Things we want to see in GTA 6

Cor, there's a new GTA on the way! And while we're going to learn a bit more about it in December when the trailer drops for GTA 6 drops, we still wanted to get together and share a few thoughts about things we hope the new game includes.

This isn't a piece about the big stuff - we'll have a piece up next week on things like theme, satire, and stuff like that. This is more about the little stuff that, in a series like GTA, is often incredibly important. What's on the radio? What's happening on the other side of the car window? See what you think.

Space

I'm increasingly convinced that the single thing that separates a great open world from a good one is space. Space in between a world's various bits and pieces. Space that tells you that you're moving from one area, and one way of being, and you're headed somewhere else, where you can be someone else.

Crackdown had space. Crackdown 3 did not. And I really think space was the major differentiator there in terms of how the games turned out. GTA 5? Loads of space. Loads of in-betweenness. Sure, it's Southern California and Southern California is almost all in-betweenness, but I think they were onto something regardless, and I want more of it.

What I love about space in a game is that you can spend a lot of time around lots of action - lots of roads, buildings, cars and people, lots of gunfights, icons on the map, lots of mission objectives. And then you can whisk yourself away and be in the middle of nowhere, with nobody nearby, no planned "content", no markers flashing away to organise your experience. This - the movement from busy to empty - is where a game starts to feel alive, if you ask me. Is Florida up to it? I hope so.

Chris Donlan

More mini-games

Fancy a game of bowling? Maybe not. But there's definitely scope for a range of new mini-games in the Miami-set GTA 6, after previous games in the series let you play tennis, darts, and - of course - gamble in the casino.

The wackiness of some of Yakuza / Like A Dragon's mini-games has got me thinking - what could GTA 6 include that's a little more offbeat? Jet skiing on a dolphin may be a little too wacky for GTA, but how about a karaoke offering? Or a GTA version of Mario Kart?

Sports-wise, Rockstar could look to the teams Miami is known for in the real-world, such as the NBA's Miami Heat or the NFL's Miami Dolphins. Just no live-action hostess clubs please.

Tom Phillips

More Secrets and storytelling hidden in the environment

I loved exploring different rural parts of the GTA 5 map, though sometimes this was a result of crashing vehicles far away from inhabited places. Those moments of being 'lost' or randomly exploring resulted in me finding secrets or storytelling moments embedded in the environment, which is something I'd love to see continue in GTA 6.

In GTA 5, you can find a secret in the prologue by exploring the nearby frozen river to locate an alien. Visit Mount Gordo at a specific time and you may see a ghost, or dive down deep enough in the ocean to find a crashed UFO! There were even a few moments where you had to use clues hidden in and around the environment to solve chilling mysteries - and usually they were things you'd speed past without a second thought, assuming they were just part of the landscape.

I'm hoping GTA 6 will have more secrets and storytelling across the map for people to find by stumbling upon them or by solving clues that take a bit of work to track down.

Marie Pritchard

Now That's What I Call 80s

I roll up my sleeves and roll down the windows. The sun beats down in pastels and pinks against the windscreen as I weave through traffic at top speeds, synth pop bangers blaring out the speakers. I'm having the time of my life.

This is GTA to me: I'm no criminal but a taxi driver shepherding the citizens of Vice City between hedonistic delights as I sing along to Flash FM on the radio. Michael Jackson! Hall & Oates! Lionel Richie! Go West! The 80s vibes are immaculate.

So that's what I want in GTA 6. It's a return to Vice City so I want a return to 80s nostalgia. Give me an 80s radio station so I can relive the fantasy, recreating Crazy Taxi and singing along to every lyric while the next-gen sun shines down over impossibly shiny cars. Oh and while we're at it, let's have a return of Rusty Brown's Donuts. I just love the batter, all over my face.

Ed Nightingale

More immersion

One of the best things about Rockstar's open-world games is how, even though in the case of GTA they're portrayed as caricatures of real life, they seem so realistic. The traffic, the NPCs, the detailed environments, they're all ingredients that go towards creating a believable, liveable world and it's for that reason that I'm hoping for a first-person mode from the off this time around.

It took a whole year for a first-person mode to be added to the original game in a big re-release update, and the inclusion of this new viewpoint only increased the immersion. I remember trying it out for the first time and within seconds I'd accidentally punched a cat to death. Sure it wasn't a real cat, it was a collection of pixels on a screen, but still... I was now deeper into the GTA rabbit hole and this little accident had a much bigger impact than it would have done in third-person.

But this all leads me to my ultimate wish and, yes, I am a broken record, but... VR mode from the off please! GTA San Andreas in VR seems almost dead in the water right now, but how amazing would it be if GTA 6 launched with PC VR and PSVR2 functionality? I've played GTA in VR thanks to the hard work of the modder Luke Ross, and let me tell you, even though my rig at the time struggled to run it well, it still seemed like the single best way to experience Los Santos as if it was a real place.

Just cruising around in a car, poking my head out of the window and taking in the sights, felt like a tourist trip to L.A. Even though the controls were limited to a gamepad only, shootouts in first-person still felt way more intense and dangerous than when viewed through a screen. I even took myself out to the deep waters at one point and felt a primal fear in the pit of my stomach as I was circled by sharks that swam at me from out of the murky depths.

I didn't try punching a cat in VR though. I'm not a monster.

Ian Higton

All of the above, please

I first played a GTA game when I was far, far too young, with my big brothers. I never really completed any missions, but I always enjoyed pinching a car and going for a casual joyride across the map with no real purpose or end goal. I actually still quite enjoy doing that now, to be honest.

So, while I am not a Grand Theft Auto aficionado by any means, I am just looking forward to GTA 6's release, whenever that may be, and getting back behind the wheel in a new setting and with new characters. I am now going to be greedy and slightly cheat this little feature inclusion. Here it goes: I would like all of the above. My colleagues have put it into words much better than I could have, and it all sounds brilliant. So, please make it happen, Rockstar. Thank you!

Victoria Kennedy