Thursday 12 March 2015

GTA Online - Race to Level 100! (Day Game Over!!)

So much for my Race to Level 100..

Anyway.. it all worked out in the end..

One of the main reasons why I wanted to get to Level 100 before moving on to PS4 was so I could get all the online trophies on the PS3 version before I jump to PS4 and unlock them again.

What I wasn't expecting.. was the inclusion of trophies for Heists!

So now, I'm going to complete the trophies on PS3 before I jump over. Level 100? It will come.. It's the least of my concerns right now. Besides, I couldn't wait to try out the Heists. 

Some may say that they have waited this long for heists, a couple of days later won't hurt, but for me.. I'd say I have waited too f*cking long already. Not gonna wait any longer!!

So as soon as I hit home on Tuesday night, turned on the PS3 and started with the download...

Didn't manage to play much though as the servers were rather wonky. Way too many people back on GTA Online. So much for people saying that the Heists came out too late for people to be interested anymore. Come on man, this is GTA! The Gaming world literally stops when anything major GTA-related is released.

I was being bombed with random invites as soon I went online and each time I tried joining someone's heist session, it will say the session is full. Finally joined one.

I believe it was the Prison Break mission, and the 4 of us had to split into 2 teams. My team was to get onto a container ship and drive off with a car. It was only a setup mission but we didn't manage to complete it as someone always ended up dying.

Just like the regular GTA missions, we only have 1 (or 2?) lives shared among all 4 players. Missions automatically fails if we lose all our lives.

But I managed to complete my first Heist yesterday with a stranger - the Fleeca Job.

There were 2 setup missions but I only played one, where we had to steal a getaway car; a Kuruma, from some Korean mob. (This will lead the paper trail to them, instead of using our own car, which will lead the trail to us.. Yea makes sense I guess. Besides the car is armoured!)

As this the first and easiest of the heists, it was a simple task of heading to the top of a carpark and gunning down whoever was in the way. We got in, drove back down, and drove off with the steal back to Lester's warehouse, amidst gunfire from angry Korean mobsters. No biggie though, car's armoured, baby!

Delivered the Kuruma and got paid for it. Was returned to freeroam and waited for the invite from the Heist leader, for the final job....

... Invite never came.. Douchebag didn't rope me in for the actual heist and the big reward!

But that's what GTA Online's all about. Rockstar did warn us about the consequences of not finding a trustworthy team. Even if you helped someone out in the setup jobs, the call will be made by the leader on who makes the final cut.

And that is what you are in GTA Online. Just another criminal out there. Unless you have friends, no one can be trusted and everyone out there is competition.

So, I thought I should go set up my own Heist instead. While driving over, I got an invite from another random for the final job. Decided to join him. So, it works both ways.. you may not have helped with the setup missions but you can still reap the rewards at the heist itself!

Listened to Lester's info and we got into the Kuruma, that 'we' had stolen earlier. Drove down to the bank while my partner hacked into the bank's system. When we were ready, we got out of the cars and into the bank.

This is where, you and your partner have distinct roles. I, the driver, had to take out the 5 security cameras at the front while my partner gets into position. Once the cams were out, I had to control the crowd; the bank teller and 2 customers. I couldn't let the intimidation meter drop or they will sound the alarm.

So, while I'm out here in charge of crowd control, my partner is drilling into the vault. Once he broke in, the alarm went off automatically and it was time to get out of there. Got into our getaway Kuruma, joined shortly by my partner, and we sped off with the cops swarming.

Again, thankfully the car's armoured.. Rammed through the road blocks towards the bridge. How were we going to get away? That was the best part of the heist. A contact that Lester provided was waiting with a Cargobob. All I had to do was drive the car under the magnet and away we went with the loot!

What a relief! It had all that tension.. I had to keep the hostages controlled, drive carefully so we don't end up in some ditch.. Maybe it was because it was my first time but I kept telling myself not to screw up. 

But when it was finally over, the feeling was amazing! I felt like jumping from the couch and giving my partner a fist bump. The cutscene played, with us having a drink at a bar for the job well done and the money rolled in. Awesome stuff.. and this was just the first & easiest heist.

Bought myself another high-end apartment with the added riches..

Was tempted to get the armoured Kuruma to add to my fleet but I'll need a new garage to store the cars in either way. 

And I'll use this apartment for any heists I organise. Check out that planning room!

Rockstar also added a ton of updates in the Heists patch, do check the list out at IGN. Noticed a couple of Socialclub glitches also fixed. 

Great stuff so far and it has been an amazing content-filled patch. Can't wait to try out the rest of the Heists tonight!
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