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Although an official announcement has yet to be made, it looks like a new Grand Theft Auto game is in the works. It was previously rumoured that the developers at Rockstar Games were looking to take the game from the gun-crazy culture of America and set it in the Far East, specifically the streets of Tokyo. Unfortunately that never came to fruition, so we’re left dreaming about what could have been.
Still, it’s good to know that Rockstar were considering taking the iconic franchise into new and unfamiliar surroundings. The beauty of Rockstar Games and the GTA series is that they’re always trying to push boundaries in terms of gameplay and content. Before the age of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, graphics were usually an afterthought for the development team, and for good reason. After all, what’s the point in having the nicest looking game if the gameplay itself is lacking.
More often than not developers go overboard, stepping into controversial territory ('Hot Coffee' anyone?) but this flaw can also be a virtue. In some ways, you can look at the GTA series as a way of addressing both what’s wrong in society, and at times the gaming community itself. Whether they were aware of it or not, co-founders (and brothers) Sam and Dan Houser have created a series that has manifested itself from a crude crime simulator into a product that perfectly reflects the society we’ve become accustomed to, and the issues we refuse to address.
But social awareness aside, each GTA game (barring the slate of just-above-average PSP spin-offs) is a stone cold masterpiece that has no real ending. Rockstar are the true innovators of sandbox gaming. To say it’s flawless is quite a stretch, but it comes pretty damn close. However, not everything can be perfect and GTA themselves are guilty of a few setbacks here and there. With that in mind here’s six things that we’d like to see in Grand Theft Auto VI.
Change the Setting
GTA has always been a product of American culture, a hyper-realistic parody of how the international community views the most powerful nation on earth. There’s an irony to the fact that such a clear jab at American sensibilities (and eccentricities) is heralded by two English guys—the aforementioned Houser brothers.
While it’s safe, and probably wise to stick to their successful interpretation of Americana, we would certainly welcome a fresh approach to culture and setting. Given that Rockstar Games are unafraid to offend, why restrict it to the States? By now everyone is familiar, or aware, of American pop culture so perhaps a new country deserves parodying. Don’t forget: during their early days on the PlayStation, the Houser brothers developed GTA: London. Imagine it - Fleet Street, Camden, Brixton, Bethnal Green and even Buckingham Palace itself…
They could even go beyond the M25 into Manchester and Brighton. Maybe it’s time for Sam and Dan to come back home.
Introduction of a Radio Station Dedicated to Grime
If you’re going to set a GTA game on our lovely UK shores then you’ll need to have a music station dedicated to grime. GTA, and Rockstar for that matter, have always been on-point with their music ever-since GTA: Vice City. It’s been one of their main content highlights. Even if the sixth installment still wants to wreak havoc in America, hasn’t grime already made such an impression on their world? Who wouldn’t want to mow down a mob of virtual gangsters, and innocents, along to the soundtrack of the hypest, grimiest beats with the correct bars to match? Also this would the perfect track right?
Introduction of a Playable Female Character
With the need for gender equality on all platforms of society we’re thinking that it’s time for female options in the playable characters. Rockstar have never been scared to push the envelope so how about it?—playable characters—if not the lead character, being female.
If realism is what we’re going for, let’s be real, plenty of females also dabble in law-breaking ventures themselves, whether they’ll admit it is another thing entirely (N.B Complex UK does not endorse any kind of illegal shenanigans ya hear?).
We already have strong female heroes like Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), Faith Connors (Mirror’s Edge) and Samus Aran (Metroid), plus some female villains as well. Why not develop a female protagonist of the anti-hero/criminal variety? GTA Online already allows you to make your own criminal avatar and choose their gender. However, making the main character in the story an aspiring female crime boss would be something truly awe-inspiring
Implement 'GTA: Chinatown Wars'' Drug Selling Mini-Game
Selling drugs in real life is a risky game that we would never encourage anyone to do: nine times out of ten, the risk and consequences greatly outweigh the reward. But selling drugs in video games can be quite fun, and strangely therapeutic. One of our favourite past times in the underrated GTA: Chinatown Wars was buying and selling shipments of narcotics.
Originally an exclusive game on the Nintendo DS, how this feature made it passed the BBFC’s scrupulously vigilant eyes is anyone’s guess, but we’re glad it did. It added something unique to an already brilliant game. It was intricately thought out, it was clever.
More than just finding someone to sell your ‘goods’ to, you needed to figure out which narcotic was in demand for each area of the city, how much you should give to your suppliers and how much you should keep on you at all times. Basically, if you followed Biggie’s ‘Ten Crack Commandments’ religiously this was the game for you. It would be difficult to transition this to console versions, mainly because the age-rating boards are more likely to pay attention, but if anyone can pull it off, it would have to be Rockstar.
Bring Back Additional Story-Based DLC
One of the main things we liked about GTA IV—and what was severely lacking from GTA V—was additional DLC (downloadable content) for the main story once you’d finished the game. As well as the main GTA IV story, there was The Lost and The Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony DLC to keep us coming back for more. Sure GTA V made up for this in countless free online content but there was so much more potential in continuing the stories of Franklin, Michael and Trevor. Even if they didn’t want to continue the story of the three main characters, they could’ve used secondary characters like Lamar or just develop totally new ones within that universe. Story-driven DLC is something we’d definitely appreciate after completing the main game.
Tackling Today’s Hot-Button Issues
One thing that GTA has done perfectly is capture the zeitgeist of the world it’s set in. In Vice City, it dealt with the boom of 80’s culture—the glitz, the glamour and the shady underworld that presided over it inspired by the likes of Scarface, Carlito’s Way and the influx of Cuban immigrants wishing to escape Fidel Castro.
San Andreas was inspired by the emergence of early 90s West Coast gangsta rap—films such as Boyz n the Hood, Menace II Society and real-life events such as the Rodney King case, which resulted in the LA Riots. In recent times, GTA IV and V looked at America as a cultural melting pot—struggling post 9/11 and trying to stay afloat in the recession. GTA has always had its finger on the pulse of what’s going on whether it’s set today or ten years ago.
If the sixth installment is going to be set in today’s trying times, we’d love to see them address certain issues. Hot button topics such as gun control, the GOP, terrorism, Islamophobia, rise of the far-right, and the Black Lives Matter movement would make groundbreaking gaming while the rise of talentless reality stars is ripe for satirising. Also, basing characters on real-life controversial figures like Donald Trump is a natural fit for the tongue-in-cheek GTA series. Given that Trump’s already been parodied in GTA III as ‘Donald Love’, it would make sense for him to make a return in the run for office. Potential missions could include you rigging the campaign in his favour, only to find out he’s about to screw you over as well.
As always with Grand Theft Auto, the possibilities are endless.