Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look is a showcase of Rockstar's greatest hits — The A.V. Club

RESOLVING THE LEDGER

Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look is a showcase of Rockstar's greatest hits — The A.V. Club | AIPROPX

The slow, easy vibes of a Leonida sunset inform Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look , which premiered on Netflix today and will drop on YouTube later this evening, where commenters will no doubt complain that, among the gameplay shown in this first official look, there isn’t much that’s new. And, sure, this first look does look like GTA business as usual, rendered in the highest fidelity the medium has to offer and detailed with the predictable cracked-mirror detritus of our already-insane-enough reality. But isn’t that what these games have always been? And, besides, doesn’t the latest version of it look gorgeous ?

As gameplay leaks have dominated the news surrounding the imminent Grand Theft Auto VI —promising unconfirmed mechanics like weight gain and filling up our stolen whip’s gas tanks , which weren’t featured in this video—it’s been easy to get lost in the hype machine. It’s been equally easy to lose sight of the fact that this game, despite any perceived shortcomings, exemplifies the strengths of its ludicrously successful developer. Even if it ultimately doesn’t break the format—and that’s hard to judge, at least from today’s vantage—Rockstar’s new Vice City life simulator still looks like it’s going to be an amusing, days-weeks-months-consuming experience all the same. Just put the controller in your hands, and you may be singing a pretty tune when the game drops on November 19.

For now, we have this official video, which offers an elliptical glimpse into the game’s narrative, charting the ascent of the main characters, Jason and Luisa, as they climb the criminal ladder. Their story begins with an exceptionally shady and disastrous drug pickup for a mid-level hood called “Boobie” and culminates in a security job where the pair rubs elbows with the Rockstar equivalent of Telemundo executives—which, naturally, soon descends into a character-shifting, cocaine-infused version of Die Hard —as an eclectic, bizarrely recognizable, and intricately realized version of Vice City unfolds around them.

We also see some of Jason and Lucia’s domestic life outside the criminal element (she buys him clothes that make him look good to her, which is sweet), including a walkthrough of their happy hacienda, furnished with pink flamingo wallpaper (pink being the dominant hue throughout this presentation). But one cannot remain idle at home forever in this criminal life, and soon a montage of the many things one will encounter in the game follows. As you navigate Vice City between missions, you’ll devour snacks, encounter a litany of lonelyhearts and weirdos of hostile and/or pathetic stripes, go basejumping, knock over local businesses, shoot hoops, wrestle with locals in back-alley rings, skim the murky waters of nearby swamps, smoke cigars, scuba dive, pump iron, and spy on horny neighbors who forget to draw their blinds—and this is all before you factor in the nightlife GTA VI ‘s Vice City has in store.

Some gameplay elements feel familiar, like the slow-mo “red dead” style targeting mechanic that boasts tight third-person framing à la Red Dead Redemption 2 , along with that game’s slow-mo death shots and a “pet the dog” feature . There’s also the ability to shift character perspective throughout the game, sometimes at will and other times at the whims of the game itself. Yet, familiar as it is, this latter mechanic might prove to be the dramatic cherry atop Rockstar’s sundae, a confectionary experience that otherwise seems to combine damn near every successful play element from its storied gaming history. As in GTA V , swapping characters means the decisions you make as one character may eventually affect the other, and in turn affect the romantic relationship GTA VI uses as its core.

However, recent comments from Rockstar North’s head of development, Rob Nelson, throw some cold water on the romantic aspects the game appears to be built around: “Don’t bother with it if you [aren’t into it]. Up to you,” he told IGN . “Jason and Lucia will always have each other’s backs in the story and during the action, but spending quality time together and nurturing the relationship? That’s up to the player, and you won’t be penalized if you’re not interested in the sappy stuff.”

But that’s the crux of the GTA experience. Beyond all the things you can do in its games, GTA has often hinged on the player’s emotional investment in its characters. And if GTA VI turns out to be less than its hype has made it out to be—emotionally, violently, or interactively—well, we’ll simply direct everyone to a line that a particularly shady character says to Jason when the dude is only half-listening: “You gotta know when to get off.”