Grand Theft Auto 6is already going to have a tough time living up to its hype, and the success ofRed Dead Redemption 2isn’t doing the game any favors.Red Dead Redemption 2was a stunning achievement for Rockstar, and remains widely praised and highly respected. Although it may not be completely fair to compareGTA 6toRed Dead Redemption 2, I still think it will be a bit difficult not to make mental comparisons between the two while playing.
IfGTA 6is to stand a chance at a similar reception toRed Dead Redemption 2’s critical acclaim, it will need to learn from the best features fromRDR2. While things won’t necessarily translate one-to-one fromRed Dead Redemption 2toGTA 6, there are still valuable design lessons to be learned from Rockstar’s last big game. However,GTA 6will also need to make some intentional departures fromRed Dead Redemptionif it wants to outdo it.
10The World Needs To Feel More Alive
GTA’s World Can Feel A Little Empty
One of the best aspects ofRed Dead Redemption 2is that its world feels alive. Even in the empty stretches between populated areas, there are enough NPCs and wildlife that these sections of the world don’t feel empty. Even though it definitely has more open space thanGTA 5,Red Dead Redemption 2manages to feel more like a living world because of the way you can interact with it.
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A big part of this was down to howNPCs act inRed Dead Redemption 2. InGTAgames, average citizens seem to exist solely to scream and runaway. WhileRed Dead RedemptionNPCs sometimes act similarly, they do more than just walk up and down the street waiting for something to terrify them. WhileGTA 5’s NPCs aren’t completely devoid of life, they are a far cry fromRDR2’s in terms of feeling like real people actually doing things.IfGTA 6wants to compete, it will need more business for NPCs to be doingin the background.
9There Should Be More Interior Locations In GTA 6
Buildings Often Just Feel Like Facades In GTA 5
Part of what helpsRed Dead Redemption 2feel so immersive is that its buildings are more than pretty facades, or obstacles to dodge while driving.Many of the game’s buildings have fully realized interiors, and this isn’t limited to ones that are strictly tied to a specific mission. As beautiful asGTA 5’s Los Santos is, the buildings start to fade into the background after a while, feeling more like nice-looking walls than anything else.
Now,Red Dead Redemption 2does have a huge advantage overGTA 6when it comes to being able to design interior locations. Apart from Saint Denis, mosttowns inRed Dead Redemption 2have fewer than 15 or 20 buildings. In contrast,GTA 6’s Vice City is a fully realized modern location with hundreds of buildings. While I therefore don’t expect the same ratio of interior locations, it would still be nice ifGTA 6put in the effort to make its buildings feel more like real places you may go and not just barriers to crash into.
8GTA 6 Needs Something Like RDR2’s Camp
InRed Dead Redemption 2, you have a camp where the main NPCs in the game spend most of their time. They don’t just sit around waiting for Arthur to come speak to them, rather they will be having conversations, doing jobs around camp, or even dancing or playing games.This makes them feel much more alive than your typical video game NPCs, and does a lot to humanize them, which is a huge benefit to the game’s story.
When you want to interact with an NPC inGTA 5, you have to travel to their dedicated location, which triggers a scripted cutscene. They and you will also chat on the phone sometimes, or while riding in the car together during missions. However,outside these scripted moments, they essentially stop existing.GTA 6would benefit a lot from having places where NPCs hang out and do things without needing the player to kick-start a scene or mission. This would help them feel more like real people as opposed to props for your story.
7Characters In GTA 6 Should Be More Than Caricatures
Characters In GTA 5 Are Much More Shallow Than In RDR2
IfGTA 6wants to reach the same heights with its story asRed Dead Redemption 2, then it may also need to give its characters a bit more depth.Many of the characters inGTA 5feel like shallow caricaturesrather than actual people. While I am fond of some of these characters for what they are, it’s hard to care about them on the same level as the characters fromRed Dead Redemption 2.GTA 6would benefit from humanizing its characters a bit more, even if they are still sillier and more exaggerated thanRDR2characters.
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I could see this being a bit of a contentious point, asGTA’s satirical tone is part of the appeal.I wouldn’t want to seeGTA 6try to be as dramatic asRed Dead Redemption 2overall in the interest of retaining its signature tone. Still, I would like to have a bit more of a reason to care about the main cast ofGTA 6, even if that means dialing back some of the comedic elements fromGTA 5.
6GTA 6’s Use Of Space Should Feel Intentional
One thingRed Dead Redemption 2does is make its unpopulated areas interesting to explore. Part of this is just becauseRed Dead Redemption 2has beautiful locations, but it’s also becausethe game’s use of empty space feels intentional. It is used to evoke the feeling of the frontier still mostly being untamed land, a feeling that wouldn’t be present if the game had placed all its main areas closer together on a smaller map.
My hope would be thatGTA 6will use its space as effectively asRed Dead Redemption 2when it comes to creating a feeling for Vice City. This doesn’t have to mean the city is overly large or spread out likeRed Dead Redemption 2. If anything, I think less empty space and a smaller map would probably do a better job capturing the feeling of a lively urban area.
