GTA Online’s Incredible New Stunt Races Are Well Worth A Drive

Some of the multiplayer additions to Grand Theft Auto Online may not interest devotees of the single-player part of Rockstar’s ever-evolving rendition of California crime. The stunt races introduced to the game throughout the past month should.

These courses, which Rockstar has been adding to GTA Online in batches for free since July 12, let you drive through GTA V’s map in wonderfully ridiculous ways: Down from the clouds, above the ocean or even past giant bowling pins en route to a jump over Mt Chiliad. You can race against 15 other people or drive them solo. (Check out the video above and the GIF below for some of the courses’ best jumps and twists).

We’ve been playing through the Stunt Races and having a pretty good time. It helps that these are some of the more comical additions to the game, abandoning all pretence of realism in favour of letting players drive up tubes as tall as skyscrapers. If you go into GTA Online, you can access the new races by driving to any pink racing icons on the map. Or you can access them from the game’s job menu.

It can be intimidating to play GTA Online. Experienced players are driving around in armoured cars, taking jobs as CEOs as they amass enough money to buy armed yachts. For those of us not quite there, a crazy race is a less daunting way to get into the madness.

That said, do prepare to be taunted in a GTA kind of way if you lose a competitive race.

Rockstar adds to GTA Online in phases and is not quite done with the stunt race stuff. On August 2, they’re adding a Stunt Creator tool that will allow players to make their own races. Even early player-modded races look amazing. It will be interesting to see just how far creative players can push things.