Now that Grand Theft Auto V has been out for years, people are beginning to look forward to the next installment in Rockstar’s ultra-popular open world crime series. After all, even though was GTA V breaking sales records and became the fastest selling entertainment product of all time, there is always room for improvement.
With that in mind, let’s look at 10 things that GTA fans would love to see in the next game in the series, which is likely to be released… well, eventually.
10. Bring Back The Jetpack
Let’s be honest: there is arguably nothing cooler that has ever happened in the Grand Theft Auto series than the inclusion of the jetpack in 2004’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Stolen from Area 51 of all places in a late-game mission, this “vehicle” gave players the ability to fly while on foot, which made it not only the most useful vehicle in the game (as it allowed for easy escape from anywhere and the ability to wield dual uzis at the same time), it was also the most fun and gave the player a view of San Andreas that they had never seen before. While a jetpack was added to GTA V through a third-party mod, fans of the series would be smitten if Rockstar were to officially bring back this absolute classic in Grand Theft Auto 6.
9. A Return To The Old Health System
In Grand Theft Auto V, it was simply too easy to be killed. We get that it’s realistic to die after only a few gun shots, but this is a video game; we don’t really want realism to get in the way of the fun. One way that likely helped these deaths occur so quickly is the fact that the health system and the way health was presented in the heads-up display (HUD) was far too vague: health was distinguished by a bar without any real indication as to what the bar actually meant. We would love to see the Grand Theft Auto series return to a health system determined by numbers, like the one that appeared in Vice City. Returning to a health system that counts down a player’s health from 100 to 0 would help the player know exactly how much health they have left and not just an unclear idea.
8. Dynamic Destructive Environments
While this might not be an obvious inclusion for all fans, destructible environments would go a long way in adding to the immersion that Grand Theft Auto likes to go for with its open world gameplay. The game doesn’t have to include massive destructive environments such as being able to destroy buildings or bridges (technical limitations would probably prevent this anyway), but some destructible elements would go a long way in making the game better. For example, have you ever been driving in a GTA game, pulled off an amazing drift, only to have your car run into a hedge and stop right in its tracks like the hedge was made of steel? In GTA 6, we would love for that hedge to respond like an actual hedge would (ie., disintegrate).
7. Better Hand-To-Hand Combat
If you’re anything like us, sometimes you enjoy the hand-to-hand fisticuffs in GTA more than actual gun fights. So for us fighters out there, Grand Theft Auto 5 was kind of a disappointment in that department. There weren’t many options at all for fighting, and the options that were there got extremely boring after a little while. We would love to see a larger variety of attacks and perhaps even add an option to carry or tackle a player down like in another Rockstar game, Red Dead Redemption. It could also be cool if you could attend boxing, wrestling, or karate “classes” that would allow for new and creative hand-to-hand combat skills.
6. Revamped Missions
Let’s face it: missions in GTA have been fairly dull and predictable for some time now, and we think it is about time for some new and exciting innovations. For far too long, most GTA missions have followed the formula of “drive all the way over there, kill that guy, drive back” and we have had just about enough of it. Of course, there are a few missions in each game that deviate from this formula and those are a real treat, but fans everywhere are clamoring for more of them. We don’t expect every single mission to be some extravagant and well-thought-out masterpiece, but we would just like to see some diversity, as a lot of the playing time in GTA is spent driving to and from missions.
5. More Interactive Buildings
There was much to be said about the sheer size of the Grand Theft Auto 5 map leading up to its release. It was bigger than three of the previous GTA games’ maps combined, so Rockstar got that right. However, one thing they didn’t get right was that despite the enormous map size and the thousands of buildings in the game, very few could be interacted with. While there were some random buildings you could enter and explore, we would love to see a huge increase in this number in the next installment, as part of the fun of an open-ended game like this is to explore from building-to-building and see what they contain.
4. The Ability To Play As A Police Officer
This has been one of the biggest wishes for a number of years in the GTA series. We want to not only be able to play as law-breaking criminals, but would also love an option to play as the police officers trying to catch them. While we may not necessarily want the main protagonist to be a police officer, we would love some side quests or maybe even a special mode where we can play on the other side of the law. Some police-related activities could include a variety of missions centered around arresting and apprehending suspects. or even the option to free roam around the city and stop petty crimes as they happen. This would add a new wrinkle to the GTA series and one that most GTA fans would welcome with open arms.
3. More Interaction With Pedestrians/NPCs
Part of the reason GTA V felt so “real” and truly open ended was thanks to the ability to interact with various individuals on the street throughout the game. Sure, you could wander up to someone, press down on your controller, and throw them an insult or positive affirmation, but this would usually just devolve into you and the NPC insulting each other over and over again. We would love to see a more “Skyrim-like” interaction in the next GTA. By this we mean that almost every NPC in Skyrim had something to say or a story/background to know; including something like that in GTA would go a long way in adding immersion to Grand Theft Auto 6.
2. More Side Activities
Yes, this may be a bit of a nitpick considering that Grand Theft Auto allows you to do more than almost any other game out there, but GTA V was kind of lacking in terms of side activities and additional missions. Sure, there were some side quests you could do and little mini games, but previous Grand Theft Auto games had a lot more to offer. For example, in GTA IV you had the option to do a lot of things such as go on dates and hang out with your cousin doing a variety of fun mini games. San Andreas arguably had the most varied side activities in the entire series, even allowing you to enter fast food restaurants to eat and work out at the gym (which would actually have an impact on the stats and physical look of your player). Story missions are great, but we just want to see a return to the overstuffed sandbox design of old.
1. A New Setting
No surprise here: the number one thing that we want from Grand Theft Auto 6 is a totally new and unique setting. It seems that over the last few installments, GTA has completely played out Liberty City (New York) and San Andreas (California) and we think it is time for something new. Now, different fans are obviously going to have different views, but our favorite of the potential landing spots for Grand Theft Auto 6 is easily London (yes, we know Rockstar has used the city in the past, but that was before making the leap to the 3D open world design they’ve been using for almost 15 years). We think it’s the perfect time to explore somewhere new and help give the series a “fresh” look that it could definitely benefit from.
