Grand Theft Auto 6is, unsurprisingly, garnering no shortage of hype from the gaming community. The follow-up to2013’s immensely popularGrand Theft Auto 5is sure to sell like hotcakes no matter what, but one can only hope—and rightfully assume—that Rockstar will attempt to do more than phone it in.GTAis the company’s biggest IP, after all, and expectations for excellence in design and attention to detail are sky-high.
One way that audiences may be expectingGTA 6to improve upon its predecessors is through gunplay and combat as a whole. While combat in previous Rockstar entries, namely in theRed Dead RedemptionandGrand Theft Autoseries, is certainly not bad, it’s never the main attraction. Generous aim assist and lock-on features coupled with realistically feeble enemies and traditional cover systems make in-game encounters feel more like shooting galleries much of the time, and this breezy combat framework means that there’s not much room, or need, for weapon customization or build-crafting options. Nevertheless, bothGTA 5andRed Dead Redemption 2offer a variety of gun customization options, andGTA 6will hopefully expand on this foundation.
Weapon customization inRed Dead Redemption 2can impact the following stats for a given gun:
Just like in any action-oriented game, players will be drawn in by the promise of optimizing their weaponry, thus making them more effective and efficient in combat scenarios. This is technically whatRed Dead Redemption2’s upgrade suite offers, but the game’s base combat is so simple and straightforward that there is rarely a strong need for a player to improve their guns. By extension, improving guns is less gratifying.
Through means like diverse enemy types, more durable enemies, and more realistic, varied weapon behavior (e.g. recoil, bullet velocity, etc.),GTA 6may be able to offer a more in-depth gun customization system. Not only would upgrades be more rewarding, but they could also be more granular and multifaceted. For instance, players could reduce recoil on a particularly powerful rifle with a bump stock, and such an upgrade would be a meaningful improvement due to the more punishing nature of recoil in this theoretical mechanical rework. It’s also worth noting thatRed Dead Redemption 2’s selection of weapon upgrades is fairly Spartan, so greater diversity could helpGTA 6’s version of this systemimmeasurably.
More In-Depth Customization Would Make Sense for GTA 6
Red Dead Redemption 2’s gun customization isa nice improvement fromGTA 5, but it’s still fairly barebones and shallow. Something that may stand out for many players is that, with a few exceptions, gun upgrades inRed Dead Redemption 2rarely involve a trade-off. In a franchise likeCall of Duty, for instance, installing a better sight on a gun may extend ADS time, while a muzzle brake can improve recoil but reduce aiming stability. This requires players to carefully consider which upgrades to invest in based on their playstyle or build preference, resulting in more personalization, flexibility, and variety.
One can hardly faultRed Dead Redemption 2for lacking a similarly complex system: its setting holds it back from advanced gun-crafting. ButGTA 6is a different story. Set in the modern day, not to mention withinRockstar’s gun-crazed stand-in for real-world Florida,Grand Theft Auto 6could reasonably feature a nuanced gun-crafting suite comparable to competitive AAA shooters.
Grand Theft Auto 6
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Grand Theft Auto VI heads to the state of Leonida, home to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond in the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet.Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them. But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida — forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive.
