The anticipation aroundGrand Theft Auto 6is at some of the highest levels the gaming industry has ever seen, with fans eagerly awaiting more official news about the project to release following its first reveal trailer back in December 2023. The long development time for the game, combined with the pressure to go far beyond the experience of 2013’sGTA 5, has led many to believe thatGTA 6will involve a truly massive amount of content, redefining what can be expected from the beloved franchise.
There are many ways in whichGrand Theft Auto 6can excel in areas of content that were omitted fromGTA 5, with the side content of any Rockstar title being just as important as the core story and gameplay. As Rockstar’s most recently released game,Red Dead Redemption 2can serve as a partial example as to the quality and scale of a lot ofGTA 6’s content, with some mechanics from the 2018 game oddly being perfect for a modern translation over toGTA 6. Hunting was a big element ofRDR2’s portrayal of the Old West, and while not as important in a modern setting, similar hunting mechanics inGTA 6could still serve a fun purpose.
The success of 2013’sGrand Theft Auto 5speaks for itself, with the title holding the record of the most profitable piece of media ever created. That means Rockstar has a huge task ahead of itself to evolve the franchise and go beyond these lofty heights inGTA 6. The upcoming title is reportedly aiming to achieve this through things like a much larger game world and deeper NPC interaction, and there is one smaller element ofGTA 5that its successor could easily improve upon to work towards this goal: hunting.
Current estimates suggest thatGTA 6’s map will be at least twice the size ofGTA 5’s, with the upcoming game potentially featuring several unique maps that the player can travel between.
Aside from the dense urban areas of Los Santos,GTA 5also featured large areas of wilderness around Blaine County and the wider San Andreas area, although there still remains a distinct lack of wildlife in these areas to this day. A lot ofGTA 5’s map feels a lot more empty thanks to this general absence of animal life, andGrand Theft Auto 6is expected to expand upon this. The already iconic reveal trailer forGTA 6went out of its way to showcase dense wildlife and a range of rural areas like swamps, with Rockstar clearly going all-out in Vice City’s inspiration of Florida.
A higher frequency of animals will serve to literally give more life toGrand Theft Auto 6, and if there are more animals, it only seems logical for the title to possess the samehunting mechanics asRed Dead Redemption 2to give an extra layer of content to this aspect of the game. Of course,GTA 6’s modern setting does not necessitate the hunting and skinning of animals for survival or money as it does inRDR2, but there are still plenty of potential justifications for the inclusion of hunting to give one more dose of content to the wide-spanning experiences ofGTA 6.
Hunting in GTA 6 Could Be a Key Activity For NPC Bonding
Hunting could be a side activity that is available with certain NPCs throughoutGTA 6’s story, for example, with the player building bonds with an NPC following successful excursions in a similar vein toGrand Theft Auto 4’s friendship system. Hunting tournaments could even be held as a core side activity, offering money, trophies, and reputational boosts alongside the usualGTAside content of things like street races.
The more advanced equipment of modern life such as recurve bows could logically improve upon the hunting system ofRDR2, or at the very least add plenty of fresh elements to it, making its inclusion inGTA 6feel natural and unique in its own right. While not the most important or exciting aspect ofwhatGrand Theft Auto 6might potentially offer, an improved and modern translation ofRDR2’s hunting system could be a great way to add another layer of variety to the massively anticipated project.
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.
