Jamal Rashid's ambitious GTA 5 visual overhaul mod NaturalVision Remastered first caught my eye last year. At the time, it was the result of 1,200 hours of work (now a whopping 3,600)—including over 40 hours of video, photograph, and Google Street Map research—and provided a gorgeous reworking of Los Santos and beyond. 

Now, several months on, its latest update not only looks even prettier—it expands its scope beyond superficial aesthetics. 

"With the newest update, I've transformed NaturalVision Remastered from a simple graphics overhaul to something much bigger," Rashid tells me via email. "Now it includes a few gameplay changes, weapon changes, vehicle tweaks and much more. I have a relaxed schedule for the time being, which allows me to sit here and mod this game. As I add more content, the amount of time between each update goes up. As a result, there is increased pressure from the audience. I've learned that it's okay to take as much time as needed if you plan on delivering quality content."

Rashid explains that making roads look wet in 'Extrasunny' weather became this update's biggest challenge, and that making environments look cooler during morning and afternoon times—"where the sun is closer to the horizon and shines on the roads"—was tricky. 

"I enabled rain and disabled all the rain particles for this specific weather, but I was left with noise from the invisible rain and puddles that continued to form on the ground," says Rashid. "I gave up on this task months ago, but recently I ended up finding a hidden timecycle variable within the Halloween weather which completely disables any noise from the rain and prevents puddles from forming. It's exactly what I wanted. Now I had slightly shiny roads in Extrasunny weather with invisible rain falling at all times and no puddles."

Rashid continues: "But wait—this change caused the pedestrians to start walking away because the AI thinks it's raining. Next I spent hours trying to find a workaround. Part of this included driving up and down a virtual street dozens of times and restarting my game after each tweak in order to observe how the pedestrians behave in different weather conditions. I ended up swapping the 'Rain' parameters with 'Snow' in some of the AI files and enabled invisible snow particles in Rain, Thunder and Clearing weathers. This finally fixed everything that I wanted."

Rashid says his favourite part of the update process is getting feedback from his close circle of beta testers, and that down the line he may rework 'Cloudy' and 'Smog' weather from scratch to match his increasingly high standards.

Here's a gallery of screens from NVR's latest update, with some interesting coinciding commentary from its creator (click the top right for expanded images). 

"I increased the procedural grass density beyond the normal limit. My game settings are fully maxed out in the "Before" image. Increasing the grass density only causes an FPS loss of 1 or 2 frames. I think it's totally worth it for the result you're seeing here." 

"I increased the amount of litter/trash spawned around certain parts of the city. I felt as if this gave the city a little more life to it. Think of it as background noise." 

NaturalVision Remastered's latest update is out now. More information, including installation instructions, can be found over here.

After its somewhat lacklustre Occupy and Bunker series one-two punch last week, GTA Online has unveiled the Southern San Andreas Sports Series. Set to run for the next several weeks, the first of a staggered string of rollouts introduces five cars and a new racing mode. 

From front to back, The Hotring Circuit apes Vice City's stock car racing side-mission of the same name and combines it with GTA:O's Cunning Stunts update. Designed with the new Hotring Sabre in mind, the 30-player-supporting Hotring Circuit grants racers double GTA$ and RP now through March 26. 

Elsewhere, Legendary Motorsport now stocks the Overflod Entity XXR and Cheval Taipan supercars, and the Vulcar Fagaloa station wagon and "rally-inspired" Vapid GB200. Given the focus of the Super Sports Series, the supercars are probably the pick of that bunch—both of which boast top tier traction, acceleration, and speed at the expense of brake power. The XXR costs $2,305,000, while the Taipan comes in at $1,980,000. I'm not convinced either trump our fastest cars in GTA Online entrants, but let us know if you've taken them for a spin yourself. 

Down the line, Rockstar plans to release a number of racing and Adversary Modes. On April 2, Target Assault pits eight teams of two players against one another—whereby Gunners and Drivers combine to "outmaneuver" the competition. I suspect said outmaneuvering will involve explosions. Look, see:

On May 1, ten new Special Vehicle Races land (and fly) with the Doomsday Heist's Deluxo, Stromberg and Thruster in tow. And on May 29, seven new Transform Races "featuring a slew of new and classic race vehicles across a fresh batch of challenging courses" enter the fold.

Here's Rockstar on GTA:O's other incoming rides, Adversary Modes, and Creator suite tweaks: 

For players who want to take their competition off the race track and into more combative territory, get ready for two new Adversary Modes, along with rotating double cash opportunities and discounts around some of our favorite modes, work, vehicles and more. And throughout the weeks and months ahead, look for new offerings from Pegassi, Overflod, Lampadati and more as a host of new vehicles hit the showrooms of Los Santos. 

We're also adding a heap of new tools and updates for the Creator coming later this Spring, including more weather options, custom team names and Warp Checkpoints for Transform Races, as well as a number of other highly-requested features.

More on all of that, plus details on GTA Online's latest garage, penthouse and vehicle upgrade discounts can be found in this direction. If serial leaker FoxySnaps is to be believed, future vehicle offerings will include the Seasparrow helicopter and the ISS3 mini.

