Just drive. The guys chasing you will try to knock you off the road by hitting your car on the driver’s side: don’t let them. Try driving really close to oncoming traffic, effectively “shaving” the tail off your caboose. Once you’re in the clear, use the map to get to Salieri’s place. Just be sure to use your speed limiter (default key is F4) so that you don’t get pulled over on the way there. In fact, it’s a good rule in general to always use the speed limiter when you’re not in a hurry.

The key to “Molotov Party” is to sneak up to this guard and clock him with your baseball bat. >>

■ Running Man

You’ll start this mission driving your fares back and forth, but things go south when some of Morello’s men come to rough you up. All you need to do is survive and make it to Salieri’s bar. Use the map so you won’t run into any dead-ends, and strafe left to right as you run to minimize the number of times you get hit.

■ Molotov Party

This one’s a cakewalk. Once you get to the parking lot, just go around back, sneak up to the guard from behind, and knock him out with one fully charged hit from your baseball bat. Then use your Molotov cocktails and baseball bat to destroy the three cars in the lot.

■ Ordinary Routine

You get your first taste of serious action here. The job starts off quiet, but it’ll heat up real fast once you get to the motel. Enter the motel through the back window on the second floor, using the crates in the back of the building to get up to the window. Don’t enter through the front door.

Once inside, you’ll find a Tommy gun sitting on a bed in the room right across from the window. Use it to clear out the building. Before you head into the room where Sam is, go back out the way you came, to the front of the motel, and shoot the wheels off the yellow convertible parked out front. Just aim for the center of each wheel using whichever gun has the most ammo: it’ll take only a few shots to flatten it. Then, go all the way back inside and get Sam. If you need health, you’ll find some in the bathroom to the right of the stairs on the second floor.

<<To enter the motel in “Ordinary Routine,” climb up these crates to get onto the second-story balcony.

The last guy will take your money and run outside. But guess what? Since you blew the wheels off his car, he isn’t going anywhere. Rub him out and you’re done.

■ Fairplay

No one in the mob plays fair, and this job proves it. Stealing the racecar and getting it back in time isn’t the hard part: Just stay clear of cops by using your radar, and to avoid damaging the car, don’t drive too fast. The time limit isn’t as tight as it seems if you keep a good pace.

The real challenge comes in winning the race: This contest is definitely one of the hardest parts of the game. There’s no fast and easy way through it — you just have to keep racing ’til you come in first. Try to get a lead early and hold it, rather than trying to work your way up slowly. Also, the usual mouse-and-keyboard setup doesn’t facilitate the best driving. If you have a joystick, use it for your driving controls: it’ll make winning much easier.

■ Sarah

Here’s your turn to get some action of another kind. But first, you’ll have to bust some heads. No big deal: just escort Sarah home. When some tough guys show up, teach ’em a lesson. To make pummeling them easier, beat them with the wooden plank leaning against the right wall in the alley where you are attacked. The most effective way to deal with these guys is to run away to give yourself some distance, and then charge up a full-power hit. Start swinging once someone gets close enough. You don’t need to kill these guys, so don’t chase after them when they run away, or else you’ll lose Sarah.

Use this wooden plank to go to town on some unruly thugs in “Sarah.” Full-power swings are key. >>

■ Better Get Used to It

Your biggest problem will be keeping Paulie alive. Try to keep guys off him because the mission ends if he goes down. The mission will also end if you start shooting before the bad guys do. Use the same hit-and-run technique you used in the previous mission. If you’re having trouble when the gunfight starts, try rolling, shooting, and rolling and shooting again — you’ll take fewer hits that way.

In the post-cutscene car chase, all you need to do is keep up: The guys in the car will eventually wreck.

■ The Whore, Part I: The Hotel

Once you get to the hotel, talk to the concierge, and he’ll tell you that the guy you’re looking for is in the restaurant. Take a right and go to the last room. At the corner table you’ll see a man in a white suit. Shoot him and his bodyguards. More people will come into the room once the shooting starts: take care of them and head back to the concierge. Go behind the counter and get the key to the manager’s office. You’ll also find some health by the key.

Head to the third floor; you’ll find the prostitute in one of the rooms with a welcome mat at the door. Once you’ve taken care of her, head back the way you came to the manager’s office. There’ll be one man inside with a gun: dispatch him and plant the bomb by walking up to the desk and hitting your action key. Then get out of there.

