Grand Theft Auto: 15 Unforgivable Plot Holes We Can’t Unsee
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The Grand Theft Auto games seem great, but are full of plot holes and inconsistencies when you actually look at them.
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The Grand Theft Auto series is without a doubt one of the most beloved franchises in the history of gaming. It can even be argued that the series is one of the most popular brands ever, rivaling the likes of Sonic or Mario franchises.
The Grand Theft Auto games brought in a wave of sandbox elements that have inspired countless other developers to emulate their style and success, but the GTA series remains the king in its genre. It has never been a masterpiece as far as storytelling goes, however, as every plot is quite simplistic. Over time, though, attempts have been made to craft together a better narrative for the ensuing games in order to overcome what is perhaps the only the flaw in the series.
However, any plot is destined to have some gaping holes that are not noticeable to a keen eye and the Grand Theft Auto series is no exception to this. There are some plot holes that can be seen as an oversight on the game creators’ part while some could be pointed out as being too obvious to ignore.
Sometimes these plot holes can change the perspective of a certain game and make the player see it in a new light and play the game once more to reflect on this change in perception.
To this end, here a few points that can be traced in the Grand Theft Auto franchise that should make reader question their playthroughs and revisit the respective games in order to catch the plot holes themselves.
15 What’re You Doing In The Back Of That Car?
This must be a point that has confounded numerous players of the series. Franklin had a simple job: get the car back to the showroom. But who does he find lounging around in the back? None other our very own Mr. De Santa. Now, it sure did make for a cool and quirky first meeting between these two characters, who would go on to have a father-son type relationship… but it definitely is a head scratcher. Why would big old Mike be relaxing in the backseat of his son’s car, in the garage no less?
There’s no doubt the story developers wanted the first interaction between Michael and Franklin to be intriguing, and that’s the only explanation why it played out the way it did. But from a narrative standpoint it makes absolutely no sense!
14 The Meltdown Time Warp
GTA Online is well-established as a prequel to GTA V. This allowed some liberties in incorporating characters that went deceased in the main game, but this also ushered in a few gaping plot holes. One of the more obvious ones is the promotion of the movie Meltdown, a plot point in Michael’s story from GTA V.
Producing Meltdown brought some meaning to Michael’s hollow existence and provided much development in his character arc, enabling him to reconcile with his family. To this end, it’s a pretty big goof on GTA Online’s part to incorporate the film, and one that is hard to go unnoticed once it comes to your attention. It’s probably an oversight on the developer’s part to add references to the game, but it ends up as a noticeable mistake.
13 If It’s Easy, Just Do It
What you’re probably aware of is that any protagonist in the GTA series is imbued with superhuman durability, whether in-game or in storyline. However, the overall arc the characters go through in GTA V is the fact that they’re in too deep with the feds and crime factions such as the Triads.
That’s all kept believable to an extent, until the very end when Franklin decides to go with the ‘Deathwish’ option and, along with his two buddies, mows down each every one of the bad guys. It didn’t go without a few troubles but the trio definitely handled worse scenarios while being forced to work for the FIB.
So, if they did realistically have some chance of being rid of all these troubles, why not just do it at the beginning and spare themselves of all the headaches?
12 How Dare You Bump Into Me!
Here’s GTA logic to defy everything: the police is absolutely bonkers. No matter how far along the series has progressed, this aspect has never developed.
You’ve got a mass killer running around the streets wielding an arsenal of weapons in his kitty, which he openly flaunts in the cops’ faces, to no consequence. But God forbid you make the honest mistake of bumping the hood of their car… you’re in for a high speed chase that’ll soon morph into helicopters and tanks flanking you should you attempt to flee.
On top of that, to highlight this absurdity, the easiest way to evade capture is to stroll into a car painting garage. Do that, and the protagonist is off the hook. It’s pretty hilarious yet quite a glaring flaw.
