As we look towardsGrand Theft Auto 6, we have to face the facts: open-world games have come a long way since the days ofGTA 5. Historically,GTA’s approach to open worlds has been hit-or-miss:the brilliance ofSan Andreascontrasts with the emptiness ofGTA 5.
GTA 6will need to improve, and while what Rockstar has told us about its map so far is pretty impressive, we really haven’t seen very much of it for ourselves. Hopefully,GTA 6takes inspiration from all the great open-world games that have come before it, incorporating new mechanics like these.
Greet, Greet, Antagonize
An interesting feature forGTA 6would bemore involved NPC interaction. InGTA 5, your only real option for interacting with the people who inhabit its world is attacking them - there’s no way to talk with any of them, unless they’re part of a mission.
Of course,aRed Dead-style morality system wouldn’t fitGTA’s toneperfectly. But still,I’d like to see a little more of a dialogue systemin the upcoming sequel, even if it’s just a choice between two options, as it often is inRDR2.
This would increase the general interactivity of the world. That’d have the added effect ofmakingGTA 6feel more alive, and its NPCs less like blank slates for you to play with.
Think BOTW’s Climbing
Also potentially interesting inGTA 6would bemore options for offroad traversal. The lack of ways to get around, other than by car or on foot, was a problem inGTA 5: exploring anything outside its city streets was boring, even frustrating.
One way to resolve that inGTA 6would be tomake wilderness exploration more challenging, perhaps with aZelda: Breath of the Wild-inspired stamina system that forces players to manage resources and plan routes carefully.
This would make it a lot more interesting to explore what’s outside Vice City.It could also be a mode of progression, allowing players to upgrade their stamina as the game goes on, eventually making it scale inclines or trudge through swamps.
8GTA 6 Could Be Even More Of A Sandbox
Building On A Foundation
Apart from its story,GTAhas always been knownas a sandbox game: it gives players a variety of tools (weapons, cars, et cetera) and a massive testing ground on which to use them. It’s basically the entire premise of the postgame, and the appeal ofGTA Online.
ButGTA 6could really build on these sandbox featuresin a number of ways. Perhaps more varied combat abilities - similar to post 2.0Cyberpunk- could expand the player’s options. Even a rudimentary building system akin toZelda: Tears of the Kingdomwould be interesting, and would certainly breathe new life intoOnline.
What’s far more likely, though, isa new suite of life sim options, not unlikeRDR2’s. Weight gain, muscle building, hair growth - all are likely to makeGTA 6a more realistic simulacrum of real life.
7GTA 6 Needs To Flesh Out Its Strangers & Freaks
RDR2-Style Storylines
Another lesson I’d like to seeGTA 6take fromRDR2is its approach to Strangers missions (or Strangers and Freaks, asGTAcalls them). Both games have a similar system:wander around the world, and you’ll occasionally encounter a quest-giving NPCwho’ll send you on a short mission.
These are always useful diversions from the main story, and serve to flesh out the world with ironic commentary and over-the-top humor, at least inGTA. But they could be even more if they drew fromRDR2’s far-flung Stranger missions,many of which have excellent story arcs of their own.
Honestly,I wouldn’t even mind a collect-a-thon or two inGTA 6, as long as they were fun to find and meaningfully tied to an interesting sidequest.
6GTA 6 Needs Spontaneous World Events
Not Just Strangers
It’d be really wonderful to seemore spontaneous, random world events going on inGTA 6- and I don’t just mean running into Strangers. Think more like huge traffic jams on major arteries at the end of the workday, fights erupting at bars, parades causing streets to close down.
Much like interactive NPCs, this helps make the world of a game feel more alive, reminding us that it exists outside of our input.It’d also create some interesting friction, perhaps forcing a player to evade police on foot, or reroute their drive away from the busiest parts of town.
This exists to some extent in earlierGTAgames, but they feel a little forced and sporadic.GTA 6could build on world events as they exist in the franchiseto create a much more interesting open world.
5GTA 6 Needs More Dynamic Weather
It’s Florida, After All
GTAgames usually includesome kind of dynamic weather system: sometimes it’s sunny, sometimes it rains, and, during holiday events, it snows. InGTA 5, this affects how much traction cars get on the road, forcing you to be mindful of your driving.
GTA 6could take this to new heights. Florida is known for its capricious weather patterns: a beautiful, sunny day might turn into a downpour in a matter of minutes. Hopefully,Leonida takes inspiration from thatfor a more chaotic dynamic weather system.
This could also affect gameplayin a wider variety of ways. Instead of just altering traction, maybe rain could muffle the player’s footsteps à laBOTW, or darkness could make it easier for them to sneak around.
4GTA 6 Could Benefit From Destructible Environments
Carving A Path
Destructible environmentswould add a lot toGTA 6. ThinkBattlefield-style: smashing out buildings with rocket launchers, sending them crashing down and rubble spreading throughout the streets.
Destructible environments are a major part of many sandbox games, so why notGTA? It’d lend a lot of credence to the carnage that players inflict, and would allow them to develop unique combat strategies.
Of course, it’d be a little unusual to destroy a building, then return the next day to find it already rebuilt. Even so,I think most players will be willing to suspend their disbelieffor the cool factor on this one.
3GTA 6 Needs Multiple Urban Environments
Like San Andreas
Another potential solution toGTA 5’s urban woes is forGTA 6to include a lot less wilderness. The fact of the matter is thatGTAis not a game about exploring the great outdoors. It’s always been about city life.
GTAthrives when there are lots of NPCs around, lots of cars to steal. However,its urban environments should be sufficiently diverse, each different from the last, to keep things interesting.
The wilderness has some place inGTA 6: I’m especially excited to ride a fanboat through its recreation of the Everglades. Butit shouldn’t be a significant portion of the map, and should remain far from most other content.
2GTA 6 Needs More Explorable Interiors
No More Empty Storefronts
It’s been said about a million times by now, butGTA 6really needs to expand the number of explorable interiors. I know we’ll probably never see aGTAgame where you can enter every single building on the map, but there has to be a happy medium.
InGTA 5, you could really only enter the occasional building;most were just JPEG facades, giving the illusion of life. You wouldn’t notice this much while driving past them, but if you decided to explore the city on foot, it’d strike you just how empty most of its structures really were.
InGTA 6,we should be able to enter a much wider variety of buildings all over the map, perhaps a bit more likeCyberpunk. Even if they’re almost totally empty, just being able to see what’s inside of them would make its map significantly bigger.
1GTA 6 Should Be Full Of Secrets & Urban Legends
More Myths, Please
SinceSan Andreaspopularized the concept,myths and urban legends have become a major part ofGTA. Mysterious graffiti, aliens, Bigfoot, et cetera - these things are a lot of fun to seek out, and bring some humor to its portrayal of America.
These things have become a little less excitingin the age of the internet. Now, as soon as one player finds a strange happening in a game, they post it online for millions of others to replicate, while dataminers hunt down the exact line of code that makes it happen.
Even so, I’d really like to see a nice collection of strange, random events that are hard to trigger,not unlike inRDR2. Hunting these things down is my favorite thing to do in open-world games, and I look forward to doing it inGrand Theft Auto 6.