■ The Whore, Part II: The Roof

Here’s another tough one. About a half-dozen cops are coming up the fire escape. They’ll get bottle-necked there, so if you position yourself at the top of a flight of stairs at just the right angle, you can take them out one by one without incurring too much damage. Don’t bother shooting it out with the officer across the street who’s toting the Tommy gun — just run upstairs and keep going.

There’s only one way to go, and you’ll have to make your way through more cops. Just remember to use cover wisely. Watch out for one cop with a Springfield rifle: he can kill you with one headshot. You’ll want to save your magnum revolver for him, as it’ll dish out the most damage with the least hits.

Eventually, you’ll reach a ladder that you can tip over and use as a bridge to get to the church.

■ The Whore, Part III: The Priest

After making it through all that, you’ll end up in a shootout that’s even bigger than the one you were running away from. Immediately retreat back behind the door and use it as a bottleneck. Next, you’ll want to take out both the guy in the high-up pulpit and the guy in the balcony sporting the Tommy gun. Then mop up the rest of the wiseguys.

Once you get to the door, more goombas will show up. Roll out of the way fast, as some of them have shotguns. If you still have ammo for your own shotgun, use it to blow ’em away.

When you finally get to a car, you’ll have to lose the cops. Just find some alleyway to hide out in until they stop looking for you, and then head back to Salieri’s.

■ A Trip to the Country

This night mission is full of guys with shotguns — but it’s also very straightforward. Just remember that shotguns aren’t as effective at long range: If you stay back, you can nail these enemies with your handguns. Once you get to the barn to rescue Sam, some cops will show up. Stay upstairs: it’ll give you the high-ground advantage, since you can shoot out the hay-loft window. But watch your back for anyone who may come up behind you.

<< Stay upstairs when Paulie goes for the truck. (“A Trip to the Country”)

The getaway segment isn’t hard: just shoot straight and watch your ammo. Don’t bother aiming for the tires of the cars chasing you — just take out their engines.

■ Omerta

Here’s another long mission; you’ll want a fast car for it. Talk to your informants (you’ll have to punch Joey to get info out of him) and then head to where they’re keeping Frank. You’ll end up tailing Frank to the airport. Once there, you’ll have to waste some guards while looking for Frank.

If you want, you can steal a car and use it to drive around the airport while you fire your gun out the window. Don’t kill Frank when you finally find him: just talk to him. He’ll ask you to find his family. They’re in a wooden building a couple of doors down. Find them and take him to them. Next, you’ll have to find their plane tickets. The tickets are in the first building at the parking lot where you came in. It’s crawling with cops now. Grab the tickets and get back to Frank, then make a quick getaway to the bank.

<< In “Omerta,” this building is the one with Frank’s family. Take Frank to them.

■ Visiting Rich People

Head left when the mission starts. You’ll need to take out the sentries quietly: a fully charged hit with the baseball bat should do. If you head left when the level starts, you should find a box next to a bench — it’ll turn off the lights in the backyard. Once in the house, you’ll have to make your way upstairs to the safe. If you run into anyone, knock them out with the bat. Don’t forget that you can use Salvatore to open some doors if needed. Once you have the documents, get out fast and take Salvatore back home.

Look for this box in “Visiting Rich People” — you can use it to turn off the lights in the courtyard. >>

■ A Great Deal

This mission goes downhill fast once you get in the parking lot. Use the cars in the garage as cover; if you want, you can move them to form a barrier before the cutscene starts to provide more adequate cover. When you work your way downstairs, watch out for the guys barricaded behind their cars: they have grenades. Listen carefully and you’ll hear when a grenade lands near you. Try to take out these enemies from a distance. Once you’ve killed everyone, you have to go back up to the truck and drive it back to the warehouse. If you don’t lose the tail, get ready for one last shootout once you reach the warehouse.

■ Bon Appétit

It’s just you and Salieri here. When Morello’s hitmen start shooting up the restaurant, head outside through the back door. Once outside, head down the alley to the street. Watch out for the thug with a Tommy gun: kill him, take his gun, and go around the corner. You’ve now flanked Morello’s men. Take them out, then go back to the alley, and enter the building adjacent to the restaurant. Watch out for a guy with a shotgun. Kill him, then head to the second floor and take out the other guy with a Tommy gun. After that, head down to the street to eliminate anyone you missed. Move fast so Salieri doesn’t get killed. The rest is easy.

