9 Ways GTA Online Has Ruined GTA

6. Humour, Satire And Personality Is Completely Absent

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Rockstar

Never just being wacky for the sake of it, GTA has always attempted to present a twisted, satirical version of the American dream, drawing its humour from exaggerated characters and the situations they get themselves into.

Unfortunately though, outside of goofy cosmetics and themes, Online's updates lack the distinct GTA charm found in the original game. Instead of sticking to a couple of tight core ideas, the multiplayer has taken a Saints Row-style approach to open-world mayhem, relying on influences and references to replace original ideas.

While not an inherently bad approach, the haphazard presentation doesn't come close to the brilliantly written characters and humour found in the single-player.

At this point, between Tron-style DLC and even the futuristic leanings of The Doomsday Heist, GTA Online is getting further and further away from what GTA "is". The developers are throwing everything at the wall in the hope that something will stick, and while that scattershot approach has resulted in some cool updates, it's also served to muddle the franchise's identity as a whole.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.