After the masterpiece that is “Grand Theft Auto V” kept me entertained for a few weeks, I became more and more excited for what I was hearing about GTA Online. Despite all of the research I had done, I had no clue how it was going to work out in practice compared to on paper. To my astonishment, GTA Online has ended up being some of the most fun I have had in my nearly 10 years of being an Xbox 360 owner. Without a doubt, this is my gaming surprise of the year.

It was not always gold-paved roads of destruction, mayhem and fun though. I was not able to access the service for five full days after its launch, which was less than satisfactory. Even then, load times were extreme, servers were down, and there was a constant dwindling fear of whether or not my character would be there when I logged in the next day. It was the rockiest launch I have experienced since Diablo 3, and I did not think I would encounter anything that bad ever again.

As bad as this sounds, it got even worse. While I was one of the lucky few who got away unscathed, GTA Online was subject to one of the most enraging things that can happen to gamers: entirely deleting people’s character profiles.

I was actually playing when the servers went down, disabling me from playing any longer. I immediately took to Twitter to see if anyone else was experiencing the same issues, and I knew something was wrong when I saw a common theme in the tweets to @RockstarGames. Instead of just complaining about the downed servers, nearly every tweet mentioned the fact that players’ characters were no longer accessible. Character slots were emptied, with no trace of people’s hard work to be found.

When I heard the news and saw the 80+ tweets per second, I decided to stop playing for a few days while things were sorted out. I had no idea if I was one of the many who was negatively affected, but I felt that trying to access the servers during the downtime would not help my character’s fate at all. After this huge debacle, I have no idea if it was my hesitancy that saved my character from certain doom. Regardless, Rockstar had a weight no developer would want to burden their shoulders.

Consequently, Rockstar announced the GTA Online Stimulus Package, which gives anyone who logs in during October (not just those affected by character loss) a free half a million of in-game currency. People like me lucked out; we did not lose our characters and still get quite a significant apology. Other people feel that no amount of free virtual money will remedy the time they lost in developing their doomed characters. Perhaps Rockstar will find a way to recover the lost avatars, but I do not see it happening.

My point is that the first week of this product’s launch was pretty bad for everyone involved. But let us move past that. Now that things are stabilized and functioning, with no hindrance to playability, I can safely say this is the most-fun open world action game I’ve had played, barring actual massively multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft.

But is GTA Online an MMO? I think it has elements of one, and those are the elements I really connect to when I play. There is an economy that you need to care about, a constant threat to your life, and a sense of adventure and exploration that few games instill in me any more. I think what I love most about GTA Online is that it captures what I always wanted from a GTA or a Just Cause or a Saints Row: MMO-style mayhem in modern-day suburban and country streets. It is quite the clash of genres, and it works exceptionally well.

Freeroam lobbies can be filled with 16 players, which I first went into thinking that might not be enough. Trust me, it is enough. Full lobbies feel just right in terms of spacing, which I imagine would be something that could cripple the game if it didn’t work right. Have too many players, and you will never be able to get anywhere without being blown to bits or riddled with bullets. Have too few and it’s like single player. Instead, with 15 other people in the map with you, you may run into one every couple of minutes (especially in the city).

When that happens, an adrenaline-fueled decision presents itself to you. Do you approach the stranger, fight him, or avoid him? Decisions like these end in death 90% of the time, but despite the violent nature of the community, you can never be too sure what someone else will do when you are near them. I once landed next to a random guy in a helicopter and he got in, albeit hesitantly. I took him on a guided tour of Los Santos county, ending on top of the largest skyscraper in the game. As we both got out and enjoyed the view, he proceeded to look at me for a couple seconds before pulling out his shotgun and sending my face careening over the edge before taking my chopper. I could have been mad, but hanging out with a random was a risk I was willing to take. I guess he didn’t feel like being buddies, but that’s fine because I’ve made plenty of other random friends in the game (I don’t have friends in real life) that were less trigger-happy. Such is life.

When not in lobbies with either friends or foes, you are out in the sectioned parts of the game world, doing whatever missions you feel like doing. Think of it as entering a story mission, but with other players (either with or against them). It is that simple; sort of like a dungeon in an MMO. These are awesome ways to experience the joys of GTA missions with the chaos of your friends. It’s something I thought would be fun in GTA IV, but they really nailed it here.

Money, cars, apartments and weapons are much harder to come by in this version of the game (online, that is), and because of that, it actually feels better; more natural. I didn’t like in the single player how easy it was to unlock and buy everything. Here, with more than 50 hours under my belt, I do not even have a quarter of the content unlocked. It really makes you think about if you need that silencer for your shotgun, or if you’d rather upgrade your car’s armor.

The cars are another thing: yours plays a big role. You can get it insured and tracked; it is essentially your best buddy that is not alive. If someone blows it up, chances are they will have to pay for it if it’s insured. I have had the same car from the start and am about to upgrade, but I’ll still keep it in my garage because of the memories (and money) I have sank into it.

The game world feels more alive than ever. I love spending my time in the online version of Los Santos and Blaine county, and I can honestly say I will play this till my Xbox dies and it is time to move on to next-gen GTA. The game is so good, I will probably re-buy it sometime down the road for a new console.

If I were to rate GTA Online as a whole, with the launch, I would give it a 3/5. But now that it’s finally working as intended and a whole lot of fun, this deserves a perfect 5/5. And Rockstar promises it is only going to get better. An absolute masterpiece and one that I did not think was possible for the series or for the consoles.

5/5