As 100% of everybody who has ever heard of “video games” knows, Grand Theft Auto 5 has come out and it came out with a predictable bang. With it’s unprecedented ascension to one billion dollars in sales and nearly unanimous reviews saying that it is one of the greatest games, if not the greatest game, ever released, this bang was not the bang of a gun or a grenade but a bang practically of nuclear bomb caliber. This fanfare inexplicably exists independent of the impending Grand Theft Auto Online feature which is shaping up to be an institution all in itself when it goes live in October.
What we already know is that GTA Online is slated to give free reign to the entirety of Los Santos’ 49 square-mile map and will take place after the conclusion of GTAV‘s story mode. Total customization, money and ranking systems are going to be key. Your character’s ability to take selfies will return if that’s the kind of thing that gets you going. Most notably is that Online is going to have a constantly updating list of 500 missions to do at any given time, with 700 missions altogether. That is indeed a staggering prospect.
As gamers dedicate their lives to total chaos come this October, how many friends (or strangers) will be able to accompany them simultaneously? Up until recently, it was known GTA Online will support 16 players at once. Whether they choose to do the missions or to just steal cars, shoot Kifflom guys, punch sharks and smoke pot in their apartments is up to them. And whether other gamers choose to assassinate those shark-punchers and pot smokers would be up to them. Now, thanks to CinemaBlend, it looks as if the previously confirmed 16 will be doubled to 32. Apparently some new specifics were able to be isolated from the assets of the game via torrents of GTAV. This news about the number 32 is incredibly unsubstantiated as of this writing – it seems almost impossibly ambitious – and Rockstar Games is pretty ticked off anybody is even talking about it. Still, it is, undoubtedly, looking like 32 will be the cap of players at a time.
Furthermore, while that multiplayer news may have made you excited, just wait until you get to this news about Bigfoot! Boys and girls, he’s back in San Andreas and it’s not just a myth this time around. It didn’t take long for this to come to light, and Polygon already has video. Whether this is or isn’t Big F is hardly up to debate. What else could it be? Unless it’s Robin Williams in Jumanji or Louie CK dressed up as a gorilla, there’s little doubt it’s The ‘Squatch.
This comes as resounding proof that Rockstar listens to its audience, as if we needed it. There is no question that Bigfoot’s possible presence in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was the myth from the game that got the most mileage. Rumors still persist 9 years out, despite Rockstar’s co-founder Terry Donovan flat-out saying “there is no Bigfoot.” Other than mods, while it’s sad to admit, there was no Sasquatch in that iteration. However, the tides have changed. Before the game even came out, the fact that Bigfoot makes up literally 25% of the Los Santos Police Department’s shield logo raised eyebrows nearly off of foreheads. Now resounding proof exists that Sassy is in the woods, even if there’s no evidence he roams or makes any more than one single blink-and-miss-it cameo.
Other than Bigfoot, a confirmed rumor has hit the net that ghosts return; or at least one ghost. Spoiling this too much would ruin the fun, so all I will say is that you ought to go to the peak of Mt. Gorton at some point between 11:00 – midnight to witness something utterly terrifying that will make you thank your lucky stars that you aren’t San Andreas gubernatorial candidate Jock Cranley. Vaguely alluded to in the game is that there is a dramatic election for Governor between Sue Murry and Jock Cranley transpiring. The inclusion of this chilling easter egg opens up a hopeful possibility that we might see more of this election with the release of DLC. Either that, or it creates a line of thought that Sue Murry is actually a demonic bloody spirit of a dead woman or an exorcist of hellish terror.
Grand Theft Auto 5 was released September 17, 2013 for the PS3 and the Xbox 360.