This article was originally published in PC Gamer issue 315. For more quality articles about all things PC gaming, you can subscribe now in the UK and the US. 

It took the PCG crew over two years to complete GTA Online’s first set of heists. Now, we’re older, wiser, and have a near-infinite supply of rockets. We think we’ll be able to power through the Doomsday Heists in just a few evenings. Wish us luck.

ACT ONE

Phil Savage: After our last GTA Online outing, I figured I was finally done with the game. With Rockstar seemingly not interested in making any new heists, I didn’t see any reason to stick around. And then, without warning, Rockstar released a new string of heists. Just when I thought I was out… 

Samuel Roberts: It’s a nice surprise, and the fact this one has a bunch of new cutscenes and vehicles suggests it’s a big deal for Rockstar. To get it started, we need a facility, which I purchase near Fort Zancudo. I spend a little extra money to make it red, because we have a brand to maintain, I guess. I accidentally activate a cutscene with no one else here, which explains this heist is something to do with a slightly Elon Musk-y figure, an AI named Clifford, Lester from the main game and the US government. Doomsday is coming! I think. Maybe Russia is involved? That’s what I’ve ascertained, anyway. Since only I watched this bit, the rest of the team will never know what’s going on in this heist’s story. 

Tom H: Don’t worry Sam, I’m sure we’ll be treated to plenty of long monologues while driving. 

Phil: Sam invites us to join his motorcycle club, which is called “Motorcycle Club”. It used to be called Biker Grove—one for all you fans of ’90s teen soap operas—but it seems to be bugged. After joining Motorcycle Club, we’re invited into Sam’s facility and told we need to steal a bunch of special vehicles for reasons. This preparation phase requires us to complete a series of missions on an open world public server. Luckily, we find one that’s pretty much empty, and the whole thing is incredibly easy.

Tom H: That’s the thing about GTA’s open world missions. They’re either incredibly easy or you immediately get murdered by some prick in a fighter jet. 

Phil: In fairness, thanks to this update you can now also get murdered by a prick with an orbital cannon. Which is progress of a sort. With the relevant cars stolen, we can now move onto the instanced setup missions. We separate into two teams: one infiltration, one support. Samuel and Tom Senior break into a morgue, while myself and Tom Hatfield hang back in the helicopter that we recently stole, murdering people. This is the familiar co-op content that I crave. 

Tom H: Splitting the party is one of GTA Online’s best tricks. I don’t know what it looks like inside the morgue, I’ve never seen it. Instead I experience it entirely through Sam and Tom’s barked orders and exclamations over Skype. 

Samuel: There’s some kind of weird glitch where the objective won’t activate in the morgue, so we have to do it again. It’s a fun mission, though, the grisly searching of dead bodies aside. Once we’ve got the data we’re looking for, we have to make our way out and escape in the helicopter. 

Tom Senior: I get horribly lost in the building and spend most of it running up and down stairwells under small arms fire. I finally make it to the exit and I manage to get stuck on the door as Sam dashes for the chopper. The team spends a few moments shouting from the safety of the helicopter as I dash across a courtyard full of police and hurl myself into the vehicle. Good mission. 

Phil: Next, we’re given a stealth helicopter and told to go and infiltrate a server farm. This goes badly, of course. On our first attempt, the helicopter’s landing wheels disappear—I’m not sure if this is a glitch, or if Sam just accidentally hit a button to retract them. Unable to land, the helicopter just sort of explodes out of boredom. Also, at one key point, Hatfield’s internet connection drops, which boots him from the instance and instantly ends the mission for everyone. And even when all of those things go right, we’re forced to scale a ladder, which for some reason is the hardest thing to do in GTA Online. 

Tom S: The trick is to woo the ladder with a gentle approach. Not too fast, so as not to startle it. We’ve experienced enough ladder drama to have learned the hard way.

Tom H: This is basically identical to the last stealth mission we did in GTA. Initially very cool and fun, then incredibly frustrating as instant fails force multiple restarts. 

Phil: Okay, that mission turned out to be a disappointment. But this next one has a thumbnail image showing flying DeLoreans. I am unreasonably excited about this. We each get into a car and drive to the coast, where we’re instructed to activate hover mode. Suddenly, we’re skimming across the ocean, using missiles to blow up boats. It’s great, but I was promised full flight, damnit. 

Tom H: Then our next assignment comes in. In the most long-winded and obnoxious way possible, Lester tells us he needs us to go to the airport. To chase a plane. 

Phil: Oh snap, it’s actually happening! This is it! We get to the airport just as a plane is taking off, and, as we chase after it, a button prompt appears to trigger flight mode. And now we’re flying. In a car. 

Tom H: At one point I accidentally press the wrong button and turn off flying mode instead of firing missiles, causing my car to plummet uncontrollable downwards before it turns back on. Quickly I realise I can use this as a deliberate tactic, and toggle flight mode off and on to flip end over end, outflanking one of the attacking helicopters. This is without a doubt the most fun I’ve ever had in GTA Online. 

