GTA PS2 Cheat Codes DualShock 2 Controls for Cheats

Cheat lists assume you already know which DualShock 2 button is Circle. Most failed combos are not wrong tables. They are extra sprint taps, an analog tilt that was supposed to be D-pad Up, or Start opening the pause map in the middle of a weapon set. This page is the controller layer for GTA III (2001), Vice City (2002), San Andreas (2004), Liberty City Stories (2006 PS2), and Vice City Stories (2007 PS2). Full method: how to enter cheats. Full lists: the codes hub.

Binds below are the default DualShock 2 layout. San Andreas adds crouch and more right-stick look. The cheat listener still cares about the same physical buttons.

On foot

• Left analog stick — walk and run direction. Use this to stand still in an open street before a combo. Do not use it as Up, Down, Left, or Right inside a cheat.
• D-pad — digital compass. This is the only valid source of directional cheat steps. On foot in San Andreas the pad also issues gang commands; that is still a digital press the listener can see, which is what you want for codes and what you do not want if you only meant to recruit a homie.
• Circle — punch and fire. Many Rhino and weapon combos are full of Circles. Firing a shotgun while you count Circles is normal. Counting seven Circles when the table asked for six is how GTA III tank spawns fail. See how to spawn a tank.
• X — sprint (tap for extra burst in San Andreas). X is not a cheat letter. Resting on X while you hunt for L1 injects sprints into the buffer and moves CJ out of the spawn window.
• Square — jump and climb. Rare in cheat sequences, easy to graze when your thumb leaves Circle.
• Triangle — enter and exit vehicles, and dismount the San Andreas jetpack. After a successful spawn, Triangle boards the Rhino. After a successful jetpack cheat, Triangle puts the pack on the ground. Details on how to get the jetpack.
• R1 — aim / lock-on. Lots of health, armor, and weapon prefixes use R1. Holding R1 to “be ready to shoot” during a combo adds extra R1 events.
• L1 — center camera on foot. Also a cheat button. Camera-centering mid-sequence is an extra L1.
• L2 / R2 — cycle weapons. These shoulders are prefixes in GTA III (often R2, R2) and in Vice City / San Andreas (often R1, R2). Cycling to a better gun while you enter a code is the code if the table asked for it, and a mistake if it did not.
• L3 (click left stick) — look behind in GTA III; crouch in San Andreas. Accidental clicks are poison. Park the stick so you cannot click it.
• R3 (click right stick) — look behind / odd-job toggles depending on game. Same warning.
• Start — pause. Pause is the myth. Do not use it to enter cheats on original PS2.
• Select — camera mode. Harmless until it rotates the camera into a wall and you analog-wander to compensate.

Stand still, weapons down, camera centered, thumbs off analog, then tap the table. That pre-flight is faster than retrying a twelve-button spawn.

In a vehicle

• X — accelerate.
• Square — brake and reverse.
• Circle — fire / drive-by. Tank cannon binds follow this family; check the specific game if Circle does not bark.
• Triangle — exit. Leave the car if you need a clean on-foot buffer. Some spawns still work from a driver’s seat, but Triangle then means “get out,” which you might do by accident on the last step of a combo that ends in Triangle.
• R1 — handbrake.
• L2 / R2 — look left and right. Together they look behind. They are also cheat shoulders. Looking both ways during a combo adds L2 and R2 you did not mean.
• L3 — horn. A nervous horn is an extra L3.
• D-pad — radio stations. Directional cheats entered while driving will change the radio. That is fine. The D-pad still counts. Analog steering will not substitute for those radio taps.
• Start — still pause. Still bad for cheats.

If a tank combo ends in Triangle, Circle, Triangle, you can exit a car on the first Triangle if you were driving. Get out first, then enter the sequence on foot. The tank guide wants open asphalt for placement anyway.

Why the analog stick breaks directional cheats

The cheat buffer records digital button events. D-pad Up is an event. A slightly tilted left stick is an analog axis. Walking north with the stick does not enqueue “Up” for the listener. Players who “do the arrows with the stick because that is how I move” will fail every compass-heavy code: Vice City health, San Andreas weapon sets, the jetpack’s two compass runs, Liberty City Stories Left/Right tank steps, Vice City Stories Up/Down/Left/Right tank steps.

Fix: thumbs split. Left thumb on D-pad for arrows. Right thumb on face buttons. Index fingers on shoulders. Analog sticks idle. Analog-mode LED can stay red; analog mode does not turn the D-pad off.

PAL versus NTSC does not change this. Shoulders do not swap because the disc is European. Shoulder swaps belong to PS3 ports, which PS2 vs PC codes covers. PC words such as HESOYAM and ROCKETMAN never become analog gestures.

Buffer collisions worth knowing

GTA III weapon and money prefixes start with R2, R2. If you cycle weapons with R2 as a nervous tic, you have already started a prefix. Vice City and San Andreas weapon sets start with R1, R2 more often. The weapons page is where those prefixes belong; do not invent a hybrid.

San Andreas L3 crouch during a jetpack combo will fail the pack and leave CJ ducking in the street. GTA III L3 look-behind is easier to avoid because you are not clicking to hide.

Radio D-pad in a car can complete a compass cheat you started on foot if you board too fast and keep tapping. Wait a beat after a failed attempt so the window expires. Then start at button one.

Thirty-second pre-combo check

1. Live world, not paused, not in a save interior.
2. Disc matches the table (GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City Stories, or Vice City Stories).
3. On foot in an open street if you are about to spawn a vehicle or pack.
4. Analog sticks idle, D-pad ready.
5. Fingers on L1 L2 R1 R2 without resting weight on them.
6. Slot B is the sandbox file from save-file warnings, not the 100% slot.
7. You are not about to type a PC word.

Then enter the combo once. Wait for the sting. If you want chaos after that, pick it from the chaos cheats tier. If you want help, pick the mission-friendly tier. The pad does not know the difference. You do, as long as Start stays unpressed and the stick stays out of the compass.