Grand Theft Auto 6 aims to be a more grounded, realistic experience than the rest of the franchise. The game still has a sense of humor, but the overall vibe is much more serious. One of the major things contributing to that tone shift is the way GTA 6 handles violence.
GTA 6‘s heightened violence was visible throughout Netflix’s Extended Look, which debuted Aug. 27. During an early shootout, the game slowed down and zoomed in on an enemy who is shot in the face by Jason, one of the game’s protagonists. The shotgun shrapnel can be seen shearing away fleshy chunks of the man’s face.
Later on, Lucia is slammed against a wall by a large man. The impact of her skull against the wall leaves a blood spatter. The sense of danger heightens as Lucia tries to crawl away, only to be forcefully held down by the assailant. Lucia ends the encounter by stabbing the man in the eye with one of her heels. The moment is played for laughs — Lucia tells the man that wearing heels is just as painful — but the game’s graphical fidelity makes the gory segment feel unusually brutal.
Undoubtedly, gender plays a role here — as Lucia is held down, the possibility of sexual assault hangs in the air. Rockstar structured this sequence by interspersing those Lucia struggle scenes between shots of Jason shooting his way out of danger. The tension comes from not knowing if Lucia will make it out alive. (To be clear, this is not a criticism — merely an observation!)
Why does GTA 6 feel more violent?
Add in GTA 6‘s new environmental destruction, and what you have is a game where the violence is much more viscerally felt. Based on information coming out of previews, however, that’s not the full extent of GTA 6‘s violent shift. In a 23-minute video by YouTuber ElRubiusOMG, the personality describes a gameplay segment where he shot an NPC’s head clean off. Between this preview and moments viewed during the extended GTA 6 leaks, it seems that the game will introduce dismemberment for the first time.
GTA has always had a reputation for being a violent series, and arguably that stature has been overblown. Sure, the game has always allowed players to go on a murderous rampage — but the scenario is always a choice. The series has also touched on extremes, like the part of Grand Theft Auto 5 where players are tasked with torturing a CIA agent.
GTA 6 sands down some of these violent edges as well. NPCs are programmed with more complexity, so they don’t turn violent merely because the player interacts with them. The player can also speak to NPCs, and there are more ways of sparing them as well. Another preview notes that GTA 6 now includes a suppressive fire option that intentionally misses its targets. The idea is to give players more solutions to problems that don’t end with a dead NPC.
Still, GTA 6‘s graphical leap, its female protagonist, and its added dismemberment mechanic give the new game a distinct feel from its predecessors. To wit, the YouTuber who shared the dismemberment news claims that just watching the character’s bodies get thrown around during a chaotic police chase segment was unusually “scary.” This gameplay segment wasn’t particularly bloody, nor was it all that gruesome. The YouTuber still asked a Rockstar developer whether they felt bad killing NPCs given the game’s increased realism. With NPCs feeling more like Lemmings than actual people, regret is not something most players would feel after committing murder in earlier GTA games.