Why is the Weazel Plaza Shootout the best event in GTA Online so far?

The Festive Surprise update is truly being hailed by most of the GTA Online community as a perfect gift to players from Rockstar. With the rare addition of snowfall to Los Santos and the innumerable special perks added to the game, the update is arguably the most well-received holiday addition from the developers in a few years.

One of the bigger reasons for this is the Die Hard-esque mission that was added with the snow update, called the Weazel Plaza Shootout. Read on to find out more about the mission and the latest update.

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All you need to know about the Weazel Plaza Shootout in GTA Online

The new mission starts off with some thieves forcing their way into the Weazel News Christmas party and stealing a bunch of cash from their offices. They try to get away using the roof, but an LSPD helicopter arrives just in time to stall them on the Plaza rooftop.

As this standoff continues, players must fly up to the roof and fight off both groups to obtain the cash the thieves stole and a special exclusive reward. To successfully complete this GTA Online mission, the thieves and the LSPD helicopter must be eliminated.

The special reward is a WM29 pistol that players will find on the roof itself, which will also be unlocked at all Ammu Nations in the game after the mission is completed.

A special Season's Greetings skin for the Pistol MKII will also be available to be equipped from your nearest Weapons Workshop after successful completion.

Many players compared this mission to the scene in Die Hard, where John McClane fights a helicopter crew on the Nakatomi Plaza rooftop and later jumps off its roof. Fans of the movie have complained that the silent GTA Online protagonist making off with some stolen goods is hardly close to the iconic scene.

The debate regarding the unofficial reference to the 80s action flick aside, the mission itself is one of the more iconic ones to be added during a GTA Online holiday update. The Season's Greetings skin and the new weapon will stay with players longer than most.

While GTA Online has been around for almost a decade now, there have only been a few snowfalls in Los Santos in this time. Even though the Festive Surprise update is released yearly, Rockstar always adds a ton of fresh content as a present to fans.

This year, in addition to the aforementioned mission, GTA Online also gets its Christmas Monster. Based on Dr Seuss's The Grinch, the Gooch randomly appears across GTA Online and tries to make off with players' food and cash.

Snowmen can also be found in and around Los Santos, with rewards multipliers on several missions and businesses, including the Acid Lab (2x), Beast vs Slasher (3x), and Races (2x).

Festive Surprise updates tend to be on their way out after New Year's Day. But with the Los Santos Drug Wars DLC's second part slated for release in early January 2023, players will be too preoccupied with preparations for the rumored Last Dose missions when the snow thaws off the city.