For Niko Bellic, fresh off the cargo ship that brought him from Europe, his arrival holds the promise of escaping his past.
For his cousin, Roman, it's the opportunity to make a fortune together in Liberty City, a city where anything is possible.
As their debts accumulate and they fall into the criminal underworld, driven by a series of con artists, thieves, and sociopaths, they discover that reality is far different from the dream in a city that worships money and social status, a city that proves to be a paradise for some and a living nightmare for others.