11 Something Weird Happened Along The Way
There’s a curious case of Victor Vance that’s never been appropriately answered. In his first, very brief appearance, Vic is quickly killed off during a deal gone wrong. You’d be forgiven if you forget about him back then. However, the character reappears later on in the prequel as the protagonist in striking contrast.
For some reason, within a two year time jump, the former soldier has let himself go drastically. This might be explained as a change in lifestyle, but what can’t be overlooked is his absurd Colombian accent. There’s also the fact that at the end of Vice City Stories Vic was completely done with a life of crime and all it entailed, so it’s hard to believe he could have fallen this low.
10 What Kind Of Witness Protection Is This?
Witness protection definitely does have its perks when concerning high stakes people, including Michael. However, the lifestyle he ends up adopting is too affluent to comprehend. Sure, there was an explanation that he made away with a lot of the stolen cash he’d prized from his heist gigs. But about a decade in, and considering the opulent manner with which his family operates, even that stash must have run thin years ago. No witness protection could afford him.
Michael doesn’t ever seem to be doing too bad. In fact, his character arc has to do with him feeling unfulfilled with a luxurious life. The only time he ever needs money is when he ends up on the wrong side of Martin Madrazo.
9 But How Did You Get Here…?
The Lost and Damned was an expansion to GTA IV that focused on Johnny Klebitz and his crew. So, to hype up the player’s start in the game, Niko makes a cameo while Johnny cruises the city. Yet this opens up a plothole in the fact that at this time, Alderney was closed off to Liberty City due to rising terror alerts.
It’s highly random for Niko to be strolling around there when during this point in the story he isn’t even supposed to have boarded off the ship that brought him to Liberty City, let alone exploring the streets of its neighbouring city all by himself. Even The Lost shouldn’t be free to roam around, considering every area is supposed to be tapered off.
8 Whatever Happened To Fatherly Instincts?
Michael is a highly volatile person due to years’ worth of pent up rage and frustration, which makes takes him to extremities such as collapsing Madrazzo’s house on a whim or killing his psychiatrist. His motivations to be this sensitive usually do fit his character, so you’re bound to overlook his crazy actions.
In ‘Fame and Shame,’ Lazlow, the sleazy host of the game, takes advantage of Michael’s scatterbrained daughter on live TV during her audition. Michael watches from the sidelines, torn between putting an end to the farce and being too timid to intervene.
While he does eventually lose his temper and give chase to Lazlow, being too shy to do anything at first doesn’t align with his usual method of reacting instantaneously to situations such as this. And witnessing his daughter be objectified in public should have sent him off the rails!
7 Why Doesn’t Anyone Kill Madrazzo And Take The Easy Way Out?
Martin Madrazzo is a man of high influence. That was understood upon his instant retaliation to Michael destroying his house by beating the latter into submission. However, what we clearly see during the events of the game is that the protagonists are far too experienced and astute to let someone such as Madrazo bully them around.
Michael is far too terrified of the man to even consider the idea of hitting back, but Trevor has had enough by then, kidnapping Madrazo’s wife to antagonize him. If it were as easy as it is shown to eliminate all their enemies by the game’s conclusion, then disposing of Madrazo should have been elementary stuff, and one that would have saved a whole lot of trouble and resources.
6 Don’t Bite The Hand That Feeds
Lance Vance was always the loudmouthed, immature brother of Vic, who regularly found himself in troubling situations. What enabled him to survive so far along were his associations with his brother and the likes of dangerous men such as Tommy Vercetti. Therefore, it was beyond ludicrous for him to try and betray the one man that was keeping him alive. The reasoning, according to Lance, was that Tommy regularly treated him like a kid and never took him seriously, seemingly emasculating Lance to a degree.
But Lance had seen firsthand what Tommy is capable of, and betraying someone capable of inflicting very painful damage is a plan that was always going to end with death; and that’s how it played out. Despite being a loudmouth, Lance did survive this far by tying himself with stronger people, and this plan didn’t align with that.
