With the drip-feed content following The Doomsday Heist having arrived in full, it means that we're looking for a new, proper DLC to arrive on Grand Theft Auto Online soon — the first of 2018.
We don't yet know what to expect, as Rockstar is characteristically tight-lipped about these sorts of things. However as always, the community is a goldmine of ideas and concepts for what direction the game should take.
The past year or so has mostly been defined by two overarching themes — major DLC has always been some variation of the Finance and Felony model with a standard "source-warehouse-sell" gameplay loop and an emphasis on weaponized vehicles, while mid-tier DLC has been multiple riffs on the whole Cunning Stunts concept, and the odd vehicles and Adversary Modes were sprinkled in between.
We think it's about time to leave both of those trends behind and The Doomsday Heist is already a sign that this may come to pass. While the weaponized vehicles were here in full force, the standard business gameplay loop was gone. Hopefully this wasn't a one-off occasion and we'll be seeing consistent DLC releases with new and unique gameplay additions.
Let's take a look at some of the most enticing ideas.
If you've been paying attention to the GTA Online community at all these past few... well, years, you'll have known that this will be on the list. People have been asking for this DLC pretty much since GTA Online was released. Why have you play police in a GTA game, you ask? How would that even work? While those are valid questions, keep in mind that you have co-operated with government agencies in GTA Online already, and you've "fought for good" in The Doomsday Heist.
Additionally, previous GTA titles had a watered down, but still fun mechanic, where you could play cop. If you stole a cop car and listened to the radio, you could take on "vigilante" missions. GTA Online is wonderfully suited to a dirty cop/vigilante kind of setup, framed with you faking your way into the LSPD in order to take out your criminal rivals while waving a badge around.
Mechanically, missions could involve a reverse of already existing activities. Take bits and pieces from all the previous DLCs, like shipping crates, exporting vehicles, selling drugs and even heists, but flip the tables — the NPCs do the criminal activities and you have to stop them. While "undercover", a status mode like being a CEO or Biker President, players would have access to police outfits and the ability to call for backup, and take on police missions from the radio.
Just imagine how cool a reverse Heist would feel like — all these years GTA Online players were working together to beat these complex scenarios and get a big payday at the end of it all, so doing the exact opposite and trying to stop crooks would feel almost surreal.
It's not like this DLC wouldn't be popular, as not only has it been highly requested for a long time now, but modders have created a police simulator for the singleplayer portion called LSPDFR which enjoys major popularity.
The Ballad of Gay Tony expansion for GTA 4 already introduced such a setting in the GTA universe. We've had all kinds of businesses, from drug manufacturing to weapons trafficking, but buying, upgrading, decorating and running your own nightclub were fellow crooks can do business on the down low? That would perfectly fit the atmosphere of GTA Online.
Instead of a typical "source-warehouse-sell" loop, everything would take place in the club. You can name it, select interior decor, facilities and upgrades, which would then dictate how many patrons your club attracts. Missions would be framed as "aggressive marketing" — namely, attacking other clubs to make them less popular, tearing down rival posters and billboards on a timer, and so on.
Additional sources of income would be hosting clandestine dealings in your back room, and a player-oriented element could be included as well — if another player goes into your club, they can order cocktails, each of which grants a special buff for them, and the cash goes to you. Sure, it's not as explosive or action-packed as what we usually get, but it would still be right at home in the game.
We've had our dedicated Lowriders DLC already, and we're getting a constant and steady stream of both retro classics and hyper-advanced sci-fi supers, so why not cater to another huge portion of the car enthusiast community? Drag racing is present and doable in GTA Online, but not in any major or meaningful capacity, and car customization is something that really attracts the attention of players.
If Rockstar created official drag races with specific mechanics, and release a wave of cars all of which have really deep customization allowing them to be tricked out like the unique and custom tuners of the real world, it would make a ton of players happy — and willing to spend a lot of GTA$.
All the CEO work and weaponized vehicles recently may have seemingly changed the tone of the game, but GTA is still very much focused on cars. Bringing them back into the spotlight proper would work well for all involved.
Of course, each and every player would have their own idea of a dream DLC in GTA Online, but hey — that's what the comments are for!
