Grand Theft Auto VI, all the revelations from the extended trailer

At the center of the plot are two playable characters, Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos. Jason is an ex-military man turned drug courier, while Lucia has just been released from prison. The pair openly recalls the dynamic of Bonnie and Clyde, with the possibility for the player to alternate between the two characters during missions. In the images shown, Jason appears taciturn, more at ease with a weapon than with words, while Lucia appears combative and already experienced in criminal circles.

The released footage gave a glimpse of what appears to be an initial mission, set in Vice City: the two protagonists, dealing with a drug withdrawal that ended badly in an apartment, find themselves involved in a shootout with the police from which they manage to escape. It’s supposedly just the beginning of their descent into the city’s organized crime. Another sequence shows them as bodyguards for a wealthy client, whose party is interrupted by a group of armed kidnappers.

As per tradition of the series, the soundtrack will also have a central role. To the songs already known from previous trailers, including pieces by Tom Petty and the Pointer Sisters, names such as Def Leppard, Phil Collins, Depeche Mode and Birdman with Lil Wayne are now added, in a mix that ranges between different genres and eras, designed to accompany car trips through the streets of Vice City.

On the gameplay front, the preview filled in some of the gaps left by the Cyberleek leaks, showing extensive sequences with Lucia as a playable character for the first time. A mechanism already glimpsed in the unofficial materials has also been confirmed: an icon that seems to monitor the level of morality or dishonor of the player’s actions, even if it is not yet clear what concrete consequences this entails on a narrative or gameplay level.

Among the gameplay innovations, a slow-motion aiming mode also stands out, activated during the firefight with the kidnappers, in which the enemies’ weak points are highlighted in red. Rockstar has also introduced an interaction system with non-player characters that closely resembles that seen in Red Dead Redemption II, including the ability to pet a dog.

Car racing, as always, is destined to occupy an important place in the gaming experience: the material shown includes a dedicated circuit, a dirt bike race on dirt roads and clandestine racing sessions on city streets, confirming the attention paid to the customization of vehicles. There is also no shortage of more unusual activities, such as base jumping from a skyscraper in Vice City or scuba diving.

Even the most everyday aspects of the protagonists’ lives find space in the game: food and physical activity influence the appearance of the characters, who can gain or lose weight depending on their habits, while actions such as opening a refrigerator, drinking a beer or smoking a cigar help to make the environment more credible.