5 realism elements that GTA 6 must introduce

The GTA series has always walked a fine ground between arcade and realism. While the 3D Universe games were ideal for the arcade wackiness, fans have been demanding more realism following the series' transition to the HD Universe. Some aspects of this can be seen in the Grand Theft Auto 4 and 5 games, where Rockstar has experimented with and introduced some realistic elements.

The gameplay leaks for GTA 6 have revealed that the game might be more realistic than before, with a limited weapon carrying capacity, better NPC and police reactions, and much more. While this article won't go over those features, it will discuss some elements that Rockstar should add to the upcoming title to make it more realistic.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinion.

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5 elements GTA 6 should add to make the game more realistic

1) Hunger, thirst, and stamina

Rockstar has already implemented this to some extent in their previous games, so adding it to GTA 6 shouldn't be too difficult. In GTA San Andreas, CJ has a hunger meter that doubles as a determiner of his fat and muscle density. If players don't eat or drink anything in 72 in-game hours, they'll start losing fat. If they don't have any fat, they would lose their muscle, and eventually, their health. CJ can even die of starvation in this way.

Red Dead Redemption 2 has the Cores feature instead, which include health and stamina and can be replenished with food. The next game should make use of this mechanic, or at least provide an alternate survival mode which makes this feature a necessity.

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2) Humidity and temperature

The state of Leonida in GTA 6, and its capital, Vice City, are based on Florida and Miami respectively. As revealed in the trailer, the game also features a wetlands-like region based on the Everglades. As such, the map is expected to have a humid, tropical biome, with not much variety, unlike in Red Dead Redemption 2.

However, this doesn't mean that the game can't have a humidity and temperature feature. The game should detect how wet the player character is, which in turn could affect their stats. Similarly, the heat could be something to look out for. This would force the protagonists to dress in specific weather-appropriate clothing, which would complement the next feature on this list.

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3) Dynamic weather and seasons

A much-requested realistic feature for GTA 6 has been a dynamic weather system, with rotating seasons. Usually, snowfall is the biggest hurdle for such a system, but Rockstar has managed to implement heavy snowfall in a region like Los Santos, which wouldn't be possible in real life.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is also based on a region that doesn't see much snowfall, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't have rotating seasons. As mentioned before, this would go hand-in-hand with the temperature system, since the only major visual change would be the kind of clothing the NPCs and player characters wear. The change in seasons could also be reflected in the flora and fauna, but it would have to be subtle.

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4) Hunting

Rockstar had first implemented hunting in GTA 5, but it felt quite lackluster. The upcoming game should take inspiration from the hunting mechanic in Red Dead Redemption 2, and improve on it with better tracking, along with more diversity in types and variety of animals. Doing so would also make the system more challenging, as players would be forced to change their hunting grounds to let the animal population regrow.

The trailer revealed that there are plenty of animals in GTA 6, so this should be the perfect opportunity for hunting. Modders have already implemented advanced hunting mechanics in both Grand Theft Auto 5 and RDR2, so it should be quite easy for Rockstar to do so as well.

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5) Injuries and damage

One major step to making GTA 6 feel more realistic and immersive would be to overhaul the damage and injuries. The NPCs in the HD Universe games feel a bit more bullet-spongey than the 3D Universe GTA Trilogy. It takes many more rounds to kill NPCs than it would to kill a person in real life.

Injuries in the game don't work like they should either. NPCs have a health bar like the player character instead, which is a feature absent in Grand Theft Auto 4 or previous 3D Universe games. In the upcoming game, enemies should react to getting hit, such as limping when their legs are shot at, or getting disarmed when their hands are targeted.