Summary
The cutscene that plays the first time a player dies inGrand Theft Auto Onlinewill probably leave players with a lot of questions. Depending on whether they’ve playedGrand Theft Auto 5’s story first, the cutscene could be even more baffling. There’s a pretty simple explanation for one part of the cutscene, while the other half requires a bit more speculation. Even withGrand Theft Auto Online’s relatively light story, not every detail of what’s going on in the scene can be confirmed for sure. However, there is enough evidence to take a reasonable stab at it.
There are many ways thatplayers can be killed inGTA Online, and often without warning. The biggest culprits would be other players, many of whom will leap at the opportunity to take out another player for the experience rewards. Even if they’re not being specifically targeted, they can still be blown up or run over in the midst of another player’s rampage. Of course, theGTAseries' traditionally aggressive cops could also spell the end of a player, as could the enemies encounter in the game’s missions. Essentially, if one is looking to playGrand Theft Auto Online, they should be prepared to die a lot - meaning they are all-but-guaranteed to see one strange scene play out.
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GTA Online’s Death Cutscene Features a Surprise Cameo and Useful Information
Upon their first death inGTA Online, players will see a figure from one ofGrand Theft Auto 5’s side missions, Cris Formage, bathed in heavenly light. The leader of the Epsilon Program, Cris was the main antagonist for one chain of side quests for Michael. The missions end with either Cris gaining millions of dollars through a deal, or Michael crashing it and taking the money for himself, infuriating Cris. In hisGTA Onlineappearance, Cris appears, floating and bathed in heavenly light, boasting of his power and telling the player how he can watch over the world at his leisure.
While the cutscene seems random and bizarre, it actually plays an important role, because it will introduce players toGrand Theft Auto Online’s Passive Mode. In Passive Mode, players cannot be harmed deliberately, although they are unable to equip any weapons or attack anyone in return. In a way, Passive Mode works the way that Cris describes in his speech. It allows player to observe what’s going on in the world without intervening in their own right. While Passive Mode doesn’t grant perfect invulnerability, as it can still be surpassed in certain ways, it’s the closest thatGTA Onlineplayers can come to being a ghost.
While the cutscene does explain Passive Mode in its own way, that still doesn’t explain Cris Formage’s role in it. He was not amajorGrand Theft Autovillain, only someone that Michael had to deal with in one specific quest chain, where he absolutely did not have any godlike powers. The cutscene was likely a dream thatGTA Online’s protagonist had after being knocked out. After all,GTAprotagonists don’t die after being wasted, and Formage was a popular topic in recent news at the time. That could have led the player to have a strange dream featuring Formage on their way to the hospital.
From Cris Formage’s cameo, to how completely out of place the whole scene felt, dying for the first time is a bizarre experience eventen years afterGTA Online’s launch. On the bright side, characters can unlock Passive Mode out of the experience, which is a blessing for players who are wary of the constant chaos of the game’s servers. It’s certainly a strange moment, butGrand Theft Autofans have likely experienced far more unusual incidents in the series.Grand Theft Auto Online’s first death cutscene is weird, but it serves a purpose.
Grand Theft Auto Onlineis available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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