Rockstar’s extended gameplay footage gave us a glimpse of what’s to come, with Jason and Lucia handling themselves in distinctive, wholly natural ways when situations go awry. While there’s still plenty we don’t know, I’ve found myself thinking about how I want to experiment with combat when I finally get my hands on the game. In particular, it seems GTA 6 can balance player agency and cinematic spectacle in ways the series hasn’t achieved before. So, with that in mind, here’s ten combat experiments I want to try in Grand Theft Auto VI.
All details and footage referenced in this article are sourced directly from officially revealed information. This piece is a wishlist of personal expectations for GTA VI.
Turn Vehicle Combat into Dynamic Chase-Shootouts
One of my biggest frustrations with GTA 5’s drive-by shooting was how tacked-on it felt. It was more of an imprecise aside than something baked into vehicle handling itself. For GTA 6, it appears Rockstar is evolving vehicle combat into a fluid sequence of decisions: drive, shoot, switch characters, take the wheel or stick your head out of the rear-passenger window – whatever you feel is best in-the-moment to keep the chase moving.
During a chase shown in the extended gameplay footage, we see the player switch from Lucia’s driving to Jason’s shooting and vice versa, giving the impression that dynamism in these moments is in your hands. Rather than fulfilling one role throughout, I’m looking forward to switching characters during a getaway; destroying a stubborn pursuer then steering into an unconventional escape.
Find my Ideal Free-Aim
Through GTA 6’s refined free-aim system – replacing GTA 5 and RDR2’s auto-lock gunfire – I’m hoping that a specific balance between deliberate shooting and cinematic momentum can be struck. I want enough assistance to keep encounters moving, but I don’t want to feel like I’m playing a military sim nor blasting my way through a static shooting gallery. Gameplay footage does show a degree of target assistance – a sort-of soft-lock once your reticle is near-enough to an enemy – but, according to Rockstar’s Rob Nelson there are options to fine-tune this system.
What I’d like is to experiment with different settings; gradually reducing assistance until aiming feels deliberate without upsetting momentum. In other words: a sweet spot between precision and spectacle. Depending on the breadth of these settings, deciding where that balance sits could vary, and be explorable player-to-player too.
Use the Focus Ability to Shape My Ideal Firefight
GTA 6’s footage shows a focus-style, bullet-time effect, which underpins my desire for cinematic spectacle during shootouts. But, this style of slomo-aiming could also offer the control I said that I wanted in free-aiming, so I’m hopeful I can use this ability to shape my ideal firefight, too. And, seeing as this system is firmly inside Rockstar territory already – Red Dead’s DeadEye, Michael’s Area Kill… freakin’ Max Payne – GTA 6’s version appears to be its most refined, with colour-coded targeting shaping how the system operates.
While there’s obvious appeal in slowing down the action to make otherwise chaotic exchanges feel choreographed, I’m looking forward to testing whether different targeting choices affect the overall experience. Will GTA 6’s bullet-time make favouring incapacitation over lethal-force feel more satisfying? Will it make me feel like an unstoppable killing machine without becoming, say, too easy?
Make Handguns My Go-To Weapon
For me, Red Dead Redemption gave handguns a better shot at viability than Grand Theft Auto. I was never particularly attached to GTA 5’s pistols and the like, but I’m optimistic GTA 6 is set to change that. See, footage shows handguns being carried and concealed differently compared to earlier entries, alongside NPC reactions which appear to scale depending on your firepower’s visibility. What this suggests, to me, is that handguns will feel like the more appropriate firearm for a broader array of criminal activity.
Hold-ups, robberies, perhaps even heists, will be grounded in handgun effectiveness far more than an arsenal of machine guns in your back pocket. I am intrigued by these NPC reactions though, and I’d like to start a standard hold-up with a gun in hand versus entering a store with it holstered, just to see if things play out differently. I’m not expecting stealth runs, but I do think a higher dependence on handguns will give GTA 6’s gunplay more tactical variety than 5 ever managed.
Experiment With a Deliberate Loadout
I like the idea of having to think about my arsenal before each mission, and GTA 6’s restricted loadouts appear to support the notion that your decisions matter. I’m not outfitting Jason and Lucia for a military operation after all, and while we cannot argue that GTA will ever be 100% realistic, it’ll boost my immersion at least to approach each problem without the benefit of carrying every possible solution.
So, to that end, with weapon choices feeling more consequential this time around I’m looking forward to living with my choices before a fight even begins. Although, as per gameplay footage, there might be a few things dotted around that I can improvise with should the operation go south – more on this later.
Shoot Without Relying on a Minimap
Despite reshaped loadouts, refined aiming, and handgun viability, one of the simplest ways to change how I approach a gunfight might be to minimise the information available on the minimap.
During police shootouts, we see in gameplay footage that the minimap removes any indication of enemy location, forcing you to read the environment and be more present in the encounter, rather than rely on indicators. Whether this extends to every gunfight remains to be seen, but tension akin to Red Dead Redemption 2, where you check corners and look for enemy cues over following icons, would be welcome in Leonida too. If the game allows it, I’ll probably disable all HUD assistance during gunfights.
Engage in Close-Quarters Fighting With On-Screen Prompts
All this talk of shooting, and I’ve completely overlooked fighting with fists. Watching gameplay footage, it’s evident close-quarters brawling will play a significant role, and I’m excited to see what GTA 6 will bring as this is another area I felt earlier GTA’s struggled with. Lucia we see punching, dodging, and blocking with aplomb, but it’s also the on-screen prompts which pique my interest.
One in particular is the satisfactorily gruesome high-heel through the eyeball of an assailant pinning Lucia down, and it seems during this standoff that you have a choice whether to fend off Lucia’s attacker or opt for the environmental weapon. I doubt this kind of interaction will appear in every fist fight, but it does suggest brawling could be as dynamic as shooting.
Switch Between Lucia and Jason During a Fight
GTA 6’s character switching could be more than a convenient way to change perspective, with Jason and Lucia appearing to be two working parts of the same operation. The extended look, for instance, demonstrates character switching where the inactive protagonist continues to operate organically under AI control. And, I don’t mean they continue pushing forward with suppressive fire, but they’ll hold up opponents, complete objectives, and foster getaways.
Even though missions are likely heavily scripted, these perspective changes mask the code working underneath. Plus, switching perspectives to find a better position or more appropriate weapon feels a more useful benefit to the system than GTA 5 managed.
Use The Cover System to Reposition
GTA 6 also appears to change how using cover works, with the goal now closer to using cover between moving, repositioning, and reacting to pressure. Footage shows all this, alongside peeking around corners and suppressive fire, and I’m hoping to use cover as a way to assess the situation before firing back and repositioning rather than staying rooted throughout the exchange. Rockstar’s gunfights have often leaned on using cover as a central means of surviving a gunfight. Now, I want to see how dynamic GTA 6 makes these encounters feel.
Improvise When Things Go Wrong
Even the best laid plans can fall apart, and Grand Theft Auto has a habit of weaving in the unexpected during missions. This time, however, it appears that even the opportunities for improvising can emerge dynamically rather than being baked into linear mission design.
When running low on ammo, when I need a different weapon, or even needing to abandon my original idea, it seems as though GTA 6 provides some flexibility in how I’ll make it through these situations. Case in point: Jason and Lucia are seen picking up dropped weapons, which could well be a starting point for wider improvisation. Again, arsenals are limited, but GTA 6 looks to ensure combat remains interesting and decisive whether you’re packing an entire garrison of weapons or a simple handgun.
