Grand Theft Auto Online has always marked Valentine's Day with some manner of in-game event and content. A game about rampant crime, murder, theft and destruction may seem like an odd place to commemorate what has become an annual celebration of love and romance, but somehow Rockstar always made things fit together, whether with a couples-based Adversary Mode or some dapper clothing.
This year is no different, with a Valentine's Day themed DLC and Event going hand in hand. Alas, this year around we're getting a tad less in terms of new content than in past Valentine's DLCs, but what we do get is fantastic. The content of those older DLCs will also be available for purchase, including vintage gangster outfits, a weapon based on the Tommy gun and a true old timer ride.
The new content this year is a single car, but one hell of a car.
The Vapid Hustler is a real OG beefed up to kick dust in the face of any modern car, a true retro hot rod. The Hustler is a mashup of two vintage Ford coupes, with a few minor alterations from the original designs to remain somewhat original. It should go without saying that the main point of this car is to look good, and while it gets that down, we were also surprised to see it perform more than well in its own class, which is Muscle. It can absolutely be competitive, however you need to pay attention to turning corners as spinning out is easy.
The price of the car is pretty decent, coming in at GTA$625,000. This places it into the upper end of the easily affordable category, making the additional costs of tricking out the somewhat bland base version no issue at all. You'll need to put some upgrades into this baby to make her look like on Rockstar's promotional shot, but damn is it worth it. Who needs the sleek bastard offspring of fighter jets which call themselves hypercars when you have stuff like this? Some of you might remember this car from GTA San Andreas.
In addition, Rockstar have lined up a bunch of promotions and discounts for this week. Much like the previous event being "Battle Week", we're getting a larger and more diverse event this time around than what was usual for the past year or so, further cementing this as the new status quo. Five Adversary Modes are dealing out double rewards, including the obvious Till Death Do Us Part, last year's Valentine's Day addition. It is joined by Slasher, Resurrection, Deadline and Lost vs. Damned.
Through February 19th, Bodyguard and Associate salaries have been doubled as well, giving folk more incentive to help you out with your organized crime. When new ways to make cash are joined by discounts, it's always a happy pairing, which is why Rockstar always does both for events. The list of discounted items this week is extensive, making buying presents for your beloved that much easier. Why not surprise your significant other with a Gusenberg Sweeper for 25% off?
The magical 25% returns to dominate this list with just two items being 35% off, but hey, discounts are discounts, right? Usually people bag in Valentine's Day with chocolate, roses and a movie, but why not go the extra mile and let yourself go many many extra miles by buying an Albany Roosevelt, Albany Roosevelt Valor, Nagasaki Shotaro, Ocelot Stromberg or Nagasaki Buzzard, all 25% off? For more specialized needs, the HVY Barrage and RCV are 35% off.
New couples moving in together are no doubt looking for the home of their dreams. All 10-car apartments — because in GTA Online, properties are categorized by vehicle capacity, obviously — are 25% off including Stilt Houses, High-End Apartments and just the garages as well in case you're a car nut and your one true love is your ride. Similarly, workaholics can get nice and intimate with spreadsheets in discounted Executive Offices.
It's a known statistic that lingerie sales go up around Valentine's, and since such attire may not be too practical in combat situations, GTA Online clothing discounts extend to other articles as well. All clothing items added in any of the numerous Valentine's Day DLCs to the game are 25% off. For some reason, so are tattoos from The Doomsday Heist and clothes from Smuggler's Run, because flight suits... are... hot? I guess?
Two additional discounts to general services in the game close off the list. All Executive Assistant services are 25% off, but you still can't pay them to stop calling you. A much more exciting and useful discount however is a 25% discount on all Benny's Original Motorworks custom upgrades. The individual car mods themselves are still full priced, but the initial investment of adding the word "custom" after that of your car is much cheaper — which is great, because those upgrades are really expensive.
In accordance with the theme, Rockstar wants to show its player base that it loves them from the bottom of its heart, and the quickest way to please this community is with money (you gold-diggers, you). All players who log into GTA Online at any time starting on the 16th of February, this Friday, until an as-of-yet unspecified deadline stand to receive some free in-game cash in March. Translation: expect heavy server load on Friday.
In the past, Rockstar often prefaced the announcement of a big DLC with some free cash promos, presumably to "prepare" player's wallets (but only succeeding in motivating players to spend all their new cash, leaving them penniless for the new DLC with Shark Cards as their only .... oh), meaning that soon we might be expecting some sort of content announcement.
Whether you're celebrating it with a flesh-and-blood individual or in the virtual world of Los Santos, we wish everyone a great Valentine's Day.
