The Grand Theft Auto franchise has spent the last almost thirty years dealing with all kinds of crazy nonsense, from sophisticated criminal operations and heists on the one hand to sandbox shenanigans on the other, where the player runs around, blows things up and attracts more and more people . police attention. However, Talita, a non-profit organization based in Sweden, decided to take advantage of it Grand Theft Auto 5 to tell a more important story, focused on rescuing women from the hands of human traffickers rather than the pursuit of personal wealth and indulgence.
Mission Talita is a mod pack that includes four new missions, a custom radio, and the real stories of women who worked with the organization to escape human trafficking. It was built over months by longtime Grand Theft Auto fans and modders FelixTheBlackCat, with support from Vxruz_Dans, and the team went to great lengths to ensure it still felt like a Grand Theft Auto experience. That includes a radio station with music from Swedish House Mafia, Sting, Salvatore Ganacci and more. The music is peppered with facts about Talita’s work in a similar way to Rockstar’s satirical commercials and talk shows in the game.
And sure enough, giving Mission Talita a spin is very familiar to anyone who has played it Grand Theft Auto 5. You play as a Good Samaritan and use information to find these women and get them out of unfortunate circumstances. The atmosphere is a bit like that of Taken; there are terrible people, but the player can sneak past them, save victims and get to a meeting point. There are still high-speed chases and gunfights, but as the main character you’re less focused on lethal violence and more on executing a perfect operation. The player can evade or eliminate human traffickers pursuing him, ensuring a clean escape.
In an FAQ on the mod’s official site, the nonprofit explains: “A large part of Talita’s work is trying to change the attitudes that fuel the demand for sexual services. One target group that is central to achieving this change is young men. With this campaign we convey our messages in a context dominated by young men. By offering an alternative GTA experience, we hope to provide an eye-opener to the way society portrays, talks and thinks about prostitutes.
The organization wanted to draw attention to a real-world problem that Rockstar arrogantly uses as a backdrop in the main game. Using Grand Theft Auto 5 The basis here was a very conscious choice by Talita. In San Andreas, and previous cities built by Rockstar Games, sex workers are available and can be seen in strip clubs and on the streets. The player can attack these women and is essentially rewarded with a money drop. Reversing the power dynamic so that the player instead works to free sex workers is a bold statement. The FAQ continues: “Given that GTA could be many young men’s first introduction to victims of sex trafficking and prostitution, there is a high risk that the game will harmfully influence their perceptions and attitudes towards prostitution.”
While Grand Theft Auto6 is still a long way from its eventual 2025 release date, the franchise is still culturally essential and financially successful. Rockstar has continued to update GTA Onlineand the game has also attracted a vibrant modding and roleplaying community that uses the San Andreas environment to tell all kinds of stories, from running a pride parade, to running a taxi company, to being a secret criminal overlord or serial killer. killer.
That flexibility is great, and it’s interesting to see a nonprofit use that familiar environment to tackle an issue like human trafficking. There’s a longstanding tradition of gamers killing women (and anything that moves) on the streets of San Andreas, but reformatting that through the lens of real-life stories creates a compelling story.
The Mission Talita mod can be downloaded for PC from the non-profit organization’s official site. It’s a simple process, but you’ll have to do it Grand Theft Auto 5 already installed on your computer. Talita is also accepting donations on the mod’s site, along with a merchandise collection designed in collaboration with Sneakersnstuff.