5 Sorry, You Won’t Be Needing That Anymore
This can attributed to GTA’s usual ridiculous in-game logic, but it’s still an amusing point to consider. Niko goes on a date with Michelle, and it ends with her thanking him for a great time before leaving, despite the fact Niko had been driving her car all along.
As far as dating goes, you can have a real nice time with someone, but gifting them their car is maybe giving the matter too much leeway. Later on it is revealed that Michelle was spying on Niko the whole time, but even then it’s doubtful the government would let her blow part of their budget by handing out cars to potential suspects.
Funnily enough, even during the date Niko can run over a few pedestrians without Michelle batting an eye.
4 What Are Friends For, Anyways?
During Niko’s time in Liberty City he encounters a number of shady individuals who lead him into likewise shady situations. He ends up befriending some of these characters, most of all guys like Packie and Dwayne. Considering Niko’s killed people at the behest of these two characters, it should have been a given that either one of these men would gladly accompany Niko in his act of vengeance during the final mission. But there’s no word from either of them, and Niko has to go in without their support.
Any explanation to their absence would’ve sufficed, but we’re just left here scratching our heads as to why Niko didn’t even contemplate calling for some extra back up. Dwayne, most of all, would have been more than willing, seeing as Niko seemed to have become his confidante.
3 But Nobody Saw Me, I Swear!
This is more of an in-game flaw than a plot hole, but one that presents itself way too many times to ignore. Naturally, if you’re playing a GTA game you expect to bulldoze through pedestrians just for the fun of it, and having a plethora of weapons in your arsenal will definitely provide temptation to go berserk on the streets. For those reasons, a wanted rating is justified.
Yet even when you’re almost clandestine in setting, such as the top of a secluded mountain or on the outskirts of the city, and happen to put someone down, you’re hit with an instant wanted star. During missions, this is an extremely annoying feature, as even one kill in a remote environment can hinder your progress and throw the plot off course until you evade the cops and then divert back to where you’re supposed to be heading off.
2 This Secret Really Wasn’t That Well Kept
Trevor spent about a decade mourning the ‘death’ of his best friend Michael, yet all it took was a little video evidence to convince him Michael was still alive. It turned out that building upon that hunch to track Michael down was insanely easy. All it took was commissioning his associate Wade to find out where Michael was, and that’s a real stretch considering Wade’s minimal intelligence. We don’t get much of an explanation as to how Wade managed to gather Michael’s whereabouts or what his resources were.
So if it was that simple to uncover De Santa’s true identity, why didn’t anyone else come barging in as Trevor did? It’s safe to assume Michael must have gotten on the wrong side of a number of people over the years.
1 Why Didn’t Trevor Try To Break Brad Out Of Prison?
Dear old Trevor; everyone’s favorite psychopath. What’s left for him not to do? Smash in the head of former protagonist Johnny Klebitz? Check. Destroy and completely exterminate The Lost MC single-handedly in a drunken fit of rage? Double check. Break out one of his best friends (someone akin to a brother)… nah, let’s leave it at that for 9 years and rue over it instead.
It goes against his character not to have snapped in almost a decade’s worth of mourning and gone on a mission to retrieve his buddy Brad, whom he believed to be alive this whole time. Not to mention Trevor’s also been shown to be a shrewd schemer, so it isn’t believable that in 9 whole years he couldn’t have come up with a plan to bail his friend out.
Saim Cheeda is an entertainment writer covering all of Film, TV, Gaming and Books. He’s been a writer for The Gamer, Screen Rant and CBR since 2017, contributing 100+ articles for a variety of topics. Saim also covers entertainment articles for Fansided. Apart from freelance writing, Saim is a lifestyle blogger, co-owning the blog 3 States Apart.
Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/grand-theft-auto-unforgivable-plot-holes-we-cant-unsee/