Liberty City is miserable. It’s gray, the physics make driving feel like you're steering a bathtub full of mercury, and Niko Bellic is constantly depressed. Then The Ballad of Gay Tony dropped in 2009. Suddenly, the sun came out. The nitro kicked in. Rockstar Games basically looked at the serious, gritty foundation of GTA IV and decided it needed more pink explosions and gold-plated helicopters.
If you're dusting off the old console, you need cheats for gta ballad of gay tony xbox 360 because, honestly, the game is designed for them. This isn't like modern games where everything is balanced for "fairness." This is about spawning a Buzzard attack chopper on top of a skyscraper because you can.
The Cell Phone Method: How It Works
Unlike the older PS2-era titles where you mashed buttons like a frantic pianist, Liberty City uses the in-game phone. You pull out Luis’s brick of a cell phone, head to the keypad, and punch in the numbers.
Once you’ve entered a code once, it’s saved in a "Cheats" menu at the bottom of the phone’s list. It makes life easier. But—and this is a big one—cheats in TBoGT will block your ability to earn Achievements for that specific session. If you’re a completionist looking for that 1000/1000 Gamerscore, save your game before you start raining fire from the sky.
Spawning the Heavy Hitters
The vehicles in this expansion are significantly better than the base game. You want the Buzzard. It’s the small, nimble attack helicopter with rockets and machine guns. Dial 359-555-0100. It’s arguably the most useful tool in the game for escaping five-star wanted levels or just causing general chaos over Algonquin.
If you prefer the water, the Smuggler boat is available at 938-555-0150. It’s fast. It’s sleek. It’s perfect for those weirdly cinematic jumps over the happiness island pier.
Then there’s the Floater. It’s a barge. Not many people use it, but if you want to dial 938-555-0150, go for it. Actually, wait—don't get those confused. The Smuggler and the Floater are often mixed up in old forum posts from 2010.
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The Essentials for Survival (and Mayhem)
Luis Lopez is tougher than Niko, but he’s not invincible. Most players rely on the classic "Restore" codes.
Health and Weapons: 482-555-0100
This is the big one. It refills your health, gives you full body armor, and repairs whatever car you happen to be sitting in at the moment. If your engine is smoking and the cops are closing in, this is your panic button.
The Weapon Set: 862-555-0100
In the Ballad, the weapons are beefed up. You get the Explosive Shotgun (the AA-12), the Gold SMG, and the Advanced Sniper. These aren't the pea-shooters from the base game. The explosive shotgun alone changes the entire physics engine of the game. You hit a car with it, and that car moves.
Changing the World Around You
Sometimes you just want to change the vibe. Liberty City's weather is famously moody.
- Change Weather: 468-555-0100. It cycles through clear, rainy, foggy, and overcast.
- Wanted Level Down: 267-555-0150. Useful when you accidentally clip a cop car while trying to deliver a vehicle for Henrique.
- Wanted Level Up: 267-555-0100. For when you're bored and want the NOOSE teams to show up.
Why TBoGT Cheats Hit Different
There’s a specific feeling to using cheats for gta ballad of gay tony xbox 360 that you don't get in GTA V. In V, the cheats feel like an afterthought. In Ballad, they feel like a core mechanic of the "over-the-top" philosophy Rockstar was pushing. They wanted you to use the parachute. They wanted you to drop a tank in the middle of a dance club.
The parachute is actually a separate cheat if you lose yours: 359-555-0010.
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Don't forget the Explosive Melee Punch. Dial 276-555-0100. It makes every fistfight look like a scene from a superhero movie. You punch a pedestrian, and they go flying thirty feet into a mailbox. It’s ridiculous. It’s stupid. It’s exactly why we still talk about this game sixteen years later.
The "Niche" Vehicles You Forgot
Everyone remembers the Buzzard, but the Akuma bike is the real king of the streets. Dial 625-555-0150. It’s faster than almost any car in the game and handles better than the bikes in The Lost and Damned.
If you want something with more "presence," spawn the APC. This is the armored personnel carrier with the cannon on top. Dial 272-555-0160. Note that this is one of the cheats that really messes with your mission scoring. If you use it during a story mission, don't expect to get that 100% completion stat.
A Note on "Glitch" Cheats and Myths
Back in the day, there were rumors about "super jump" or "god mode" cheats for the Xbox 360 version.
Truth? They don't exist as phone codes.
To get anything resembling God Mode, you usually had to exploit specific mission triggers or use a save editor on a PC and transfer it via USB—a process that often led to corrupted save files. Stick to the official phone codes. They are stable, they don't crash your console, and they provide more than enough power to wreck the city.
The physics in GTA IV (and its DLCs) are notoriously heavy. Using the Slippery Cars cheat (468-555-0100) turns every road into an ice rink. It’s practically unplayable if you’re trying to actually go somewhere, but if you want to see how many 360-degree spins you can do off a ramp in Star Junction, it's essential.
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Maximizing Your Chaos
If you're looking for the definitive "Mayhem Loadout," follow this sequence:
- Spawn the APC (272-555-0160).
- Activate Explosive Melee (276-555-0100) just in case you have to get out.
- Use the Weapon Set (862-555-0100) to ensure you have the sticky bombs.
- Set the weather to Clear (468-555-0100) so you can actually see the explosions.
The game handles this surprisingly well for 2005 hardware (the 360). You might see some frame rate drops when things get really heavy, but that's just part of the charm.
What to do next
Get your Xbox 360 controller ready and jump into a fresh save. If you're playing on an Xbox Series X via backward compatibility, these codes still work perfectly.
First, finish the "I'll Keep It" mission naturally. Once the world opens up, start with the Buzzard spawn. It changes the verticality of the game. Also, try the explosive sniper rifle on the tail rotors of police helicopters; the physics of the crash are much more detailed than what we see in modern titles.
Stop playing the game like a simulator. Start playing it like the neon-soaked fever dream it was meant to be. Use the codes, lose the achievements for a night, and remember why this was the peak of the GTA IV era.
Next Steps for Your Playthrough:
- Check your save file: Ensure you have a "Clean" save and a "Cheat" save to avoid locking yourself out of the "Gold Star" achievement.
- Test the APC Cannon: Take the APC to the airport and see how long you can hold off a four-star wanted level.
- Master the Buzzard: Practice the "strafing run" with the mini-guns; it’s harder than it looks but much more satisfying than using the auto-lock rockets.