Rockstar Pushes Forward With Grand Theft Auto Online

Last night saw the multiplayer reveal for Grand Theft Auto Online, easing some of the tense excitement that Rockstar has been teasing us with the past couple of weeks. If you haven’t seen it yet, then hey, here you go:

So what do you think? Thankfully there’s just enough time between this, next week’s Saint’s Row IV and September’s Grand Theft Auto V to appreciate the different open-world experiences. That’s right; Rockstar is delaying the launch of GTA Online so that players get to enjoy the single-player campaign they’ve carefully crafted. That also means early adopters won’t have to deal with sudden in-game calls (multiplayer invites) in the middle of a highway car chase or shootout, which is nice.

Your online progress is entirely independent of the single-player campaign. Avatars are fully customisable using the earnings you gain from missions and whatever criminal activity you fancy (don’t forget to bank in or invest the cash). What’s more, doing these will also reward you with Reputation Points to move up the proverbial ladder, opening up more opportunities for you and your crew.

GTA Online “will continue to expand and evolve after its launch with new content” created by Rockstar and the community. Judging from the trailer, it’s a safe bet to say that the developers will tackle missions and co-op content, leaving death matches, races and other competitive elements to the fans.

It’s a perfect balance they’ve adopted to keep the game running without relying too much on either party. Short of  sixteen-man raids missions, I’m tempted to say that Grand Theft Auto Online looks set to be an action MMO sandbox coming to consoles. About time!

We’ll see how it fares once it goes live in October. Grand Theft Auto Online will come free with every retail copy of Grand Theft Auto V, for both PS3 and Xbox 360.