Whether you’re a new player looking to have some fun and wondering if GTA 5 Online is still alive and if it’s worth it, or an old player looking at coming to Liberty City, the game has grown and improved a lot. While GTA 6 is on its way, I’ve come back to GTA 5 Online to get some nostalgia, and here’s everything there is to know.
When it comes to GTA 5 Online, there’s a lot that we can talk about, including the gameplay, online community, graphics and sound, bugs, hackers, modders, finding the best ways to make money, handling your businesses, and so much more. It’s a whole world out there, and being the most popular game of them all, if you haven’t played the game before, there’s a lot to know.
For players who ditched GTA 5 Online and are looking to come back
If you’re an old player who ditched the game and you’re looking at coming back, you may be wondering if the game itself has been improved since then. Well, it didn’t. The game is still as you remember it, but a bit more polished. Other than that, the loading times have been improved significantly, and there may be a few cars available and a couple of new missions.
Even if you haven’t logged in for years, you’ll find everything as you’ve left it, including the cars you’ve brought, the businesses that you own, your houses, garages, etc. From bunkers to weapons, bullets, money and even your parachute, you won’t be missing anything from your account, but is it enough to start playing again?
The game itself hasn’t changed that much, apart from getting new updates with new missions and heists, the gameplay is as you left it. The community of players is also the same, whether you remember it as a great and fun place or as a toxic world. The only thing that is worth noting here is the Cayo Perico Heist, in case you haven’t played it yet, which features a new island that players can visit after completing numerous missions to go there and still the gold and money.
Now, to the honest truth; If you ditched GTA 5 Online because you were playing solo or you were bored of doing the same missions again and again, I don’t expect you’ll last much longer this time around, and you’ll most likely get bored again after a while. For me, redoing the whole storyline was the only way the game kept me for a few more days, as the online multiplayer experience hasn’t really improved, but I’ll talk more about it in a bit.
Is it worth playing GTA 5 Online if you’ve never played it?
Is it worth buying GTA 5 in 2024? And if so, is the game itself worth playing at this time and age? The answer here is a simple word; Yes! It’s worth buying GTA 5 and start playing the game, even in 2024.
Basically, if you played the older titles but never got the chance to play GTA 5, you should absolutely buy it and start playing the storyline, which is crazy good compared to the older titles, especially when it comes to graphics, gameplay, actions, etc.
The game’s storyline will keep you busy for around 30 to 40 hours, and that’s if you rush through the story to complete it. If you’re looking to engage more by finishing some side missions and activities, you’ll be playing solo for approximately 50 to 70 hours. If you’re heading for a completionist’s run, you may be looking at over 100 hours of gameplay, and that’s all in the solo mode.
If you want to move over to the online mode and start playing with friends or other players, you’ll first have to complete the prologue, and then you’ll be able to access GTA 5 Online directly from the game’s main menu. Simply click on the “Online” option, and GTA 5 will start looking for the best available session to enter you.
It’s important here to note that for new players who want to build up their online characters, solo-playing and completing the storyline won’t really help them. GTA 5’s storyline is completely different from the Online version, and the characters have nothing to do with each other, as you’ll be able to create your own character once you try to join GTA 5 Online for the first time.
Everything you need to know about the hackers in GTA 5 Online
When it comes to hackers ruining a game, GTA 5 Online is probably a winner in any category that has the word “hack” or “mod” in it. It’s been crazy out there, and almost any session nowadays is filled with a kid ruining the game for everyone else. I haven’t seen Rockstart fixing that issue over the years, and I don’t expect they will, as GTA 6 is around the corner.
From cars exploding just aside you, boats flying, weapons with unlimited bullets, and players who can’t die, GTA 5 Online can become pretty frustrating, very fast. Although not all modders will destroy your game, the worst part is when you die while trying to complete a mission or get teleported, and then you have to do that all over again.
Speaking of teleportation, they can move all the players at once in a specific spot, even if you’re driving, you’re at your house, or doing a mission. Sometimes they may even add monkeys with weapons in the session who try to kill you. I mean, it’s a mess. Changing through sessions is the only way to avoid hackers and modders and find players who also try to make money.
There are also some good times in the game when interacting with hackers, as some of them have the ability to give you lots of free money and increase your levels. There are many users who have reported that they quickly gained money and levels thanks to a hacker who joined their server.
It’s all about doing the same missions over and over again
If you’re a new player, the storyline is worth playing, and you’ll enjoy all the missions with every single character, but when it comes to GTA 5 Online, things are quite different. If you want to make enough money to buy whatever you want and PVP with other players, you’ll not only have to spend lots of time playing the game, but you’ll also have to repeatedly complete the same missions again, and again, and again.
If you’re playing solo online, some of the missions can be really tough to complete, and with random players in every session, you simply try your luck with a 50% chance of wasting your time. But apart from failing to complete a mission, or stay alive for that matter, the game itself can be really fun to play, especially if you’re looking for more PVP.
I’ve played GTA 5 Online for over 280 hours, and I can honestly say, I still don’t have many things, as everything’s so expensive to buy. It takes time to make enough money in GTA 5 Online, and it takes even more whenever you’re on a server full of hackers or toxic players looking to ruin your day.
Tip: To check your playtime, open the Rockstar’s Launcher, go to “Settings”, click on the game in the left sidebar, and scroll at the end to see how many hours you’ve been playing.
The reason I first ditched the game was because of the need to complete the same missions over and over again to gain money, buy stuff, and try some PVP with toxic players who are bothering you – and probably have more powerful weapons than you. The last time, I ditched it because I was bored of doing the Cayo Perico Heist for a fourth time during the same day, and both me and my friend thought that we had enough, and moved with our lives.
The repeated missions, the hacked sessions, and the loading times were enough to drive us away from the game. And although we’ve had enough, if I could go back and start the game from the beginning as a new player who hasn’t played the game before, I would. And hey, if you get bored, you can always try some mods for even more fun, which you can download from various websites.
Playing GTA 5 Online with friends
When played with friends, GTA 5 Online is hands down still one of today’s best options. The game itself has been built to be playable and enjoyable mostly with friends, with which you can have as much fun as you want, go for PVP, complete missions together, help each other finish their missions for the businesses they own, or simply explore the map and fun while doing that.
The Cayo Perico Heist is also pretty fun, and you and your friends will have a hard time learning how to cooperate together in order to complete the mission and get as much money as you can as a result. This is the best way to quickly make enough money and buy everything you need. You can also steal cars, bring them back to your garage, and later sell them to earn a few more bucks and do something different.
Last but not least, if you’re looking for a game with hundreds of different things to do, many ways to earn in-game money, has both a campaign and a multiplayer mode, and it is almost endless when it comes to the things you can do and buy, then GTA 5 Online is one of the best choices as of this moment of writing, and a great way to have fun for as long as you want.
To me, GTA 5 Online, and even the older title, is best played with friends – but that’s after completing the storyline.
Have you ever played GTA 5 Online; And if so, how was your experience and did you ditch the game or you’re still playing? What did you like and hate the most? Let me know by dropping your comment down below.
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