GTA Became the Very Thing It Swore to Destroy
By J Johns | Misfit Media Columnist
(Graphic Content)
Alright, unfortunately, I have to start this article by confessing something, but please wait for me to explain before you get mad. I actually use a mod menu – cheats, basically – when I play Grand Theft Auto: Online. But! There are a few very specific reasons why I do this, and while I explain them, I’d like you to think all the way back to 2013 when Grand Theft Auto V first came out, and the culture of gaming at the time, compared to how it is now.
In the world of GTA: O, there’s a two-stage power structure: those who can afford the Oppressor Mark II, and those who cannot. Some of the people who have the Oppressor worked up to it legit (well, if being a mercenary drug smuggler can be counted as “legit”), and many people used microtransactions to get it. Everyone who doesn’t have an Oppressor is, well, oppressed. It’s a flying bike with land, air, and sea superiority that can counter literally every other weapon or vehicle in the game, rendering every single other thing obsolete.
On top of that, getting the thing legit is difficult due to GTA’s grind-focused mission structure, where no matter how powerful you get, money is always slow to get without monotonous grinding of missions or activities. Sure, the Cayo Perico Heist is the big thing right now that can technically get you millions at a time, but do you really enjoy playing the same heist over and over the same way over and over? What do you even do with the money except reinvest it into prep for the same heist, or get yourself an Oppressor? Again, almost all other vehicles and weapons are useless due to the nature of the Oppressor (and its frequently used cousin the minigun).
When GTA V launched nine years ago, it was a scathing satire of vanity, materialism, and greed – like many of its predecessors.
Unlike the grounded, miserable perspective that GTA IV had, however, it focused on Hollywood and modern capitalist practice. It had a dig at Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, it features a conversation about the irony of hipsters being vain, and it even has a radio ad criticising video game microtransactions and “special packs” with bonuses for extra money. Oddly, it’s absent from the Online version.
GTA has started to reflect the world it was starting to critique in the first place, which is kind of depressing. It’s not a satire of it anymore, though. It’s just a product of it. So, that’s why I don’t mind just giving myself some cash so that I can actually enjoy the crazy amount of vehicles and clothes the game provides. More importantly, I use it to defend myself from frequent hack attempts on servers, and to give myself tools to defend myself against Oppressors. Using a sniper rifle with explosive rounds, you can plink Oppressors out of the sky (if you can hit your shots). Now I have a hobby when I’m not messing with cars: Griefer Hunter.
It’s a fun world when you aren’t being literally oppressed.