Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to be released at some point over the next few years, and there are some features from its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto 5, that it should look to abandon. Despite the fifth entry’s long-standing popularity making it the second best-selling game of all time, GTA 5 has some noticeable flaws that its sequel should address.
Every new game in an established series introduces some mechanics or develops existing ones, and this is exactly what is needed to allow the GTA series to live up to its name. For the fifth installment, some of its new features were certainly better than others, whereas some outdated mechanics were left unchanged from previous entries, or neglected entirely. From obviously broken mechanics to solid ideas that just need some better execution, there are plenty of elements from GTA 5 that should definitely be dropped or reworked for GTA 6 in order to properly evolve the series.
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With any long-running series, there are some mechanics which stick around longer than they need to. GTA has a few of these that were still included in GTA 5. Perhaps the most egregious mechanic that makes GTA 5 more outdated every year is the stilted movement. Having to repeatedly tap a button to sprint is a bad mechanic, and simply frustrating. Delayed, slow jumps make moving around certain areas more tedious. In addition to the dated movement options, the GTA series has never really had great combat. Shooting feels sluggish and boring, with auto-aim being required to snap between targets effectively, which is something GTA 6 should address.
If there’s one thing that many gaming fans love, it’s experimenting with the physics engines that come with new games. GTA 4 had fantastic ragdoll physics, but the sequel downplayed these in order to feel more realistic. This was a mistake. What Saints Row does better than GTA is not focusing too much on realism, as applying this to the latter's physics engine removes a lot of fun and charm.
GTA 5's driving physics were also scuffed, as most vehicles felt similar enough, to the point where supercars are better at driving off-road than off-roaders. This is definitely something that GTA 6 can and should address, as a good physics engine is pivotal to making the driving feel engaging.
The GTA series is no stranger to introducing stealth mechanics, having dabbled with stealth to some degree in many of the games. Perhaps the most iconic example is San Andreas’ burglary side missions. These burglary missions should return in GTA 6. However, GTA 5's stealth was clunky. Vision cones that barely work are bad enough, but it feels like certain actions will always get players detected.
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Silent actions like taking a gun out to shoot someone from behind will result in them turning around and catching the player, which can be frustrating. When Pokémon games have better stealth mechanics for avoiding trainer encounters than a game where stealth is required in some instances, that is a major concern for GTA 6 to have to deal with.
An increasing trend in open-world games is giving players a large number of objects to find as they explore the world. Given that GTA 5 was released in an era where this wasn’t as commonplace, it misses a major part of what makes this gameplay loop rewarding: a map, which makes it possible to track these collectibles down without outside help. Having to search online for GTA 5's playing card locations and doing the same for the other collectibles is tedious and feels out of place with other open-world games. Even if a map isn’t immediately presented to the player and has to be earned in a difficult mission, that’s better than simply not offering one. If GTA 6 is looking to modernize the series, this is something that it absolutely should include.
When looking back at older GTA games, one thing that becomes clear is that they have oodles of variety in their worlds, despite having smaller maps than later entries. GTA 5 is very sorely missing a variety of interactive interiors, so GTA 6 definitely needs more. For example, the game lacks indoor restaurants or street food vendors from previous games. This, combined with NPCs that mostly just run away from the player, make the open world feel less like a living breathing world in the vein of Watch Dogs 2, and more like a series of model buildings put next to one another. Even being able to revisit one-use buildings from the story would have surely helped with this.
In real life, getting a lot of phone calls is frustrating. In GTA 5, random people call the player to ask for their help with mundane tasks if more than that, it’s an active nuisance, and easily GTA Online's worst feature. Having to complete missions, buy properties, or anything else in order to shut them up isn’t compelling gameplay, and reduces the characters to annoying robots, much like Preston Garvey in Fallout 4. The phone system in GTA 5 isn’t inherently bad, but it definitely needs some work if it’s going to be redeemed in Grand Theft Auto 6.
