Grand Theft Auto is without a doubt one of the biggest names when it comes to open world games, having, in essence, pioneered so much of what we associate with the genre. However, as we look to the future and what we would like to see in the inevitable Grand Theft Auto 6, we have to admit that there are things the series has unfortunately ignored for way too long. One of those things is the NPCs.
One of the things that makes GTA as fun as it is is the sheer interactivity of its world, and the possibilities that interactivity can lead to. Simply messing around in the wonderfully realized environments is one of the things people like to do in GTA games the most, but perhaps there are ways to make that interactivity even better. How? Why, by improving the NPCs, of course.
NPCs in Grand Theft Auto games till now have been nothing but canon fodder, essentially mindless zombies that roam around the environments with no real purpose but to be run over by vehicles and mowed down by all manner of weapons. But if, with GTA 6, Rockstar were to give them more weight and meaning than that, the open world emergent gameplay could reach all new heights. Maybe make the NPCs more reactive, rather than them simply being what are, in essence, cardboard cutouts that can move around.
Perhaps even throw in a few NPCs with their own side quests or character-specific activities, similar to what we see in games such as Yakuza. Of course, Rockstar do try to do that ever now and then, as is evidenced by characters such as Roman Bellic in GTA 4, but as we all know, they didn’t do a very good job of that. An improvement in this specific area would be deeply welcome.
This article is part of our series on Rockstar’s next big entry into the world of Grand Theft Auto. Through this series we take a look at the possible new features that Rockstar can add into the next GTA game, based on what they implemented in the previous entries and player feedback.
