GTA Online's status quo was recently upheaved by the massively deviant and, incidentally, popular Cunning Stunts update. The DLC brought two new kinds of race types to the game, with the Stunt Races being in the spotlight. The update pretty much disregarded the fact that GTA has generally remained grounded in reality throughout its existence and put players on massive stunt courses with fire-traps, massive jumps and speed-boosters suspended at skyscraper-height.
Cunning Stunts probably got the most positive response from the community since Heists as an update and is lauded with restoring racing in GTA Online to its former glory. The newly introduced Premium Races also contributed to this, as it solidified the position of races as end-game content for pro players.
The update also had some of the most raw content to date. With 13 vehicles and 16 official Stunt Race tracks, Cunning Stunts had plenty going for it. More than enough content to tide players over until the 2nd of August, when the Stunt Race Creator will launch, bringing the long promised overhaul to the Content Creator.
However, Rockstar has decided to expand on Cunning Stunts with a mini-update in the meantime anyway. This new free update was tease back when the large DLC launched and some of the content was discovered by PC data-miners, spoiling the surprise.
Lacking a name of its own, Cunning Stunts 1.5 has brought some new maps and vehicles to the game, because, you know, all GTA Online players are constantly complaining about not having enough cars to fill all that garage space.
The original 16 stunt maps are being expanded with another 6 to buff out the roster. Bikes are getting the spotlight in this mini-update, with three races in the class. Muscle, sports and super all get one race each.
Afterburner, the first of the bike races, hearkens back to the heyday of stunting, when jumping through a hoop of fire was a thrilling feat. Of course, the GTA equivalent is suspended thousands of feet in the air and has a few more extras beyond the one hoop, but hey — homages, right?
The second Stunt Race for bikes is called, rather intuitively, Forest. It is set, unsurprisingly, in the forested areas up north and has a dirt-bike theme going on. Finally, the third bike race is High Flyer, the concept of which is flying through the city on a private jet, except that jet is a bike and you're stunting. This map winds its way around and above all of the skyscrapers in Los Santos.
Double Loop is the race for supers, and takes the concept of loops to the next logical step: add more of them. Double Loop is characterized by the feature that became its namesake, as it sees players brave not one, but two gravity defying loops right after one another.
Trench II, geared for the muscle class, features some pretty terrifying death traps. This really isn't the race for you if you're claustrophobic to any extent, as the side-walls of the race will be moving in on you, pushing contestants closer to one another. You'll need to be on your toes to avoid a crash.
Finally we have Zebra for the sports class, set around and over Mt.Chiliad. Built like a roller coaster, Zebra will have you changing altitude faster and more often than NASA's zero-g training plane. If you're prone to motion sickness induced by things seen on-screen, you might not want to eat before braving this race.
Rockstar has also added some new vehicles with which you can enjoy these new races. Specifically, three new vehicles have been added. Seeing as more than three were leaked, it is pretty clear that this isn't the only pre-August 2nd mini-update that we're going to get.
The Declasse Drift Tampa is the sports variant of the beloved muscle car, rolling with liveries, spoilers and an exposed engine. The retooled fan favorite is accompanied by a complete newcomer in the form of the Ocelot Lynx, a sleek ride with a more traditional sports-car look. A new two-wheeler has also been added. The Western Cliffhanger is a rugged off-road bike that looks like it could take a few hits before going kaputt.
Two other vehicles that have been leaked — the contender and rally truck — are still unaccounted for. However, seeing as neither are "regular" vehicles, chances are that when they are eventually released, possibly next week, they'll be accompanied by other rides that have yet to be leaked.
Players have already tested the vehicles, and while no speed records have been broken, many report that the Drift Tampa actually *drifts* pretty damn well. This pretty much makes it the first dedicated drift car in the game.
Rockstar has also kicked off yet another weekly event to commemorate this mini-update. Logging into GTA Online this week will net you a silver jumpsuit for free, along with a helmet to match. This event also adds some discounts, because of course it does. Some are returning from last week, such as the 20% price slash on all properties and garages. Fitting, as these updates did add a ton of new vehicles to the game.
Rockstar suggests making use of the second character slot to open up another 50 slots for vehicles, however even the total of 100 vehicle slots simply isn't enough for avid vehicle collectors. When you have such a massive library of cars on hand, with such variety, you can't expect people with discerning tastes to settle for just a slice of the collections. True, this may be GTA and not Pokémon, but the mentality of "gotta catch 'em all" still applies.
The other sale going on is discounting all Spoilers, Wheels, Tire Smoke, Skirts, Exhausts and Horns by 20% so you can trick out your all new Lynxes and Tampas for racing, as looks aren't the only thing these modifications improve upon.
What part of this newest GTA Online mini-update are you most excited about? Is it the new cars, or the additional Stunt Races? We're guessing it isn't the discounts.
