The GTA Online eCola vs Sprunk war is a reminder of what made San Andreas so special

Since its inception, GTA Online has been defined by warfare. Whether you're a chiseled Kingpin-ranked veteran, or a hot-out-the-wrapper level 1 Thug, death threatens anyone who dares set foot in the free-for-all murderbox that is Los Santos. It's a chaotic place – what with all the drug scores, bank heists, prison breaks, and casino cleanouts, to name but some of the highest profile nefarious activities on offer – which Rockstar has spent years packing chock full of complimentary DLC, business ventures and missions. Its unhinged populace kills for sport, and the latest craze to fan the flames of war is its eCola vs Sprunk showdown: a three week-long event that asks players to side with their favored in-game soft drink by joining crews, donning branded bodysuits, and downing virtual soda – each emptied can of which counts as a vote for your favored label.

The official prize for the winning side? A modest handful of cosmetic items, plus an in-game bonus of GTA$300K just for taking part. The real reward? Kicking three shades of shite out of the other team at every opportunity, simply for wearing the wrong colors. You see, the eCola vs Sprunk war is GTA Online at its very best – reveling in its frantic and organic moments of carnage, and delighting in what underpins everything it stands for: warfare. And so, with this DNA at the forefront of my mind, the eCola vs Sprunk rivalry has me once more pining for the return of a feature lost to time since the PS2 era, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' very best side venture – Gang and Turf Wars.

Turf guy

The last time I thought so hard about Gang and Turf Wars was in early 2020, when GTA Online's alien gang battle swept Los Santos without warning. The surge of players then banding together and locking horns in bright green or vivid purple suits with unbridled enthusiasm was a joy to watch, each pledging blind allegiance to one faction or the other, a choice ultimately determined by their favorite color. Let the record state I was green bodysuits till I died – something which happened again and again (and again) at the hands of those purple bastards. Don't get me wrong: GTA Online's blockbuster updates are great fun – watching The Black Madonna spin the wheels of steel in the bowels of my own virtual nightclub, or listening to new music from Dr. Dre inside a make believe penthouse apartment is pretty remarkable – but there was something pure and unadulterated about the incidental mess the game's alien gang war facilitated; something directly reflected by its transcending grip on TikTok at the time.     

Whereas GTA Online's alien gang wars unfolded mostly by accident – Rockstar added the costumes; players then ran with it – the eCola vs Sprunk debacle aims to replicate that affair with a more structured framework, i.e, Rockstar has officially organized it, and is offering incentives at the other end. All told, it doesn't feel as fierce as its spiritual forerunner, but it's still a great example of how territorial players can get over silly things – and how much fun can be had in the process. Which leads me straight back to Gang and Turf Wars. At the conclusion of 2004's GTA: San Andreas, in the absence of an online offshoot, there really wasn't much to do after the credits rolled. Customizing cars, getting ripped at the gym, and frittering away the billions of dollars we'd accrued over the course of Carl Johnson's adventure in a Las Venturas casino got pretty boring pretty quickly. Gang and Turf Wars, on the other hand, offered a surprisingly sophisticated extension of the gang warfare features weaved through the game's story mode – wherein players recruited NPC comrades, fought for neutral territory, and defended captured zones in squads. I would love to see something with the same depth in GTA Online. 

GTA Online's Gang Attacks offer something similar – match-based, zone-control affairs accessed via Free Mode – but they lack the substance, the finesse, the high-stakes ebb and flow, and the persistent consequences of what first featured in San Andreas almost 20 years ago. I long for an aerial view of the Los Santos map loaded with color-coded markers that signify gang-occupied sectors, neutral zones, and amnesty areas. I want a scoring system that identifies the strength of each all-conquering crew, and gangs ceding territory while otherwise occupied plundering pastures news. I want gang-specific cars, and, most importantly, colors and flags – in the same vein as green and purple alien bodysuits; as eCola and Sprunk.

Green with envy

PC players might be familiar with Lucas Vinicius' brilliant Gang and Turf mod for GTA 5's single-player mode which, admittedly, does pretty much everything I'd love to see in an official capacity in GTA Online. Paying close deference to its source material, Vinicius' work even lets players call for backup on foot, by car, and from the skies by way of parachute when things get heavy. Extending this to the masses across all platforms, with Rockstar's backing, could be wonderful. And just the thought of this unfolding inside one of GTA Online's 32-player servers – of dying, respawning in the air, and throwing myself out of Cargobob at 15,000 feet for the cause – excites me to no end. 

When GTA Online's alien wars gripped the scene two-and-a-bit years ago, it seemed inevitable Rockstar would follow up at some point with something bigger. The current eCola and Sprunk battle – set to conclude on September 14 – is exactly that, and I hope something even more involved awaits the enduring crime sim in the not-so-distant future. The question is: will you fight for the Ballas, the Triads, the Vagos, the Aztecas, the Cartel, or someone else entirely? With a penchant for green-sporting syndicates – from aliens two years ago, to Team Sprunk today – to paraphrase San Andreas protagonist, Carl Johnson: I reckon I'm Grove Street 4 life.    

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