memories of cruising the Ocean Drive drag while tossing molotov cocktails into the crowds? Well, some Haitians aren't too nostalgic for a game they claimed encouraged players to specifically target Haitian characters. In 2004, Haitian civil rights groups brought a lawsuit against Rockstar Games arguing that "Vice City" should be withdrawn from shelves for instructing players to "Kill the Haitians."

Two missions in particular stand out. "Naval Engagement" required players to descend on a group of Haitian gangsters and eliminate them before stealing their drugs. Then there was "Trojan Voodoo," which begins with Umberto Robina (Danny Trejo) announcing, "I'm gonna kill me a Haitian and then I'm gonna make love like a man" and revolves around "taking out the Haitians" by blowing up their processing plant.

Rockstar initially responded by releasing a statement (via The Guardian), formally apologizing and promising to "remove the objectionable statements from future copies." But that wasn't enough. As Haitian Centres Council spokesman Fred Fabien told The Guardian, "We are demanding a total recall of the game, and we are holding a demonstration to show our outrage and to protest against the violence and racism in the game." Others, appalled with the games' overall embrace of violence and debauchery, jumped on the bandwagon — including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg— all of whom were convinced society was headed for total collapse because of a video game. Ultimately, "Vice City" remained on shelves (though in a slightly censored form).

"Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars" might not be as well known as some of the bigger titles in the "GTA" saga, but it did contain one of the darkest moments in franchise history. The game, originally released for the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, put players in control of young Triad member Huang Lee as he travels to Liberty City and quickly winds up pulled into the city's drug trade.

During his time in Liberty City, in a mission titled "Flatliner," Ming family boss Zhou Ming tells Lee to pick up his "friend" Uri from the airport. Uri is a criminal who's been granted "medical release" due to his heart condition, and all players have to do is pick him up and bring him to Ming. Seems simple enough. But when you actually pick up Uri, you have to steal his ambulance and race across Liberty City while trying to outrun an aggressive police escort. Once you make it to Ming's garage, the Triad boss confronts Uri and we learn that these two are anything but friends. The camera then cuts to a view of the ambulance as Uri screams. When we cut back to Ming, he's holding Uri's heart and wearing a sinister, blood-soaked grin.

It's certainly not the most controversial "GTA" mission in terms of real-world backlash. But it does belong to a handful of missions that have an extra layer of sadism built in. Unlike many "GTA" moments you shouldn't play around your parents, "Flatliner" felt particularly dark, and even though the relatively rudimentary graphics meant we were spared any real gore, Uri's screams and the image of that trembling ambulance surely remained burned into the collective memory of gamers worldwide.

Plenty of games have courted controversy, but Rockstar are particularly adept at stoking ire. While having to remove lines of dialogue to appease Haitian advocacy groups is bad enough, it's nothing compared to the $20 million mistake Rockstar made with "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas."

When the game debuted in 2004, it was replete with all the transgressive elements gamers were used to, which is lots of sex and violence. But Rockstar stopped short of allowing players to actually witness their in-game character engaging in intercourse. Rather, they made sure to hide that one aspect of the game. But it didn't stay hidden for long.

The mini-game in question, retroactively and unofficially dubbed "Hot Coffee," was discovered by a group of modders, who accessed the PS2 version of the "San Andreas" file formats ahead of the release of the Windows version. There, they found several files with names such as "SEX," "KISSING," "SNM," and "B*******." They'd just discovered a mini-game that allowed players to control protagonist Carl "CJ" Johnson as he had sex with his in-game girlfriend. 

When the Windows version of the game dropped, the modders were able to unlock the mini-game, prompting significant legal backlash. Multiple offended parties filed class action lawsuits, including shareholders in Rockstar's parent company Take-Two Interactive, who alleged the company's response to the "Hot Coffee" incident was an example of financial mismanagement. This ultimately cost the company $20 million. The reveal of "Hot Coffee" even prompted Hillary Clinton to weigh in on the game's "graphic pornographic and violent content." All in all, then, the "Hot Coffee" scandal became arguably the most controversial episode in Rockstar history.

"Hot Coffee" was a dark day for Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games. But the offensive content in question wasn't technically a mission, which meant players weren't required to take part in its lewdness in order to progress through the game. That wasn't the case with the mission "Hot Dog Homicide" from 1999's "Grand Theft Auto 2," which remains one of the worst things "GTA" games have ever made us do.

Over the course of three decades, gamers have engaged in all manner of debauchery while playing "Grand Theft Auto." But only once were they required to round up civilians and deliver them to a meat processing plant to be turned into hotdog emulsion. Back in 1999's "GTA 2," the elegantly-named Russian mafia kingpin Jerkov tasks protagonist Claude Speed with picking up unsuspecting commuters at bus stops.

It seems a local meat processing company has offered to feed the mob boss's foot soldiers if he provides cheap meat, and what's cheaper than human flesh straight from the streets? Players are required to deliver a busload of citizens to the R. S. & L. Bows Meat Processing Plant to be tossed into a grinder. The mission ends when players deliver the human mince to the Kovski Diner in a Hot Dog Van.

Pedestrians had a rough go of it in the early days of "GTA," with players earning points simply for running them down. But rounding them up and delivering them to be turned into hotdog meat was a whole new level, and easily one of the darkest moments in the history of the franchise. While the mission might not have directly yielded any lawsuits, it was definitely one of those times we all felt a little bad about ourselves.

This is easily one of those times the "Grand Theft Auto" series unequivocally took things too far. "By the Book" is a mission in "Grand Theft Auto V" in which players were meant to carry out interactive torture. The mission sees FIB agent Steve Haines call Michael De Santa and Trevor Philips to a warehouse. There, he's holding Ferdinand Kerimov, who has information about a target. While Michael and Dave Norton leave to assassinate that target, Trevor is left to extract information from Kerimov, which he does by torturing him in a variety of ways. 

Players are given the option to choose between an assortment of devices, including gasoline, a wrench, and pliers. The latter are, at one point, used to extract Kerimov's tooth in one of the most wince-inducing moments in "GTA"-history. While there's usually some sort of dark humor to offset the violence in "GTA" games, rotating the R-stick in order to rip Kerimov's tooth from his gums felt gratuitous. 

As you might imagine, "By the Book" stirred up controversy, with human rights groups, including Freedom from Torture, Amnesty, and a teacher's union speaking out against the mission. Freedom from Torture chief executive Keith Best released a statement (via The Guardian) in which he said, "Rockstar North has crossed a line by effectively forcing people to take on the role of a torturer and perform a series of unspeakable acts if they want to achieve success in the game." Whether you agree or not, Best did hit upon something when he added, "If Rockstar North's message is a satirical critique of the practice of torture, it's lost on us." Even fans agreed.