What do you think of the GTA 6 reveal?

Reading IGN’s preview, I think it’s neat that the name of this game series—which I’d guess actually comes to mind for most people ahead of the actual crime it’s named for—still has some bearing on its design. Rockstar said it thought being able to hotwire every car you see “left a lot of potential gameplay on the table in terms of progression and decision-making for players,” so you’ll now need different equipment and skills to deal with an electronic lock or a lojack than you will to hotwire someone’s rusted out beater. Promising that the most basic, repeated action you take in the game now has so much more going on!

I’m far more interested in the big, beautiful sandbox of GTA 6 than the story, so I’d have preferred fewer cutscenes and exposition and more time checking out everything you can do in the world besides shooting people in the head. We got some glimpses, but I think I’d have preferred a sort of “a day in the life” of Lucia and Jason, with maybe a bit of crime but more of an extended tour of the sort of activities you can do when you’re not robbing stores and dealing drugs.

Obviously GTA is not Hitman, but I am digging the different ways to approach pulling off a crime and escaping the law afterwards. You can see how changing vehicles and clothes and other factors plays into your (six star) “wanted” level and see Lucia hot swapping into different clothes and disguises which seems neat instead of just: drive fast, corner hard, break line of sight.

So, yeah, all the criminal activity simulation looked great and everything. But did you see how magnificent those corner stores were? The immaculate displays of pretend chips? The signs for 4 for $3 deals on imaginary drink brands? The poster for rum that a man ran past as he was fearing for his life? That’s peak art, to me.

There’s a lot I liked about that gameplay reveal, but I was underwhelmed by the story missions Rockstar decided to highlight. They seemed very much in the Rockstar style that hasn’t changed since the early GTA days—meet a colorful character, walk or drive while talking with them, then eventually shoot your way out of where you happen to be. It’s a pattern that wore thin in Red Dead 2’s story, and partly why I’ve never finished a replay despite it being a favorite. Rockstar is much better at making memorable worlds than memorable action. I hope GTA 6 changes that.

Look, I’ll be honest, I’m not a GTA person and show up to most of these things with a bad attitude. But! I do really like Lucia, and she’s shaping up to be the best shot this series has at winning me over. She stabbed a man in the eye with her heel and had a smartass quip about it ready in the chamber. She’s perfect.

I am a massive hater and the only Rockstar game I’ve ever played to date is Max Payne 3. But: I did really love Max Payne 3, and like the proverbial Boss Baby watcher, I’m getting a lot of Max Payne 3 vibes from this. The shooting looks decent, and it already has bullet time. If Rockstar put the Max Payne slow-mo dive in here, I would take back everything nasty I’ve ever said⁠—even if it doesn’t release on PC until, like, 2030.

Yes, if you’re looking to be deliberately obtuse, it’s essentially just more GTA, in the sense that (at least in this featurette) there wasn’t a standout “I can’t believe what I’m seeing” mind-blowing feature. But the longer it went on, the more I realised how badly I’ve missed experiencing a new entry in the series, and how far ahead of what the competition is doing that Rockstar remains in terms of world building. Roughly as expected, VI looks to take the insane depth and character of RDR2, and splice that with GTA’s manic, caustic, hyper-real pop culture riffs. Nothing I saw suggests that will be anything less than completely compelling to play, even if we have seen many of these beats–corrupt cops, venal gang bangers, the dreck of humanity doing the dumbest stuff–many times before.

It probably doesn’t make for the snappiest marketing sell, but I suspect the big advance over previous entries is going to be the detail poured into the Jason & Lucia relationship, which from the sounds of things will respond to player input in complex ways. Of the two, I’m immediately sold on her. She’s fun and flirty, but between the stiletto in the eye and the one-handed shotgun pump, very much not to be f-ed with. Jason, on the other hand, felt very generic 2000s videogame dude, remarkable only for his startlingly deep voice. More time with him will hopefully reveal hidden depths, but I still harbor a suspicion that only one of the characters will be alive to see the credits roll. Please let it be her.

Random other thoughts: The TV ads for anxiety meds and deli sandwiches felt a little on the nose to me, but I did love the fancy rooftop bar being called Effluvia. And the song playing over the closing minutes is Inner Light by Elderbrook & Bob Moses. I’d never heard it before, but apparently millions have. I feel old. How many new GTAs do I even have left?