After completing the Meltdown mission, Lester contacts Michael for another heist: The Big Score. The goal here is to take on the Union Depository Bank (17 Power Street, Pillbox Hill, Downtown Los Santos) and steal gold.
Lester offers two approaches for this heist: subtle approach and obvious approach. Both approaches essentially have the same outcome, i.e., stealing gold- but the methodology and payout differ. Let’s have a look at both.
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Subtle Approach
For the subtle approach, players will need:
- Police stinger equipped with spike strips stolen from the LSPD.
- Three modified Bravado Gauntlets, as they have the perfect weight, durability, and speed to carry gold.
- Two gunmen.
- Two drivers.
- One experienced hacker who can hack into the city systems without drawing attention.
This is a low-stakes approach, and players can proceed with comparative ease. It doesn’t involve a lot of confrontation. Using the subtle approach, players will disguise themselves as the bank's guards, go in, and steal the gold.
Michael and Trevor will ambush the two armored trucks or Securicars going into the Union Depository. Those present in the trucks are taken as hostages, and one of them helps with the break-in. Disguised as Gruppe 6 officers, they enter the Union Depository, where they are led by the bank manager to the underground vault. The underground vault is where all the gold is hidden, and players will need to cart it away to the armored trucks. With the manager not suspecting anything, it all goes smoothly.
However, as they try to get away, Lester calls to warn Trevor and Michael that Merryweather (the private military in GTA) is onto them. Therefore, they’ll have to try and get to their destination ASAP.
Michael and Trevor’s major part is done; now it is Franklin who must ensure the rest of the mission goes over smoothly. He takes over the traffic system with the help of a hacker, making sure the lights turn green for Michael and Trevor and red for the Merryweather team.
Once the team has reached the decided point, they will have to transfer gold into their getaway vehicles, the modified Gauntlets. But their task will be disrupted by Merryweather soldiers. Franklin, Trevor, Michael, and two gunmen will engage in a gunfight, after which the team escapes in their getaway cars, with some Merryweather mercenaries still hot on the trail. The mission is done once they manage to lose these Merryweather soldiers.
The total payout for the Subtle Approach is $201,600,000. After payments to the crew members, the cut for each protagonist comes to be $35 million.
The Obvious Approach
For the obvious approach, players will need:
- A cutter/driller to destroy the vault.
- One modified getaway vehicle.
- Two drivers, one for the helicopter and the other for the train.
- Two gunmen, one with Michael and the other with Franklin.
This is a high-risk, high-reward approach. Where there were hardly any confrontations and fights in the subtle approach, the obvious approach is full of them. There is no subtlety with this method. Rather, the team goes in with blazing guns.
The mission starts with the members splitting into three teams of two; Trevor and Lester get on a helicopter, Franklin and a crew member in one team, and Michael and another member in another.
Franklin’s team heads underground with a cutter into the wall of the vault, removing the barrier between them and the gold. Once inside the bank, Franklin uses bombs to further blow open the doors. Right after the explosions, the NOOSE team arrives. While Franklin holds off the NOOSE team, his teammate loads the gold bars into two helicopters manned by Trevor and Lester.
Franklin and his crewmate fight the NOOSE team as Trevor and Lester escape with the gold in helicopters. Their goal is to transport the gold outside the city to their train located in Blaine County.
Meanwhile, Michael and the gunman are in the middle of a showdown with the NOOSE team when they are joined by Franklin and his teammate. The four then have to fight their way ferociously to their getaway car parked underground. At this point, players have a choice to either keep hiding underground or to escape right away. However, it’s important to note that they'll now have a five-star wanted rating, which can make either choice difficult.
Once the quartet escapes, the mission once again switches over to Trevor, who now has Merryweather on his heels. To deal with the military choppers, players can shoot rockets at them. After clearing out the choppers, all crew members will reach the Sandy Shores Airfield, and that wraps up the mission.
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The payout for Obvious Approach is bigger as it’s more risky. The total payout is $201,600,000, and each protagonist takes with them somewhere around $40 million.
Which Approach is Better?
The subtle approach may be the safer way to go about this heist, but it also pays less and barely has any adventure. The obvious approach, on the other hand, is exhilarating, and the hefty payout makes it worthwhile.
Grand Theft Auto 5
- Released
- September 17, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar North
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Franchise
- Grand Theft Auto
- Platform(s)
- Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Action
