Rockstar Games’Grand Theft Autoseries has built a reputation by defining the open-world genre. When players first stepped foot in Liberty City in 2001’sGrand Theft Auto 3, few could have anticipated it would only be the beginning of a series that continues to push the boundaries of immersion, scale, and player freedom. As a developer, Rockstar has never been keen on rehashing work from previous titles, instead choosing to create new mechanics and refine its best ideas for every release.Grand Theft Auto 6is currently in production and will likely push the envelope further.
However, through Rockstar’s continual evolution of theGrand Theft Autofranchise, many features have been left in the rearview mirror that are worth exploring again. The originalGrand Theft Autotrilogy andGTA 4were classics for a good reason. AsGrand Theft Auto 6looms on the horizon, Rockstar Games should look back at its catalog and note some of the best features that have fallen by the wayside.
RELATED:Awesome Video Shows What GTA Vice City Would Look Like In Unreal Engine 5
Dynamic Character Models
A unique feature fromGrand Theft Auto: San Andreaswas the ability to alter CJ’s body composition around dynamically changing stats. Should players choose to sculpt CJ into “a gangster’s physique,” they would have to spend numerous days at gyms across San Andreas completing bodybuilding minigames or running on a treadmill. If they preferred to spend their time like Big Smoke ordering everything on the menu at Cluckin Bell, it would create a heavy-set CJ who tires faster and has less stamina. As CJ’s stats changed, so did CJ’s body, which is a concept hardly explored in other games.
GTA 5would reintroduce single-player character stats, gradually increasing accuracy and stamina the more players used guns and sprinted across Los Santos. Still, they never visually represented any change in the character. WithGTA 6,it would be a great idea to bring back dynamic player models that reflect current stat allocations.
Diverse Fighting Styles
Before players can get their hands on fully automatic rifles, RPGs, and whatever other crazy weapons Rockstar has in store, they begin their journey with only their fists.Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’street gang story understood the need for in-depth melee mechanics, and still stands out as the best hand-to-hand combat across the franchise. CJ can meet trainers at each gym who teach him to become an expert in multiple fighting disciplines, including Boxing, Muay Thai, or Tae Kwon Do. RecentGTAtitles have left melee combat behindin exchange for more weapons and better shooting mechanics, but Rockstar should make an effort to have better melee inGTA 6.
Games likeFor HonorandGuilty Gearprove that fighting games with in-deep mechanics are more popular than ever. It would make sense to give players a melee system with more freedom of choice, especially considering the technically impressive level of animation that Rockstar has showcased. What’s more, fans ofGTA Onlinewould likely jump at the opportunity to create fighting tournaments if melee combat was more robust and varied.
RELATED:Grand Theft Auto 6 Fan Imagines What the GTA 6 Map Will Look Like
Euphoria Physics
When gamers first sawGTA 4in 2008, it was unlike anything they had seen before thanks to Rockstar’s Euphoria Engine. Part of what makesGrand Theft Autoso impressive is how players interact with the world and how it dynamically responds to them.GTA 4’s Euphoria physics took this concept to the next level. Nico would fly through windshields after a high-speed crash, or curl up into a ball as he fell down a flight of stairs, realistically mimicking the effects of inertia and gravity.
Grand Theft Auto 5andRed Dead Redemption 2would retain Rockstar’s Euphoria physics, but these newer titles would cut it down. Players can no longer tumble down a flight of stairs, and car crashes end in abrupt stops. Rockstar would be wise to reinstateGTA 4’s unpredictable physics systems inGrand Theft Auto 6to further craft a realistic and dynamic world.
Purchasable Assets & Properties
The real estate and asset acquisition industry has always been a part ofGrand Theft Auto, sticking to its rags-to-riches storylines. Notably,GTA Online’s player-created empiresare some of the most expansive in the series. However,GTA’s single-player has never tapped into the same level of depth asVice Citydid in 2002.Vice City’s unique take on real estate would see Tommy purchasing a property to collect income, and each newly purchased business would feature whole storylines where Tommy would gradually build his empire.
IfGTA 6sets out to create another rags-to-riches narrative with a heavy focus on story that Rockstar Games is known for, followingVice City’s footsteps would be a good move.GTA 6should return to the property investment game, but this time taking it a step deeper by exploring the characters working under the protagonist. Moreover, Rockstar’s recent games have come under criticism for its linearity as players jump from main story mission to main story mission, relegating side missions to random encounters. By crafting new and exciting missions likeGrand Theft Auto:Vice Citydoes with its business-centric side stories, Rockstar Games could break up a lot of the linear flow from recentGTAtitles.
Multiple Cities
Grand Theft Autogames have grown larger in scale throughout the years.GTA 5’s beautiful rendition of Los Santosdwarfs every other game in the series, and is a true technical achievement. However, recentGTAtitles lack the variety of cities and grand scale thatSan Andreasaccomplished in the PS2 era. For the time,San Andreaswas a colossal map marketed as the fully explorable state of San Andreas.GTA: San Andreasfeatured fully realized cities, including Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas, along with countrysides, mountain ranges, and a desert. ForGTA 6, Rockstar Games should follow this blueprint.
Rockstar Gamesproved it could make a vast, varied world withRed Dead Redemption 2, going as far as addingRed Dead 1’s map toRed Dead 2’s already sizable world. WithGTA 6,Rockstar games have the opportunity to take its expansive worlds and put multiple sprawling cities across them, creating another genre-defining open world asSan Andreasdid so many years ago.
Grand Theft Auto 6is currently in development.
MORE:Why Some Grand Theft Auto 6 Fans Think It’ll Take Place in Vice City
