Grand Theft Auto Online received a new update a few days ago that added six new missions. These missions are all about an old-time GTA Online character, Gerald, and his attempts to get ready for an upcoming recession. Five of them are good and one of them is the worst mission I’ve played in GTA in some time.
Gerald is a classic GTA Online character and job giver. He’s been around back when missions had an opening and closing cutscenes, back when grinding contact missions was still a great way to make cash and back when GTA Online was on Xbox 360 and PS3 only. The old days. And now, years after his last mission, he’s back and wanting players to help him prepare for a recession that he fears will destroy the criminal ecosystem.
No, there is no direct mention of COVID-19 or anything like that, but it is impossible to not think about the current recession we are entering due to the pandemic while playing these new missions. Gerald is way ahead of most of us and has set up a bunch of drug deals and rival takedowns to help fill his bank account before things get too bad.
Again, there aren’t any COVID-19 jokes or references in these missions. My guess is these missions were being worked on months ago. So no, you aren’t stealing toilet paper or cleaning supplies. Instead, you are taking and destroying a lot of drugs.
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The six missions are interesting because they are all mostly set in locations that haven’t been used much in GTA Online. The digital world of GTA Online is massive and growing. With these missions, Rockstar seems to be recycling some lesser-used areas to create new content, which some might call lazy, but I admire. It’s a smart way to give players new content in a timely manner and considering Rockstar is working from home these days, I’m just impressed we got anything at all.
If you want to play these new missions, simply open up GTA Online, go to the pause menu, look for Rockstar created jobs and play all the jobs that start with “Last Play-…”.
Five of these missions are great, simple fun things to do with friends or alone. One mission has you invading rival drug operations, another has you and your friends searching for hidden dolls stuffed with cocaine, and one has you taking out gangs around the city to lure out the boss. None of the missions have timers and as a result, I was able to play them all solo. Well, almost all of them.
One mission, “End Product”, is awful and I hate it. The mission has you protecting a truck from waves of enemies. But the area lacks any good cover and enemies will spawn all around you and at different elevations, often hidden behind the truck you are defending. It sucks and I gave up halfway through because I’d rather be doing almost anything else. Maybe with a team of skilled players, this would be much more manageable, but I doubt it will be any more enjoyable.
However, the other five missions are a nice great bit of new content in a time when I and other players really need more things to do while we sit at home, watching the news and wondering what’s going to happen.