SET IN VICE CITY

Since its inception, the GTA franchise has been circling between three locations as its setting- the New York City inspired inspired Liberty City, the state of San Andreas, and Vice City, which is based on the city of Miami. GTA 5 saw the series returning to a very specific part of San Andrea, that being the city of Los Santos, but with GTA 6, we’re hoping that rather than going back to Liberty City, Rockstar will take us back to Vice City again. The setting in an of itself was an amazing one, even when we first visited it more than a decade ago, and we can’t wait to see what it would look like if it was recreated today in the same manner that Liberty City and Los Santos were for GTA 4 and 5 respectively.

The Grand Theft Auto series has gone from strength to strength with arguably each and every one of its releases, and with GTA 5, it probably perfected the open world formula that it pioneered with GTA 3. And while a lot of the series’ most important elements have grown and improved beyond recognition over the years, there’s one aspect that remains disappointingly lacklustre. That is, of course, the hand-to-hand combat.

Gunplay itself is quite well structured in modern day GTA games, with solid cover mechanics and precise and slick shooting, but the melee side of things remains as overlooked and under-developed as ever. It feels clunky, unweildy, and more like an afterthought that anything else. Perhaps Rockstar should try to develop this aspect of the gameplay more with Grand Theft Auto 6, whenever it launches.

For instance, the game could have a melee combat system similar to what we saw in 2013′ Sleeping Dogs, which itself was somewhat based on the fisticuffs that characterize the Arkham series. Perhaps Grand Theft Auto 6 could even see players choosing between different styles of fighting for their players, and then developing and progressing with deeper and more rewarding mechanics in place.

In fact, even something like making full use of the environment during combat could make it so much more better. Using the popular physics engine of the GTA series to make the environment more reactive and interactive, and then using that to our benefit during hand-to-hand fights, would add so much depth and an extra dimension to the game’s combat.

It doesn’t have to be a full0-fledged brawler or beat-em-up, of course, since the focus of GTA is very squarely on entirely different mechanics. However, it would be great to see the series shifting away from its current lightweight and rudimentary melee combat mechanics, and instead opt for a system that has more depth to it.

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.

Typically, you find groups of people that actively argue against the existence of games like Grand Theft Auto and it’s depictions of fictional crime. But in a strange twist on the norm, a group of real-estate agents have done the opposite and posit that Grand Theft Auto VI should take place in Portland, the largest state in Oregon.

Movoto came to conclusion that Portland would be a suitable fit for GTA 6 after comparing the many features of the landscape that appear in Los Santos, including the gun stores, and police stations which is a surprising statistic.

The number stack up to show that Los Santos owns 11 Gun stores whereas Portland has 9, Los Santos has 12 police stations and Portland has 6. They also threw in a coffee shop comparison for good measure, Los Santos sports 10 of them whilst Portland has a total of 637.

Saying, “Portland would be perfect” for the GTA VI, Movoto’s Clark Teft said “It has the personality, the intrigue, and frankly it might be more fun to visit Portland digitally and not risk running into all those college friends who are trying to make the rest of the world move there.”

[Source]

Grand Theft Auto has had a series of settings, most of which we’ve revisited already. San Andreas, of course being one of them as well as Liberty City. Both of these were heavily inspired from  Los Angeles and New York City respectively. While these are some great locations, we’re going to have to see more from Rockstar for Grand Theft Auto 6 to help keep gamers interested and to compete with all the other free roam, sandbox-style titles.

More exotic locations would be nice to see, but even the more mundane examples will work as well. It’s not like locations need to be made up completely out of the blue either. There are some wonderfully vibrant and lively cities around the planet. There’s no real reason we should necessarily be stuck in the United States, which is where the overwhelming majority of the GTA titles have taken place. In fact the only GTA game that has taken place outside of the U.S. was Grand Theft Auto: London, a game that was released way back on the original PlayStation. So let’s take a look at a few possibilities for Grand Theft Auto VI.

Front image by Patrick Brown.

1. Hong Kong:

This one’s kind of obvious, while games have taken place in Hong Kong before it would be incredibly interesting to see Rockstar’s version of the city. The large island off the coast of China’s mainland would certainly be a good starting location and it is already surrounded by water.

The dense cityscape would be sure to make for an interesting environment. There are plenty of neighborhoods and locations to explore, so this one would be a great spot. The rich atmosphere and culturally distinct city of Hong Kong would definitely give the series a change of pace.

“We’ve got about 45 years worth of ideas we want to do. We don’t know what GTA VI will be, but we’ve got some ideas. GTA Online is the focus right now. There ain’t no rest between finishing V and then Online. Plus we have some other things – stuff, DLC, I don’t know how to describe it exactly – that we’d like to do, and we’ll pick the right ones.”

I’m sure the prospect of what GTA VI will hold is nothing short of mouthwatering for GTA fans across the globe. But for now, Rockstar wants fans to focus on reveling in the universe they have created in GTA V as they expand to online.