For Niko Bellic, freshly arrived from the cargo ship that brought him from Europe, his arrival is a hope to escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the chance to make a fortune together in Liberty City, a city where anything is possible.
As their debts pile up and they fall into the world of crime driven by a series of con artists, thieves, and sociopaths, they discover that reality is very 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.