By the Book

Player notes

• ◆Due to of its violent nature, this mission has been heavily criticized by various media outlets, and is viewed as one of the most controversial missions in the entire GTA series.
• ◆The gold medal objective for waterboarding Kerimov called "It's Legal!" is a reference to the CIA using waterboarding as a form of interrogation and infamously denying that it was torture.
• ◆The gold medal objective "Don't Stop Me Now" is a reference to the popular song of the same name by Queen.
• ◆The name of this mission comes from a quote Trevor may use while he is waterboarding Kerimov: "Always by the book, that's my vibe.".
• ◆This mission can be triggered by Michael or Trevor, and after receiving the phone call from Steve, the game will prompt a character switch which instantly starts the mission.
• ◆If switching from Michael to Trevor, the cutscene will show Trevor defecating behind a dumpster as Michael approaches him. The two briefly converse before entering the warehouse.
• ◆If switching from Trevor to Michael, the cutscene will show Michael having a cigarette as Trevor approaches, telling Michael that he should quit.
• ◆It is possible to call Steve to trigger the mission instead of receiving a call from him, which will produce different dialogue. If calling him as Michael, he will confront Steve about being set up and Steve will threaten him by saying that he can burn him. If calling him as Trevor, the dialogue remains the same as if the player were to receive a call, as Trevor isn't supposed to know Steve's number.
• ◆During the opening cutscene in which Michael arrives first, Trevor briefly talks about his shape as result of his meth use, claiming "I could still take you, sugar tits". Originally, Trevor referred to Michael as "my n*****" in the dialogue; however, this was dubbed over with "sugar tits" in the final version of the cutscene audio (mastered version). Leftovers of this dialogue can be found in individual scripted mission audio files for the mission.
• ◆If Trevor has tortured Kerimov to death and doesn't inject the adrenaline shot, or if he uses all three adrenaline shots and kills Mr. K on the fourth, a cutscene triggers with Haines angrily berating Trevor for pushing Kerimov too far. As Trevor defends himself by pointing out that he doesn't even know why he was torturing Kerimov, Haines declares, "You're going down, punk. At the exact moment I get bored with you, your little racket... will end", and walks off as Trevor insults him, before the mission fails.
• ◆If Michael kills someone else that's not Javan or misses his shot and lets him escape, Dave will call Steve to tell Michael "fucked up" and the mission fails. Dave will also berate Michael if he kills a female guest.
• ◆When Kerimov leaves the warehouse, he appears to drag his leg, regardless of where he was hit with the wrench.
• ◆If the player assassinates Javan without getting all the information from Kerimov (the description of Javan's height and weight is enough), the mission will pass and the torture session will be cut short. However, this does not change the outcome of Kerimov's condition as he will still walk with a limp even if the wrench is not used.
• ◆After the mission ends and the player switches to Michael, he will usually be outside the FIB headquarters, saying goodbye to Dave. There is also a possibility that he will still be driving Dave's Oracle, which can be saved in his garage and modified like any other car.