GTA 5 Gets Tron-Inspired Multiplayer Mode
By Brad Jones 25 October 2016
The latest Grand Theft Auto Online update for Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 5 adds a new motorbike and game mode inspired by the classic sci-fi movie Tron.
It’s been more than three years since Rockstar Games unleashed Grand Theft Auto 5 upon players. Over the course of that time, the game has shipped an amazing 70 million copies — and it seems that its developer isn’t ready to stop pumping out new content.
Today, Rockstar announced the next major content drop for the GTA Online multiplayer mode in Grand Theft Auto 5. The latest update is entitled Deadline, and it’s the name of the new game mode that’s being introduced to the game.
In Deadline, players ride a new addition to the fleet of vehicles already available, the Nagasaki Shotaro. This bike can be bought from the Legendary Motorsport auto dealer, and comes with a free Nagasaki t-shirt and another piece of clothing themed around the Deadline mode.
Deadline itself seems to be Rockstar’s take on the light cycle battles from the cult classic sci-fi movie Tron. Each bike emits a light trail from their posterior, which other riders can crash into — the strategy is to pen in your rivals so that they’re stuck with nowhere else to go.
The mode is complicated further by the addition of various power-ups. Some upgrade the speed of your bike, whereas others slow down time to make manoeuvring a little easier, and one even allows players to jump over the light trails left by others.
It’s easy to see how Deadline will be a welcome addition to the ever-expanding array of gameplay modes that make up GTA Online. It’s the same kind of lighthearted fun as this year’s Cunning Stunts content drop, but with a competitive edge to gameplay that calls to mind battle mode from the Mario Kart series.
Of course, there will be a certain sector of players who are disappointed to see more content for GTA Online at the cost of single-player DLC. While it’s difficult to fault Rockstar for making the most of the success that the game’s online multiplayer has amassed, it’s certainly a change of direction for the series.
It seems likely that the recently announced Red Dead Redemption 2 will feature a similar emphasis on online play, and the microtransactions that make these modes so profitable. While story content was once what Rockstar was best known for, it seems that the studio’s future will be shaped by multiplayer.
Grand Theft Auto 5 is available now for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC.
Source: GameSpot