Phil: That was brilliant. And so it’s a shame to discover that this act’s finale, rather than bringing all of the previous mission’s toys together, is just a shootout in a bunker. 

Tom H: I’m not entirely sure why we’re breaking into an underground base in order to defend it. I’m also not sure why we’ve done anything we’ve done – only that it has something to do with Elon Musk. The turret part is quite fun, though. 

Act 2

Phil: The structure of these new missions seems to focus on the various toys Rockstar has added to GTA Online, which makes sense. Happily, the second act’s prep missions promise a submarine car and a big truck loaded up with a water cannon. We have minutes of fun with the latter, blasting one another with water and watching our characters ragdoll around. 

Tom H: The mission where we acquire the water cannon is terrific. We head to the beach and proceed to start an unarmed brawl with the pedestrians, prompting security to come in and hose us down. Then we shoot them and steal their truck. 

Phil: We have high hopes for the setup mission, but it’s actually pretty boring. We pile into the truck, drive to a place, put out some fires and steal some data – all while shooting a seemingly endless procession of crime boys. And then we do it all again about four more times. This feels like a waste. 

Tom S: These are some tough-as-nails goons, too. Every individual soldier can take maybe a dozen or so shots to the body and then get back up. You’re encouraged to get headshots to put them down quickly, but they seem to be spawning everywhere forever. I squirt them with a water cannon instead and send them flying off down the street. 

Phil: Hopefully the submarine car will be better. Divided into two teams, we drive our submersibles to a beach and charge towards the water. 

Tom H: I accelerate to top speed and ramp my car off the dock, transforming it into sub mode just as I hit the water. It looks awesome.

Samuel: Blasting the mines with the submarine car was fun, but it seems like the game never really makes the most of them—blowing up a submarine, or fighting off some kind of enemy underwater is the thing missing from this mission really. Considering how good the flying car element of the first act was, this seems like a missed opportunity. 

Tom H: But hey, next we get to steal a giant VTOL jet from the airport, that’ll be fun right? 

Phil: We drive to the hanger and approach the VTOL mammoth. I am very excited. Then the lights go out, and we’re ambushed. And then we die. Oh good, another of Rockstar’s infamous online heist difficulty spikes. We attempt multiple times, and then have to restart the entire thing over because of yet another connection drop. 

Tom S: There’s very little cover on the hangar floor, so we end up trial-and-erroring our way through, learning where the soldiers spawn and head-shotting them to clear the room. It’s essentially a deadly quest to turn the lights back on, and it’s one of the most frustrating parts of the heist so far. 

Phil: Eventually, we make it. We all hop in—me in the cockpit, the rest of the team manning mounted turrets in the back—and fly towards a remote landing zone. It all goes smoothly until we reach the destination. I land, but the mission doesn’t end. I readjust a couple of times, but can’t seem to hit whatever invisible trigger completes this thing. Finally, we get a mission failed screen. Apparently, the jet took too much damage? This is getting frustrating. We do it all once more, and this time, finally, it just works. This has been a pretty weak act, overall. Hopefully the final mission will deliver the goods. We’re split into teams again. Sam and I return to our submersible cars to assault a submarine.

Tom H: While they head underwater, Tom Senior and I hover above in the VTOL, shooting down waves and waves of helicopters. And I do mean waves. In fact the same number of helicopters attack from the same direction every time. After a while I suss out where they’re launching from and just point my turret there, trigger finger held down, killing them all the moment they spawn. 

Tom S: This is actually the low point of the entire thing for me. The VTOL is a cool vehicle that’s really fun to fly, but we’re stuck stationary, hovering over the ocean watching choppers spawn from the same parts of the mountain in front of us. Hopefully, Phil and Sam are having more fun under the sea, because I can’t remember the last time I played a mission in any game that demanded so little from the player. 

Phil: Our bit is actually pretty good, and involves a protracted shootout through tight corridors. But when we exit the sub, our car is gone. We swim back to shore to meet up with the VTOL crew. It takes forever.

ACT THREE

Phil: I still have no idea what the story is, but this is it: the last chain of missions before the big payday. We wrap up the prep missions efficiently. Worryingly, though, our connection drops are worse than ever. During this open world section, Tom Hatfield and I each get booted from the server at various points. 

Tom H: At first I was concerned that my internet was the causing our connection problems. In fact I unplugged, replugged and reset everything I could think of to try and fix the issue. But now it’s happening to everyone. 

Samuel: The first real mission involves driving to a dock we scouted out earlier and fighting a bunch of Merryweather dudes, which seems nice and simple. We clear out the warehouse with no real problem. Then, three guys in armour with machine guns and invisibility cloaks turn up and pretty much mow us down with ease. This is suddenly absurdly hard. 

Tom H: Throughout our entire heist experience GTA Online has been consistently ramping up the health and deadliness of enemies, but these guys are some hot bullshit. Immune to anything but high explosives and headshots, invisible, and constantly firing a spray of minigun bullets.

