Francis McReary Appreciation Thread

[Bratva Assassin]

Francis McReary is in deed a respectable character in my mind. Don’t get me wrong. He is absolutely no saint. However, he only blackmailed people who threatened to put his career at stake and even admitted that he didn’t want to kill his brother, Derrick but neither him nor Niko had a choice. He also had Niko execute two criminals who really did do bad things. I never really thought of it this way before but Francis is really no different than Ray Machowski from GTA III or Dave Norton from GTA V. The way I see it, Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski from SA as well as Steve Haines from V are FAR bigger examples of TRUE corrupt officials than Francis ever was. I think his villainy is quite exaggerated. At the end of the day, he’s just Lawful Neutral imo. Far from Lawful Good but far from Lawful Evil. If your opinion differs from mine, I still respect it. To each is own. This is just my view on the character and I’m NOT enforcing it on anyone.

 

Feel free to share your opinions on this character and I won’t try to change yours unless you try to change mine. Thanks for your understanding.

Edited June 5, 2019 by ThatKyloRenGuy

[El Penguin Bobo]

I actually didn't mind him. But on my first playthrough, I took him out because he was a fed, lol.

[TheOriginalGunslinger]

The moment Francis told Niko to take out his own brother was the moment I knew I had to make that bullet for him. I couldn’t kill Derrick. To be honest this mission was kinda tough as a decision. That’s what makes IV so good are the decision making choices that make you feel for a character so to speak.

Edited June 5, 2019 by TheOriginalGunslinger

[DOUGL4S1]

While I don't think he really fits the corrupt cop character, I never really liked him. He's pretty hypocrytical judging by how he blackmailed Niko to work for him but most, if not all of his missions involve killing people who blackmail him. I find it kind of interesting how he's one of the few McRearys who isn't involved in stealing and doing mob things, even joining the LCPD in the process, but he still manages to be a criminal, proving he's just another fruit from the same tree.

 

The only reason he's alive in my game it's because I think he's doing a lot better things for the citizens of Liberty City than Derrick ever could. Jk, it's only because he has the ability to remove your wanted level, which I used once.

[Lance Mayhem]

Interesting topic. 

 

 

I can't bring myself to like or respect Frank, and I can't imagine Niko would, either.

 

I'm not sure if Detective McReary truly had the best interests of Liberty City at heart, any more than Manny or Playboy X did. I see them all as self-aggrandizing legacy builders, concerned more about profit and respect.

 

At the other end of the spectrum is the enigmatic U.L. Paper guy, who is not concerned about fame (preferring total anonymity) and seems to believe, in his cynical way, that he's doing what's best for the population.

 

Frank is mostly inconsequential. I guess that's both the best and the worst I could say about him. 

 

Incidentally, I had Niko kill Derrick as well, but not because of his ability to clear wanted levels. It was a mercy killing. Poor Derrick had no life. 

[iiCriminnaaL]

I believe he is no where as much of a rat as his brother Derrick. I only smoke him out instead because it's more personal from Niko's perspective, since he blackmailed him.

Edited June 5, 2019 by iiCriminnaaL 49

[gooeyhole]

Derrick is just awful. Junkie who turned on his friends, killing Sligo and O'Malley is like killing Niko and Bernie for Darko. Francis isn't great either but at least he shows his hand.

[Megumi]

“You can be whatever you like, it’s the land of opportunity. Any fool could BECOME PRESIDENT.”

 

 

Boy was he right.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Cao Ang

[Jeansowaty]

He's just another McReary, a corrupt hypocrite just like all of them. I usually spare him because Derrick is a useless traitor and he is confirmed to be dead anyway. I consider the kill Derrick option as canon.

[santosvagos]

At first , i want to kill Derrick but the moment Francis said that he would put Niko away , i make my decision . I think both of them will be dead at some point because of the way they lived . Francis is a crook with the badge and Derrick is a traitor . 

[Prayag 97]

On 6/5/2019 at 6:20 AM, ThatKyloRenGuy said:

Francis McReary is in deed a respectable character in my mind. Don’t get me wrong. He is absolutely no saint. However, he only blackmailed people who threatened to put his career at stake and even admitted that he didn’t want to kill his brother, Derrick but neither him nor Niko had a choice. He also had Niko execute two criminals who really did do bad things. I never really thought of it this way before but Francis is really no different than Ray Machowski from GTA III or Dave Norton from GTA V. The way I see it, Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski from SA as well as Steve Haines from V are FAR bigger examples of TRUE corrupt officials than Francis ever was. I think his villainy is quite exaggerated. At the end of the day, he’s just Lawful Neutral imo. Far from Lawful Good but far from Lawful Evil. If your opinion differs from mine, I still respect it. To each is own. This is just my view on the character and I’m NOT enforcing it on anyone.

 

Feel free to share your opinions on this character and I won’t try to change yours unless you try to change mine. Thanks for your understanding.

Well, Francis McReary has some of the best missions in the story according to me, really a wide variety of awesome missions which I had fun playing.

 

He is corrupt and hypocritical and yes, he is less of a rat than his brother, Derrick. I guess, he is more like the kind of cops we would find in real life, thinking they are the good men of the society but actually they are not all that great... "Shades of f*cking grey".

 

He is far LESS annoying than that stupid Manny Escuela. But in general, I didn't really give a sh*t about Francis, I didn't give a sh*t about Derrick either.

 

However, his ability to make wanted levels go away is very useful which is why I have saved him a lot of times and killed Derrick instead.

[Eugene H. Krabs]

I used to kill Francis most of the time, but in my current playthroughs I always go for Derrick because, while both of them are assholes, Derrick is a bigger one. Had he been spared, he would've ratted out on Niko just like how he did to Bucky and Aiden. I feel that after you kill Derrick, Francis would be wise enough to leave Niko alone and just leave him be

 

It's a bit of a shame Francis' "clear wanted" ability doesn't always work though. Maybe it's just me; but each time I get 3+ stars, Francis says something among the lines of "I can't do anything if you have this much heat on you!"

[DOUGL4S1]

2 hours ago, Eugene H. Krabs said:

It's a bit of a shame Francis' "clear wanted" ability doesn't always work though. Maybe it's just me; but each time I get 3+ stars, Francis says something among the lines of "I can't do anything if you have this much heat on you!"

His ability doesn't work for wanted levels over 3 stars, and it doesn't work at all after you complete the story since his contact gets deleted from Niko's phone.

[Copcaller]

As Kate put it he's too gangster to be a cop and too cop to be a gangster. Personally I killed him because he's a corrupt cop and I didn't like the fact he wanted me to ice his brother. 

[Eugene H. Krabs]

4 hours ago, DOUGL4S1 said:

His ability doesn't work for wanted levels over 3 stars

Well, damn. I thought that only applied to Kiki's ability

[Bratva Assassin]

On 6/6/2019 at 4:07 AM, Jeansowaty said:

He's just another McReary, a corrupt hypocrite just like all of them. I usually spare him because Derrick is a useless traitor and he is confirmed to be dead anyway. I consider the kill Derrick option as canon.

Me too. Let's also not forget that Derrick blackmailed Francis first so if Niko kills Derrick, (to me) neither Francis nor Niko did it to Derrick. Derrick did it all to himself for technically, being the one who started it.