One complaint I’ve always had withGTA 5’s map is that a lot of the places north of Los Santos feel empty and tacked-on. I would hope thatGTA 6doesn’t feel the need to include boring sections of the mapjust so it can boast having a large map. I’d much rather its space was used effectively in a way that captures the tone that the game is trying to create.
5GTA 6’s Combat Should Feel More High-Stakes
Combat in Rockstar’s main game series rarely feels difficult. It largely boils down to snapping between enemies with the generous auto-lock feature, tilting the right stick up slightly to land a headshot, then repeating. WhileRed Dead Redemption 2’s combat isn’t necessarily much more difficult thanGTA 5’s, it still does a better job creating a sense of danger.
This is partially due to the limitations of the guns used inRed Dead Redemption 2. More frequent reloads and slower fire rates create more moments of tension in gun battles, becausethere is just enough time between shots for you to feel anxious. However, reload speeds aren’t so slow that you get bored while waiting.
Although it may be hard forGTA 6to fully recreate this feeling with modern weapons, I still hope that the game has some way of making its fights feel more interesting thanGTA 5’s. Whether it’s smaller magazine sizes, or even quicker fire rates which necessitate more frequent reloads, it would be nice to have a way to create similar moments of tension during firefights. That way,combat can be a bit more exciting, as opposed to being too quick to be satisfying.
4GTA 6’s Characters Should Have A Good Reason For Living A Life Of Crime
Good Character Motivation Can Make GTA 6’s Story Stronger
One ofRed Dead Redemption 2’s greatest strengths is its characters. Whether or not I agree with their actions, I can always understand why characters are taking certain actions because they all have proper motivation. Here is a group of people who feel their way of life is under threat, and who have likely done too many bad things to seamlessly integrate into the rigid way of life quickly encroaching on the frontier. This makes them both more understandable and more complex than a character likeGTA 5’s Trevor, who simply seems to revel in violence.
I think a satirical game likeGTAhas a lot of good ways to show why a character living in modern-day America might feel tempted to turn to crime, similar to howRed Dead Redemption 2captures the motivations of its outlaws.GTA 6’s trailer already did a good job setting this up by showing Lucia getting out of prison. Ex-convicts can have a pretty hard time finding work in the United States, which often incentivizes them to return to criminal activity as a way to pay for the cost of living.
GTA 6could set itself up for a hard-hitting satireif it tackles modern issues like this. By being set in the current day, its story could feel even more relevant and impactful thanRed Dead Redemption 2’s. It would be a bit of a shame if the game backslid into the entertaining, but ultimately shallow critiquesGTA 5levied at Hollywood and celebrity culture.
3GTA 6 Should Lean Into Its Setting
GTA 6’s Setting Should Feel As Authentic As RDR2’s
Red Dead Redemption 2does a great job leaning into its distinct setting, both in terms of the time period and the locations. Even within the game,its settings each have a distinctly different feel to them and are rooted in the culture of the real-life settingthey are meant to emulate. A good example would be howRed Dead Redemption 2’s KKK meetingsare found in areas that represented the American South, where the Klan was more prevalent at the time the game takes place.
It would be nice to seeGTA 6taking the same level of care to capture its unique setting. Vice City hopefully won’t just feel like a re-skinned Los Santos fromGTA 5.I’m hoping that the game doesn’t just look more like Miami than LA, but also captures the cultural elements that make the city feel so different.
2GTA 6’s Online Content Needs To Be More Interesting
For all ofRed Dead Redemption 2’s successes,one big failure is its online mode. I’ve seen complaints about it being buggy, and low-level players being easily targeted by more powerful ones. Honestly, I never got far enough into it to experience any of these issues myself, because I foundRed Dead Onlineto be too dull to stick with.
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GTA 6could easily upstageRed Dead Redemption 2in the online departmentby having more engaging gameplay. Luckily,GTA 6already has a pretty strong model for online content inGTA 5, whose online aspects are still going strong all these years after the game’s original release. While it may be hard for some long-time fans to leave behind theirGTA Onlineprogress for the new game, I’m sure many (myself included) will be excited to experience a new setting for it.
1GTA 6 Needs To Embrace Its Differences From RDR2
GTA 6 Should Learn From RDR2, But Still Feel Different
Although there are plenty of things that I thinkGTA 6should take fromRed Dead Redemption 2, it should always do so while keeping the differences between the games in mind. While taking ideas like the camp fromRDR2,GTA 6would obviously need to find a way to adapt it for the new setting. Maybe it’s an apartment complex where characters live, or a bar where they all hang out. However Rockstar chooses to update theRDR2concepts, they should feel authentic to theGTAsetting.
It’s also important that, whileGTA 6should emulateRed Dead Redemption 2in certain ways, it shouldn’t feel likeRed Dead Redemption 2.Grand Theft Auto 6still needs to have a distinctly lightheartedGTAtone, and focus on more contemporary issues. Hopefully Rockstar can find a good balance between taking what worked and making new features.
Grand Theft Auto 6
Grand Theft Auto VI is an installment in Rockstar Games' wildly successful franchise. Set in a new location after the events of Grand Theft Auto V, VI will see players arrive in a new sprawling city where they can explore the world they want while completing various story and side quests while taking whatever vehicles players desire.
