After months, maybe even years of anticipation, Rockstar Games finally did it. No, not release Grand Theft Auto 6 (that’s still about 34 days away), or announce the PC version, which has recently been rumored. And no, this isn’t quite the coveted Trailer 3 either, but it is a new trailer for its massive open-world sequel/next masterpiece. One and a half years after the last. Reset the clock.
Of course, online discourse already criticized it as “weak,” despite it being a launch trailer (and more than likely used for TV spots, given the prominence of PS5 advertising at the start and end), it still offered a wealth of new details.
Besides the catchy “Flower in a Hurricane” by electronic duo Justice featuring artists like SZA, Tame Impala and King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard – a pretty hefty line-up for what’s essentially a brand new single exclusive to the game. Justice, by the way, also composes the official score album, if those six radio stations and singers like Bad Bunny, Lana Del Rey and Robyn as hosts didn’t clue you into the massive budget Rockstar has dedicated to music alone.
So we start with Jason working at Brian’s Marina, polishing a boat while taking a free call. And who should be calling but Lucia? He sported a different scraggly look before, albeit with slightly less stubble and shorter hair, in previous trailers, indicating that this is before he cleans up and picks her up from Leonida Penitentiary. However, in an interesting twist, we actually get to hear more about Jason’s backstory.
It was already confirmed he served in the US Army, but in his own words, he got into “some trouble” and “didn’t leave on the best of terms.” Which sounds like a dishonorable discharge, if nothing else. He adds, “they don’t give loans, or anything, to people like me,” lending further credence. Not that this would stop him from a private loan, but given his current job, he may not have the best credit score, which probably explains why he doesn’t mind robbing the odd convenience store or two. Easy money, after all.
Life changes as he reunites with Lucia, who may very well be the end of them both. Because for all intents and purposes, she has more ambition and wants a better life through any means necessary. Maybe that’s what dragged them way over their heads, since what should be an “easy score” goes wrong and they’re caught up in some conspiracy.
One interesting thing to note is the shot where Jason wades through a swamp with a rifle and night-vision goggles, flanked by two cohorts with the same. On the one hand, this could be a flashback mission, perhaps unraveling his troubled past and showing us what trouble he got into, but I have a feeling this is present-day, and Jason has either called in a favour from some old buddies or vice versa. It’s certainly not the first time we see him in semi-tactical gear. In another shot, he’s stepping off a plane, all stealthy-like, seemingly infiltrating a location.
We also see him with someone else in the lead, wading through some vessel that’s rapidly taking on water. How much of this involves his past and how much is simply part of the narrative remains to be seen, but that isn’t it by a long shot. And lo and behold, Lucia also struts those action muscles, as seen in a shot where she leaps from a moving truck onto what seems like an airliner. We also see her inside a helicopter with a grenade launcher, raining down destruction on police vehicles.
Is it tied to that part where some cargo hangs by a cable from the craft, tearing through the windows in neighboring buildings with someone desperately trying to stay on? Note the realistic destruction, by the way, with the glass exploding into hundreds of shards.
Overall, it’s a fairly big-budget blockbuster trailer that highlights everything that makes a Grand Theft Auto game. A high-speed chase with a hypercar as players seemingly elude the police. A dirt bike going off a ramp. Corrupt cops. Shootouts. Gorgeous vistas, including another perspective of Vice City’s beachfront with noticeably fewer people (though the DacityCoin-sponsored prop plane and its red smoke command most of our attention).
Except for that one bit where Lucia asks, “Are we gonna be okay?” Jason’s response is about what you would expect, as he says, “We’ve stuck together through everything. Just gotta get through it.” No doubt referencing the situation they’re going through with the conspiracy and whatnot, but if you’re suspecting foul play with Raul, the professional bank robber, that may not be the case. In one shot, we can see him with a foot on someone’s throat and a bucket of fried chicken in his hands while Jason and Lucia watch intently. Maybe he’s one of their cohorts in whatever score that went wrong, and could have sold them out. If so, that could mean Raul is in as much trouble as they are (and even less pleased with everything).
The real question is how the player’s decisions will shape all this. Rockstar has made no bones about how your choices can shift the narrative. It hasn’t confirmed multiple endings, but the Criminal Profile system may provide some clues. During the August round of previews, YouTuber TCG noted four different states in the system, starting with the highest, Professional, and gradually descending into Psycho. Players can also seemingly go beyond this, to the point where your actions no longer impact the profile – which certainly sounds like a point of no return for us.
Given that’s influenced by wanton violence and mass murder, and each character is tracked separately, something tells me that this could play some part in the game’s ending. Think of it as akin to Dishonored’s Chaos System, where raising it brings you closer to the bad “ending” and also alters the state of the world, including how characters behave towards you. From what little we know about Criminal Profiles in Grand Theft Auto 6, the latter certainly applies, so each state could open up different options and narrative paths.
What happens if both Lucia and Jason turn Psycho? Will the story end with both of them dead? What if they both break the scale? Could they go under the radar, perhaps separating and never seeing each other again? Or spend the rest of their lives in prison? Given how fundamental their bond is to the story, you would have to think such decisions are important.
Even if the launch trailer doesn’t feature enough “gameplay” like the Extended Look (though it’s captured in-game on a PS5), it only fuels the hype. Not only that, but it reassures once more that Grand Theft Auto 6 is, for real, launching on November 19th for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Is Rockstar saving Trailer 3 for closer to release, completely subverting the purpose of a launch trailer? Head of development Phil Hooker recently told Bloomberg that the team has changed things in the last few months, and that “the game’s never settled,” so it could hold off until the last possible moment to fully reveal it.
Then again, this is GTA 6, perhaps the biggest game of the decade, and what could be Rockstar’s crowning achievement for the next. It pretty much sells itself at this point. Everything else, be it gameplay or new details, is just gravy.
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