Inside the Ten Interlocking Systems Reshaping GTA 6 Gameplay

With launch days away, GTA 6 is shaping up as a very different game from GTA 5. Rockstar built systems that work together, and ten of them stand out when you compare the two. Your vehicle can now run out of fuel. Insider footage and a recent Rockstar screenshot show Jason filling a tank with police standing behind him.

Whether the fuel mechanic is optional is unknown, but running dry mid-chase would force you to ditch the vehicle and run through the alleys. Downtown is reportedly so congested that leaving your vehicle behind may be the only way to lose pursuers.

A fuel stop also adds a road trip feel similar to San Andreas.

Stolen cars can cause trouble too. Higher-end vehicles in GTA 6 carry trackers that let police find you. A gadget similar to the tools thieves use on key fobs unlocks a car without breaking a window, but you still need the right equipment to remove the tracker.

An in-game app called WAINK is also said to link you with vehicles and criminal buyers. Each car has its own security features, and some buyers care about its condition when it arrives, much like the car theft missions in GTA 4. Your car doubles as inventory. Like the horse in Red Dead Redemption 2, it can hold consumables and weapons, and guns appear on your character.

Limits are not fully known, but the setup looks more grounded than the weapon wheel in GTA 5. If a job calls for a specific weapon, you may have to run back to the car and arrange a getaway vehicle ahead of time. You also have to keep the car from being identified, which can mean swapping plates in GTA 6.

Holding a gun in GTA 6 can get you in trouble, too.

In the last game, pedestrians mostly ignored a drawn weapon until you aimed it at them. Now people notice and may comment, run, or confront you. Screenshots show Jason and Lucia keeping a pistol behind their backs while entering a store, which suits robberies across the hundreds of interiors on the map.

A bystander with a concealed carry license could follow you in and shoot. Pedestrians have personalities too. In leaked GTA 6 footage, Jason walks under an overpass when a man talking with two women shoves him away. Jason backhands the man, who pulls a knife while the women beg them to stop.

In another clip at a nudist club, a woman carrying a case of beer confronts Jason for staring. When gunfire starts, some people fight back, some panic, and some may have medical emergencies like heart attacks. Police can remember you now.

In the previous game, escaping mostly meant breaking line of sight and waiting out the wanted level. GTA 6 uses a heat system in which cops collect details about your appearance, clothing, weapons, and whether your partner took part, with CCTV adding to it. You can change clothes through a disguise system, drop weapons, use burner guns,s or split up.

The extended look showed the pair burning a car to destroy evidence.

K-9 units are in GTA 6 too. In another clip, Jason and Lucia fled a robbery on a motorcycle, hit a spike strip, and were thrown off. On foot, a police dog caught Jason and pinned him down. Weather changes how you travel in GTA 6. Rockstar's weather system lets storms form far off while it stays sunny where you stand, with real-time weather, volumetric clouds, wind, humidity, fog, and rain.

Driving toward a storm gradually shifts the surroundings. Wind affects boat movement; islands and buildings shelter some water, and flying a helicopter across Leonida in stormy weather feels different from a clear day. The GTA 6 map has more to explore. Buildings are everywhere, many with interiors you can rob, and cryptids and random encounters rival the swamps of Red Dead Redemption 2.

A screenshot of the Rusty Anchor bar shows Jason and Cal playing pool with a live band, sports on TV, and a dance floor. Your choices can shape the story. The developer calls it the Criminal Profile, and the smiling and frowning devil icons seen in GTA 6 footage track what kind of criminal you become. You could play Lucia as a sly jewel thief or someone strung out on drugs, with physical effects over time.

Missions resemble Metal Gear Solid V, with the same objective but your own tools and approach. You can rob carefully, threaten someone into cooperating, incapacitate instead of killing, or cause a bloodbath, and the studio says this influences how Jason and Lucia's story unfolds. A four-point relationship system tracks their closeness through time together, exercise, and driving.