Does GTA Online function well purely as a racing game?

With all its shooting, explosions, and action-packed story moments, the GTA franchise is also a highly competent racing game. One can argue that, at the core of it all, GTA took form first as a game centered on driving around in a well-realized open world.

The hint lies in the name - Grand Theft Auto. There is no doubt that some of GTA's best moments come from the Hollywood levels of action and drama in its action set-pieces and mission. However, a close rival is also the driving mechanics and physics that make up more than 80 percent of the game experience.

Essentially, players will arguably spend more time driving or even flying around across the map in GTA rather than being on foot or shooting. Does the game succeed purely as a racing game, given how GTA Online puts so much emphasis on racing and vehicular-based game modes?

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Is GTA Online a racing game?

GTA's history with driving

Over the last couple of decades, Rockstar Games has tinkered and experimented with the driving mechanics of a GTA game. GTA 3 began to include a style of driving more suited to 3D open-worlds from a purely arcade-oriented experience in the top-down original and its sequel.

Vice City and San Andreas both followed suit with a casual yet competent driving experience that gave players a good enough reason to spend time in vehicles outside of scripted sequences. However, GTA 4 would change the landscape entirely and take the series in a new direction.

With the 2008 title, Rockstar Games elected to adopt a more simulation-style driving mechanic that focused on weight, realistic movements, and physics. All of this led to GTA 4's driving experience becoming the most challenging in the series. While many considered it a tragic misstep, many appreciated Rockstar's continuous experimentation and the constant need for innovation.

Rockstar then had a critical choice to make - whether to move towards simulation-style, realistic driving or a move back to the casual, arcade-like experience. The decision was a combination of the two, which resulted in GTA 5 arguably being the best game in the series to drive physics and mechanics.

GTA 5's brilliant driving mechanics and how it benefitted GTA Online

In simple terms, GTA 5 maintained a sense of realism regarding how the car reacts to the player's actions. With subtle nuances regarding tire spins, the car's weight, drivetrain, and even modifications and damage.

This essentially made the game as competent as an adequate open-world action-adventure game that doubled as a solid arcade-style racing game. Many praised GTA 5's driving to the extent that many racing game fans flocked to the game's Online component for its arcade racing and competitive modes.

The driving mechanics from the game benefitted GTA Online to the extent that nearly 50 percent of the game's most popular modes are vehicular based. From Arena Wars to the expansive variety of Stunt and Transform Races, players can spend hours playing GTA Online without stepping out of a vehicle.

Variety and quality

Numerous modes can potentially scratch itches of every shape, size, and kind regarding racing game modes. Players would have to play for weeks on end to discover every type of race in the game, and they still wouldn't have found all of it.

Rockstar's Race Creator allows players to essentially build their dream race track and stipulations, adding tons of value to the game experience. Thus, the player lacks neither variety nor quality (in terms of driving mechanics) in GTA Online.

Effectively, should the player so wish they could exclusively stick to races in GTA Online and not see the rest of the game and still have fun? This is truly remarkable, as not many games can fit in so many genres with such brilliance and competence.