By Jason Le ’23, Staff Writer
GTA Online was released almost a decade ago, on Oct. 1st, 2013. Initially, this multiplayer world was never meant to be supported for long by Rockstar Games and was honestly expected to die in a similar manner as its predecessor, GTA 4: Online. It was slapped on as an expansion of GTA 5 rather than its own standalone game. Its launch 7 years ago was, frankly, a disaster beyond imagination. There were many bugs, lackluster updates, and server outages that ruined the initial experience of the game.
Flashforward to 2020; GTA Online, with its free promotion from Epic Games and constant price markdowns on Steam, more players are joining every day. I played the game back in 2015, two years after its launch. To be quite frank, I hated it. The lack of things to do and horrible players who would love blasting you while you were in the middle of a mission left a bitter taste in my mouth. But now, under the age of COVID-19 and a lack of anything to do out and about in Downtown Houston (or any city in real life), it is time for me to review GTA Online, properly as it is in 2020.
GTA Online starts off with you, the silent protagonist, tossed into the city of Los Santos. Following the Diamond Casino update, all new players start off here at the casino. Funny, since characters essentially start off with less than a dime under their names. Anyways, the best way to get your criminal empire started is cash. Initially, there were limited ways you could make money in GTA but with 7 years worth of updates, but Rockstar Games finally took the initiative to give players endless ways to make money. Some legitimate, others, not so much. The goal of the game is to make money and build your criminal empire… and to buy cosmetics of course.
The easiest way to explore all of what GTA Online has to offer, overwhelming as it is, is to find a couple of friends. What makes GTA Online unique compared to other MMOs or Massive Multiplayer Online games are the co-op missions that allow for real-time collaboration with friends. After my friends and I were sent home on a remote semester and unable to physically interact, the best alternative we had to see each other was through video games. GTA Online offers many ways to play with friends. Whether it is through character missions, Motorcycle Clubs, CEO businesses (nightclubs, heist set-ups, etc), or random alien warfare, many missions allow players to immerse themselves with their friends and to simply enjoy GTA V’s beautiful map.
Compared to GTA Online’s initial launch, jumping into the game today can feel overwhelming. Since its launch, Rockstar Games has added many new features to the game. Players can purchase regular businesses (nightclubs, vehicle warehouse, import/export warehouses, etc), MC Club businesses (cocaine, meth, weed farms, counterfeit documents, cash factories, etc), condos and penthouses, that house on a hill, the newest vehicle on the market with missile launcher upgrades, arcades, and much more. For a new player, it could be a lot to take in. Starting off as a “realistic game,” GTA has devolved into a strange fever dream. You start off as a nobody, a petty criminal. A hundred hours into the game later, you own a set of shady businesses, a flying motorcycle with missiles, and even a militarized facility where the heisting begins. With an endless amount of possibilities, the game could get quite addicting.
Even when you are not in the mood to hang out with friends or to maintain your businesses, GTA Online’s vast open-world allows you to explore and do whatever you want. There are some days where I would just drive from the city to the deserts of San Andreas blasting The Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way”. Or if you would like to roam a recreation of Los Angeles, GTA Online’s world allows you to do just that. If you ever find players dressing in alien suits, hop in and join in on the fun. Green Alien Gang and Purple Alien Gang have a whole rivalry, but it is all in good spirit and fun!
Of course, like any other game, there are a few downsides that come with it. GTA Online’s community is well known for its extreme toxicity to veterans and new players alike. During my time under quarantine, I have lost count of how many times I was blown straight out of the sky or in my car while managing my business or just having fun with friends. Sometimes, it is difficult to even play when there are random players around griefing (messing around and being malicious on purpose) other players. The annoying solution is to find a new server and hope that the next one does not have any toxic players. Like toxic players, GTA Online has a problem with modders to which Rockstar Games refuses to solve. Modders are players in the community that use cheat engines or mod menus (hacks or cheats that give players advantages over one another). Oftentimes, modders are harmless. They tend to change the weather, give themselves some sort of invincibility mode or money hacks, and even give other players money drops. However, like toxic players, there are those who will prank others just for laughs. Again, the next best solution to combating a modder is to hop servers.
Outside of the community, GTA Online’s downsides come with things Rockstar Games is mainly responsible for. First, GTA Online’s server outages and load times are severely notorious amongst fans. It could take players from 3–20 minutes to even load into a decent server if they are lucky. This seems to be a problem Rockstar has failed to fix after neglecting it for over 7 years. Especially when you would want to hop servers, Rockstar makes it an extremely tedious task to do. Finally, the mechanics of the game are also extremely tedious. The point of the game is to grind, earn money, and use it to buy more things so that you can do it over and over again. Most of the business missions require frequent maintenance through similar mission grinds. At some point, it gets more tedious than fun. Additionally, making money is quite difficult unless you have friends to grind a heist with or you are willing to play an easy mission over multiple times.
The lack of a map expansion has also made the game redundant. By leaving the player stuck in the same map for 7 years, it can get old fairly quickly. There are only so many times you can drive from the beach in the city to the mountains in the middle of nowhere. You would think giving Rockstar Games over 7 years to freshen up GTA Online would mean a map expansion. But alas, we fail to see any of that.
However, despite its flaws, GTA Online is still a fun game to play with friends or alone during the age of this pandemic. The game continues to grow thanks to the number of fans that enjoy the free roam aspect, the classic GTA experience, and Rockstar Games rolling updates. From new vehicle updates, business updates, nightclubs, heists, and much more, Rockstar Games gives players something to do every time. It takes a while to get bored and is worth picking up if you are looking to kill time while we are stuck under this pandemic.