Phil: It’s hard, but we’re figuring it out. We take out the first three with sniper fire, and then get surprised by their reinforcements. Still, it’s progress. A plan is forming, but, before we can execute, the mission fails. This time, it’s Samuel who drops connection. That’s three people who have been booted at various points this act. 

Samuel: I make the bold suggestion that GTA has one more chance—that one more dropped connection in the next hour, and we’re done. We walk away from the entire heist, despite getting this far. 

Tom S: Two quotes from classic heist film Heat spring to mind. One: “Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat.” Two: “Don’t waste my motherfucking time!” GTA Online’s heists are amazing at points, but we’ve had to work pretty hard to find the fun since the awesome flying DeLoreans mission, which feels like it happened a decade ago at this point. At least my connection seems to be holding strong. 

Phil: The difficulty spikes I can deal with, but losing all of your progress when someone’s booted from the instance is sapping my resolve away. We reload the mission one final time, and, while driving to the mission area, Tom Senior gets kicked. The mission fails. 

Tom S: Balls. 

Samuel: That’s the end. Sorry, GTA. We want to enjoy you but you’re making it too hard. There’s a brilliant online game hiding in here, but I feel a bit burnt out and ready for a less testing online experience. 

Phil: This feels like an anti-climax, but one that, for me, sums up GTA Online pretty well. When it works, it’s one of my favourite co-op games. But those moments are hard won, and there are plenty of more seamless multiplayer games we could play instead. Now who’s up for some Vermintide?

If you've ever played Grand Theft Auto 5, you've probably stolen a car. You've probably owned an illegal gun. And you've probably pulled the trigger. But have you ever dipped someone's pockets—swiping their cash or phone or smokes without them noticing? iLLo's work-in-progress Pickpocket Script has you covered. 

(Spoiler: I'm fairly certain the bespectacled surf person in the header image above is onto us.)

"Bump into them, get the stuff, and get the hell out," says the mod's creator which seems like pretty solid advice. iLLo also explains the mod allows for two approaches: with or without force. I like their words on the latter: "You can either choose to be fast, and brutal, bumping into people, forcing your way out. Or you can play it subtle, like an artist, and arrive slowly behind your victim and discretely grab whatever you want."

Once you've made your mark, stolen goods—single items at a time—can be sold on to a nearby dealer, identified on the map by a green blip. Sure, there are faster ways to earn cash in San Andreas, but who needs the hassle of planning and executing elaborate heists?

Skip to 7.30 here to see Pickpocket Script in action (I don't speak Czech, but the footage speaks for itself):

Down the line, iLLo plans to add a tiered pickpocketing skill stat, some wanted level adjustments, inventory stashes, and dealers who betray you, rob from you and/or turn you in to the 5-0. Snitches get stitches.  

More information on Pickpocket Script, including installation instructions, can be found on its GTA5-Mods page. 

Chakra Attack is one of my favourite incidental features in GTA 5. Fronted by Ray De Angelo Harris, the talk show appears on West Coast Talk Radio wherein its fictional host haphazardly explores spirituality, relaxation and the concept of duality to hilarious effect. Harris is voiced by American actor, comedian and writer J.B. Smoove—who is best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm. 

While chatting about his involvement in Grand Theft Auto 5, it occurs to me that Smoove's Curb Your Enthusiasm character, Leon Black, might enjoy videogames. 

"Listen. I think Leon would love videogames. I think he'd really love GTA 5," says Smoove. "His life might be like GTA. We don't know much about Leon's story, he doesn't have a true origin. You watch these Marvel movies—everybody got a damn origin story. I know those guys are superheroes, but no one knows where Leon came from. We know a little bit about him, but I think if we knew more about him that's something we could channel. Who is this guy? Where did he come from?" 

Larry David, on the other hand, does not strike me as someone who enjoys videogames. On the show, Larry lives with Leon. With this in mind, I ask Smoove if he could ever envisage Larry sitting down with Leon to play videogames."I think it'd have to be something about life itself," says Smoove. "I think Leon and Larry could play GTA 5, because there's enough in there of a lifestyle that Larry has no idea about, that he's never experienced. Take Larry down that road. On a mission with Larry? I think that'd be so hilarious. Just to explain the game to Larry, and how it works, you know? Larry, we're gonna get in this car. We're gonna drive across town. We're gonna get this deal poppin'. We're gonna do this, we're gonna all these steps. 

"I think that would so intriguing to him. I think he would get caught up. I think if Leon introduced him to GTA and told him how it works and how crazy it is—you know, there's ladies in it, there's intrigue, there's power, there's fights, there's running, there's driving cars, there's all of that stuff that you have never experience, Larry. I think Larry would get caught up in it and he'd be addicted to it. And Leon would have to pry the controller out of his hands at some point. I think that'd be a funny episode—Larry gets caught up in a videogame. He's up all night. His eyes are red."

At this point I'm laughing out loud. I tell Smoove if this doesn't feature in a future episode of Curb, I'm going to be very disappointed. 

He continues: "Ha! How great would that be, man?! Aw man, how great would that be? Larry's eyes are red and… aw man.Leon: What's wrong with you, man?Larry: I was up all night playing that videogame you got me hooked on! I can't stop. I just can't stop. You got a game in you? Come on, let's play a game. Just one game.Leon: I can't! I got other things to do, man.Larry: … One game?

