Almost exactly one year has passed since the last branded masterpiece Rockstar. Obviously we are not talking about Grand Theft Auto V, But say Red Dead Redemption 2, a game that has entranced the fans of the software house and not only with details never seen before, a realism of the environment and of the situations of everyday life that has the incredible and the classic and usual irony mixed with satire that tells of that continent so much away from us. While it is true that statistically the Old West is a topic that not everyone is passionate about, it is also true that statistically it is incredible how Rockstar has managed to sell more than 25 million copies of its latest creation. Truly impressive numbers but certainly lower than that masterpiece that can hardly be ousted. We are obviously talking about in this case GTA V, a game that currently has more than 120 million copies sold, numbers that no one can get close to with just one job. The credit for this success goes in part to Rockstar's stratospheric marketing strategy and in part to the fame that the saga has achieved in about 20 years of honored career. The fifth chapter (but not by order of release since there are 12 if we also consider the various spin-offs), has now been released 6 years ago and everything we know about the new game is practically zero. There is still nothing official but there are numerous rumors circulating on the net between rumors of possible settings and plots worthy of a TV series, but let's go in order. Here's what we hypothetically know about the future chapter of the Rockstar epic.
Rumors about GTA VI
The release period could be between 2020 and 2021, a time interval in which the new consoles should now be released, albeit with a probably meager user base that would undermine the sales of the game but at the same time would spur the purchase of the same. Even the setting, like everything else, is currently shrouded in mystery. It is rumored that the next adventures will be set in South America, Las Ventura, San Fierro and even in China, shot in the 70s-80s. The mechanics of the multi-character already seen and appreciated in GTA V with the addition, however, of a female protagonist. Larger and larger maps with places reachable by air flights and the possibility of inserting weapons inside the trunk of the car and then having to select a small number, similar to what happens in RDD 2 with the saddle of the horse, are only other of the numerous hypotheses.
In short, the world of rumors is a chaos of ideas and desires of fans or those who are not who would like to approach this universe by shaping it to their liking. If, however, dreaming costs nothing, this is what we believe a saga of this kind would need to become even more memorable than it already is and perhaps surpass itself in terms of sales.
What I would like in the new Grand Theft Auto
To say what we would like to see in a new chapter of the IP we should perhaps start by writing about what we did not want or did not like in GTA V. The first thing we hear to say, given the sensational step backwards compared to the fourth chapter , is the guidance system and vehicle physics. It is well known that the maps of the game, being a free roaming title, are always vast and full of elements of various kinds with the possibility of driving a vehicle and running around far and wide. This mechanic, within the Rockstar title, covers a very high percentage of gameplay and for this reason it needs a review by the software house. The system present in the fifth chapter is not bad but certainly can be improved given that for fans of the saga the step forward compared to GTA IV there has not been and indeed, has even gone back. GTA IV delighted fans with near-realistic and true-to-life vehicle physics, which reacted to road imperfections and accidents in a very credible manner; not to mention the bikes that even with small collisions made you literally fly on the hot asphalt. There is none of this in GTA V. The cars break down in an unrealistic way and tend too much to an arcade driving system that hardly differentiates one car from another. Furthermore, the bikes are really annoying and an accident at 150 km / h does not mean that you detach yourself from the saddle.
That little bit more than Red Dead Redemption 2
As mentioned and as we obviously know, Rockstar's maps are insane. Walking around the dunes of RDR2 is fabulous and you can happily do without a vehicle for the sake of observe the dynamism and the spectacular nature of the environment. This is definitely a situation that we would like and that will most likely not be missing in GTA VI. The fifth chapter proposed in part what has been said but with its generational limits, so what we now expect is a game world that knows how to involve you and that offers the same possibilities for interaction with both the inhabitants and with nature even more so than the aforementioned western title. The collection of objects from the game environment;, a portable inventory, a sentient AI that remembers and communicates with us according to the circumstances that are created, flora and fauna that transmit the reality of a functioning ecosystem; in short, part of what we want is what we have already seen in RDR 2, with all the necessary contextual translations, and even more in-depth given the obvious exit also on the next-gen.
