Blue telephone
Not a job provider. It supplies information and conversations relating to a mission already in progress.
It is the only type that need not stand in gang territory, so it also appears in neutral parts of the city.
Missions: Grand Theft Auto 2
GTA 2 does not hand you missions; you collect them. A telephone rings only for someone the gang knows — and its colour tells you what to expect.
GTA 2 has no mission list. Instead, it has telephone boxes spread across gang territories and a separate respect meter for every group. The amount of work the city offers is not fixed; it is the result of whom you have worked for so far.
This has a consequence that most often confuses new players: completing ‘all missions’ is impossible in GTA 2. Working for one gang lowers its rivals' respect and closes their telephones. The game expects this — progress depends not on the number of completed jobs, but on the score you have reached.
The second point to understand in advance is that a save costs fifty thousand. This is not a formality, but a decision about when you can afford it.
Four telephone colours
Green telephone
Easy work with the lowest entry requirement. This is where you begin building a relationship with a gang.
The reward is the lowest, but so is the risk of losing the multiplier.
Yellow telephone
A more difficult job that opens only after you have built sufficient respect.
This is usually where the game starts demanding route planning rather than improvisation.
Red telephone
The most difficult and best-paid work, available only with high respect from the relevant gang.
Do not enter a red mission in a damaged car and without ammunition — the second attempt will cost you the multiplier.
Where the telephones stand
Coloured telephones work only within the relevant gang's territory.
If a telephone in another district does not respond, it is not broken. You are simply in the wrong place or lack sufficient respect.
Respect decides what rings
A separate meter for every gang
Respect is tracked separately for each group and determines which telephone colours will answer you at all.
Low respect does not mean no difficult mission. It means no mission.
Work for a rival counts
Completing a job for one group usually damages your relationship with its enemies.
It therefore pays to choose one main employer in a district rather than jumping between all of them.
Respect away from the telephone
Killing members of an enemy gang improves your relationship with its rivals.
Useful when you need to open a red telephone but have run out of available yellow jobs.
Colours identify territories
The style of the surroundings and members' colours reveal who owns the area before they start shooting.
Plan the escape route before entering hostile territory, not merely the objective.
Points, multiplier and moving on
The district score target
You reach the next district not through a final mission, but by attaining the required score.
Missions, chaos and bonus activities all award points — the route you take to the target does not matter.
The money multiplier
Completed missions increase the multiplier and raise the value of everything that follows. Death is its main enemy.
Dying carelessly does not extend progress by a few minutes, but by an entire earning cycle.
The wanted-level ceiling rises
In the first district, the response reaches the special unit; the second adds a federal agency, and the third the military.
The same carelessness therefore produces a much harsher response in the third district.
Kill Frenzy and bonuses
Timed tasks around the city award points and equipment without costing respect.
The quickest way to make up missing points when the telephones are closed.
Saving costs money
The Jesus Saves church
The only place where you can save. You can recognise it by the sound of the organ.
A stolen TV Van can guide you there when you are searching in an unfamiliar district.
50,000 per save
The price is fixed and charged every time.
The amount is within reach after two or three missions, so the usual limit is not your wallet but the journey to the church.
When it is worthwhile
Before a red mission and before moving into an unfamiliar district.
Saving after every green job is wasteful — you need the money for equipment and services.
When you cannot afford to save
Make up the points through bonus activities rather than a risky mission.
A lost hour of play hurts more than fifty thousand points that can be earned again.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to the main questions about this subject
What do the telephone colours mean in GTA 2?
The colour determines both difficulty and the entry requirement. Green telephones give easy work, yellow ones harder work, and red ones the most difficult and best-paid jobs. A blue telephone does not provide jobs — it supplies information and conversations during an active mission. Coloured telephones work only within gang territory; blue ones can stand anywhere.
Do I have to complete every mission in GTA 2?
You cannot, and you do not need to. Working for one gang damages your relationship with its rivals, so some telephones close to you as the game progresses. You leave a district after reaching the score target, not after completing a list.
How do you save in GTA 2?
At the Jesus Saves church, for 50,000. You can recognise the church by the sound of its organ; if necessary, a stolen TV Van can guide you there. The amount is easy to reach after two or three completed missions, so the greater challenge is reaching the church alive.
Why is the military chasing me?
The maximum wanted level rises with each district. In the first it reaches the special unit, the second adds a federal agency, and the third the military. The same behaviour therefore produces a much harsher response in the third district than in the first.
What is the money multiplier for?
It increases the value of everything you do afterwards. It grows through completed missions and survives while you do, so two careful missions in succession earn more than five rushed attempts with deaths between them. Score is the currency of progress; the multiplier is its interest.