The Grand Theft Auto franchise has always acted as a milestone for most video game developers. Every time, Rockstar Games sets new standards with their titles, and other developers spend years trying to live up to them. Back when it launched in 2013, GTA 5 blended crime and satire with open-world freedom in a massive map inspired by locales of Southern California. It featured three protagonists and a layered narrative filled with exciting characters. Now that the latest trailer of the next addition to the franchise has dropped, it has sparked the inevitable GTA 5 vs GTA 6 debate.
The new GTA 6 trailer is full of minor details and some surprising easter eggs that connect this new title to its predecessor in subtle ways. It follows protagonists Lucia and Jason as they lead a life of crime in Vice City.
In this article, we will compare these two games based on what we learnt from the GTA 6 trailers. The comparisons will be made on the two titles’ visuals, sizes, and probable gameplay systems, among other metrics.
Listing the key differences between ‘GTA 5’ and ‘GTA 6’
1. Story
GTA 5 featured three central characters:
- Michael De Santa: A seasoned criminal.
- Trevor Philips: Michael’s psychotic friend, old partner-in-crime and proud owner of Trevor Philips Enterprises.
- Franklin Clinton: An up-and-coming youngster who sees Michael De Santa as his mentor.
The story revolves around how these three juggle their lives and law enforcement while stealing from some of the biggest places in Los Santos, the setting of GTA 5.
On the other hand, GTA 6 seemingly takes its inspiration from Bonnie and Clyde. A few hints in the game’s first trailer suggest that Lucia is the leader among the two. Shifting from three characters to two, that too a couple, is quite interesting.
2. Gameplay
While technical advancements have updated things over time, the core gameplay loop of the GTA franchise has remained largely unchanged. Players are assigned a task, they head to the location using the vehicle of their choice, and most missions end in a gunfight. Sometimes, stealth is thrown into the mix, while on other occasions, you have to use specific gadgets. In short, anyone who has played GTA over the years knows very well what they can expect from the next title.
The thing that has constantly evolved, though, is the playfield. The open worlds see major improvements, non-player characters (NPCs) react to situations more realistically, driving the vehicles feels closer to driving them on actual streets, and now they can even invest in stocks. All these factors make a world of difference.
This time around, it seems that players will be able to take part in various new activities, such as cage fighting and workout sessions (although the latter has been seen before in GTA: San Andreas). Reading between the lines is not necessarily a bad thing, and we believe the inclusion of cage fights and workouts hints at GTA 6 featuring detailed hand-to-hand combat mechanics.
3. Graphics
There is hardly any point in comparing the graphics of these two games — one was released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2013, and the other will be released for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles. While both titles use Rockstar Games’ in-house RAGE engine, GTA 6 looks miles ahead of its predecessor in every way. Of course, that was bound to happen, given that the game engine has evolved over time as well.
With better character models, textures, lighting and a far superior level of detail in the world, everything looks incredible. In fact, many are of the opinion that GTA 6 will be the best-looking game of the modern generation. And they might not be wrong, either — insane minute details like bubbles in bottles of beer, reflections in glasses of cars, visible muscle structures and characters sweating in real-time have been spotted in the GTA 6 trailer 2.
GTA 6 is one of the most anticipated games that is slated to release on current-gen consoles. Let’s just hope that the game sees the light of day in the next 12 months and Rockstar Games decides not to delay it any further.
We have heard speculations of GTA 6 coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 sometime in the future. However, it is difficult to imagine how that will be possible — Nintendo’s upcoming console is just too limited for such a visually taxing title. Then again, we saw Doom Eternal release on its predecessor, so never say never?
(Hero and Featured Images Credit: Rockstar Games)
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