Keep Your Friends Close… is the final mission of GTA Vice City, and its shootout in Tommy Vercetti’s mansion is one of the most famous endings in the series. This walkthrough of the GTA Vice City final mission explains how to unlock it, how to protect your money, how to deal with Lance and Sonny, and what you get once the credits roll.
Key facts
- Location: the Vercetti Estate on Starfish Island.
- Unlocked by: Cap the Collector.
- Targets: Lance Vance and Sonny Forelli.
- Fails if: Tommy dies, is busted, or the Mafia steal all the money from the safe.
- Reward: $30,000, a Hunter helicopter at Fort Baxter Air Base, and a Python and body armour in the mansion.
How to unlock the GTA Vice City final mission
The final mission becomes available after Cap the Collector, the mission in which Tommy deals with the Forelli family’s tax collectors. That act is what brings Sonny Forelli down to Vice City in person.
Tommy needs at least $1,000 to start the mission. Before you go, stock up: buy body armour, and carry an M60 or Ruger, a shotgun and plenty of ammo. The mansion fight is a long wave-based battle.
Keep Your Friends Close walkthrough
1. The meeting
Tommy, Lance and Ken Rosenberg meet Sonny Forelli in the mansion. Tommy plans to pay him off with counterfeit cash, but Lance betrays him: he tells Sonny the money is fake and that the real cash is in the upstairs office.
2. Defend the safe
Forelli gangsters storm the mansion and run for the safe in Tommy’s office. Your first objective is to stop them from emptying it. Stay near the office, watch the money counter on screen and kill every gangster who reaches the safe first, then deal with the rest.
3. Chase down Lance
Once the safe is secure, go after Lance Vance, who has fled to the roof. He is waiting there with four Forelli hitmen: take cover, kill the hitmen, then finish Lance.
4. Kill Sonny Forelli
Go back inside and track down Sonny, who is backed by his remaining men. Use the mansion’s pillars and staircase for cover, take out his bodyguards and finish Sonny to complete the mission. The fight deliberately echoes the final shootout of the 1983 film Scarface, with one key difference: Tommy survives.
Rewards and what happens next
Completing Keep Your Friends Close pays $30,000 and ends the story. A Hunter attack helicopter spawns at Fort Baxter Air Base, and a Python (.357) and body armour appear in the living room of the Vercetti Estate. Members of the Vercetti gang also start carrying Uzis. You stay in free roam afterwards, so you can keep collecting Hidden Packages and finishing side missions on your way to 100% completion.
Tips for the final shootout
- Protect the safe first. The mission only fails on money if all of it is stolen, but every gangster you let through costs you.
- Use the M60 or Ruger for the waves in the mansion; the shotgun is ideal at close range on the stairs.
- Pick up armour between waves and avoid standing in the open in the main hall.
- Save your game before starting the mission. It plays out in one long sequence with no checkpoints, so a fresh save lets you retry from the start instead of replaying earlier story missions.
- Need an edge? Health and armour cheats work in the single-player game. See all GTA Vice City cheat codes.
Video walkthrough
Prefer to watch? This video shows it in action.
FAQ
What is the last mission in GTA Vice City?
The last mission is Keep Your Friends Close…, a shootout at the Vercetti Estate on Starfish Island against Lance Vance and Sonny Forelli.
How do you unlock Keep Your Friends Close?
Complete Cap the Collector. Tommy also needs at least $1,000 to start the mission.
Why does Lance betray Tommy?
Lance openly sides with Sonny Forelli during the meeting, citing “business” as his motivation, and tells Sonny where Tommy keeps his real money.
What do you get for finishing GTA Vice City?
$30,000, a Hunter helicopter at Fort Baxter Air Base, and a Python and body armour in the Vercetti Estate, plus Uzis for the Vercetti gang.
Can you keep playing after the ending?
Yes. The game returns to free roam so you can finish side content and Hidden Packages.
