The massive anticipation surroundingGrand Theft Auto 6is only growing as fans hope to see a new trailer for the project before the end of the year, with the decade-plus wait for the title finally reaching its home stretch. Despite the excitement that already surrounds the game, a lot of its finer details are still completely unknown, with the now-iconic reveal trailer for the title only really shedding a light on its Vice City setting as well as one of its major protagonists, Lucia.
So many of the expectations surroundingGrand Theft Auto 6are directly tied to its portrayal of Vice City and its surrounding areas, with this defining location finally being given a new lease of life after 22 years. While it seems likely that this portrayal will be larger and more detailed than what fans saw of Los Santos in 2013’sGrand Theft Auto 5, there is one relatively obscure element of exploration thatGTA 6could take to the next level.GTA 5was quite lacking in terms of its crowd density on NPCs throughout its bustling urban areas, andGTA 6is in prime position to expand upon this to breathe a serious amount of life into Vice City.
Crowd Density Will Hopefully Be a Game-Changer For Grand Theft Auto 6
WhileGrand Theft Auto 5blew fans away in 2013, with its legacy since then making the game the most profitable single piece of media of all time, it is clear through a modern lens that the game is now held back by the hardware it was built around. Of course,Grand Theft Auto 6will enjoy all the benefits of modern hardware, with this likely leading to a much larger map and graphical fidelity, and an increase in on-screen NPCs at any given time should also be a logical extension of this.
GTA 6will take players back to Vice City and the surrounding Leonida State, taking huge amounts of influence from Miami and wider parts of Florida, and this should be accurately reflected in-game. As such a densely populated real-world location and tourist hot-spot, the bustling life of Miami can only really be properly reflected inGTA 6’s Vice City through massive crowds that the franchise has never seen before.
The reveal trailer forGrand Theft Auto 6is hopefully a good indication of this being a real in-game possibility, with the video going out of its way to showcase packed beachfronts and crowded nightlife hot-spots to give fans their first real glimpse at this bigger and better version of Vice City. It also seems that the protagonists ofGTA 6will be much more grounded compared toGTA 5, putting even more pressure on Vice City and its inhabitants to give the upcoming game the edgy spark that the IP is known for, and crazier crowds of party-goers and beyond could be the perfect way to provide this.
A Focus on NPC Density Could Create Unique Identities Between GTA 6’s Online and Singleplayer Modes
Theories already suggest thatGTA 6could feature constant random events around Vice City that are alerted to the player through in-game live social media feeds, and greater crowds around these crazy events could be a great way to realistically guide players towards the action to see everything the city has to offer. Of course, this would create an even larger contrast betweenthe urban areas ofGTA 6and the rural wilderness surrounding them, only broadening the range of gameplay experiences that players will have available to them.
These densely-packed crowds could be toned down forGTA 6’s version ofGrand Theft Auto Onlineto increase performance and allow for a greater spotlight to be placed on things likeGTARP, but denser NPC presence seems like a must-have for the game’s single-player experience. With such high hopes already existing about this new era forGrand Theft Auto, Rockstar could raise the bar to a whole new level with a concerted focus on making its locations feel even more alive through a greater density of NPCs.
