Much like the real world counterpart, gas is looking like an issue in the upcoming, much awaited game, Grand Theft Auto VI.
Cyberleeks, an individual or a group, have been posting leaks of Grand Theft Auto VI, mere days from the full unveiling this week–first on Netflix, then on YouTube six hours later.
In one of those leaks, a gas icon, with a circle meter, is shown briefly when one of the game’s protagonists, Jason Duval, enters a car. This suggests players would need to watch out for fuel consumption when cruising around.
Going through online discussions about this particular feature, players are divided. There is the side who say this will ruin the fun of just driving around Vice City as players need to remain vigilant how much gas is left in their vehicles. Then there’s the other side who say, this will make the game more interesting.
While I haven’t personally seen the leaks, I found this gameplay mechanic to be the more interesting. This is for a number of things. This would force players to better take care of their cars, which seems the complete opposite of how GTA is probably best known for, rampant chaos. But that isn’t always true, there are players who definitely just want to cruise around, listen to the radio, and see the sights, basking in the immersion. On a recent playthrough, when finding gas stations, a part of me secretly wished we could actually fill up the tanks, instead of simply pretending to. I cannot be the only one. The new feature would also be useful for GTA roleplayers who immerse themselves fully in the game, and use moments of filling the tanks to strike dialogue with other players.
But more on immersion, the gas consumption brings interesting gameplay changes. Imagine trying to flee, and the car your character steals happens to have little gas or no gas at all. It would also mean players cannot keep driving with the same car while evading law enforcement, which to me, seems to be suggesting police chases will remain intense but less aggressive, if that makes any sense. If you watch real life police chases online, you’d probably know what I mean, where the police will hound the fleeing suspects, but won’t try to bring down the wrath of God on them–at least not right away. In previous GTA games, the police will ram players’ vehicles with no regards of consequences, wreaking as much havoc as the players. GTA VI may suggest otherwise, and while in lower starred wanted levels, the police may simply keep chasing players within the city until they run out of gas.
The game will also take place in the state of Leonida, which besides containing Vice City, will have massive marsh regions. Imagine running out of gas here. I hope players will have the option to push cars or be able to call for tow truck services. You might say, in such scenarios, the players can simply hope to encounter a passing car to steal, or send themselves straight to the hospital for a pseudo “fast travel.” But, this is where this gets even more interesting. According to the leaks, players cannot carry an entire fortress on them, meaning weapons are limited. Loads will be similar to Red Dead Redemption 2, where you can only choose a set number of weaponry to carry, while the rest is stored in the horse. If this is so, this would mean that cars, at least primary cars, are more important than ever. In GTA V, primary cars always get repaired and return to their parking spot without consequence. If in GTA VI, your primary car gets destroyed, or if the police wastes players, their cars will be impounded, which is strongly suggesting everything inside may disappear.
Carefully watching gas would also mean players would find those jerry cans more useful. Players can keep them stocked. And this also brings in an interesting idea, if a player steals a car while in the midst of refueling, would it leave a trail of spilled gas? This could lead to a number of things, like spontaneous fires and explosions.
I don’t know about you, but all of that sounds very interesting to me.
For some reason, the extended look of Grand Theft Auto VI will premiere on Netflix on August 27. But that’s global dates, which would make it August 28, Friday for us. After the premiere, six hours later, it will go live on YouTube.
Grand Theft Auto VI is launching on consoles this November 19, again that’s global dates. So it would be November 20 for us here.