The latest in a long string of Grand Theft Auto community parody content takes aim at the infamous Roman Bellic bowling joke that stems from Grand Theft Auto 4.
It's been a pretty long time since gamers had to laugh, cry, or both at Roman Bellic's constant pestering of his cousin Niko over the course of Grand Theft Auto 4, but the memories and psychological scarring are still fresh enough for at least one more parody. The latest entry in the GTA Series Videos YouTube project mixes footage from both Grand Theft Auto 4 and Grand Theft Auto 5 in order to create a hilarious spoof of Drake's "Hotline Bling" song and music video.
The parody, which focuses on Niko grappling with having a cousin who is widely considered to be one of the most annoying characters in video games, mimics the original video almost perfectly while the song itself features brand-new lyrics that reflect the absurdity of Roman's obsession with late-night bowling. The video is worth a look just to see Niko's oddly sensual dance framed by neon lights, and given the fact that Grand Theft Auto 4 is one of the most popular requests for the Xbox One backward compatibility list, perhaps the sudden comedic relevance will give the title one last push towards said list.
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The Grand Theft Auto modding and machinima community is one of the strongest in the video game industry, so it's unsurprising to see such high quality productions like "Bowling Bling" emerge from time to time, and the possibilities seem endless for fans of Rockstar's most popular series. One gamer recently released a YouTube video that starred the main characters of Grand Theft Auto 5 as the Powerpuff Girls, in case anybody actually wanted to see that, while another player created a Grand Theft Auto 5 mod that lets fans take to the skies over Los Santos in the iconic Millenium Falcon.
While at first glance community contributions like "Bowling Bling" and a famous Star Wars ship might seem frivolous or superficial, the fact that Grand Theft Auto 5 is such a highly customizable game makes it easy to maintain its relevance despite it being over two years since the title's initial release. It's Rockstar's sandbox approach to not just the gameplay but also the creation of content in its flagship series that has earned the Grand Theft Auto series 220 million units shipped worldwide since its humble beginnings as a top-down, 2D crime simulator in 1997.
In the end, "Bowling Bling" is yet another fun and interesting entry into the staggeringly long list of fan creations within the confines of the Grand Theft Auto universe that reflects the kind of timely, mocking humor that made Rockstar and its flagship series famous in the first place. Do you think "Bowling Bling" improves on the song its parodying? Would you like to see a Roman Bellic rebuttal via another song? Let us know in the comments below.