"That would be awesome, man. How great would that be? Larry's addicted to the game. He can't stop playing. Aw, man! Then he starts living like the game. He starts doing stuff the game would do in real life. That would be great."

Did I just inadvertently brainstorm a GTA 5-inspired episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm with the show's Leon Black? 

Curb returned with its ninth season last year off the back of a six-year hiatus, and was renewed for number ten shortly thereafter. If an 11th season follows, a Grand Theft Auto episode is probably/possibly/definitely unlikely. But, as J.B. Smoove says, how great would that be?Look out for our full conversation with J.B. Smoove on playing Ray De Angelo Harris, GTA 5's enduring appeal, and working with Rockstar in the coming days. 

GTA Online's Occupy and Bunker series offer double $GTA and experience this week. A selection of its facilities, supercars, aircraft and other luxury items are subject to a limited-time sale. 

After spending the last several weeks maxing out my character in GTA Online, I'm keen to break into its race circuit. Historically, it's an area I've always sidestepped—most likely because of GTA 3, Vice City and San An's mandatory, and thus interminably jarring, contests. 

With this in mind, I might check out the Progen T20, which is going for $1,540,000 with 30 percent off. Likewise, the Coil Cyclone is $1,417,500 with a 25 percent discount. But I might opt for one of the briefs on our fastest cars in GTA Online list—a compendium I'd recommend checking out yourself if you're on the same boat/Itali GTB Custom as me. 

Elsewhere, a host of facilities and aircraft are on sale—the most noteworthy of which is the superbly located Route 68 Facility, that's going for $1,734,375. Buy that, complete the Doomsday Heist, and you'll be able to afford any supercar you fancy. Look at you, Mr/Mrs Gold Card.

Take part in the following Bunker series events for that double RP/$GTA hit:

• Slasher.
• Every Bullet Counts.
• Juggernaut.
• Kill Quota.
• Resurrection.
• Trading Places.
• Till Death Do Us Part.

More information on all of that can be found via the Rockstar Newswire. 

Next month, Grand Theft Auto 5 celebrates its third birthday on PC. And yet, despite its age, the open world crime simulator attracted record player numbers last year—driven by GTA Online's Doomsday Heist, which launched on December 12, 2017. Two days later, Rockstar rolled out the Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack. 

Promising new players a leg up in Los Santos for £40/$40, I picked up the multiplayer welcome bundle and raised a single profile from level 16 to 85 in just short of five weeks. I maxed out my character's skill stats and earned a small fortune along the way, but sunk dozens of hours into the game during this time. 

Is the Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack worth your money, then? Or would grinding free-of-charge, or picking up select Shark Cash Cards yield the same (or better) results? As you might expect, that depends on how you approach GTA Online. Let's take a closer look.

What do you get? 

Rockstar bills the Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack as follows: 

The Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack is the fastest way for new Grand Theft Auto Online players to jumpstart their criminal empires. Do not purchase if you already own the Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack.

Get access to a huge range of the most exciting and popular content in GTA Online including properties, businesses, weapons, vehicles and more—all content valued at over GTA$10,000,000 if purchased separately.

Launch business ventures from your Maze Bank West Executive Office, research powerful weapons technology from your underground Paleto Forest Bunker or tear through the streets with a range of vehicles, including a Supercar, Motorcycles the weaponized Dune FAV and more. 

A smallprint disclaimer however adds: "A copy of Grand Theft Auto V is required to play and the content is only accessible in GTA Online. Content, including vehicles, will be marked FREE in-game, and has no trade-in value."

The Starter Pack's collection of vehicles, properties, weapons and cosmetics includes:

Property

• Maze Bank West Executive Office.
• Paleto Forest Gunrunning Bunker.
• Senora Desert Counterfeit Cash Factory.
• Great Chaparral Biker Clubhouse.
• 1561 San Vitas Street Apartment.
• 1337 Exceptionalists Way 10 Car Garage. 

Vehicles

• Dune FAV.
• Maibatsu Frogger.
• Enus Windsor.
• Obey Omnis.
• Coquette Classic.
• Grotti Turismo R.
• Pegassi Vortex.
• Huntley S.
• Western Zombie Chopper.
• Banshee.

Weapons, Clothing and Tattoos

• Compact Grenade Launcher.
• Marksman Rifle.
• Compact Rifle.
• Stunt Race and Import/Export Outfits.
• Biker Tattoos.

Money

•  GTA$1,000,000. 

The property 

In GTA Online, you need property to make real money. Whether you're working alone or playing with friends, becoming a VIP or CEO of an Organization and buying and selling Special Cargo and/or vehicles is a good way to generate cash and RP quickly. 

Maze Bank West is a centrally-located Executive Office that otherwise costs $1,000,000 and is the gem of the Starter Pack's crown. It's the base I still operate from today, and the main method I used to level up so quickly. And while there are other, better-situated and more customisable properties on the market, this is as good as any and saves you splashing out. You will however need a warehouse to store your illicit goods—which can be covered by your $1,000,000 bonus. 

