Grand Theft Auto Online Looks Amazing

So, last month, I pointed out that seeing a Gameplay Trailer for Grand Theft Auto V made me really excited for the game, to the point where I didn't quite know how it could get better.  If you would have told me that it would get better with the Multi-Player Portion of it, I would have called you silly, but damned if it didn't happen.  I'm not sure if it would be better for you to watch the above video first to see what I mean, or if you should read the Overview from the official site first to give context to the video before you see it, so I'm just going to give you both and let you decide.  Either way, both need to be consumed by your brain in some fashion, I urge this at least, so keep that in mind.

Grand Theft Auto Online is a dynamic and persistent online world for 16 players that begins by sharing gameplay features, geography and mechanics with Grand Theft Auto V, but will continue to expand and evolve after its launch with new content created by Rockstar Games and the Grand Theft Auto community. Grand Theft Auto Online takes the fundamental Grand Theft Auto concepts of freedom, ambient activity and mission-based gameplay and makes them available to multiple players in an incredibly detailed and responsive online world.

In Grand Theft Auto Online, players have the freedom to explore alone or with friends, work cooperatively to complete missions, band together to participate in activities and ambient events, or compete in traditional game modes with the entire community, all with the personality and refined mechanics of Grand Theft Auto V.

Players can invest in their character through customizing their appearance, improving their stats, owning customized vehicles, purchasing personal property, and taking part in missions, jobs and activities to earn reputation and cash to open up new opportunities to rise through the criminal ranks. The world of Grand Theft Auto Online will constantly grow and change as new content is added, creating the first ever persistent and dynamic Grand Theft Auto game world.

Access to Grand Theft Auto Online is free with every retail copy of Grand Theft Auto V and launches on October 1st.

The keywords here are "dynamic" and "persistent online world" which are things that have been thrown around here lately for other such things like Destiny and possibly TitanFall, which are meant solely to imply something of an MMO-experience without stating it's going to be an MMO.  But let's face it - Destiny is an MMO, so is TitanFall kind of and GTAO is going to basically be a Grand Theft MMO, and you know what?  That's fine.  Excellent, even.  It's sort of one of those things that you never knew you wanted until it was thrust into your face and then all you wanted was to feast upon its wonder and splendor.  Or, you know, something that sounds a little less weird.
Grand Theft Auto IV's online portion was entertaining in its own right - giving you the ability to free roam the entirety of Liberty City with your buddies doing whatever the hell you pleased, but its short-coming was that there was....not that much to -do-.  There were multi-player modes you could join, sure, things that were specifically there to foster a multi-player mentality, but if you wanted to just faff about, then that's all you -could- do.  Have little impromptu drag races that aren't scored except with your collective imaginations.  See who can launch themselves the furthest from a motorcycle thanks to the wonderful physics engine.  Things that, while entertaining, were things that you had to figure on yourself.  That is where Grand Theft Auto Online's MP sounds as if it's going to shine, and where the MMO portion of it comes into play in practice.

Quests Missions that you can take with a crew of others, possibly -against- other crews, dynamic mini-missions like being able to properly knock over small stores (which I think I only did in Vice City, but I imagine you could do it in San Andreas and -maybe- IV as well?  Probably not) and take on other such activities has a wealth of potential.  It lends some legitimacy and depth to the experience overall when there's something to work towards (getting money and property) and having easy and fun avenues towards that (mini-jobs like robbery and proper missions), and that would be fine on its own.  Add to that the 'experience' of GTA with the little vignettes of characters (actual fleshed-out ones) telling you where to go and why, giving you back-story on the situation, and it's truly going to be something to look out for.  Hell, it might even be something fun to much around with on your -own- if it's as involved and dynamic as it seems (which might be how I deal with it regardless, what with the crap internet and all)

The only 'hitch' involved with GTAO is the fact that it's not actually going to launch alongside Grand Theft Auto V, despite being something that you can technically access from the disk, presumably.  Which I'm hoping does not mean (yet thinking that it does mean) that the game will be available as a download after-the-fact that's not even included in the game's hefty mandatory installation (8 gigs!) for both PS3 and 360.  I'm hoping that that installation is, of course, putting aside a lot of room -for- GTAO, in which you'll only have to download the 'access key' once it goes live on October 1st and updates/patches thereafter, but I'm wary and I'll reserve the right to wonder until we get a little clarification on that.  Regardless, so long as GTAV and GTAO combined don't take up an absurd amount of Hard Drive space, it shouldn't be too much of an issue, and from what I've seen here, it'll be worth it and any hassle that it might bring.

oh man, I just want to be the wheelman for a bunch of thefts, that would be so awesome