The game’s main character, Niko Bellic, is an Eastern European who is deceived into coming to America by his cousin Roman. Roman, who owns a taxi depot in Liberty City, has gotten himself into debt with Russian mobsters and seeks to his tougher, stronger cousin Niko for help. He lies to Niko and claims that he is living the American Dream with large amounts of money, fast cars, and beautiful women, and convinces him to leave his country behind and come to Liberty City. It has been hinted that Niko is leaving not only for adventure, but because he is searching for someone and wants to leave behind some recent mistakes.When Niko arrives as an immigrant, he discovers life is very different from what he expected. He begins working missions for Roman at his taxi depot in Broker and struggles to stay afloat in the gritty Liberty City.