I’m so, so glad I avoided the GTA 6 leaks. Grand Theft Auto has been one of my favorite franchises since GTA 3 convinced me to buy a PS2 with its paradigm-shifting open-world gameplay. That’s continued with every major release since, most recently with 2013’s Grand Theft Auto 5, which I personally regard as one of the ten greatest games ever made.
So to say I’ve been hyped up for GTA 6 – and for today’s Extended Look – would be putting it mildly. Thirteen years is a long time between entries (for context, the previous longest wait between mainline entries was the five years between 4 and 5), and though Rockstar made a generationally incredible game in the intervening years in the form of Red Dead Redemption 2, I’ve always been more of a GTA guy.
When the clock struck 12pm, I hit Play on Netflix. My jaw hit the floor very quickly, and I didn’t pick it back up for 27 minutes. The first thing that jumped out at me was the lighting. The softness of the dynamic lighting added a layer of realism to what’s on the screen in a way that is simultaneously both subtle and jarring with how much it adds to every scene. And I do mean every scene, from the grimy apartment building the demo starts out in to the rooftop bar under the golden glow of Vice City’s afternoon sunshine, the lighting was the first “holy sh*t” moment for me.
The next thing that floored me – and again, it’s kind of subtle – is the UI, or rather, the lack of it. At first I thought Rockstar had it turned off to add to the cinematic flair of this Extended Look, but it turns out that, nope, it was on the whole time. Instead, Rockstar has stripped the UI to the bare minimum in order to add to the realism that the absolutely insane graphics produce. Small, simple prompts appear only when needed. And yes, the classic GTA mini-map still lives in the lower-left corner of the screen, but apparently only when you’re out in the open world. I absolutely adore this minimalist approach to UI.
How about the attention to detail? My goodness it was everywhere. Jason doesn’t just pet the dog, it jumps up on his legs. Jason and Lucia hold hands when heading to a meeting. Lucia’s blood splatters on the wall behind her when she gets attacked, but not in the usual comically over-the-top way we see in video games. The way the BMW look-alike’s convertible top retracted back after our anti-heroes started driving. I could go on and on just from this 27-minute demo.
Since I’ve purposely avoided the leaks, I still have no idea how large Leonida is, and I don’t want to know until I finally get my hands on it in 84 days from now (not that I’m counting or anything…). There is so much left to discover and soak in. And that’s the best part.
For me, a huge part of the reason I love Grand Theft Auto so much is that it has continually raised the bar for what’s possible in a blockbuster video game. What other developers – even incredibly talented ones – at other studios can’t do, Rockstar can. Because Rockstar doesn’t have a limited budget. It doesn’t have limited time. The runaway success of its catalog of games, which very much includes the money-printing ATM that is GTA 5 Online, allows them to say yes to everything and say no to nothing.
One of my favorite anecdotes from my time playing GTA 5 is the odd shuttle bus I once stumbled upon in Vinewood. Pressing Y to board it, my Michael sat down and a “tour of the stars’ homes” started, complete with voiced narration by a tour guide. This wasn’t a mission. It wasn’t marked on the map. I imagine that the majority of players never find it, because it’s not called out in any way. Our first proper look at GTA 6 suggests that there are probably going to be a lot more things like that hiding inside of Leonida.
I have played thousands of games in my life, and I have never seen anything like Grand Theft Auto 6. Somehow, my sky-high expectations and hype level have been not only met but exceeded. Let’s all enjoy this moment, both now and when we finally get our hands on this thing on November 19. They don’t come around very often.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, and a co-host of Next-Gen Console Watch. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
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