I do wish the Starter Pack came with a cheap warehouse, but you can pick up a 16-crate-storing Convenience Store Lockup in Rancho for $250,000. I've since graduated to the more centrally-located 42-crate Fridgit Annexe in La Puerta in that regard, which set me back $925,000. 111-crate-storing units are priced between $1.9 million and $3.5 million, but they're only worthwhile if you play with pals on a regular basis.

Gunrunning is another feasible money-making route in GTA Online, but the Paleto Forest Bunker isn't a great spot, in my opinion. Otherwise priced $1,165,000, Paleto Forest is located northwest of Mount Chiliad and, besides being positioned next to the highway, is a bit of a nightmare to get to and from. This is particularly troublesome if you're interested in stealing supplies—as opposed to buying them—as you're often forced to travel the length of the map against a timer. Likewise, resupply/selling runs (besides Merryweather missions) are capped at 15 minutes and can feel difficult to complete from here.

The Senora Desert Counterfeit Cash Factory is worth $845,000 and is a good money-earner. Located in Sandy Shores, drop offs are tied almost exclusively to the city—which means driving on paved roads across shorter distances, as opposed to the reverse if you opt to set up shop in-town.   

The Great Chaparral Biker Clubhouse is the cheapest clubhouse in the game at $200,000, but it boasts a great location. It's a shame the Starter Pack doesn't include cocaine or meth businesses to compliment your MC, but the option to run your own motorcycle club is a good addition nevertheless. 

Less impressive are the Starter Pack's remaining properties: 1561 San Vitas Street Apartment ($99,000) and 1337 Exceptionalists Way 10 Car Garage ($112,500). After a cursory visit post-purchase, I haven't returned to either as they are almost useless besides allocating vehicle slots. 

In order to initiate heists—some of GTA Online's most lucrative ventures—you require a high-end, heist board-supporting pad. 1561 San Vitas is neither high-end, nor does it support heists. I've since splashed for the 10-car-garaged 3 Alta Street apartment 10 for $223,000. Which also means I have no use for 1337 Exceptionalists Way. Unless you're a collector, I'd advise against buying car garages entirely. 

The total in-game value of all of the above is $3,421,500.

The vehicles 

The Starter Pack's vehicles are a mixed bag. Some of these rides have been integral to my success. Others I've driven once and stored indefinitely. And some I've decided against claiming at all. 

The Maibatsu Frogger helicopter ($1,300,000), for example, falls into the former category. Not only does it help cover the map quicker, it's durable and allows players to boost their flying skill stat from the off. Unlike other choppers, its back rotor cannot be sniped and thus can't be disabled from the ground which proves handy during airborne attacks. I've since moved on to a gun/missile-holstering Buzzard Attack Chopper ($1,750,000)—but the Frogger is great for beginners. 

Both the Turismo R ($500,000) and the Banshee ($105,000) are solid cars. The former hits between 125-140 at max speed but has incredible handling. With a tweaked engine, brakes and armour, I've found the Turismo R to be one of the most reliable cars in the game without parting with an inordinate amount of cash. The Banshee is nothing extraordinary, but it's admittedly my favourite car in the Grand Theft Auto series (I include the first game's Beast GTS in this bracket). Tell me the pink number above isn't a beauty. With decent speed and handling, both of these cars can help increase driving skill stats from the outset, too. 

At $1,130,500, the Dune FAV is a great fast-attack buggy that combines a driver and a gunner to great effect. I'd question the FAV's worth over my latterly-purchased Buzzard, but this is likely a matter a taste. If you're into motorbikes, the Pegassi Vortex ($356,000) is a decent all-rounder, while the Western Zombie Chopper ($122,000) will help you look the part at the head of an MC.

Personal preference undoubtedly plays an important role here, but I've found little use for rest of the Starter Pack's vehicle ensemble.

The total in-game value of the Starter Pack's cars (full list at top of page) is $5,919,500.

The weapons and cosmetics 

Despite GTA's scope for chaos, I'm a big fan of picking people off at a distance. As such, my most prolific one-two punch comes from a Sniper Rifle ($20,000), and scoped and silenced Special Carbine ($14,750). The Starter Pack's Marksman Rifle (otherwise $15,750) satisfies this playstyle to an extent, but I've found its Compact Rifle (otherwise $14,650) to be a bit lightweight in offence with temperamental recoil.  

I did, however, find the Compact Grenade Launcher (otherwise $45,000) particularly valuable when starting out as a CEO. Missions that required laying waste to multiple enemies in vehicles became far easier, however I've since graduated to the Homing Launcher ($75,000) for the purpose of taking down hostile choppers. 

Cosmetics are cool, and the Starter Pack's tattoo selection is neat. But, again, the value of these will depend on what you're into on a superficial level. 

All told, the in-game value of the Starter Pack's weapons and cosmetics is $75,500+.

The money 

$1,000,000 pocket money is good, but, as outlined above, it can be spent pretty quickly in GTA Online.

So, is it worth it? 

