5 beta GTA Online features that are quite interesting to look at

For those unaware, GTA Online's beta pre-release version was recently playable on Xernia, an Xbox 360 emulator. Because of this, some new discoveries were made about the game, which will be covered below. Much of the ancient content discussed here comes from before this title's release in 2013. Unsurprisingly, most of the features from the beta version were either absent or altered once the final product was launched.

More discoveries could be made in the future if more people decide to play around with GTA Online's pre-release content. Until then, let's look at five interesting features that were present in this older build. The following are not ranked in any particular order.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinions.

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Five interesting GTA Online features in the beta build

1) Five Character slots

Players could once have up to five characters (Image via XeniaUser41441)

Old-school gamers might remember rumors of there being more than two playable characters in GTA Online. The screenshot above shows this title's beta build and how players could have had up to five different avatars. Interestingly, the second slot was available immediately, but the remaining three were still locked after Grand Theft Auto was released.

The game's final version still only has two slots a player can use. Anybody who wanted to have more would have enjoyed the old build's planned five slots.

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2) Different Wasted screen

An example of a kill cam showing you where you got shot (Image via Tervel1337)

One great feature missing from GTA Online — which should honestly be in Grand Theft Auto 6 — is the highly-detailed Wasted screen. On the right side, readers can see two red Xs indicating where the player got shot. Even the gun used to kill them is featured here. The official release just shows a boring Wasted screen that a player can mash through to respawn quicker.

This beta feature had the potential to be quite helpful, so it's a shame that it was removed. Another piece of content from the pre-release shown here that will be discussed next is a beta Rank UI icon, which looks remarkably different from what players are used to today.

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3) Different Rank UI

The icon for Ranks was completely different back then (Image via Tervel1337)

The above screenshot shows an example of how the Rank UI used to look in GTA Online's beta version. Instead of the transparent circular icon with two horizontal and two vertical lines, Ranks used to be represented as generic hexagons.

Another thing worth noting is that the screenshot above shows yellow icons. However, the last image from this article's previous entry displays a Rank in red.

While the other features discussed here were abandoned, this one was just altered to look different. Whether one likes the new or old UI more is purely up to personal taste.

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4) Different banks

Fleeca and Bank of Liberty aren't usable in the final version (Image via KimiSha19)

Modern GTA Online has just one bank that a player can use: Maze Bank. However, the beta version showed that Fleeca and The Bank of Liberty were once websites that a gamer could visit. They were pretty broken in the beta build, but players could likely have used them as banks, similar to Maze Bank.

In the current version of this game, gamers cannot visit these websites. That said, they are present in Grand Theft Auto 5, and Trevor Philips can even use The Bank of Liberty for his transaction needs.

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5) Call for Backup

Players could once call for backup (Image via Terval1337)

The beta version of GTA Online had three options for backup:

• Families
• The Lost MC
• Vagos

Lamar Davis would have helped players seeking backup from the Families. Al Carter would've assisted gamers if they went with The Lost MC option and Edgar Claros for the Vagos one. Players could then select how many gang members they wanted, along with their weapon quality. Depending on the settings chosen, this action would have cost $1,000 or more.

Note that players cannot call Al Carter or Edgar Claros in the current this game's current version.