When I finally got a PS5, one of the goals was to do some online gaming. Generally I prefer single player games, but my buddies now have a console for the first time since the PS3 era, and there was lots of talk about playing racing games together online. They've had their console for a little over a year, and I've had mine for a few months. Thus far there has been no online racing. We have played together online several times, however, and from an unlikely source: Grand Theft Auto V.
I say an unlikely source because GTA V is a PS3-era game from 2013, and the online version was released shortly afterwards. I actually posted about the game way back in 2015. The Playstation store was offering the online version of the game as a free download (I think it is normally $20) so it was a no-brainer to pick it up to revisit Los Santos once again. Despite not playing the game since 2015, I had loosely followed it on social media and knew that it remained popular and received consistent updates. As someone who is essentially new to the game, I must say it was a bit overwhelming when I started playing it again. There is a lot going on, and a lot of opportunities.
Not surprisingly, coordinating the schedules of 5 guys in their mid-to-upper 30s with families to be able to play online together is quite a challenge. Typically only 2-3 of the 5 of us are ever on at the same time to play together. With that being the case, I have tried to play the game by myself to build up my character but with minimal success. Rockstar was generous to give new PS5 players of the game $4 million to start a career and not have to start from scratch. While this is helpful, I have still struggled to find a way to consistently make money. My nightclub was a bust. I had enough money left over to buy a "clubhouse", which is basically an abandoned gas station in the middle of nowhere. From there you can start a motorcycle club and subsequently run illegal businesses like weed farms or money laundering services. Should be great sources of money. The trouble is, you have to have additional money to purchase the businesses first, which I don't have. And after watching a few YouTube videos about the process, there is quite a lot of grinding and time commitment that must occur after starting your business before you start to make money and recover from your initial investment. I'm not sure that I'm interested enough to go through the process, and even if I was, I haven't really found a good way to consistently make money to purchase the business in the first place. Most of the smaller missions available to make a little money either require 2-3 people, or are pretty difficult unless you have 2-3 people on your team. Completing the mission alone is pretty tough, which gets back to the scheduling issue discussed above.
Despite this aspect of the game, it is an absolute riot when playing together with your friends. The environment remains fun as ever, and it is a game where you can be serious and accomplish some missions and get some cash, or have a few beers and screw around at the casino or just driving around listening to the radio. I've pretty much given up on trying to accomplish much with this game on my own. I have too many other games I want to play to dedicate a ton of time investing millions into business opportunities. With that being said, I still hop online once a week or so when my friends are available. It's tons of fun. I just didn't think my first reason to get Playstation Plus on the PS5 would be to play a nearly decade-old game.
No comments:
Post a Comment