Grand Theft Auto 6’s recent reveal trailer was a brief one, but as it’s been known to do, Rockstar stuffed it full of a bevy of tiny, little details that paint an exciting picture of its world. And since, knowing Rockstar, it’s probably going to be a while before we get to see more of GTA 6 again, those small details are what many of us are going to be obsessing over for the next several months. That, in fact, is exactly what this feature is about. So let’s dive in.
WILDLIFE
Rockstar created a massive and intricate ecosystem of wildlife in Red Dead Redemption 2, and it seems much of that might be making the jump over to GTA 6. In the trailer, we see flamingoes out in the everglades, we see gators in Vice City itself, we see a chihuahua running on the beach alongside a ridiculously jacked man, and we even see an iguana propped on a man’s shoulder. It certainly looks like we’ll be seeing a variety of wildlife all over Leonida in the game.
RETURNING VEHICLES
The roster of vehicles is always an important part of any new Grand Theft Auto game, and while there will, of course, be several newcomers in GTA 6 on that front, several returning vehicles can be spotted in the trailer as well. Notably, the Cheetah – which was first introduced in GTA: Vice City – has returned, while other familiar vehicles like the Dominator, PMP 600, the Declasse Tulip, the Dodo plane, and many others.
POLICE
Throughout the GTA 6 trailer, you can also spot cops coming in different shapes and sizes, not only in terms of vehicles, but also the different departments they fall under. You have your regular Vice City PD, of course, while in addition to that, we also see the Vice Dale County Sheriff’s Office, and Leonida Highway Patrol.
HAIR PHYSICS
Something that is very likely to have caught your eye throughout GTA 6’s reveal trailer is the hair physics. For whatever reason, seeing hair that looks and moves realistic is something we can’t help but obsess over in games, and throughout the GTA 6 trailer, we see plenty of that.
DRAW DISTANCES AND DENSITY
Rockstar has never failed to impress with the massive draw distances in its open worlds, and there are several shots in the GTA 6 trailer that show off just what the game will be delivering on that front. What’s even more impressive is the sheer density of the environments that it’s doing that in, whether it’s architecture, natural elements, vehicles, or NPCs you’re talking about. Oh, and speaking of NPCs…
NPC VARIETY
Having screens filled with NPCs would be impressive enough as it is, but what’s making GTA 6 stand out even more is the sheer variety we’re seeing. Body shapes, skin tones, faces, clothing, accessories, actions and animations- there’s a startling variety that the game is exhibiting across its massive pool of NPCs, which has the potential to make the game feel dense and alive in a way we’ve never seen before.
LUCIA
Lucia was obviously front and center in GTA 6’s reveal trailer, and though the trailer makes it pretty clear that she’s had run-ins with the law (we see her in a prison early on, after all), the game’s key art, curiously enough, drops another interesting detail- you can see her wearing an ankle monitor, which means she’s going to be out on parole in at least some portion of the game. Is that something that could impact gameplay as well?
LOCATIONS
GTA 6 will be set in the state of Leonida, with Vice City serving as the star of the show, and throughout the game’s trailer, we can see the names of plenty of locations, either on signposts or social media posts. That includes Vice City International Airport, Kelly County, Stockyard, Vice Beaches, Port Vice City, Keys, Hamlet, and more.
OCEAN DRIVE
Though we’re expecting GTA 6’s Vice City to be radically different from the form it has previously appeared in (similar to what GTA 4 did with Liberty City and GTA 5 with Los Santos), some familiar places will be returning, and receiving an impressive makeover. In the trailer, for instance, we can see the iconic Ocean Drive, a place you’ll be very familiar with if you’ve played GTA: Vice City and Vice City Stories.
OCEAN VIEW HOTEL
In the Ocean Drive shot, another very familiar element you may now have spotted, seeing as it’s hidden in the background behind a bunch of palm trees, is the Ocean View Hotel, one of the most recognizable structures on Ocean Drive for anyone who’s played GTA: Vice City, which also serves as Tommy Vercetti’s first safe house in the game.
WASHINGTON BEACH
Here’s another familiar location, and one that’s received such a radical makeover that many may not even have recognized it. One of the first things we see in the trailer is a glorious shot of Washington Beach, with the impressive large and dense skyline of Vice City stretching on behind it. The difference between its original version and its new one is startling, to say the least.
CAR MEETS AND RACES
This is something we’d have expected to be featured in the game regardless of whether or not it was shown in the trailer, but we do see plenty of Vice City’s racing culture. There’s a shot of what looks like a car meet for illegal street racers, which will hopefully be a recurring gameplay mechanic, while another shot also shows what looks like a race for bikes and quads.
OFROADING
Offroading vehicles will seemingly also get more of the spotlight in GTA 6 than in previous games- which makes sense, since presumably a significant portion of the map is going to be set in the swampy everglades. There’s an entire shot dedicated to the Thrillbully Mud Club, which showcases plenty of trucks, ATVs, and what have you, while we can also see what looks like a dirt race in the background in another shot.
VEHICLE CUSTOMIZATION
GTA 6’s trailer seems to also suggest that vehicle customization and modding will receive greater focus than in previous titles. The previously mentioned shot that shows the likes of the PMP 600, the Buccaneer, and the Declasse Tulip, shows them all in heavily modded and customized fashion. Will players have a similar level of freedom in customizing their vehicles?
MIRRORS
This detail is a particularly tiny one, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Towards the end of the trailer, when we see Lucia and Jason together in a car, we can also spot its wing mirrors functioning fully with proper, moving reflections for everything behind the vehicle.