As Rockstar outlines in its blurb, the contents of the Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack are "valued at over GTA$10,000,000 if purchased separately." This is true, however, as I've discussed above, I'm not convinced you'll need every item/vehicle/property to improve your GTA Online experience. 

Let's gather the Starter Pack's purchases that are worth your time:

• Maze Bank West.
• Senora Desert Counterfeit Cash Factory.
• Great Chaparral Biker Clubhouse.
• Maibatsu Frogger.
• Turismo R.
• Banshee.
• Dune FAV.
• Pegassi Vortex.
• Western Zombie Chopper.
• Compact Grenade Launcher.

Total value: $5,603,500.

Grinding out this haul free-of-charge will take new players some time—particularly when factoring in Vehicle and/or Special Cargo warehouses and/or coke and meth businesses. Access to an office from the outset has been real handy for me, as far as earning potential and RP accumulation are concerned, and while the Starter Pack is hardly likely to intrigue long-serving players, it is definitely a handy leg-up for new faces. 

You could of course mix-and-match paid-for Shark Cash Cards and go after exactly what you want—skipping some of the dead weight the Starter Pack houses in the process. At $1,250,000, you could own both Maze Bank West and the Rancho Convenience Store Lockup and go from there. Doing so with a Great White Shark Card would set you back $11.99/$19.99, which is a sure sight shy of the Starter Pack's £40/$40 ask. 

But if you're short on time and are happy with the price, I nevertheless think the Starter Pack is worthwhile. It's perfect for players who're after a point of entry into GTA Online without breaking the bank. To ascertain the above $5.6 million figure by way of Shark Cards, you're looking at a combination that far exceeds the Starter Pack's value. 

From a personal standpoint, I've jumped almost 70 levels in just over a month since purchasing GTA Online's Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack. I'm not convinced I'd have risen this quickly without its help, and, starting out, it helped me feel more at home in an already well-established world. It's undoubtedly missing some crucial features—features which will cost you time and/or real world money—but I still think it's worth it for new players.

"I'm unarmed. I'm a journalist, and I'm here to report on the robbery. Look, see my van? I was tipped off. The guy you want is in the back. Don't shoot." 

This was the spiel I used it to steal over $50,000 from a chain of Los Santos banks, shops and jewelry stores. Without confrontation, I tricked GTA 5 law enforcement roleplayers by preying on assumption and sincerity in the guise of a reporter. I didn't even care about the money—I was hooked on the lie, the scheme and the thrill of getting caught. When I eventually did get rumbled the spell was broken. But what a rush it was before then.  

Los Santos Life RP is a dedicated roleplaying server within FiveM, a 32-person open source community modification for Grand Theft Auto 5. Designed to allow mods on the server/client side of operation, FiveM works independently of Rockstar's GTA Online besides validating the player's copy of the game prior to launch. In Los Santos Life, cash reflects reality, therefore my haul was probably akin to a few million GTA$ as it features in GTA 5 and its online component.

Starting out in LS Life is daunting. You're skint, with no obvious means of earning money. Beyond some loose rules found on the server's forums, players are encouraged to learn the world via voice conversations with others, or by way of the server's Lifeinvader (the base game's slant on real world social media) UI chat stream. 

Upon arrival, I discovered I could change my generic white t-shirt/blue jeans-wearing avatar free-of-charge, and so set off on foot to the nearest clothes store. En route, though, I spotted another player assaulting an NPC pedestrian and intervened with force. In doing so, I failed to notice the squad car circling at my back. Tires screeched, lights flashed and sirens wailed as the cruiser pulled up alongside us. I was cuffed, read my Miranda rights and escorted to jail. With no roleplaying lawyers online—or so I was told—I was convicted of assault and sentenced to ten months in the slammer without trial. Talk about a baptism of fire.  

Luckily LS Life's judicial system measures months in minutes—but 600 seconds with nowhere to go nonetheless felt like a long time. Worse still, other inmates travelled the length of the prison's courtyard to throw punches and/or shout expletives at me, and it quickly became clear Bolingbroke Penitentiary was a spot best avoided from thereon. 

With this in mind, I emerged a new man and set off in pursuit of an honest living. I visited the server's job centre—located at 3 Alta Street, a purchasable heist apartment in GTA Online—and became a taxi driver. My wage was a meager $30 per in-game day, plus whatever I charged roleplayers for my on-call service. It took time, but I eventually earned enough dough to buy my own car and despite being regaled with tales of drug dealing, money laundering and bank robbery from the backseat of my cab, I remained committed to my puritanical lifestyle.       

I stuck to crosswalks on foot, I yielded to pedestrians when driving; I bit my tongue and sidestepped provocation from other players, I alerted the authorities to crimes witnessed during my shifts. In essence, I became a model Los Santos citizen.

One evening, while transporting another roleplayer from Blaine County to the city, I passed through a set of traffic lights. A squad car pulled me over, and an officer and his cadet asked that I exit my vehicle. "I think you ran a red light there, sir," the officer in charge posited, as he ran the plates on my taxi. I politely contested. My hire paid for his ride to this point, thanked me, and left on foot.    