The relationship with weapons
What else would we want? Maybe a slightly different weapons menu. A rumor, as mentioned before, talks about a hypothetical trunk of the car that houses the weapons to take with us and that we will use during the adventure. This mechanic would certainly be welcome. However, the possibility of having a large arsenal, which in the moment before the mission must be carefully selected, would make the game mechanics a big leap forward, giving a realism that had never been present in the title. Why do we prefer this more real mechanic to the older, faster weapon wheel? Simply because after having played and experienced firsthand this world created by Rockstar called Red Dead Redemption we no longer believe an open weapon selection like the one present at the moment in GTA V is possible. Calling up the selection wheel with a button and pulling any weapon out of the clothing, from a pistol to a missile launcher, would now turn out to be a counter-trend feature. That is why in our imagination the next protagonist will be more similarly like Max Payne, the other Rockstar godson, holding his shotgun while carrying another weapon on his shoulder and a pistol inside the holster.
A deep and varied plot
As mentioned earlier, Rockstar seeks and punctually manages to broadcast with its games a sense of irony and satire towards the world around him and against that fake aura of perfect in which we think we live. Just think of bully, which with its terrible and violent protagonist was bending the American educational institution. "The different life" by Tommy Vercetti, the Italian-American protagonist of Vice City, mafia man in the drug world. The already mentioned Max Payne, a lawyer who runs away from himself to kill crime but has to face his conscience and alcohol. Then there is Grand Theft Auto V with the famous "American dream" that shows us a wrong society, modern generational problems, family incompatibilities and dark secrets. Different plots but connected by this humor that Rockstar sometimes exasperates and leads to the extreme, perhaps losing from our point of view the possibility of earning that sentimental and / or dramatic sense that some stories are able to convey, in fact thus becoming unforgettable. If GTA VI were to be set in a hypothetical South America in "Narcos" style, surely we will continue to appreciate the humor vein so characteristic of the saga but we would like more twists, more emotions and more overwhelming situations in style. N, the only (in our opinion) software house from which Rockstar can stretch an eye and give a copy to improve further and once again create something truly epochal.
GTA Online: No more racing in the sky and flying cars
If we also want to look for something in the online sector that we would not have wanted or that out of tune note out of the chorus, we would like to put in the middle some of the latest free updates proposed by Rockstar, which can be considered expansions of the game. The world of GTA Online was proposed as a videogame experience in its own right, coming out about a month later than the base game, expanding some aspects of the single player and innovating once and for all the concept of online in Rockstar titles.
In the first months it was possible to carry out missions related to a new plot designed specifically for online and various traditional modes such as team deatmatch. The first almost bimonthly expansions introduced new modes, new clothes, new secondary storylines to follow, free mode events and the famous "Strokes”, The most appreciated part of all for GTA V players. It seemed that the line drawn by the software house was to expand and refine what has already been done in the single player also following the various user feedback. Instead, Rockstar decides to publish huge updates almost monthly, introducing flying cars, armored cars, propelled motorcycles, yachts, bunkers etc ... In short, a kind of Saints Row, the eternal loser who decided to change his realistic game world to a more frenetic and fun experience.
So how should GTA VI Online be for us? The answer is: huge but consistent. If the rumors related to the setting and the historical context prove to be correct it would be nice to see huge battles between rival cartels, stories of narco traffic, management of resources and money as was done in the title "The Godfather”, More co-op elements and various modalities that enhance the theme of the game, whatever it may be, without distorting or distorting the idea of the work. With an online open world it is impossible not to have ideas to develop.
Time will tell
GTA VI certainly has enormous expectations from the public, as it should be, after having seen in recent years what the software house is capable of, surpassing itself from time to time with each chapter distributed and aware of the fact that hands a potential weapon capable of resetting and rewriting again the gaming standards of this sector. However, we believe that all this is only possible on next generation consoles, thus sacrificing the current gen in favor of an even bigger, more alive, even more beautiful world than we are able to imagine.