■ Happy Birthday

If you go into the building that’s behind the line for the boat, you’ll find a sailor uniform. Change your clothes and you’ll be let onboard. Go to the bathroom on the second level (toward the back of the boat and by the stairs); you’ll see that it’s locked. Find the skipper — he’s wearing a white and blue striped shirt — and talk to him a few times to get the key. Get the bucket from the bathroom that’s on the starboard-aft side of the boat and then go back to the second-floor bathroom. You’ll clean up the mess and get your gun. Return the key to the skipper and wait for the speech to start. Once it does, walk up to the counselor, kill him, and run back down to where you started the level. Paulie will be waiting in a boat to get you out of there.

■ You Lucky Bastard

You’ll spend most of the first part of this mission trying to lose tails. The tricky part comes when you’re paired with the hired goons. Once they die, you’ll have to chase down Sergio. Don’t bother trying to shoot his car: just tail him. He’ll lead you to the trainyards. You’ll have plenty of bad guys to dispatch here, but Sergio will hide in one of the buildings. You can’t get in because the door’s locked. Go to the train tracks and you’ll see a switch. Use it to direct the train tracks toward the building Sergio is in, then go to the nearby train cars and move the blocks at the wheels. The train will roll and break open the door. (You have two trains, so you can try again if you mess up the first time.) Now just go in and kill Sergio.

■ Crème De La Crème

The plan goes to hell and you’ll have to chase Morello to the airport. Once there, make a beeline for the airplane. Shoot at the engines with a shotgun or Tommy gun. If you do enough damage, Paulie and Sam will show up and give you a ride. Once in the car, keep shooting at the engines until they catch on fire.

Sometimes Morello’s car won’t turn into the airport. If this happens, just keep chasing him. He’ll eventually get caught up at a bridge and a cutscene will show you pushing his car off the edge of the bridge.

■ Election Campaign

Get into the old prison through the sewers, and kill the guy near the manhole. Fight off the bad guys inside and get up to the tower. It won’t be a challenge to hit your target: just take your time and go for the headshot. Then just make your way out by going all the way down the stairs in the tower, and when you get to your car, lose the cops.

<< Here’s your target in “Election Campaign.” Take the headshot, then make your way down to your car.

■ Just for Relaxation

Run the truck off the road and the driver will get out. Chase him down and beat him up to get the documents. Take all of the crates out of the back of the truck, get in, and drive it back to the docks. Take it straight down from the entrance and you’ll come to a warehouse on the left with the door open and a guy standing out front. Back up the truck to the warehouse and then talk to the guy. Move the crates that he points out with the help of the workers standing next to them. When you’re done, talk to the guy again and you’ll tell him they’re having problems with the train. He’ll walk off and you’ll be able to load the crates you need onto your truck. Then drive out. You’ll be chased, but it shouldn’t be too big of a problem to lose your pursuers.

■ Moonlighting

No tricks here: Just move fast once you’re in the bank and bring lots of guns. For the getaway, having a fast car such as the Trautenberg Model J is vital.

■ The Death of Art

You start off at Paulie’s. Put your guns away and run from the cops. You’ll want to stop by Yellow Pete’s shop to get some more firepower: get a rifle and whatever else you can carry. (Don’t bother getting a Tommy gun, since you’ll eventually be able to pick one up from someone you killed.) Once you get to the museum, you’ll be surrounded. Fight your way out — which may take you a few tries. Watch out for grenades when you get to the first stairs leading up. Eventually you’ll have to fight Sam one-on-one. He doesn’t miss often. Use your rifle here. Pop out, shoot him once, and then take cover again. (If you try to get in more shots at a time, he’ll nail you with his Thompson.) After a dozen or so hits, Sam will run off. Chase him down with a pistol or Tommy gun and finish it.

■ There you go — done. Now that I’ve led you through La Cosa Nostra, I need you to do me a small favor. In the game’s Freeride Extreme mode, you’ll find a woman chained to a pole on a rock by the beach (shown below). I’m just dying to know why she’s there. If you can find out what the story is on this dame, I’ll consider us even.

Just who is this lady, anyway? I’ve got to know! >>