"Excuse me?" asked the junior. My hire was now out of earshot. "You ran the fucking light," said the lead officer, his tone now aggressive. Before I could reply, I was tasered. The pair laughed, almost hysterically. I was tasered again. And again. And again. "We'll let you off with a warning this time, asshole… but we're taking your car to the station as evidence."

Evidence of what? Institutional corruption? I dusted myself off as the two enforcers made off with my cab. Fuck you! I screamed into my mic, before realising it was 11.30pm in the real world and my downstairs neighbour was probably asleep. 

Prior to playing FiveM, I hadn't seen Dan Gilroy's 2014 thriller Nightcrawler (Samuel reckoned my antics sort of reflected its plot). As such, I thought this next part was genius. And, having since watched it, my tactics weren't absolutely like-for-like, so I'm still proud of how it all unfolded.

So, fuck the LSPD, right? After all that, after playing by the rules and having the utmost respect for authority, I wound up getting screwed over anyway. Payback time, I reckoned. But how? 

During my time as a cabbie, I learned that banks, jewelry stores and liquor shops can be robbed in Los Santos Life by equipping yourself with a weapon, and counting down a timer before dealing with the authorities. If the clock expires, the money is yours, however I'd once witnessed a bandit making off with $10K from the Legion Square branch of Fleeca Bank, only to be gunned down in cold blood just metres from its entrance. Once the cops get you, they can of course confiscate dirty money. 

This wasn't going to be straightforward. And if I was to successfully stick it to The Man I needed a decoy.

I returned to the job centre and signed on as a journalist. I visited the Weazel News HQ and was given a company van with the station's logo emblazoned on the side. I popped into Ammu-Nation and purchased a switchblade—a tool I'd use to initiate each operation, but had no intention of using. I wanted to embarrass the LSPD, but had no desire to fight them head on. That was a battle I wouldn't win.

And so I started out small by hitting Blaine County's Yellow Jack Inn. I parked my ride out on the main drag, and positioned my Weazel News van in the car park out front. I whipped out my knife, started the timer, put it back in my pocket, and waited. My stomach hit the roof. I rehearsed my lines over and over and over again. I glanced at the clock, paced around the interior of the bar, and peered out the dusty window at the highway on the opposite side of the glass. With just 24 seconds to go, one solitary officer pulled up outside. 

"I'm unarmed," I said. I paused, and took a deep breath. It's all or nothing now, I thought to myself. I continued: "I'm a journalist, and I'm here to report on the robbery. Look, see my van? I was tipped off. The guy you want is in the back. Don't shoot."

And while I was in fact referring to the back of the bar itself, my miscommunication saw the officer advising me not to panic and informing me he'd check the rear of the premises before making sure I was okay. The timer ran down. Several thousand dollars appeared in my account. This was my chance. 

I hightailed it out of the door and over to my car, laughing as I went. I floored it, and careered over sandswept back roads to a city clothes store with my radio switched off and my breath held. After changing up my look, I was in the clear. In reality I'd inadvertently risen to my feet, and was hopping from side to side as I lurched over my monitor. My plan had worked. It felt fantastic.

I then hit multiple convenience stores across San Andreas, before graduating to its banks and jewelry boutiques using the same trick. 

"I'm unarmed. I'm a journalist, and I'm here to report on the robbery. Look, see my van? I was tipped off. The guy you want is in the back. Don't shoot."

When I eventually worked up the nerve to take on the aforementioned Legion Square Fleeca Bank branch, I watched two coppers spend over two minutes shouting orders at an imaginary robber before walking straight past me into the building's backroom vault. By the time I heard them cursing their stupidity, I was already in the front seat of my getaway car.  

I netted just over $10,000 from that non-confrontational heist alone—and while players are identified in LS Life by floating profile numbers (which can be seen through walls), my stall tactics and deception had caused this pair to overlook the culprit stood right in front of their eyes. 

When I finally got caught, one particularly relentless roleplaying authoritarian set her canine unit on me. After some back and forth I slipped up and felt the full force of the law. "I don't believe you, pal," she scoffed. "Do you think I'm fucking stupid?" 

What happened next was like that scene from Catch Me If You Can where Tom Hanks' Carl Hanratty tracks down Leo DiCaprio's Frank Abagnale Jr. in a hotel room. Only instead of getting away, I wound up incapacitated on the floor with more holes in me than a tea bag, and a dog chewing on my testicles.  

Am I sociopath? Despite the thrill of pulling off my plan time and time again, committing these virtual crimes while talking to real life people—albeit in roleplay—did make me question my morality. Doing so was some of the most fun I've ever had while playing a videogame, however should I read into the fact that lying to and tricking folk for fake financial gain turned me on and came so naturally to me? 

Probably. Perhaps I'll worry about that the next time I'm washing sack-loads of in-game dirty money and pondering how to spend it. Maybe I'll even clean up my act and join the server's police force—a group who hold real life interviews and enforce in-game probation periods. There's definitely a story or two to be told from the inside. Now, should I roleplay Johnny Law or Donnie Brasco? Watch this space.